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American Girl history-in a group/co-op? A question


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I had this idea, which I likely got from here, to do an AG girl class with our homeschool group. Because our group is only together for 6 weeks. I thought it would be fun to chose a different doll each week and pull questions from the books or movies, talk about the time, make a craft to go along with the doll, etc. I'm sure others here have done this, so please, give me your input!

 

I've managed to get through Kit, Samantha and Melody (I have two more on my bookcase to read tomorrow and the third is in route from the library). I have great questions and crafts and activities.

 

Here's my dilemma: The books don't match the movies. I assumed there would be some differences, but I didn't expect it to be quite so pronounced. Do I have the girls read the book or watch the movie before class? To I cater to the wonderful stuff thats in the book? Or go with what's in the movies? I'll likely be working with a range of girls. Many will be able to easily read a chapter book in a week (I'm looking at the Beforever line, not the "Meet..." line of books). But some might be younger, k and 1st, and will need a parent to read. Some, I know, don't own a TV, or if they do don't have prime, netflix, or a DVD player (the DVDs are free at the library)

 

What should I do? Assign the books or the movies?

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I would do the books, but I would structure the class where the students could learn and participate in the activities even if they haven't read the assigned chapter.  

 

Exactly this. I did this last year. I told the parents the schedule we would be covering and they could read or not. In class, I gave a brief summary of the girl we were studying and then we did a craft/activity.

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My dd did an AG class in a co-op. They did a full year, only two girls. The first semester was one doll, the second was a different one. That way each girl had time to read the book and discuss a chapter in class. And there were plenty of topics to learn about in class and projects to do based on the one book series. 

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The one my girls did read the books. It didn't matter which book they read (this was pre-BeForever, so one of the 6 books on the character) as long as they read 1 of the books. Then the teacher went around the room and each child spoke a little about whichever book they read. So, she would ask "Who read Meet ...?"; the kids who had read that book would give a summary. "Who read Happy Birthday, ...?" etc. The teacher then summed up the time period and filled in the gaps. They then did a craft and/or food from the period, etc. No one had to read, but the ones who did got to participate a little more. 

 

She used bits and pieces from Portraits of an American Girl homeschool curriculum, Welcome to ...'s World books, the American Girl Club handbook, and the doll-specific craft and food books. Girls who didn't have an American Girl doll brought in baby dolls/Target dolls for the fun - the teacher also had dolls for "loan" during the class and for the last week's feast (where the kids brought in a food from their favorite time period and dressed in their girl & doll matching clothes or time-period attire). The teacher's dolls were dressed in their period-appropriate clothes, and also, many of the crafts were for the dolls, so if a child had left their doll at home, they could use the teacher's doll for sizing.

 

I think it was a full year, so about 20 weeks, covering about 7 (?) dolls. 

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We did one years ago-the best co-op I've ever been to. About 30 families attended. Each month there was:

 

1. The 1st book in the series was the primary discussion and the second book was discussed briefly by those who read it too. It was general book discussion: main characters, minor characters, conflicts, resolutions, historical issues, character issues, moral dilemmas, etc.

2. A craft related to the book or era-half the people didn't show up for religious reasons when dream catchers were the craft. We did corn husk dolls, beginning embroidery, and other things I don't remember now. For Penny we did a field trip and did some horseback riding at one of the mom's houses and did snack and discussion there.

3. There was a snack related to the book or era. Uh...Gingerbread for Samantha, and horchata maybe for Josephina. Or was it hot chocolate with cinnamon in it?  I think there was frybread for Kaya.  (Frybread is evidence of God's common grace to humanity.)

4. A game related to the book or era. I didn't do any of those, so I don't remember anything about them.

Two moms partnered for each month and worked out which 2 of the above listed they would be responsible for.  Everyone was required to have another mom as back up prepared to take over because any emergency you have will be on the day you're responsible for something-that's how the universe works. I filled in for one of the moms one month because her son broke is arm a few hours before the book club met in addition to the months I had my responsibilities.

With so many parents and kids not everyone volunteered for the above 4.  Some supervised the non-participating siblings outside playing in the backyard.  Some volunteered to shop for supplies. (Figure out the cost and take the money up front.) Some things make sense for each individual family to buy, like a beginning embroidery kit (under $10 at the local craft store. ) The girls wanted to decide between kits that had a teddy bear, unicorn, dolphin or flowers.  Some things it made sense to buy in bulk, like the corn husks for the dolls that are only sold in very large packages (for making tamales) and had to be soaked for a while before being used.

I would not encourage people to attend if they didn't read the book.  Sorry.  It's a book club.  People don't pour that amount of time and energy into a strictly social event.  If you want a social event, start a park day or play group at another time and location.  There were several people who showed up without reading the book interested in only a social event, and it made it awkward for everyone.  Keeping a discussion going with everyone participating in a large group is hard enough, having girls shrug their shoulders and awkwardly explain that they hadn't done the reading for the book club was frustrating for everyone. Let's remember that we're talking about books that can be read aloud in 30 minutes.  Not a lofty goal to meet in a month. If that's too much, then a book club isn't really a good fit for a person's life at that time. The purpose of a book club is to learn to discuss the one or two books everyone read. Group activities are about the group as a whole. 

Before anyone gets upset about that, they should look up old threads about why veteran homeschoolers refuse to participate in and run co-ops anymore.  One of the most common answers is that the parents aren't teaching their kid to participate in a group well and aren't requiring their kid to do the assignments by the deadline.  Like it or not, that's why there are fewer and fewer co-ops available as the years go by. (I don't have time later to respond, to people bothered by my post, so I put it in now.)

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My DD is doing an AG class at coop this year and she did it last year, as well. The curriculum is based on the books not the movies. Six dolls are studied per year, chronologically. There are three books for each doll (typically the first three books) and the girls are asked to read at least one if not all three books. The books are short so my DD read all the books. As described above, typically there is a craft, a food and also something like geography, history, music, etc., for each doll. Last year for Samantha, for example, the girls discussed the books, plot, characters, etc. Thy also learned about life at the turn of the century and each girl did a class presentation about an invention from that time period. They also were taught how to embroider and made embroidered napkins which they then used at a class tea party similar to what Samantha would have experienced at the turn of the century. My daughter LOVES this class!

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