We have been part of our co-op for about three years, and I think that it is coming to an end. We originally joined so that my kids and I could have some homeschooled friends. I have met some great ladies and have even begun to accept that a few are indeed going to be good friends. CC has met her bff who has since moved away. I have learned quite a bit about teaching by trying out different things with the kids in co-op.
I think that what we are getting out of it is far less that the energy and time that I am putting into it. I feel like I put so much energy into the co-op classes that I short change my own kids. I have started to dread co-op days, and I don't even want to read my kids a bedtime story after co-op because I just run out of energy for kids.
CC attends a wonderful cottage school one day a week. There is literature-based unit studies, project-based science, exceptional art instruction, foreign language, music, pe, and field trips.
This week, I probably had the final comparison that I needed. We had a girl scout party that included most of her friends from co-op, and it was a normal day at school which included a field trip to a local art museum. After the party, during our debriefing, she complained that she really only has one friend there and that one of the girls is annoying and how she liked everything about co-op better before her bff moved and so on. After school, she talked about how beautiful the artwork was and how she wished I had gone on the field trip so that I could have done the project with them and how she and two of her friends chatted the whole way there and back and then gave a big contented sigh. She loves her school day.
I think that when January comes, I will start volunteering in the classroom so that I can share some of this with CC. I also think that we will be dropping co-op. I just need to make sure we make play dates with our friends that we hope to keep from there.
No comments:
Post a Comment