Wildwood Co-op

Co-op Structure & Schedule

Wildwood Collective is a Charlotte Mason homeschool community in the Twin Cities. We meet on Mondays at a church in Bloomington, MN, from 9:00 am to 12:15 pm. We meet for two 12-week terms in the Fall and Spring.

Wildwood Co-op is reserved for families whose oldest student is at least six years old. We are a community where parents volunteer to share the responsibilities of teaching, organizing, and, nursery care. This is not a drop-off. 

Class offerings for the 2024-2025 school year may include the following:

  • Nature Study: nature study allows students to learn, know, and delight in natural objects

  • Foreign Language: Latin, Spanish, ASL, or other language as teachers are available

  • Artist & picture study: one artist and his/her works will be studied each term

  • Fine art & Handcraft: a fine arts study will occur during the fall term, handcraft in the spring

  • Folk: folk songs give us a feel for the time and culture they represent 

  • Hymn: hymns give us songs that Christians have been singing throughout the ages

  • Recitation: Scripture passages, poems, Shakespeare speeches, historical speeches (not rote memory of facts but beautiful ideas in context)

  • Public Speaking: students share and field questions, home recitations welcome

  • Group Games: Folk dance, movement, or group games 

  • Shakespeare: read and narrate a Shakespeare play

  • Composer Study: appreciate music and learn about composers

Classroom Guidelines

In order to help your child have a positive and fruitful learning experience at co-op, children will be placed into classes based on classroom readiness, which includes the combination of maturity, scholastic ability, classroom behavior, engagement, and age. The final classroom breakdown will be finalized after we know how many students we have for the fall term. This will be the general guideline:

  • Nursery: 0-3

  • Kinder: 4- and 5-year-olds

  • Form 1A: 1st-3rd grade

  • Form 1B: 4th -6th grade

Cost

In keeping with the heart of Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of a “classical education accessible to all,” we prioritize keeping costs low for families interested in participating in our Co-op. Term fees are collected at the beginning of each term and typically include Liability Insurance, class supplies, and facility rental. The final cost is estimated between $3200-$400 per family but will depend on the final number of families enrolled and supplies needed for classes taught.