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The Resource Room
Extracurricular Activities
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Sports
Sports for homeschoolers? You bet! Our middle daughter took a
golf class at our homeschool co-op. One semester and she was hooked. When
the co-op didn’t renew the class we realized we would have to find
another way for her to play. With a little research, we discovered a
local golf club offered homeschool classes during school hours. We picked
up a set of used golf clubs, had them cut to her size (more cost
effective than buying a whole set of new clubs that fit), and she was
ready to go. After a few semesters of the homeschool class she joined the
Junior PGA and took part in tournaments.
It has been a wonderful introduction to organized sports. Our kids
have also taken homeschool gymnastics lessons. These are offered by a
number of different gyms in our area. Keep looking until you find what
you want. If what you want is just not available in your area, put
together a group of parents interested in the same thing and approach the
business of your choice. Let them know you have ‘X’ number of parents
interested, with ‘X’ number of kids, and you would like to put together a
daytime class for homeschoolers. Usually homeschool classes are offered
during school hours at discounted rates because with all of the kids in
school, the businesses don’t have much of a customer base at that time. It’s
a win-win situation.
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Disney – educational?
Hands on Homeschooling is all about play with a
purpose. If you are going to learn something it might as well be
enjoyable, right? Who could make that point more clear than Disney? We didn’t just go to ride the rides and
meet the mouse… we actually learned all sorts of things. Take for
instance our days at Epcot - science and environmental studies on the
Living with the Land ride, Turtle Talk with Crush put them right in the
middle of the ocean, and Soaring gave a bird’s eye view over mountains,
rivers and deserts. We had more science discussion before, during, and
after riding Test Track, Space Ship Earth, and Mission Space. Solving Kim
Possible adventures in several countries of the World Showcase let the kids
explore 11 countries without ever leaving the park. The kids got
passports which were stamped in each country. Each Kidcot attendant also
gave them a charm to hang on their mask (which could also be stamped if
you didn’t want to buy a passport). We ate ethnic foods, heard native
languages, and got a pretty good idea of the culture in each destination.
Fascinating and VERY educational. The Age 4 edition of Hands on
Homeschooling offers preschoolers a glimpse into big communities called
countries. If you are planning a trip to Epcot either during or after you
have covered the Age 4 version of HOH, you might want to consider
swapping out the countries in the curriculum for some of the countries
included in Epcot’s World Showcase in order to enhance the experience.
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Church camp
Hearing my children relate their experiences at church
camp, even though I did not go as a kid myself, has convinced me that
every kid should have the opportunity.
Chances to build friendships that may last a lifetime. The friends who came with you and all
of the other kids from churches around you – all coming together to learn
about the Bible and have fun doing it. Great lessons that simply can’t be
learned with once or twice a week church attendance. There is something
to be said for the whole sleepover experience. We spend a lot of time equipping and
training our children to be the light of the world and to share the Good
News of the Gospel with others. I am convinced there comes a time when we
need to let them peek out from under our wings long enough in order for
them to do a little learning on their own. Give them the opportunity to develop
their own voice, their own testimony. Obviously, pre-school is not yet
that time. But as your kids get older, I encourage you to check with your
church’s children’s ministry leader and find out if a group from your
church (big or small) does or could attend a local church camp as a
group.
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Co-ops
All co-ops are not the same. Before you arbitrarily
join one I would suggest defining why you want to be part of a
co-op. That will help you narrow
down the options in finding one that is a good fit for your family. Are
you looking for enrichment classes? Do you just want a social place for
your kids? Do you want core academics? Do you want classes you pay higher
prices for which are taught by “professionals” or do you want a totally
parent led co-op where fees are minimal?
There are a lot of options out there and you simply need to choose
one that fits the needs of your family. For our family, we found the
perfect combination by attending one day a week at a co-op with about 80
families offering core academics, enrichment classes, and PE type classes
along with one day a week at a co-op created by 3 families who were using
the same curriculum. The big co-op offers all of the higher math and
science classes for middle and high school students (so we don’t have to
be experts in algebra or buy microscopes and dissect anything on the
kitchen table) along with fun classes like golf, polymer clay, and/or
cooking. The 3-family co-op is a group of families all using the same
core curriculum (in our case, Tapestry of Grace). This smaller co-op
gives us the chance to cover instructions for our core curriculum in one
day. Three moms split up the age groups and topics to cover material and
assign homework in subjects like grammar, history, literature,
worldviews, and art. After 2 days of co-ops we then spend 3 days doing
homework at home. Between two days at co-ops and three days at home we
feel that our kids are getting the absolute best education we could
possibly hope for.
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