Four Co-Op Class Ideas

We will be joining a Homeschool Co-Op for the 2023/2024 school year! This is part of the NELCHA co-op organization. In the past, they've offered co-op classes in three locations near us with the closest being about an hour and a half away from my house. I thought about joining several times but I just didn't think I could swing it once a week.

A few weeks ago, a lady in a town closer to use - about fifty minutes away - posted that she was trying to get a new branch started up in her town! We had an informational meeting and we just found out that we are going to be able to have this co-op starting this fall! We will have ten weeks in fall and ten weeks in the spring, with three class periods each week. 

Each parent has to teach a class, co-teach a class, or volunteer in some other way. I love teaching, so my teacher-heart got really excited and I started brainstorming classes! I had so many different ideas that it was hard to pinpoint just a few.

I submitted four different class ideas. The leaders are going to choose the classes that they think are the best and then make a schedule. Here are the classes I submitted:

LITERATURE POCKETS: AESOP'S FABLES

This class is for grades 1st through 3rd. We will take two to three weeks on each of the fables in this book. We will read the fable, talk about it, make the literature pockets, and do extra activities for each one. I'm thinking STEM related projects or games, like this one for the Tortoise and Hare:

My kids love Aesop's Fables, and I think this class would be really fun to teach!

HISTORY POCKETS: ANCIENT GREECE

This class is for 4th grade through 6th grade. There are 9 different "pockets" with topics on Ancient Greece. I'm planning to take two weeks on each pockets, with two weeks as a cushion in case we take longer on a few. I'm going to add in library books and maybe some YouTube videos for more information. 

GLOBAL ART

Using this book, we are going to focus on the six inhabited continents for three weeks each. That leaves us two weeks to learn about Antarctica or do an overview of the world. We will spend about 10 minutes each class period learning about the country and continent, doing a mapping worksheet, and maybe reading a book. Then the remaining 35 minutes will be spend on our art projects. I have some really neat projects picked out, like hand-painted tiles for Spain, yarn art for Mexico, and colorful baskets for Zambia. 

BEFORE FIVE IN A ROW

Before Five in a Row and Five in a Row are some of my favorite curriculum for young kids! I would love to do Before Five in a Row with the preschoolers. I'll read the story, do a few activities from the book, and add in some sensory play or fine motor activities to go along with the book. Here are some of the books we have "rowed" from BFIAR (although I didn't post about all of them!).

I'm really excited to see which classes are chosen and which are available for my kids. I feel like this co-op is going to be a really great fit for our family. Having the chance to take a class taught by someone else in a classroom setting without having to go to public school is a good opportunity for my boys. They'll also be around other homeschooled kids and have that socialization that everyone is always so worried about! 

Have you taught a co-op class?