Sep 29 2008
Our Homeschool Co-op in its second session
Wow, Lots of kids from several large families. A finely orchestrated agenda of 12 “classes”. Three hours of quality homeschooling. My kids joke that it is a school for homeschoolers, and I suppose that is almost true. So far, it seems to be working, no matter the jokes
Eight or so mothers have been meeting since May, discussing subjects to teach, who would teach each subject and which book would be first on our book discussion list. We talked about finding a location, choosing a name, and many details.
A strong goal of our Co-op is to strengthen our families in our Catholic Faith. Thus was born St. Bonaventure Homeschool Cooperative. We established a few basic guidelines: no teacher (read: Mom) would teach a class by herself, parents can place thier children where they feel the child would most benefit, regardless of age and grade, and that change and adjustments are inevitable. The most important guideline is: This coop is to make less work for the homeschooling mom, not more!
Onward, Catholic Mom’s and families! We found a church hall / CCD center, (and we cleaned it with bleach and Clorox wipes!) We ordered books, workbooks, K’nex kits, and other homeschool necessities. And we met for the first time last week. We all came away from it pleased - the playroom crowd, the early grades group, the mid-grades and the high schoolers all welcomed a time to be with others. They had the benefit of other Moms, both to practice the respect they’ve been trained in, and to have a change of teaching and learning pace.
When we meet again next Monday, we will learn more about The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (our first book discussion choice for the older kids), the middle grades will build and learn physics with K’Nex, the youngsters will learn the beginning stages of Liturgical Latin, and the youngest will play, play, play to thier heart’s content.
My thought for you today: “A room without books is as a body without a soul.” -Cicero
Til I write again,
Ann
