This year the girls wanted to take co-op classes, research started in August. This year the girls wanted to be around kids their age. I started surfing Facebook to find some homeschool/co-op classes. We found ballroom dancing, a finance class, Wow ( learn from professionals), horseback riding, painting, silver clay class, The Unusual Dress Project, study driving test, and some field trips with varies homeschool groups. I give them options and always tell them that if they hate the class, we can scratch it off the list.

My thoughts on Unschooling and what people think

Let me start by saying there are a lot die hard Unschoolers out there and I am not one of them. People love to debate how you should Unschool. Die hards believe in no traditional curriculum, no discipline, no testing, and the approach of letting your child do whatever they want. My interpretation is the laid-back approach, and who cares what everyone thinks. An Unschooler is someone who decides what they want to learn and how they want to learn it. To learn more click here.

We started with Ballroom Dancing

I honestly thought they would hate Ballroom Dancing co-op class. My girls love to dance class because of the boys that attend. So far, we have a good mix of kids six boys and six girls. They are learning the history of dance and steps to different styles. They get to dance with everyone in the class and the last ten minutes she plays games

Painting and Silver Clay classes for Belle

Belle is taking silver clay class with Mrs. Christy at Dream Cat Studios. While her sister takes horseback riding, she gets to paint. Belle is working on making her jewelry business grow. She asked to start learning about Silver clay or PMC ( precious metal clay). PMC is crafting material consisting of tiny silver particles, a binder, and water that when fired in a kiln becomes 99.9% pure silver. Belle is learning how to update her website, by adding new products, taking pictures, editing them and learning how to price each piece. We discuss cost versus profit, decisions on supplies and the cost run a business. So far she has items on Etsy, Amazon Canada and Amazon USA with more countries on the way.

A girl who loves horseback riding

It makes my heart skip a beat to see a smile on my daughter’s face. She is smiling the whole time she is riding and loves every minute. Mac is learning how to brush and bath the horse, clean out its hooves. Part of the class invloves going over parts of the animals’ body, name riding gear parts, and how to put it on correctly. Mrs. Kate has taught her how to walk, canter, and posting (which means you are in step with the horse).

Driving class 

Mac is working on getting her learners to permit. So far, she says the online driver’s classes are boring. Therefore, Mac informed me that they’re not a lot on the rules of the road, but the videos talk mostly about don’t drink, don’t drive and good grief don’t do them all together. She already knows all this ( teenagers know everything). She has informed me, “I have taken tests, and I don’t know how I did till the end and if I fail I am never driving I will just get an Uber.” Fine by me, driving is overrated anyway and it will save on my insurance.