One
of my current homeschooling projects is something near and dear to my
heart. Two other homeschooling women and I have begun the process of
starting a homeschooling Co-Op in our area. It all started when...
A
friend of mine asked if I'd like to get together with her once every
other week so that our homeschooled children could get together and
play. I suggested that maybe we make it a homeschooling project day
and plan something somewhat educational for each meeting. Then we
realized a mutual friend of ours might like to join us for this
homeschool gathering of sorts. We started meeting every other week
in January 2012, rotating homes and sharing the responsibility of
lunches and lesson plans. One of our first projects was for each
family to make a family tree. It was kind of an art project and
study of each family's unique history. We were thrilled with the
results, a bit proud of ourselves if I do say so myself, and we kept
the ball rolling from there! There were bumps, of course, and we
quickly discovered what things helped and hindered the productivity
of our times together. For instance, one strong-willed, older child
needed lots of responsibilities helping the Moms so as to keep him
occupied and out of trouble; two three year olds (bless their little
hearts) needed “gentle guiding” in order to “love one another”
as they should; and, perhaps most valuable of all, eating outside is
always a plus when feeding 9 children at once! I learned that art
and craft projects are best done in someone else's home lest I have a
nervous breakdown, but that science projects, just as messy, are not
as stressful to me (for some strange reason...don't ask me why).
Between
the three of us Moms we each had individual strengths and weaknesses.
We filled each others gaps in the homeschooling department and
before long we realized that we were forming a close bond ourselves
simply by being able to vent, talk, get out of the house together and
encourage each other. Soon we didn't know what was more important to
our family's health – the interactive education the kids were
receiving or the Mom-to-Mom time we were receiving!
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