Learning in Community :: Fall 2021

When I first began homeschooling, there were no Charlotte Mason groups in my area, so I decided to start one! I began with a nature club, and for the past ten years, we have been meeting almost every Friday for a walk/hike/meet-up in a wild space of some kind, with time for exploration, nature journaling, and play. A couple years later, we added on a monthly-ish Charlotte Mason study group for those interested. Together we have gone through Mason's volumes and many Parents' Review articles. Over the years, members have come and gone -- some have made different schooling choices, some have moved here and then moved away, and new moms contact me all the time. But the core group of current members are now dear friends. I am really grateful to be home educating alongside them.

This year, we decided to add in a co-op -- it seemed like the right time for many reasons. My kids are older and can really benefit from learning with peers, my husband works from home and is able to watch my littles, and post-Covid, I have seen the real value of community, despite the energy it can take.

But the biggest push for me was that all of us are now using the CMEC. Not only does the CMEC offer a lot of support for community learning, but also we are all using the same programs this year, and we all have access to the same resources. This has made planning for cooperative learning super simple!

We decided to start small: every other Friday from 9-noon, instead of nature club, we would meet for our co-op. We committed to seven sessions for Fall Term (late August to mid-November). Currently we are on a break for Winter Term, and then we will have another seven sessions for Spring Term (late January to early April).

We have six families, including about twenty school-aged kids plus littles. We have a mix of subjects: some we do all together, and some we split into two groups for (Form 1 and Kinderleben go with one instructor, and Forms 2-5 go with another instructor). There are also a couple moms in charge of managing Littleleben (aka, the babies and toddlers!) while the students are working.

Here was our schedule for this fall:

On the off weeks, families did these same subjects on their own and we met for our regular nature outing on Friday morning. The only lesson that really required families to stay on track at home was Plutarch, since we only covered every other lesson together and we didn't want students to get behind or be confused during class. The rest were fairly flexible, and meeting only every other week allowed us a bit of freedom for each family to have their own school schedule. We used Slack, our communication platform, to share any necessary notes for parents.

Due to Covid restrictions, we met outside all term. Thanks to our nice weather here in California, that worked just fine. We were able to find a great spot at a local community park with plenty of shade, picnic tables, privacy, and not too many distractions. :)

During the optional sharing time at the end for the older kids, we chose a different category each week -- for example, one week they brought their current handicrafts, another they brought notebooks, another they brought board games to play together. On the last week, we had a "book club" discussion of the historical fiction assigned this term, Johnny Tremain.

Our seventh and final meeting was a fall celebration. The students performed their songs and folk dances, recited poems, played singing games, and showcased final projects for Plutarch and fairy tales. We finished with a potluck lunch and plenty of time to play.

In the spring, we are intentionally taking on a few different subjects so we have a chance to experience a variety of lessons in community. We have a meeting coming up this month to finalize our spring plans!

Our co-op went so smoothly this fall, partly thanks to the CMEC resources (it helped to have that flexible guidance to structure our studies, and we learned so much from Amy's experience at The Mason Academy that she shares through the Community Learning Support Group) and partly thanks to the cheerful willingness of the families involved. Everyone was eager to contribute and committed to understanding the methodology well. Plus we have a pretty wonderful group of kids!

Are you part of a co-op? What are your favorite subjects to do together? We are currently planning Shakespeare, scouting, drill, historical picture books, and a few more fun additions for next term's studies.