YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND, MOM! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!!!!!!, screeched the girl from between clenched teeth, her mother looking up at her from below the mats.
This was the scene that greeted us yesterday when John went climbing at Climb SO IL, a co op class offered by a wonderful mom at our co-op, Ashlea.
John was uncomfortable at first in the gear, didn't like the tight shoes, and felt awkward in the safety equipment, but he and his best friend listened to their lesson given by a facility employee and then took off to climb the walls!
Climb SO IL has several different skill areas in their huge warehouse building. The facility has these brilliant walls just for little kids. The walls have the auto-belaying piece on top for safety. Other zones for increased skill levels are dispersed throughout this spacious climb zone.I didn't get a single picture of John or Demitri on the wall, but I have gleefully stolen these images from the website of Climb SO IL. The boys were absolutely stoked every single time I saw them! And, though their hands were stressed at the end of the climb time, these boys are looking forward to the next time we get to go!
I LOVE the co op because it gives us the chance to expose ourselves to things that we might never have known about or might have avoided trying. OH, and the girl who was angry at her mother when we first walked in?
By the time we left she was climbing over two stories high on her belay rope...and LOVING IT.
I love reading about your co-op stuff. In the past I was in some home ed circles where people casually discussed the idea of a co-op but it all came down to needing people to put their hand up and have a turn at hosting and not many were prepared to do that (for whatever reason). I've been playing around with the idea of trying to get something going with a local group but we'll see.
ReplyDeleteIt can be done!
DeleteGet maybe three or four other parents willing to make a go of it with you so that you aren't on your own, figure out how you want it to work, and then put the word out!
I know you can do it! It is sooo worth it.