Home School Co-op!

Well. last week wrapped up our time in a home school co-op. I have always wanted to participate in one and we were blessed with the opportunity this last semester. It was a wonderful experience. I got to meet other home schooling parents...to connect faces and voices to names. Elias got to meet other youth of varying ages. All in all, I am very grateful that we got to do it.

It was also an incredibly stressful experience. Having only one vehicle meant that we all needed to leave together at 5:45 in the morning. We would either have Dave drop us off at a church where we waited for the secretary to come let us in; or we dropped Dave off at work and came back to the church. If I dropped him off, then I had to go back to pick him up later. By the time we got home, typically about 13- 14 hours later, I was wiped out. Actually, I was tired long before that.

The evening before I had to make sure we had everything packed that we needed. We needed to have breakfast, lunch, snacks, etc. Although there was some access to a microwave, we had to remember to bring all the utensils, plates, etc. It was very interesting, to say the least. The day after was usually spent recuperating from the day before! The very first day we did it, I came home and just crashed on the couch. I was exhausted. But I would not have traded the experience away! It was worth it!

At the first church, we got to know the secretary who, very graciously, gave us a place to work at while waiting for music classes to start. The music classes were not part of the co-op. They were a different group. Elias took music theory. After music, we either drove or got a ride to the other church where the co-op classes were held.

There he got to take a class on oceans. He also got to do P.E. and art. After the classes, we got to participate in a group dinner. By that time, Dave would be there. That was really nice, too, as that was the time he had to also get to know other parents.

What a wonderful thing to see adults and youth working together to share their talents and knowledge and abilities with each other. All the parents pitched in and helped, whether with teaching, or setup, or cleanup or other assorted things that needed to be done. There was a spirit of co-operation and coming together with a common goal to make things work for everyone.