A Year of Co-ops in Review - Part 2

The other co-op that we decided to join this past year was the Free Range Learning Co-op.  It was practically the exact opposite of Classical Conversations.  We actually didn't join until halfway through the school year because I was afraid that it would be too much for us.  However, I had a change of heart in January, and we decided to give it a go.  I'm so glad we did, too, because it has been wonderful!!

FRL Co-op is more of an unschooling type of co-op.  Parents volunteer to teach the different classes that are set up in a block-like manner.  The class ages range from preschool up to high school.  There is also a nursery where babies can stay if needed, but it's not required.  Once the classes are set up, the children can choose which ones they want to take each session.  There is a class limit for most of them.

The classes that Hayden signed up for were:  Dr. Seuss Book Club, Chess Club, Elementary Art Explorations, Lego Club, and Outside Playtime.  Sawyer's classes were: Preschool Storytime, Where Our Food Comes From, Preschool Art, Lego Club, and Outside Playtime.  I spent most of my time with Sawyer.  So, I didn't get to see a lot of Hayden's classes.  I ended up assisting in the Elementary Art and the Preschool Storytime classes and liked it so much, I decided to teach a couple of the classes in the Summer Sessions.

Preschool Storytime

Preschool Art - mixing color into sand and using the sand to
make a picture

Where Our Food Comes From - using parsley that was planted at the beginning
of the semester in a quinoa recipe.

Elementary Art Explorations - Watercolor Salt Painting

Hayden's finished painting

Chess Club

More Elementary Art

And a little more Elementary Art - Still Life Drawings  :)

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the Dr. Seuss Book Club or Lego Club (or Outside Playtime, but we all know what that looks like!).  Here are a few pics of Riley during co-op days, though.

Making friends with his doppleganger (Riley is on the right btw)

Testing out the baby proof-ness of the Free Range toys with another friend.

Lunchtime in the playground area.

We also had lots of field trips and park days through this group.....

Camp Chowenwaw Field Trip:

A lesson in animal adaptation

Taking a walk around the lake to look for fish and other things in nature.

More adaptation in nature

Dairy Farm Field Trip:

The farm we went to was just north of Jacksonville.  It used to be a larger commercial farm, but the guy who owns it sold a lot of the cows, and he now has only a few milking cows that he uses for personal use.

Setting up the area for the cows to be milked.

Where the cows used to be milked when it was a big
commercial farm.

Checking out the machinery for milking the cows.

The milk cows being fed while getting ready for the milking.

Pouring the milk into separate sanitized milk jugs.

And of course, the boys scored some empty shotgun shells
in their explorations around the farm.  Ha!

UNF Scavenger Hunt Field Trip:

Listening to the rules and getting ready to separate big kids from little kids.

On the hunt!

Playing a little freeze tag after the scavenger hunt.

Looking for animal tracks by the pond.

Marking off items as we find them.

Taking a little break along the walkway.

Gazing longingly at the ropes course that we did NOT go on.  haha!

Kingsley Plantation Field Trip:

Kingsley Plantation is a Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve here in Jacksonville.  It was owned by Zephaniah Kingsley and his wife, Anna, who was from Africa and purchased by Kingsley as a slave.  She actively participated in the plantation and was eventually freed by Kingsley in 1811.  Cotton and indigo were the primary crops grown on the Kingsley Plantation.  You can read more about it here if you're interested in the history.

There were a few protected tortoises on the plantation.

The boys and girls were VERY interested in one of those tortoises!

Learning about the cotton crops grown on the plantation.

All the kids got a small piece of cotton to feel and observe.

Walking along the path towards some of the plantation buildings.

View of the plantation from out on a neighboring dock.

Hanging out after lunch.

The group had lunch by the water afterwards.

Cook tree by the water that the kids played on after lunch.

The end of the year was celebrated by a big skating party at the skating rink close to our house.  Man! Did that bring back memories from the 80s!  This was the first time either of the boys had been skating.  It was pretty daunting for both of them at first.  Sawyer didn't last very long.  Hayden took on the challenge, and finally mastered the skill enough to get around the rink without falling down.  It was loads of fun!

A Year of Co-op's In Review - Part 1

Since the school year officially came and went, and we entered into our lazy (hah!) summer session of schooling and co-ops, I figured that this would be a good time to look back on our year with the two co-ops that we were a part of.  A lot of the pictures ended up coming from my phone, but hey, at least I got them, right?

I'll start with Classical Conversations.  This was a VERY time consuming, yet rewarding group that we joined back in August.  As great as it was, it is really expensive, and it requires a great deal of work on my part (which wouldn't be such a big deal if I wasn't already working my rear-end off with the boys on a daily basis).  It added a lot of stress to the school year, and after doing some serious soul searching, I decided to not continue this one.  Maybe another year in the future it could be a possibility, but for now, I need to try to simplify things for myself as much as I can (we'll see how well I accomplish that goal).

All the things that the kids learned were (and I hope I'm not forgetting anything):  History Timeline, Geography, Latin, English grammar, Math, Science, Fine Arts, and Public Speaking.  You'll notice from the pictures what I really liked the most from Classical Conversations.

First Day Oral Presentation:
the students had to give a little presentation about themselves.

Learning the prepositions to the tune of "La Cucaracha"

Geography:  Africa

Science Experiement:  the inside of a lima bean

Morning Assembly

Sawyer's class was geared more toward preschool.
This was outside time.  Sidewalk chalk drawing.

Playing games and learning about nature.

Science:  The Naked Egg Experiment (which we actually did at home last year).

Oral Presentation:  Hayden showed how to make fruit kabobs

Science:  Donning latex gloves for owl pellet dissection

Science:  Owl pellet dissection

Music:  Tin Whistle lessons (this was brutal for us parents by the way)

Science:  Outdoor exploration.  Learning about animals in our area.

Oral presentation:  Hayden had to make the class laugh.
We chose our little bird puppet for him to talk with and make jokes.

Art:  Can't remember what this one was called.  They created some sort of
bas relief, I think?  Basically, using wiki sticks to bend into a design on
cardboard, they covered it with aluminum foil, painted over it with black
paint, and then scratched off some of the paint to reveal the design.

Hayden's wiki stick design.

Painting it with the black paint before using sandpaper
to rub it back off.

Oral Presentation:  with a little help from his tutor, Hayden
gave his presentation using his lapbook on frogs that he made
the previous summer.

First Broadway musical experience!  We got the tickets
through our CC group.

Awaiting the start of the show!

Science:  Studying particles of sand/rock.

Science:  Making Borax crystals (another experiment we have already done
at home, but never gets old!)

Oral Presentation:  Hayden made this melted crayon on canvas
art project at home.  His presentation this day was to explain from
start to finish how he did it.

Finale of fine arts was learning about the different periods of music (Baroque, Classical, etc.).  Each class of our CC group learned a section of the orchestra and sang their part.  All parts were sung together to create a chorus of instruments.  I hope this video comes through.  It was a lot of fun and sounds great!