Co-ops are great

Through our years of homeschooling so far, we've pretty much always been in some sort of co-op situation. My favorite kind is like the one we are involved in this year: not overly demanding, but consistent enough to present an outside challenge for the kids. I like the fact that the kids get to hear insights from other adults/teachers, and try projects, etc., that we wouldn't do at home.

Another positive aspect is giving the kids a chance to do things in a larger group, since they don't have that opportunity at home. For instance, this semester, our co-op takes some time each session to do a little team-building exercise in which the kids have to work together to compete in a particular challenge. (The challenge this past week was to build the biggest cantilevering structure out of toothpicks and clay!)

Giving presentations (public speaking, book reports, etc) is high on my list of skills I'd like to see developed in my kids, and a co-op provides a good setting for that kind of practice. This past week, the kids in our co-op were each assigned the task of writing and presenting a news story (since they went on a field trip to our local news station a couple of weeks ago). It was fun seeing what the kids came up with!

Strider chose to be "Johnny Anchor" and he reported a "breaking news story" about a giant purple cloth that had suddenly appeared, covering the entire top of the Bank of America building in the city. He then turned the broadcast over to "Maria Marshmallow," who interviewed a key eyewitness, "Miss Butterbottom" about her observations.

Then it was time to do the weather, as BillyBob Thunder gave the forecast for the day:

We enjoyed seeing the other kids'/families' creative presentations -- each one was very different.

There was use of technology,

multiple interviews,

dramatic stories about fire rescues...

...and even some (true) reporting of paranormal activity. Each family had a different approach, which is what makes a co-op so much fun, and beneficial!