In education, a fine line exists between challenging a child and frustrating a child. The only way to find the balance is to truly know the child.
In one of our co-op classes, I co-teach a class with 23 students. Ten or so are freshmen, five or so sophomores and juniors, and one senior. With such diversity, we have such a difficult task finding assignments that are challenging to all, yet not frustrating to any.
Is this possible?
Isn't this why we homeschool to begin with, so we can tailor our learning to the specifications, the bent, of the child? I suppose the best solution is to modify the workload.
In a co-op setting, just as in a school setting, we release some of our rights, our control, over our children's education. This is one of those instances.
If only we had more time, more hours in the day, or at least more hours of class time, we could do so much better. But a co-op is truly a partnership between parent and teacher. We just have to pray God will give the parents the wisdom to see what their own children need, and provide as He always does.
How did Laura Ingalls Wilder do it?
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