There are a number of excellent homeschool co-ops semi-nearby. Unfortunately, the Christian co-ops require a signed statement of faith that excludes Latter-day Saints, and the secular co-ops are either too far away or quite expensive. Over the past few years, numerous people have approached me about helping start a Latter-Day Saint co-op, but I've had too much on my plate with getting the Homes United Co-op up and running. This year, however, we were ready to take on a new project, and with the help of a fantastic group parents, we created FLEET.
FLEET stands for "Friends Learning, Exploring, Excelling Together." While we are a co-op designed for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are an inclusive group and welcome anyone who knows our beliefs and wants to join us.
Finding a space to rent was the trickiest aspect of planning the co-op, but we eventually found a location that meets our current needs. We only meet once a week for 2 hours, so it's not a huge time commitment. We have about 19 families in our group with over 50 kids.
We divided the kids into groups based roughly on grade level. We have a 6th grade and up group that meets separately and will spend the entire year learning about the Constitution and US government. We have a toddler group, a K/4 group, a K/1 group, a 2nd grade group, a 3rd grade group, and a 4th/5th group.
We have about eight kids in each group.
In January, for our second semester, we will shake things up and all the kids will have two different classes. That's a bummer for Thane because he currently has cooking and art/games, and those are pretty much his favorite things.
Classes are taught and assisted by parents. I am teaching the Oregon Trail class to the 4th/5th graders. The class is a combination of an Oregon Trail simulation game, related STEM activities, pioneer games and crafts, and we will also discuss the Mormon Trail.
It has been such a great addition to our homeschool calendar! We all love it.
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