the road to inspired learning
I forget how I stumbled upon Emily Neuburger’s book, Show Me a Story, but after an initial browse, I knew I had to purchase it and turn it into a co-op class. Art colliding with language arts has been an interest of mine for a long time; this book is the perfect marriage of […]
I love when my kids’ interests help determine what I am going to teach at co-op. This homeschool camping class was born because Simon, my youngest son, told me he wanted a camping class at co-op. I didn’t hesitate to say yes. I LOVE CAMPING. This camping class was written as a nine-week course for […]
Do you remember the Tootsie Roll commercial from the 1970s? For the young homeschool mamas who have no clue what I’m talking about, the ad slogan was, “Whatever it is I think I see becomes a Tootsie Roll to me!” I feel the same way about homeschool co-op class ideas. Whatever it is I think I see becomes a co-op class […]
In the past I’ve shared some fun classes for preschoolers: Cooking Art, Little Builders, Pet Pals, and Let’s Make a Mess. Those classes focused on science and art. What about a preschool class focusing on social studies? One easy way to do this is with a class about community helpers. Find people in your neighborhood […]
Do your kids love to cook? Mine do! And so do the kids in our homeschool cooperative. We’ve offered seven different cooking classes at our co-op, and it is never a problem finding students who want to be in these classes. Cooking Around the World is wonderful because you get to use a hands-on (and delicious) experience […]
Art lessons for kids are super popular at our homeschool co-op. Many moms feel unequipped to teach art at home, so they hope their local co-ops will be able to offer something for their children. Drawing is a great option for a homeschool art class because drawing is foundational for other art forms. My amazing friend, Brandy, taught Dare to Draw at […]
Are you looking for a homeschool co-op class idea? You may want to consider this delightful class (created and taught by my sweet friend Jenny) which included tea, treats, and Beatrix Potter stories! Students also learned etiquette, manners, and how to give a proper tea. Students were encouraged to dress-up for tea! Students took […]
Our seventh book discussion for the Bibliovores Class was on The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. Reactions Pass out small papers and let students write one of the following on the paper: love it, like it, hate it. Collect and tally the vote on the board. Voting with the papers allows shy students to stay […]
Our ninth book for the Bibliovores Class was Hailstones and Halibut Bones: Adventures in Poetry and Color by Mary O'Neill Reactions Pass out small papers and let students write one of the following on the paper: love it, like it, hate it. Collect and tally the vote on the board. Voting with the papers allows shy students to […]
Our tenth book for the Bibliovores Class was George Muller: The Guardian of Bristol's Orphans by Janet and Geoff Benge. Reactions Pass out small papers and let students write one of the following on the paper: love it, like it, hate it. Collect and tally the vote on the board. Voting with the papers allows shy students to […]
Our fifth book for our Bibliovores Class was Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls. Reactions Pass out small papers and let students write one of the following on the paper: love it, like it, hate it. Collect and tally the vote on the board. Voting with the papers allows shy students to stay anonymous yet give […]
Note: I made a big mistake selecting this book. We are Paddington fans at our house, so I didn't want to choose the first book, A Bear Called Paddington, since we are so familiar with it. I should have, though, as most of the students were not familiar with Paddington. Another option would be to […]
Our second book for the Bibliovores Class was The Castle Corona by Sharon Creech. Reactions Pass out small papers and let students write one of the following on the paper: love it, like it, hate it. Collect and tally the vote on the board. Voting with the papers allows shy students to stay anonymous and yet give […]
Our first book discussion for the Bibliovores Class was on The Candymakers by Wendy Mass. Reactions Pass out small papers and let students write one of the following on the paper: love it, like it, hate it. Collect and tally the vote on the board. Voting with the papers allows shy students to stay anonymous yet […]
My co-op class responsibility last fall was Bibliovores; a book discussion class for kids who devour books. This was a class I had been wanting to lead for a few years, so I was crazy-excited when the time came. I am going to share my discussion notes with you over a series of posts because […]
Jodi shared her Insects Class plans (K-3rd) with us last week. This week she is sharing her plans for upper elementary. Thanks, Jodi! I taught another co-op class about insects for upper elementary children. We studied a different insect for each of the nine weeks we were in session. You can download the syllabus here. We used […]
Summer is coming, and so are the BUGS! A few years ago, my friend, Jodi taught two insect classes at co-op. I’ve asked her to guest post about the class. Most children are fascinated by insects, and this would make a fun class or club for this summer or fall. For our Fall semester 2012, […]
Looking for a fun preschool class that will keep them learning, busy, and having fun? Little Builders fits all three categories! We started every class with a book about building. Here was our line-up: Week 1: I Want to Be a Builder Week 2: Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel Week 3: The Toolbox Week […]
A little bit of science. A little bit of art. And a whole lot of having fun and making a mess! What Is Crazy Kid Concoctions? Crazy Kid Concoctions is a spring class I taught for 1st-4th grade students. It’s kids getting a chance to make their own craft supplies and more! In order to keep […]
My sweet and smart friend, Brandy, created and taught this class last fall. Our co-op ran 12 weeks, so she chose four American Girl dolls and decided to focus on each one for three weeks. Each week, the girls were encouraged to go home and read one book about the featured doll. During the tea parties, […]