Co-op

I really love our co-op! Yesterday the kids finished their 6 octa tetra-hedral while discussing Perelandra and singing Belafonte songs.

This past summer, four families got together and decided that we were tired of driving to San Antonio for our children to participate in larger co-ops.

When the boys were younger, we ran a small Waldorf-co-op out our home. We called it the Riverside co-op..since much time was spent playing in the river, climbing trees, acting, painting, playing instruments, learning to sew and Spanish(like I said..they boys were much younger)It lasted for a couple years. We remember this time fondly.

The families went different directions when the children grew older. With this past summers inflated gas-prices, we decided to reconvene. The children and parents got together and discussed what they wanted out of this time together. What goals were they trying to achieve?

Moms wanted time together to feel less isolated. Teens wanted to be able to go to specific colleges or open certain businesses. Food, games and play were also high on the list.

So every Monday from 1-4:30 we meet. We start with board games and snacks...Boggle, Apples to Apples and Cranium being the favorites.

Judy (Zalen's mom) begins study with bio-lab. The teens have been expriementing with pond life and identifying protozoa. We are now moving onto algae! Zalen..by the way, is missing from these pics.

From Bio-Lab we move to Octa-tetra designs. Sandy (Devin's mom) alternates between reading about the geometry involved to simply letting the kids build. The kids often work on the octa-tetra designs while discussing biology or their lit.

We usually move to the back deck (unless it is cold and we are octa-tetraing) for Socratic Discussion. We have chosen to start with Ancient Lit from the WorldView Academy's great books program.

Some weeks we have very interesting discussions..."what is suffering?" "Is flying spaghetti monsters a religion?" "What is the difference between religion and faith?" "What is value?" Other times..we have more the.."huh? oh, there's a bee in my tea." non-discussions.

Finally movie-making. We pull a lot of stuff from the Boys and Girls Club movie tech and drama matters programs. Currently they are experimenting with claymation.

The fact is, this is just a fun group of kids. They all have such varying views and personalities, yet maintain strong respect for one another. A lot of adults could learn from them..I know I do.