A little school

We have a homeschool co-op of four families which meets twice a month to do science experiments and geography. We really enjoy each family. We moms take turns handling each section, making for a nice break.

For geography, we are moving continent by continent. At the end of every unit, each child must present a report on something of their choice from the continent studied. It's been a really good experience for them to be in front of a small crowd.

Sammy's first report was a laugh. Literally. That's all he did. He giggled and barely said anything about the Indonesian houses he had studied. As a mom, it was all I could do to keep myself in my seat and not go "help" him. I silently suffered, pretending he was in a classroom and had to fend for himself a bit. I wanted to avoid what I think is a disadvantage of homeschooling; Mommy always being there to assist you. I try to be quite unhelpful now and then.

Sammy chose the Alps for his second report when we covered Europe. He loved painting his prop. And he did a fine job actually giving the report. We were proud of him for working so hard on what he was going to say. It was a big improvement. Of course, he didn't have far to go to improve from his previous laughfest!

Eli's European report was on Spain. His favorite things to tell about were their enormous annual tomato fight and the Running of the Bulls. He must be a boy. Like Sammy, he did much better the second time around.

Jake chose Austria. Being in fifth grade, he had a little more work to do and complained nearly every step of the way. From the research and notetaking to the rough and final draft writing and finally the practicing of giving the actual report, he realized just how much work goes into a full report. He almost bailed at the last second and then fully enjoyed it. I don't have a picture because his report was a size that could be saved. That's my way of getting rid of salt dough maps and other unwieldy projects: take a picture.

Miriam's job is to be an appreciate audience. But I just deleted her picture by accident. I'll pop it in next time.