Butterflies

Madeleine’s science co-op class has been going through the days of creation; studying light and dark, sun and moon, plants and animals, etc. When they got to the animals, she was sent home with four caterpillars. Three formed chrysallises; when they emerged, they were Painted Lady Butterflies! How fun that the boys and I got to experience this with her. She named all three; Goldie and Eleanor were the first to emerge, while Maggie waited until the next day. She must have stared into this netting all day, watching them stretch their wings. SO MUCH FUN!

We put a container with honey water in it in the net; a paper towel hung out for the butterflies to eat. We also put leaves and such in to imitate their natural habitat. We were hoping they would lay eggs, but they never did. We read that they would only live about two days, but they ended up living about a week.

Co-op

Yesterday was our second day of Co-op. We are new members this year of a homeschool co-op that meets at our church. The co-op is about 20 years old, but I just found out about it in the spring of this year. We go once a week, on Tuesday afternoons. The kids have an hour of art and an hour of science this semester, and next semester they switch the art out with geography. The moms do the teaching in this co-op. This semester I am helping out in the nursery, loving on some babies. Next semester, I am teaching South American geography to first graders. I didn’t pick it, it was assigned to me; when I asked for the curriculum, like all the other classes have, I was told “We didn’t like how it was taught the last two years, so we don’t have curriculum for you.” Great. Just what I wanted to hear!

So I have been going about making up my curriculum. I am teaching six first graders, one of whom is my own son, about South America. I don’t want to teach it by country, because they are all so very similar. Instead, I am focusing on three major geographical areas, as well as the language, food, dress and other extra things. I have to come up with homework as well as in-class activities. It is not as difficult as I had thought it might be, although there is a reason I don’t write curriculum for a living!

But back to the co-op. My kids love it! They love it so much it makes me wonder if they would like ‘real’ school much better than homeschooling! I don’t really think so, but it does make me go “hmmmm”.

Have you ever been involved in a homeschool co-op?