Are you an independent homeschooler or in a group?

[treestarfae]

Do you homeschool by yourself or are you part of a group?

[NanceXToo]

Yes. :)

 

I homeschool myself when it comes to any curriculum or formal things I do.

 

But I also belong to a homeschool group. We do a lot of craft days and social get togethers and field trips and outings, and sometimes we have some sort of co-op "class" on some random subject or other (like a tinkering class, a puppeteering class, a planting class, etc) or we have people come and speak to our group about this or that. But not to the point where we are getting together to teach core subjects to a group of kids or anything like that.

[nukeswife]

I'm independent, I haven't found a group here that's non-religious so we just do it on our own.

[texasmama]

Both. :) I do all core subjects myself and we belong to a co op which meets on Friday for two hours for fun classes (though those also have an educational component). Next year, the boys will be doing science at the co op and I will do everything else by myself.

[JenAL]

Independent. I can't find time in my schedule to do a co-op.

[Strawberry Queen]

Independent. Time and money are a factor in group involvement. I do fun things periodically with friends; like swimming, cake icing, or scrapbooking. It's just too hard to get my friends on the same page as me. I mean I have a great friend that has the same philosophy as me but we can't get our years to line up. She's on moderns next year and I'm back to ancients. :tongue_smilie:

 

HTH

[siloam]

Do you homeschool by yourself or are you part of a group?

 

Fiercely independent? ;)

 

 

Not really, in HS I could see it really being helpful. To date though I found that I take such things too seriously and then feel frustrated when the other people show up and wing it.

 

Thus it is better for my health and relationships to just go it alone. :D

 

Heather

[Melanie]

I've never found a co-op that could stand up to what we do at home and we've had some unpleasant experiences with support groups, so we usually go it alone. But I've been feeling a little insecure lately (we just moved to Hawaii and my son will be in 9th grade next year), so yesterday I mailed an application to a local homeschool support group.

 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[MamaT]

Fiercely independent? ;)

 

 

Not really, in HS I could see it really being helpful. To date though I found that I take such things too seriously and then feel frustrated when the other people show up and wing it.

 

Thus it is better for my health and relationships to just go it alone. :D

 

Heather

 

This sounds like me. I hate to bust your bubble Heather, but I have found this to hold true in high school. :001_smile:

[Homeschooling6]

Independent. I can't find time in my schedule to do a co-op.

 

Same here :)

[Ellie]

Always independent, but I enjoy my support group. IOW, I don't need a "group" to help me teach; I just want the social aspects.:)

[HootyTooty]

Our core curriculum is independent, once a week we go to enrichment classes (book club, lego league).

[siloam]

This sounds like me. I hate to bust your bubble Heather, but I have found this to hold true in high school. :001_smile:

 

Well then that mean that if my social gal (my oldest) wants to do something more community based I will probably hold her off till she can drive, then send her to the community college. The CC here actually has a lot of great teachers.

 

All the rest would choose to stay at home 90% of the time.

 

Heather

 

[2cents]

I homeschool by myself. I have found the groups are too distracting and not particularly challenging and accountability is an issue. I've tried some but end up being disappointed and feeling it was a waste of time. If we do outside classes I prefer them to be ones by the local museum.

[atozmom]

Independent. We do have a local homeschool group that we belong to. We do things like jogging club, yearbook club, park days, and field trips with them. If we do co-op, its only for fun activities. Last year dd took an html class and a drama class. The drama teacher wrote an entire play (including music and lyrics) herself. They practiced all throughout co-op and then put on a play for everyone at the end of the year. It was fantastic! My ds took outside games classes. It was great for him seeing as we do not have neighbors where we are. Well, 2, but they are elderly. So there aren't any kids around for him to play with.

[NancyNellen]

independent

[newbie]

all alone

[Orthodox6]

Independent, owing to local-area discrimination.

[LibraryLover]

I homeschool by myself, with our whole family, but I am part of an awesome group of hsers.

[kewb]

Yes. :)

 

I homeschool myself when it comes to any curriculum or formal things I do.

 

But I also belong to a homeschool group. We do a lot of craft days and social get togethers and field trips and outings, and sometimes we have some sort of co-op "class" on some random subject or other (like a tinkering class, a puppeteering class, a planting class, etc) or we have people come and speak to our group about this or that. But not to the point where we are getting together to teach core subjects to a group of kids or anything like that.

 

Exactly.

[Orthodox6]

After reading some of the other responses, I see how the op is ambiguous. Is the question whether we interact with (belong to) a homeschooling support group in some (any) capacity? Or, is the question whether we teach all of the coursework ourselves, without using a co-op or an outside instructor for some (even all) subjects?

 

Currently, I teach everything myself, with the exception of violin. (I'm the "home support coach" for that.) In the past, with an older child, I engaged the services of an outside instructor for high school level foreign language and English composition.

[lauracolumbus]

I was involved in way too many social groups and am weaning myself from them. 90% of our academics are in our home. Things like gym, Valentine's day get togethers are with others. As my dc get older, I feel the need to stay home more for the olders, but to let the youngest enjoy her fun w/friends.

 

Laura

[Guest Cindie2dds]

Independent. I can't find time in my schedule to do a co-op.

 

Me too. I don't want to either.

 

Tried several groups and they never worked out.

[Liza Q]

Always independent, but I enjoy my support group. IOW, I don't need a "group" to help me teach; I just want the social aspects.:)

:iagree:

[SilverMoon]

Independent. I'll reconsider when I have a high schooler. For now joining a group would overload our schedule. Homeschooling 4, keeping up with a toddler (and will add a newborn in August), attempting to keep up with three active scouts and all the other regular kid activities is more than enough for us.

[Closeacademy]

I do it myself but I run a playgroup on Fridays and we have a nice supportive group. :001_smile:

[robsiew]

This was an interesting thread to read... when I first started homeschooling (this is our 2nd year) I thought it so important we have "a group." It was funny because people who didn't agree with me homeschooling the kids were more "okay" with it knowing we had "a group". :confused:

 

We did join a group for a short amount of time, but I found it didn't really do much for us. We haven't been a part of a group this year and I'm SO okay with that. Like others of you, I don't know where we'd fit it in! Plus, it's really expensive to put 4 kids in a group!!

 

I'm thinking next year of starting a really informal little phy-ed group with some families I know. It would be more for the kids to have a place to run around during the winter months.... and for us mom's to chat a bit. I have no desire for anything more.

[Guest Cindie2dds]

I do it myself but I run a playgroup on Fridays and we have a nice supportive group. :001_smile:

 

How wonderful for you! I wish I had something like that here. The hard part is my work schedule varies so much from month to month that I have a hard time committing to a specific day on any week. My husband can take the girls to ballet or music lessons, but I can't expect him to take an entire morning or afternoon for a co-op once a week.

 

The faith-based ones are exclusive and make you sign a statement of faith. I usually believe what I am asked to sign, but I don't believe in excluding people based on that. The only inclusive group for 100 miles had a family in it that allowed the siblings to hit each other (A 10 year old boy was allowed to hit his 5 year old sister when she pinched him because the mom couldn't stop her.) We left that one immediately, so we are by ourselves again.

[Reya]

By ourselves, officially, but since the next door neighbors homeschool, too... :-)

 

(Yes, I corrupted them!)

[nutmeg]

I am an independent homeschooler who will occasionally create or join study groups or small co-ops to meet the needs of my children.

[kalanamak]

I'm independent, I haven't found a group here that's non-religious so we just do it on our own.

 

:iagree:

 

Hubby takes kiddo to homeschool gym at the Y. I'm not even renewing my membership to the homeschool field trip organization to get in on those. Hubby and kiddo have such busy days, anyway.

[EppieJ]

Okay. I'll bite...I'm gonna throw another one in this mix. We are part of what would technically be called an "alternative education program", although we don't entirely fit that category either.

 

Ds has weekly "workshops" (currently we attend on Wed only), but most everything is done at home, independently. His workshops this year include art, science and a supplemental math class. It's a great social outlet for ds (and me). He is an only and loves to be with other people.

 

And since it's thru the district it is also free of charge to join. Workshops do have charges per semester, although PE is free. But we have access to district funding to pay for those workshops. So no money out of pocket!

 

Works great for us!

[AK_Homesteaders]

Very independent. :001_smile:

[iquilt]

Independent, although like many others who have posted already, when we started I felt it was required to have a "group". We still have that group and will host a field trip once a year, but the group has changed. It used to be purely for parties, group field trips, that kind of event. Now they want to add science classes or "social studies"? classes, etc. and we are not interested at all. I used to think we still went to our group for the kids, but we've recently discovered that no one has any real connection to this group of friends besides as casual acquaintances almost four years after joining. Overall, we will be dropping our group in May with limited participation up until then and using our newly found free time for our choices. Our favorite type of outside classes have been at two local museums.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

..

[AudreyTN]

I am a part of a group, but they aren't involved in teaching my kids. We get together for field trips, holiday parties, talent shows, etc.

[JulieJ]

Independent

[mysticamethyst]

We belong to a group for social aspects. Up until this year all of our subjects were at home but we found a drama class and a guitar glass that 3 of the 4 enjoy.

[meet me in paris]

I am an independent homeschooler who will occasionally create or join study groups or small co-ops to meet the needs of my children.

This is us, too. And I usually teach a few classes a year, so I tend to invite people in to join us. J goes to an outside class 2 days a week, and it's been excellent for her. So, I guess we're somewhere in the middle.

[FO4UR]

Independent.

 

I would like a social group, but have yet to find one I can or want to be a part of.

 

There is no way I would give over the core subjects right now! Part of the reason I HS to make sure there are no proverbial "cracks" for my dc to fall through.;)

[Mommyfaithe]

I am a rock...I am an island....

 

Except for here.....

 

```sigh~~~~~

Faithe

[alexdk3]

We do all our subjects on our own, meeting with a couple of different groups for social activities and field trips.

[Pixie]

We do all academic subjects at home, but we also belong to a co-op where my kids take some enrichment/fun classes on monday morning. Right now they are taking things like cooking, beading, PE ... We are new to the area and this has been a great way for them to make friends.

[NavyWifeandMommy]

I do all the teaching myself. I belong to a group for field trips and other gatherings.

[Mom22ns]

I'll go with Heather's Fiercely Independent.

 

However, we do an outside orchestra and band. We have a wonderful homeschool orchestra here which offers many instruments and music theory classes. Ds also participates in a band through a 2-day/wk classical school. The band director has a PhD in clarinet performance (ds takes clarinet there). Both directors are members of our local symphony and the opportunities are just too good to pass up.

[Woodland_Mom]

We're part of a Classical Conversations group.

 

That being said, we get the best of both worlds. I select/plan curriculum, implement it and teach my children, but we get the social/supportive benefits of a group.

[littlebug42]

When we go back to traditionally homeschooling next year, we will be going it alone again. I have tried groups around here and I am either too Catholic for the Protestant groups or not Catholic enough for the Catholic groups. There is one other one that I have considered trying that is all-inclusive because we do know several people already but I am just not sure I want anything else to take us outside the house. If we had nowhere else to go, I would consider it more deeply.

[BridgeTea]

I am totally on my own.

 

There's one co-op in the area, but they wouldn't be a good match for us. Near as I can tell, there are only about 4 of us that don't belong to the co-op. We get together for impromptu playdates, but that's about it so far.

[Pam Wilhelm]

Alone....... all alone. :crying:

 

 

 

:willy_nilly: I can't understand why nobody likes me......... :lol:

[branycbur]

Fiercely independent? ;)

 

 

Not really, in HS I could see it really being helpful. To date though I found that I take such things too seriously and then feel frustrated when the other people show up and wing it.

 

Thus it is better for my health and relationships to just go it alone. :D

 

Heather

 

:iagree: