Around the World Geography Co-Op

Sep 20, 2010
Friday was our first Around the World Geography Co-Op and it went really well!  It was a little bittersweet for me since me and some friends from Asheville started this there and I really miss them, but good to be able to share this and see others secited about it too.  We have a little bigger group than I expected but I think they all work well together.  We have 7 moms and 19 kids ( of which 17 of them are girls!).  Thankfully the two boys we have are at least the same age and used to being around a lot of girls since they both have 3 sisters.  I'm looking forward to a great time with some great ladies and their kids.  :) 

We (Rachel, Rebekah and I) came up with the idea for this co-op after attending a Five in a Row conference and on our trip home formed it into a group.  We had five moms and 11 kids there.  The concept is to study a county for 6 weeks and each mom is responsible for one of 5 areas:

Geography/History
Culture
Missions/Famous People
Animals/Plants
Music/Art

Eash mom presents a 5-15 minute lesson on their chosen area each week and gives the kids some kind of visual to help them remember what they talked about.  The kids collect all of the little pieces for the 6 weeks and put them in their folder.  On the 6th week we gather together and the kids put together lapbooks or notebooks that represent our 6 weeks together on that country.  Later the same night we all get together for a cultral dinner experience where each family brings a dish to share based on a recipe from that specific country.  After we all eat, the kids then present their lapbooks to us and share their favorite parts about what they have studied for the last 6 weeks and the older ones may present a report they have put together as well.  It give them a little public speaking experience and it also gives the dads an opportunity to be in on a part of our schooling that not many of them get to be a part of.  Not to mention some great fellowship time for the parents to get to know each other and hang out and the kids to have some social time as well.  We usually study about 5 to 6 countries during the year.





I put together the notebooks for the kids to have to keep all their visuals in and also these pencils.  Aren't they cute?!  I saw them in a Creating Keepsakes magazine and thought they were too cute and made them for all the kids.  All they are is yellow cardstock wrapped around a pack of Rolo's, pink cardstock for the eraser and then foil for "metal" on the pencil.  Very easy and fun! 


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