Annual Co-op Art Show!

It is THE event of the season . . . The Tapestry of the Desert Annual Art Show!  This year, our kids worked hard to create art for this very special night,  November 10, 2015.  Our co-op was able to bless the Wilman family, who sadly lost their dear wife and mother to cancer earlier this year, with over $3,000.  It's awesome to see how God uses this humble event to show His love and His glory!

Co-op in Review: November 5, 2015

This was our second week studying the fabulous adventures of brave explorers.  The Age of Exploration represented an explosion of information that fundamentally changed the horizons of Europeans.  We will discuss and learn about the motives of the explorers.  And, learn about the shift from pure exploration to a desire to conquer people and colonize new lands.   The Rhetoric class discussion focused more on the cultural and religious shifts during the Renaissance.  The Dialectic class continued to work on their pumpkin maps.  The Upper Grammar class did some mapping activities and a fun battleship-like activity with explorer ships.  The Lower Grammar class made map grids of the world.  And, the FIAR class read the book, "Caps for Sale."  It's the tale of a peddler, some monkeys and some funny monkey business!  The kids then made cute paintings of the trees where the monkeys pulled their antics!

Co-op in Review: October 29, 2015

An important sub-era of the Renaissance is the Age of Exploration.  For the next two weeks, our history students will be studying, reading about, discussing and doing projects related to exploration. As crusaders returned from the East, bringing books and products, an interest in expanding trade routes exploded in Europe.  That combined with the new interest in learning and art, brought an intense desire to discover and explore the world.  We will see through this study how God used ordinary human beings, some with Godly motives, some with selfish motives, to introduce European culture to the rest of the world.  The Rhetoric students dove deep into discussions about these topics. and worked on a Renaissance sketching project.  The Dialectic class started a three week long project, making maps of exploration out of pumpkins.  The Upper Grammar class and the Lower Grammar class both made and used compasses.  The FIAR kids read the book, "The Runaway Bunny."  They then made Boo Boo Bunnies, to help soothe their scrapes and bruises!

Co-op in Review: October 22, 2015

This week, our studies turned from the darkness and turmoil of the Middle Ages to an awakening in Europe known as the Renaissance.  During the Renaissance, men became interested in this world, the physical properties, it's past glories and most important, it's new ideas!  With their minds newly reopened to literacy, culture and classic works, the cultural leaders of this time began to see themselves as men of a new era.  Culture was expanding in new and exciting ways, led by artists, writers and travelers from throughout the Mediterranean region.  Our Rhetoric class enjoyed discussing these foundational Renaissance topics together.  The Dialectic class completed their stained glass project from the previous class and did some soap carvings.  In Upper Grammar, the kids learned about the concept of dimension in art, and practiced creating art with depth and dimension.  The Lower Grammar class made Renaissance city scales out of boxes and construction paper.  The FIAR kids read the book, "Marguerite Makes a Book".  The kids then made an illuminated art project, like the illuminated art in Renaissance books.