Unit Celebrations

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One of my favorite things about Tapestry of Grace is participating in the Unit Celebrations.  My children always look forward to preparing for these celebrations and they have become a memory maker for the whole family.

I have to say, I haven’t always been faithful in getting them done each unit but those that I have gone the extra effort to make happen have been well worth it.

Now that we are part of a Tapestry of Grace Co-Op, getting unit celebrations done require a lot of planning and scheduling so that all families can participate in them.  We have discovered that this gives the dads of our Co-Op an opportunity to see all the hard work the kiddos put into the year.  This year, we accomplished one big unit celebration following Year 4 Units 1, 2 & 3. 

This unit celebration was in May.  We set up tables in my living room, one per family.  Each family brought their favorite projects and books from throughout the year and displayed them proudly on the tables.  This gave the dads  (and other family members) the opportunity to browse through all the kid’s work.

We always start our co-op off with the Pledge of Allegiance and Prayer time.  So, we start our unit celebration out the same way.  

Then we have opening time.  While not part of Tapestry of Grace, in our co-op we have an opening ceremony time each Friday before co-op.  The last unit, our opening teacher focused on teaching the children to use an Evangecube.  To show the family, each of our kids was assigned a portion of the Evangecube and shared it with those at our celebration.

Next, each of the kids picked their favorite project or paper from the year and shared it or read it aloud to everyone attending.  My oldest, who is a dialectic student, chose her World War 1 display board and U-Boat clay project.  My son, who is an upper grammar student, read his state paper from Writing Aids.  His state was California.  My youngest, a lower grammar student, also chose her state paper from Writing Aids.  She wrote about Georgia.  She was proud to show off her picture posing with Mark Hall from Casting Crowns – a famous person from Georgia!

In Co-Op, we had an hour just for “art” – using Atelier Art.  In my patio, we set up an art gallery showcasing this year’s art projects.  The dads and other siblings enjoyed browsing through the various art projects.  

Finally, we topped off the unit celebration with cake and a pool party.

When co-op resumes in August, we still have Unit 4 of Year 4 to finish.  My co-leader and I planned out the whole year and built in the unit celebrations.  Here is what we have lined up for next year:

Year 4 Unit 4 – Trip to the Kennedy Space Center in September.  The kids will bring a few things to share once at the KSC but most of the day will focus on the attractions at KSC.

Year 1 Unit 1 – In December, before Christmas, we will have a Seder Meal.  This will probably be at one of our homes and will allow the kids an opportunity to bring projects to share after the meal is over.

Year 1 Unit 2 – We will have dinner at a local Greek restaurant and then meet at one of our homes for some desserts and a time to share projects.

Year 1 Unit 3 – This will be a fun afternoon.  We plan to complete the Greek Play assigned and perform for everyone attending.  In addition, we will design and present an Olympic Games for the co-op children.

Unit Celebrations are really a great way to cap off what was learned in a unit.  They are so worth the effort!