Co-op question

[Daniela Whittington]

I’m not sure this is the correct place to ask but here goes: 

 

If you had a co-op that you were a member of what class/classes would you like to see available for your child in the 5-6 year old age range?  I ask because I’m a member of a co-op and I was speaking with our director about the lack of classes for this age group and I’m trying to find something I could possibly volunteer to do. 
 

Personally, I’d rather it be more than a glorified play date but I also know at this age structured time is still a bit of a challenge. I thought of doing a fairy tale and then doing a STEM project along with the story but our library also has a strong story hour so I’m not sure how much diversity that would be offering our community of children.  
 

I also considered doing an art class but I don’t have any real training in art and honestly I’m not sure what to even do/teach in an art class at their ages. I am following an artist on YouTube to teach myself to paint with acrylics and watercolors but that’s the extent of my art knowledge. 
 

Any ideas would be welcomed as I’m snowballing at the moment 

[Rosie_0801]

You can facilitate 'Home Art Studio' or other such programs. You don't need artistic skills to supervise small children playing with paint and glue.

That's about the only class I was interested in when my kids were that small. We could and did art at home, but some things are more fun with mates.

[freesia]

A PE class is fun for that age. The library usually has books with fun group games. 

A Five in a Row class is like what you are describing. Read a book and do a project about it. There was a website with ideas—maybe homeschoolshare? Many mothers with multiple kids like them bc it’s harder to do that kind of fun project when you have older kids, too. 

Along the same lines—read a folk tale from a country, find it on a map, do a craft from the country ( online ideas or book front the library.)

Read a simple science book ( I think there’s a series called Read and Find out—it something like that). Then do a simple science activity connected to that ( lots of books with ideas for that age group.)

[Daniela Whittington]

4 hours ago, Rosie_0801 said:

You can facilitate 'Home Art Studio' or other such programs. You don't need artistic skills to supervise small children playing with paint and glue.

That's about the only class I was interested in when my kids were that small. We could and did art at home, but some things are more fun with mates.

I may be just overthinking things as usual 😂

[Daniela Whittington]

1 hour ago, freesia said:

A PE class is fun for that age. The library usually has books with fun group games. 

A Five in a Row class is like what you are describing. Read a book and do a project about it. There was a website with ideas—maybe homeschoolshare? Many mothers with multiple kids like them bc it’s harder to do that kind of fun project when you have older kids, too. 

Along the same lines—read a folk tale from a country, find it on a map, do a craft from the country ( online ideas or book front the library.)

Read a simple science book ( I think there’s a series called Read and Find out—it something like that). Then do a simple science activity connected to that ( lots of books with ideas for that age group.)

Ah! Doing a craft from the story’s origin country is an idea I hadn’t considered! I could just mesh all these ideas and do a craft one week, then a science project another, or a stem idea the next. And that way if I have a week where it’s harder to get things together a craft wouldn’t be so hard to come up with.

[freesia]

Another thing  I did with a small group of lower elementary school students was Mystery Science.  There's a short 10 min or so video to watch and then there are teacher materials for a discussion and an activity.  There is prep ahead, but minimal.  The kids loved it.  You'd need access to tech, though.
 

[Daniela Whittington]

3 minutes ago, freesia said:

Another thing  I did with a small group of lower elementary school students was Mystery Science.  There's a short 10 min or so video to watch and then there are teacher materials for a discussion and an activity.  There is prep ahead, but minimal.  The kids loved it.  You'd need access to tech, though.
 

I will definitely look into this! I think I could ask for tech. 

[Wheres Toto]

I run a science center so that's the overall theme but for that age group we do:  Junior Science (this year she's doing the science of toys, inventions, weather and color), Storybook STEM, Science Around the World (natural wonders, engineering feats), Nature Crafts, More Than Just the Dinosaurs (the other creatures that lived before and during the time of the dinosaurs), Junior Robotics, Programming and Engineering, Seasonal STEAM, and Maker Space.

[Not_a_Number]

I actually ran math classes for that age. It was a tiny bit of written work, math games, then a math story.

Edited August 3, 2021 by Not_a_Number

[Staceyshoe]

Galloping the Globe.  The moms will appreciate you dividing the units among the children instead of having to do it all themselves.