October 9, 2013

Quote of the Week - John Holt

If you don’t know what you want to do, for heaven’s sake don’t go to college, for you won’t find out there. Travel around, see the country, find out what kinds of things are going on, learn something about the ways in which people are dealing with serious problems of our time. 

John Caldwell Holt

It's our Co-op day!!

Today is the second Wednesday of the month - aka Co-op Day!

As I've mentioned before, we were in a co-op a couple of years ago that we LOVED, oh so much.  Due to several of our homeschooling friends choosing to attend private high school, our co-op dissolved.  We were so sad.  It forced us to get out and meet some new people, but still we really missed our co-op.

Fast-forward to last spring, some people started talking about co-ops, and what they should look like.  I knew that if we chose to join or participate in a co-op, it would have to be a relaxed one, no strict school scheduling.  What I really envisioned was a completely unschooling co-op with a focus on a different theme each month (this is still my ultimate dream, if money were no object, and if I had an awesome devoted space - maybe one day.).  What I developed is a co-op that is relaxed with an awesome line-up of popular kid-friendly classes open to children of all ages.  Yup, I'm in charge (apparently my plate was NOT completely full).

We only meet once a month, so it is perfect for our already extremely full schedule.  We have classes available from 1 - 3, with a 4H meeting following right after co-op.  Classes include:  Teen/Tween Book Club, Science, Musical Arts, Art, and Photography. 

Today was only our second co-op day of the year.  There were less people in attendance this month, but it was still an amazing turn-out. 

I am teaching / facilitating the art class.  This month's project was watercolor painting - we had three different projects (last month I had so much extra time... I wanted to fill it up for sure this month.)  So,  everyone was able to watercolor paint shells - they look awesome!  And, everyone was able to experiment with watercolor crayons (meh, I wasn't impressed).  Lastly, everyone was able to make a masked, watercolor salt painting.  Next month, the plan is puppets (and no paint!).  I will be spending some time on Pinterest finding some great puppet ideas to share with the class.