Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Day #1/175 Days – Co-Op

It seems like we just finished our year last week (oh wait, we did), but here we go once more. We are technically taking the next two weeks off from regular schooling but other things are happening that (thankfully) I can count as a jump start on our year.

Our Co-Op has expanded so much this year, I’m still a bit speechless. Last year a “big day” was having about 15-20 kids. Our first day? We had 41 from ages 5-15. Yikes!

My friend who really is the one planning this and making it happen did a fantastic job of keeping our “field day of fun” happening. I was also playing with kids so I only grabbed a few photos. I’m not posting though due to all the faces seen.

Our plan for the year is to do a Maine studies this fall. We’ll be meeting every other week instead of weekly (thank goodness!). The children will pick topics each week and then take the time between classes to research them. When we meet back, they will then do a short (5-10 minute) presentation on their topic to their classmates. I think it will be fun.

We originally going to have two groups but due to the large turn-out, we’ve split them in to three groups. It will be ages 5-7, ages 8-11, and ages 12 & up.

In the afternoons on the same days we meet for co-op, we’ll be heading to our favorite local natural history museum for classes on Maine history. Our first one was on Native Americans in Maine.

All the kids (and moms) got a chance to toss a spear with a atlatl. It was fun. Happy had a go at it (my older boys were with the older group so I didn’t get any photos of them).

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After they all tossed the spear, we headed in to the building to check out the Indian artifacts. It was so hot but I think the kids were able to listen and learn.

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Happy is getting a chance at the moose call made from birch bark. Thankfully hubby has a more modern version to take on his hunt at the end of the month.

We ended the day in the classroom where all kinds of tools were discussed and tried out.

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We were there for two hours but with 37 children participating, it can take a bit to get all the information out.
I think co-op will go well this year and the boys love it. That’s why I keep going.

1 comment:

The Bertone's said...

Where is the Co-op? I'd love to get the kids involved in a Co-op. I'm probably to late for this year though...