Mar. 26, 2006 - Our Desert Prairie School
I just wanted to explain why I chose my user name as "Desert Prairie Mama". Usually online, I go by my first name with last initial. For this homeschool blogger, I decided to have something more cutsie. 
Some of my homeschooling friends and I formed a co-op this past school year. After coming up with a few ideas, we agreed that our co-op would be called THE DESERT PRAIRIE SCHOOL. This comes because of where we live. We live in the southwest desert. But thinking back to good old Laura Ingalls Wilder and her days on the prairie, that included her love of learning and many adventures. We tacked on the word 'prairie' to our school name, because we want to instill in our children many adventures through their love of learning. Thus, we became The Desert Prairie School. And now I'm Desert Prairie Mama in my very own little blog.
Our school co-op meets once per month, for about 5 hours each time. Each mom/family takes turns hosting it at their home. We started out with six moms, but recently added a seventh, so that makes about 23 kids (if I've got my math done right.) So one mom is a host, another is a host helper. The host mom always provides the lunch for everyone that day. The other moms rotate teaching different subjects each month. We have classes on geography, English/communications and science. These classes are usually split into two age groups, so that things can be geared according to the ages of the kids. Then we also have a little kids class (I was in charge of that last month and was completely worn out by the end of the day). There is also a craft. Sometimes instead of teaching a lesson on a certain topic, we may have a guest speaker or go on a field trip. This has been something that everyone has really enjoyed (and that includes us moms!) Not only is it a time for learning, but a great social outlet for everyone. You know what they say about homeschoolers and socializing. (ha ha!)
I'm excited for our May school because that day we're actually going to do a little hike and go fishing at a pond. That's going to feel very much like Laura's 'prairie' days.
Comments
Mar. 30, 2006 - hi from Jae
Posted by huffins
I like the name. I will put a pic on my blog when I find one I like!
