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Other than the WTM boards, what are some other homeschooling boards you visit


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I read another forum for a while, but I realized, after joining the equivalent of one of the social groups here, that the mean girls of the forum were picking apart posts from the main forum, making fun of people and judging them as too....whatever they didn't like. That really turned me off and I stopped reading. Maybe the same thing goes on here, I don't know, but I don't know about it so I'm happy here.  :laugh:

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I frequented the Secular Homeschoolers yahoogroup years ago when I was just getting started (and I hadn't heard of WTM).  They were a lovely mature helpful friendly group.  For whatever reason (maybe the WTM format is much easier to read than the yahoogroup), after finding WTM I haven't needed to go there for years, so I hope they are still as I remember.  

 

ETA:  I just checked my most recent digests from Secular Homeschoolers, and it looks like message volume is way down.  Maybe they all moved here or to SEA?  

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SHS seems to be dying. It's kind of a bummer because I met some cool people there, some of whom would not be comfortable here because newly deconverted former Christians are just like that for awhile.

 

I'm also looking, but unfortunately forum boards in general seem to be going in the direction mellifera33 describes. I have some accounts where I just read the archives, ignore the new posts, and never post anything myself.

 

Yahoo groups are pretty much dead.

 

To be bluntly honest, I don't really belong here for a number of reasons and have always tried to conduct myself as a polite visitor. There have been a few incidents that required a deep breath or a board break, but for the most part you all have been kind, hospitable, and I'd like to believe I have made a few posts that have had a positive impact on somebody's life.

 

Thanks, SWB. Thanks, Hive.

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The other one I regularly use is actually a Facebook group called Secular, Eclectic, Academic Homeschoolers. The name itself should let you know whether you might like it.

 

I'm on a few of the SEA groups on Facebook, but it drives me crazy sometimes how strict they are about shutting down posts that are in the "wrong" place.  

 

There's also a Secular Homeschool Forum but it's not nearly as active as here, and there is occasional anti-religious stuff that can make it uncomfortable.  I definitely consider myself a secular homeschooler, but I'm also Christian (although I did have a few years of questioning/searching recently).

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Ambleside Online has an active forum. In the past at least, it was for Christians. Non-Christians were allowed to join, BUT it was really easy to get banned from posting or banned altogether. I'm not disagreeing with their rules! I'm just advising people to lurk before posting and only ask and share the types of things that others are asking and sharing, so you can keep as many rights as possible for when you need them most. I appreciate that I am allowed to still read the forum.

 

There is a secular forum and a Catholic forum, but I forget the name and addresses.

 

Simply Charlotte Mason as Okbud mentioned.

 

Yahoo groups are dying as IEF mentioned, but there are few specialty ones, especially those focused on conservative Christian curricula tucked away here and there that remain active.

 

Memoria Press has a forum.

 

Forums, other than here, are really drying up. Forums cost money and take time to run.

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Simply Charlotte Mason - if you're interesting in discussing implementing CM in the real world.

 

My other "forums" are facebook groups, most geared toward homeschooling teens/high school or Charlotte Mason.  I think I'll be abandoning the CM fb groups soon, as they're mostly full of idealistic parents of 1st graders and I'm too old and cranky to be helpful.  Mostly I keep my mouth shut.

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Forums cost money and take time to run.

 

 

Pardon me, but I respectfully disagree. I moderate two extremely small forums here:

 

https://www.forumotion.com/

 

and I was also invited to join a spinoff of a spinoff of the Sonlight forums here:

 

https://www.proboards.com/

 

Neither of those hosts cost money. They are ad-supported like the email service that was recently purchased by Verizon so there are privacy issues

and I understand that if you don't have the right ad blockers there is porn. It looks clean as a whistle with U-block Origin and NoScript and since mine are such low volume forums where such controversial subjects are debated as whether one video game is more fun than another and why some people like cats better than dogs, I'm not stressing too much about moving it to a paid server.

 

The Yahoo group I moderate is for our local area and when I mentioned that I might be closing it down, I only got two responses, one from a possible troll and another asking if there was a Facebook group.

 

I reposted this article about Facebook to my Diaspora* feed today:

 

https://danielpocock.com/how-did-the-world-ever-work-without-facebook

 

and am cross-posting it here.

 

Permanent outsider and polite visitor seems to be my new normal. It will do.

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Pardon me, but I respectfully disagree. I moderate two extremely small forums here:

 

 

But wasn't it a year or two ago that SWB came over and said the reason they needed to change some things here was the cost was something like $2,000/mo? Am I making that up?

That doesn't seem cheap.

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But wasn't it a year or two ago that SWB came over and said the reason they needed to change some things here was the cost was something like $2,000/mo? Am I making that up?

That doesn't seem cheap.

 

 

No, this forum costs SWB $2,000 a month. These are ad-supported forum software accounts that would be appropriate for smaller groups as an alternative to Facebook or the now defunct Yahoo groups, and would also save SWB's bandwidth for discussions that could actually pay her bills.

 

It used to be common for people to use these ad-supported hosting plans when big forums went south or discussions veered too far off topic. There doesn't seem to be any interest any more.

 

Hunter may or may not have been aware of them, but they do still exist.

 

Mellifera33 offered an alternate explanation for the death of what was once a favourite part of internet culture for many of us. Facebook is another reason that has been postulated.

 

The internet has become more centralized and more like commercial television. Some of us are not happy about this change.

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SHS is definitely dying, though I pop in over there sometimes still. I think, honestly, that they didn't appropriately mod their community and then they lost it. You have to have a very clear sense of what's allowed and what isn't and when you step in and when you don't because otherwise either trolls end up poking everyone or the moderation feels uneven and unfair and either way people leave. I think people are more likely to stay in a community where they don't agree with some of the rules, but they're clear and enforced really evenly.

 

SEA makes me a little crazy. It's a huge, diverse group and it's mostly well-modded and I know so many people who are gung ho for it, but I always end up feeling annoyed after reading it. I'm still on there, but I rarely read it these days and I took it out of my FB feed.

 

I haven't read any of my yahoogroups in ages other than the really local ones.

 

I hang out on the Brave Writer Lifestyle FB group. And I have a few other FB groups I read.

 

Honestly, this forum is one of the best places, at least to me. I find that what unites people here is a real appreciation of and thoughtfulness about education. People here really believe in learning, even if we have different religions, parenting styles, and even methods of teaching.

 

On another group I read, there was a mom not long ago who said how her ds was cheating on his algebra work. They were using TT and he kept plugging the algebra problems into those online solvers. Well, the majority of respondents said that was CLEVER and good for him for figuring out a smart way to do his work. I nearly screamed through the computer at them. So the moral is why spend too much time anywhere but here because you'd better believe that the WTM board doesn't have parents who would put up with that nonsense.

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Not a forum, but I enjoy the Project-Based Homeschooling fb group, mostly because people post interesting articles to read. There are a heap of unschoolers who don't believe in directly teaching reading, so that may annoy you. But there are also people like me who have a child in school and still support interest-led projects at home. 

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The last time I was at vegsource it looked dead as a doornail. :(

 

There were some archived posts that were worth reading, but no replies to any of my replies about curriculum and/or anything reasonably current.

 

I liked Vegsource when my olders were homeschool age, but I think everybody migrated here, which kind of sucks for SWB having to pick up the bandwidth tab for the entire homeschooling community.

 

I'm not knocking Peace Hill Press products, which are wonderful and affordable, I just wish I could throw twenty bucks in the tip jar sometimes.

 

I (think I) see astroturfers on SHS and they make me want to counter-astroturf. I'm hardly a model citizen either, Sadie, but I think I behave better over here too. At least it's easier to put on my "company manners".

 

I may not have a "home on the internet" any more, but it's still fun to visit this board as long as I control the urge to vent about things that aren't relevant to most of you or to get too in-your-face "can I be your new best friend?" annoying.

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I like Memoria Press' forums. The people there are friendly and helpful.

 

I also like the forum at secularhomeschool.com, though some of them can be anti-religion/Christianity. Not everyone and not all the time, of course, but it still happens pretty regularly.

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I spend enough time online already, I don't need another board to keep up with! I am in a couple of homeschool groups on facebook, but those are easier to keep up with because they're just in my main feed and I'll be on FB anyway. I'm also not as active because they are mainly local ones and tend to run very religious. 

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I like Memoria Press' forums. The people there are friendly and helpful.

 

I also like the forum at secularhomeschool.com, though some of them can be anti-religion/Christianity. Not everyone and not all the time, of course, but it still happens pretty regularly.

The Memoria Press forum does seem really nice. I have lurked over there a bit reading older posts when I was thinking of using MP.

 

I would probably expect secularhomeschool.com to be somewhat anti-religion since it is like minded homeschoolers for the most part. I sometimes wish there was an active Christian homeschool board. While I love love that everyone here is tolerant of each other's beliefs, sometimes it is nice to not have to be overly careful and discuss things more deeply. I actually kind of like Confession of s Homeschoolers forum and I feel it is managed really well.

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Not all yahoo groups are dead. The hs2coll group is quite active. For parents approaching college apps for the first time, it is a good resource.

 

. I think I'll be abandoning the CM fb groups soon, as they're mostly full of idealistic parents of 1st graders and I'm too old and cranky to be helpful. Mostly I keep my mouth shut.

This made me laugh. I feel that way a lot of the time, but more so toward the posts with 35 things listed for primary and elementary grades. Those posts make me roll my eyes. However, I am very rarely tempted to engage anymore. Once upon a time, I would spend a lot of time trying to talk them down, but I have learned it is most often not worth the effort. ;)

While I love love that everyone here is tolerant of each other's beliefs, sometimes it is nice to not have to be overly careful and discuss things more deeply. I actually kind of like Confession of s Homeschoolers forum and I feel it is managed really well.

One way to keep the WTM forums more appealing and friendly is to avoid the chat forum. I used to read and post on the chat forum, but over time I found that the posts there are really not my cuppa tea. I made the decision to completely avoid that particular forum and have been very happy with the decision. The posters on the education boards are interested in engaging in in-depth and thoughtful academic discussions and really that is my main interest in the forums anyway. Edited by 8FillTheHeart
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I sometimes wish there was an active Christian homeschool board. While I love love that everyone here is tolerant of each other's beliefs, sometimes it is nice to not have to be overly careful and discuss things more deeply.

Exactly. And you deserve one and you should have one and if you did, it would undoubtedly make it easier for you to be polite and understanding to people of different faiths when you chose to come here instead.

 

The atheists and newly deconverted ex-Christians needed SHS for the exact same reasons.

 

That's all I meant by the things I said there that I am now cringing at the thought of my Christian WTM friends reading and maybe taking out of context.

 

I actually kind of like Confession of s Homeschoolers forum and I feel it is managed really well.

 

 

That's one I'd never heard of before and it looks interesting. Thanks bunches!

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The Memoria Press forum does seem really nice. I have lurked over there a bit reading older posts when I was thinking of using MP.

 

I would probably expect secularhomeschool.com to be somewhat anti-religion since it is like minded homeschoolers for the most part. I sometimes wish there was an active Christian homeschool board. While I love love that everyone here is tolerant of each other's beliefs, sometimes it is nice to not have to be overly careful and discuss things more deeply. I actually kind of like Confession of s Homeschoolers forum and I feel it is managed really well.

 

SHS didn't use to be as anti-religion, from what I remember.  I've been on there since 2010.

 

Homeschoolreviews has a forum that is very Conservative Christian.

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The last time I was at vegsource it looked dead as a doornail. :(

 

There were some archived posts that were worth reading, but no replies to any of my replies about curriculum and/or anything reasonably current.

 

I liked Vegsource when my olders were homeschool age, but I think everybody migrated here, which kind of sucks for SWB having to pick up the bandwidth tab for the entire homeschooling community.

 

I'm not knocking Peace Hill Press products, which are wonderful and affordable, I just wish I could throw twenty bucks in the tip jar sometimes.

 

I (think I) see astroturfers on SHS and they make me want to counter-astroturf. I'm hardly a model citizen either, Sadie, but I think I behave better over here too. At least it's easier to put on my "company manners".

 

I may not have a "home on the internet" any more, but it's still fun to visit this board as long as I control the urge to vent about things that aren't relevant to most of you or to get too in-your-face "can I be your new best friend?" annoying.

 

Agreeing so much with the bolded!   I own most of the PHP products and our homeschool days are wrapping up.  This is year 20 for us.  I'd love a way to give some $ to SWB towards the forums.  I occasionally log out to see the ads and click through, but I'm not sure if that really helps or not.  

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SHS didn't use to be as anti-religion, from what I remember.  I've been on there since 2010.

 

Homeschoolreviews has a forum that is very Conservative Christian.

 

 

It might have gotten worse that way since I realized I didn't belong there, then. I rarely log in now and when I do, I usually go straight to a private social group or just PM my favourite peeps.

 

When I was there, you definitely weren't the target audience, Dorothy.

 

I remember lots of "sweet baby cheeses" type jokes that were kind of mild for the newly deconverted but not the thing anyone would ever want to say in front of a practicing Christian any more than you would want to hand Sadie's or my child a Chick Track.

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I sometimes wish there was an active Christian homeschool board. While I love love that everyone here is tolerant of each other's beliefs, sometimes it is nice to not have to be overly careful and discuss things more deeply.

 

I think we all understand where you're coming from there. It's nice to be able to have the sort of conversations that just don't work in mixed company.

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I've been told that "everybody" is moving to Facebook. I'm not "everybody" so if that's true then have a nice life and thanks for the pleasant memories. :)

 

Imma let someone else have a turn to talk after I clarify that I spend too much time on the internet too, but a lot of that is sifting through all the garbage to find the gems that my forum peeps used to find for me and hand me right after I splashed cold water on my face, stopped crying, and sat down at my computer intending to delete a semi-coherent description of a problem and a bunch of whining and found the gem followed by 10 posts with hug smilies.

 

I've had my posts taken out of context and put on troll forums too and this one might well wind up on some snark site misrepresented as "You're not going to believe this but IEFsoldusername has found religion! I found this on WTM and it must be her because...and everybody knows WTM is a Christian site so obviously...and everybody knows that even Jesus couldn't love IEFsoldusername so obviously..." but good things happened too.

 

Forum boards to you are kinda like my grandparents' Lawrence Welk records and rose coloured remembrances of Model Ts for the ninety seventh time were to me. I get that.

 

I'm glad we still have this one, anyway. I wish I wasn't such a parasite. Buy SWBs stuff if you want to buy stuff and don't know what stuff you should buy. It's good stuff. The copyrights are good too, so you can sell it when you're done with it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

To be bluntly honest, I don't really belong here for a number of reasons and have always tried to conduct myself as a polite visitor. There have been a few incidents that required a deep breath or a board break, but for the most part you all have been kind, hospitable, and I'd like to believe I have made a few posts that have had a positive impact on somebody's life.

 

I think all social media feels that way.  I've always liked your posts, BTW.

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Agreeing so much with the bolded! I own most of the PHP products and our homeschool days are wrapping up. This is year 20 for us. I'd love a way to give some $ to SWB towards the forums. I occasionally log out to see the ads and click through, but I'm not sure if that really helps or not.

Well, you can buy PDF downloads of SOTW Activity Guides you already have. I did that by accident once but was fine with it as a sneaky way to donate to the forum costs :)

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They approved my post on the tech support board, probably since I could link to somebody else who agreed with me and it wasn't just one random weirdo asking for an off the wall feature like a "tip jar".

 

I also mentioned our problem to a mod who was very sweet and said something along the lines of, "But you're not a parasite! Where do you think SWB gets those updated curriculum lists from every time a new edition of WTM is released?"

 

What a nice thing to say even though the first sentence either wasn't true or had absolutely nothing to do with the second sentence.

 

Me.....meh; my yearly curriculum lists may or may not be useful or amusing to the next low income single mother by choice atheist Christian supporter xtreme wide age gap free software using anticapitalista who is curriculum shopping for HER fourth grader but I think the rest of you would find them dumb at best or disturbing at worst.

 

But I CAN tell you folks to do as I say, not as I do and go post your curriculum lists if you're not afraid the average Hive member with a kid your kid's age would find them dumb and best or disturbing at worst and completely unhelpful.

 

Still working on the tip jar, though, and more interested in listening to what other posters have to say than reiterating what I've already said.

 

Love you guys; nothing personal about the fact that I'm your resident Sore Thumb or that the homeschooling movement has been so interesting during the period of history commonly referred to as 1992-2017 that wannabe wise elder is a perfectly valid and rather humorous place to find myself and I wouldn't trade my "dessert" homeschooler for all the normal in the world.

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I frequent the TJEd FB page. There I probably seem much too Classical. Here I probably seem much too child-led. They may both be right.

 

What I like about the TJEd group is all of the ideas for how to inspire and motivate kids at all ages. Lots of great stuff for our Morning Basket time, strategies for dealing with behavior, etc. it's not as neat and tidy as a forum - you have to scroll around to find your threads. And there's some things exchanged on there that I think are down-right wrong. But I could say that of WTM too. Perhaps I'm too opinionated and just prefer to do my own thing 🤔

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Simply Charlotte Mason - if you're interesting in discussing implementing CM in the real world.

 

My other "forums" are facebook groups, most geared toward homeschooling teens/high school or Charlotte Mason.  I think I'll be abandoning the CM fb groups soon, as they're mostly full of idealistic parents of 1st graders and I'm too old and cranky to be helpful.  Mostly I keep my mouth shut.

 

:lol: Me too!

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Linda Dobson was trying to put together a "Crone's corner" for us grumpies once but that was a long time ago, before Ken died and when I had a Facebook anyway so LONG before the caboose baby sweet little big dessert* homeschooler was even remotely homeschool age.

 

Hey, I'd pay good money to subscribe to a "too grumpy to be helpful" forum now, lol.

 

*That and sabotage are words I can never remember to spell; I mean as in cake or pie after the main meal not as in a hot, sandy, dry place; he's never even BEEN to Arizona!

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Linda Dobson was trying to put together a "Crone's corner" for us grumpies once but that was a long time ago, before Ken died and when I had a Facebook anyway so LONG before the caboose baby sweet little big dessert* homeschooler was even remotely homeschool age.

 

Hey, I'd pay good money to subscribe to a "too grumpy to be helpful" forum now, lol.

 

*That and sabotage are words I can never remember to spell; I mean as in cake or pie after the main meal not as in a hot, sandy, dry place; he's never even BEEN to Arizona!

I want more of dessert and less of a desert, therefore two S in the culminating sweet dish ;-) I'm a Terrible speller and use all sorts of little tricks to help me remember spellings.
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That is totally going to work for me forever and I have no idea why I spelled "sabotage" right in the context of explaining that I'm not a bad speller, just have certain words I can't spell right and my youngest kid's new description includes one of them.

 

"Caboose baby" was easier to spell but 9 1/2 and not complaining about it was effing creepy.

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I used to frequent Secular Homeschoolers, but eventually there was too much religion bashing for me to feel comfortable there, though I am agnostic. When I started homeschooling I was adamant that all my materials be secular, but over time I realized that certain religious materials worked much better for my kids, and that I didn't feel comfortable sharing that or recommending them on that forum.  That's when I realized it was time to move on. 

 

I still occasionally check the homeschool reviews forum. It is mostly frequented by conservative Christian, but people are very friendly, the format is quick to navigate and their review section is extensive.

 

For a long time now, I've spent most of my time lurking here. I love the diversity of views, the respect people show for one another, and the in-depth discussions of education. I've seen some thoughtful discussions about religion here as well. 

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*edited for clarity and to remove personal info*

 

One of my tech mailing lists recently had an off-topic discussion that explained some of this to me. There are both technical and sociological reasons for the decline in forum board culture.

 

These are the veterans, the experts, the people who have been around for awhile. I trust their judgement. It makes sense to me.

 

Does anybody know of any homeschooling mailing lists that have come to the forefront to replace Yahoo? I am so clueless....

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I want more of dessert and less of a desert, therefore two S in the culminating sweet dish ;-) I'm a Terrible speller and use all sorts of little tricks to help me remember spellings.

 

I always heard that dessert has two esses because it's Sweet Stuff. But if it's ones "just deserts" than it's one s, because that's what you deserve. (Though my guess is that nearly everybody has reanalyzed that one and pictures some unpleasant dessert dish that you have to eat in order to show good manners.)

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But I could say that of WTM too. Perhaps I'm too opinionated and just prefer to do my own thing 🤔

 

 

Yea, me too; I don't Facebook so I won't see you there but it sounds like a great fit for someone who isn't me so bump.

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I try to join Facebook groups specific to various curricula I use (Right Start, Brave Writer, etc) and there seem to be Facebook groups for pretty much every product out there. The Big Juicy Conversations About Math Facebook group has some great living math ideas, particularly games and puzzles.

 

SEA Homeschoolers on Facebook is a good general resource, but I'm often puzzled by the hostility towards Academics by some of the members, given the name. :confused1:   

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I'm puzzled by the hostility towards academics in general, lol.

 

It's a 2017 thing, not a homeschooling thing or anything limited to Facebook/mainstream internet culture.

 

I get a lot of it. The first thing people usually say when I tell them I have a daughter who is working on her Masters in Philosophy is usually, "I am so sorry." and then, "Cheer up, maybe it's just a phase."

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