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What classes does your co-op offer?


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Already thinking about next year and I was wondering what types of classes your co-op offers. Our co-op offers classes for pre-k through 12th and it is in need of some fresh ideas for class offerings. In addition to the classes, what curriculum, if any, do you use?

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We are a small, laid-back co-op. Here are some of the things we have done (or are currently doing)...

 

Science Lab (all grades) - no curriculum, dh leads this and it is totally based on what he can light on fire or blow up...well, seriously, it is totally experiment based so we don't have to do it at home. Before dh did it, we pulled experiments from the Apologia science books.

 

Stewardship (7th and up) - MUS, doing half the book this year and half next year

 

Patricia Polacco Unit Study (3-5th) - book from Rainbow Resource

 

Sewing and Advanced Sewing - no curriculum, one mom who has a ton of patience and is an excellent sewer is in charge.

 

Art Class (1st-4th) - have used Artistic Pursuits K-3 book and the Global Art book

 

Music Class (3-4th) - no curriculum, one mom with a music degree teaches, they do various things, including recorders

 

Yearbook (7th and up) - no curriculum, we take pictures of our co-op and then make digital scrapbook pages of the year and the individual kids in the co-op and publish it through Blurb. They learn Photoshop in the process.

 

Keepers/Contender's Clubs

 

Rocketry

 

Speech

 

Geography (all grades) - began with Mapping the World By Heart and morphed into something else, they did this over two years

 

Government (7th and up) - used Our Living Constitution, done over two years

 

FIAR type studies (1st-3rd)

 

Gym

 

That's all I can think of now. Hope it helps!

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Already thinking about next year and I was wondering what types of classes your co-op offers. Our co-op offers classes for pre-k through 12th and it is in need of some fresh ideas for class offerings. In addition to the classes, what curriculum, if any, do you use?

 

This will be the first year we've been in a coop. But the info meeting was a few weeks ago and I was very impressed with how it was run.

 

There were two big white boards with all of the grades listed and two columns for each grade (one for each session).

 

There were already a couple classes listed (IEW and science labs for five different Apologia science courses). But then the moms were asked to either volunteer to teach a class or to mention a class that they were hoping would be offered.

 

Several moms had 2-3 ideas. There would typically be some general acclaim for one of the ideas (or a couple). If there was a lot of interest, and the mom was willing to teach it, then it would be added to the schedule for the appropriate grades.

 

The goal was to have 2-3 choices for each grade level in each session. There was some overlap. For example, the writing class I'm leading will be available for three grades.

 

As it became apparent that there was something lacking (elementary science, for example) there would be a discussion. Either someone would offer to teach it or it would be added with a question mark or there would be a realization that the coop wouldn't be offering that because no one wanted to lead it.

 

I thought this was a nice process to identify what there was a wide interest in, vs what only one or two families wanted, vs what families wanted to get but no one was willing to lead.

 

The coop is offering some science, art appreciation, art techniques, chess, writing (both IEW and the fiction writing I'm leading), and various other interesting classes (FIAR, cooking, financial management).

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We were part of a small casual co-op. 4 age groupings, 4 classes each.

 

This was plenty of group stuff for us. Start at 8:30 end at 12:30, head out to lunch. :001_smile:

 

Over the years I taught various classes for various ages:

 

creative writing (fables, fairy tales and myths)

Current Events (read and discuss articles from Time)

Speech and Debate (used speech guidelines from the basic Toastmaster manual)

Number Theory (all the math that isn't adding/subtracting/multiplying/dividing)

Humanities

Graphic Novel as literature

Basic Electricity/Magnets (used the 4H project book)

 

Other than the resources listed above, I just made my own curriculum and lesson plans.

 

I hope you find something you love to teach. It makes a difference, if the teacher isn't having fun the kids won't either.

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