Teen Christmas Party

Anastasia wanted to have a Christmas party so we decided to have one for the teen group from 

Co-op.  I was brave enough to schedule it even while Jay was out of town.  Ha! There are 20 kids in the class and they were all able to show up.  It was really a lot of fun, they are a great group of kids.

Each person brought a gift and we had an exchange, white elephant style.  Everyone was being so nice and no one was stealing until about half way through then they finally did.  It was funny!  Then we played one more game and the rest of the time was spent just hanging out, eating yummy food and roasting marshmallows. There was a lot of socializing going on for a bunch of 

"non-socialized homeschoolers."   ; )

We definitely enjoyed the evening and will host this again.

October Co-op

This month in Co-op I am helping in the middle elementary class.  Alexa and Natasha are both in here.  This month all the kids in elementary are finishing up their study of Henry Matisse.  The kids completed a really nice project based on his vase on a table painting.  I didn't take a picture of one of the girls completed yet.  I get so caught up in what we are doing and forget to take pictures.  But that is a good thing.  LOL  However, thanks to a friend I have made a great discovery of another use for command hooks.  They also make command strips made for hanging things on the wall so no more nail holes and tape that doesn't hold.  So I have finally hung all of their art work in the playroom.  I really like the way it looks. 
   Ok back to co-op.  This year one of the discovery hour classes is Yearbook.  Anastasia is participating in this class and will actually receive a high school credit for it.  Today it was time for a group photo of the moms.  Here is the group of wonderful ladies I get to spend 2 Wednesdays a month with (3 mom's were missing and JB was included).  It is a great looking group if I do say so myself.  Ha!

Next Wednesday will be their canvas project to finish up the study of this artist and they will study someone new for November and December.

Science Co-op

This year for Science we are using Apologia (once again) and are studying Human Anatomy and Physiology.  The kids are super excited to learn about the body this year.  We formed a very small co-op with just 4 other families.  We didn't want to leave anyone out but if we invited everyone we would just be another huge co-op like we already have.  And we meet in homes so we had to limit our number of kids.  : )

We do science on our own at home and then get together one afternoon a month to do hands on activities and experiments that go with the 2 lessons we have been studying.  This really helps keep me on track to get our science done on time for these meetings. Win-Win!  We again met over the summer and planned out the year of which mom would be teaching which lessons each month.  Whichever mom is teaching also hosts.  We usually have 3-4 centers all planned out and the kids rotate in groups to each center.  There is a mom at each center helping out.

This first co-op was all about cells and bones. They made an edible cell with all it's parts, they played a bone game, and made DNA.  It was so much fun and I think they learned a lot!

This is the start of our 3rd year with LOVE co-op.  Wow! I remember as soon as I knew we were moving back to the east valley, contacting Courtney in order to get into co-op.  LOL  It was a must for our family and it has been such a blessing.  The families we have met and friendships that have formed have been incredible.

This year Co-op is the largest it has ever been with 25 families and 80+ kids....double wow!!  I think I am most excited for the teen group.  When Anastasia joined two years ago there were only 6 kids in the class.  Now it is up to 20!!  So many fun things they can do together now!

I was asked to be part of the steering committee this year and am excited to serve.  I helped with the scheduling which is no easy task with all the mom's and fabulous classes being offered.  But I totally geek out at doing that kind of stuff.  : )

This year is very exciting because in addition to the kids regular classes (PE and art for this year) where they are grouped by ages each kid got to pick 2 discovery hour classes.  We have an awesome group of moms who stepped up to teach some amazing classes!!  Some of the offerings are outdoor skills,  handi-crafts, lego club, book club, choir/drama, crochet, and yearbook.

The young adult (teen group) is doing world geography, a bible study and logic this year and then they get to pick one discovery hour.

We meet twice a month.  We start the morning with Worship, pledges and announcements:

I didn't get pictures of all the groups as I was helping in Jadon's class in the morning.  It was really neat to work in this class and see how the kids have grown in the last two years.  There was a group of them in here who have moved up this year from the preschool class.  They are big Kindergartners now!!

The artist they are studying for the first two months is Matisse.

PE time

I am teaching two discovery hour classes.  During 3rd hour I am teaching book club.  This year we are reading through the Little House on the Prairie books.  They do the reading at home and we discuss the book and do fun activities in class.  Today we made corn husk/raffia dolls and butter.

During 4th hour I am teaching a Lego club.  For this first class they just had free play to check out the set they will be using this year.  Each class will have building challenges, presentations, learning new skills and playing games.  This is one of Jadon's favorite classes.  : )

Co-op Water Day

Our last co-op for the year was a fun filled day of water play.  The kids all loved it and had a great time.  There were games and re-lays and water squirting fun.  Co-op has always been an amazing group of families whom we have enjoyed spending time with these past 4 years.  We are ready for a summer break but look forward to see what next year brings with our co-op families.