Co-op In Review: November 1, 2012

This week, our Dialectic class completed their three week unit on the Alamo.  With their coon skin caps completed, this week they worked together as a class on a cardboard and craft stick Alamo model.  It turned out awesome and was a great tribute to the Texans who lost their lives and a great accomplishment for these kids who worked so well together!  The Upper Grammar class studied Victorian England.  And, these boys celebrated the Victorians by doing some handicrafts.  They each created a cross-stitch design, and did a great job!  The Lower Grammar class had a Victorian tea party and then made fragrant holiday pomanders out of cloves and oranges.  They smell delicious!  The Five in a Row kids loved reading the classic story, "Corduroy."  Corduroy lives in a department store and is lonely, until he is bought by a  young girl and learns the meaning of love and friendship.  He also gets a new button for his green overalls!  The kids played a button graphing game and made letters of the alphabet out of buttons!

Co-op in Review: October 25, 2012

Remember the Alamo!  That's what the kids read about and discussed in history this week.  The Dialectic kids are in their second week of three studying the Alamo.  They completed their coonskin caps this week, and they look mighty stylish when wearing them!   The Upper Grammar class built Alamo replicas out of cereal boxes, craft sticks and paint.  They had fun and were able to get a little creative!  Meanwhile, the Lower Grammar class had a little bit of a different take on their Alamo construction.  They made Alamo models out of marshmallows and frosting.  Yummy!!!  And, our little Five in A Row kids read the classic story, Blueberries for Sal.  While picking blueberries, Little Sal joins up with a mother bear, thinking it's her own mother.  While Little Bear follows along after Sal's mom, thinking that it is Mother Bear!  Finally, the mix up is discovered and Little Sal and Little Bear each go home with their own mothers!!  The kids did some blueberry tasting, made some graphs and went outside to do some fun bubble painting!   Today was a very special day at our co-op because adorable little Josie Lee attended for the first time!  Josie was born on October 5, 2012--so she started attending co-op at the ripe old age of three weeks!  She found co-op to be a very relaxing experience.  Welcome Josie, we're so happy to have you as a part of our Tapestry of the Desert family!!

Co-op In Review: October 18, 2012

This week, our Dialectic class started a three week unit on the Alamo and Texas.  They learned about the history of Texas--how it has been controlled by the French, Spanish, Mexicans and Americans.  And, even how it was an independent nation for a short period of time.  They also learned about the pivotal battle in the war for Independence from Mexico:  the battle at the Alamo.  While the Americans were handily and thoroughly defeated at the Alamo, it became the event that spurred the young, wild Texans on to an eventual victory over Mexico.  Davy Crockett was a key figure in the battle of the Alamo, and to celebrate his life and legacy, the kids started to make replicas of his famous coon skin cap!  The Upper Grammar boys studied the life of Louis Braille, the blind man who developed a way of reading for the sight impaired.  The kids made Braille writings out of puffy paints, played a game where they had to guide each other blindfolded and then played a guessing game, where they had to reach into bags and feel objects--guessing what they are by touch alone.   The Lower Grammar gang learned about the Cherokee, their beliefs, customs and culture.  They also studied the sad part of American history that we know as the Trail of Tears.  With the Indian Removal Act signed into law, the Cherokee were moved by the US Government from their homeland in the Appalachian Mountains to Indian Territory--Oklahoma.  The kids made beaded bracelets to help them remember the plight of the Cherokee.  The Five in a Row bunch read the book, Jesse Bear's Birthday.  They then had a birthday party just like Jesse's--they decorated cupcakes, made cute bear masks and played games!

Co-op in Review: September 27, 2012

This week was the final week of the Dialectic class' election unit and the third and final week of our studies of South America.  The Dialectic class worked on their campaign speeches, learned about the electoral college system and made campaign buttons with their slogans.   They really have enjoyed this timely look at the American Political system--and can't wait for Election Night.   The Upper Grammar class studied the geography and landscape of South America by making dioramas of the rainforest out of shoeboxes.  They did a great job!  The Lower Grammar class made rain sticks and "Keep Out" signs--which reminded them of the Monroe Doctrine--a doctrine that stands to day, keeping Europe out of the Americas.  And, the Five in a Row kids read the book, " We're Going on a Bear Hunt."  It's the classic tale of a father and his four children who journey through the great outdoors, and are finally chased home by a bear!  The kids then made cute bear puppets out of paper bags.