Homeschool Mom Encouragement Day

[cdrumm4448]

I am toying with the idea of having a day of encouragement for my local homeschool moms at a neighborhood church this summer. What would you like to see/cover/experience in a day like that? I would love to get a speaker, but have no idea how to locate one. ANY ideas are very appreciated!

Thanks!

Christine

[sarahinwa]

Personally, childcare provided while I get a manicure, sip a mocha, and chat with other homeschooling moms sounds like the perfect way to be encouraged. :)

[freeindeed]

It would definitely be nice to have a time to chat with other moms in a relaxed atmosphere with childcare provided. Provide coffee, tea, and finger foods. Some topics to discuss...after fun chat time, of course...would be: how to avoid burnout, determining your children's learning style, organizing your home and homeschool, menu planning help, ideas for how the homeschooling mom can find time to pursue her own interests and hobbies, and how to nurture your marriage.

[73349]

If there's not already a local venue for selling or giving away used homeschooling books, it would be neat if you could include some tables for that.

 

Coffee and maybe intentional/guided conversation groups would be neat. (E.g., if you want to talk about high school, meet in Room 12 at 11:30.)

 

And then maybe an inexpensive and useful gift, such as an inspirational bookmark?

[OneStepAtATime]

Love the ideas so far.  I wonder if I could do something like that here....  

 

You might also encourage any parents of teenagers to ask if their teenager is interested in doing some babysitting/house cleaning/tutoring/whatever, etc. and then create a list for the Mom's to use of teenagers who are willing and interested and what they are willing and interested in doing (plus what they might charge).  Sometimes teens need the extra cash and moms need the extra help.  Having a list to work off of might be really helpful for local moms.  I have a local friend with quite a few children who hires a teenager to come read to and play with her littlest ones twice a week while she works on more teacher intense school stuff with her middle schoolers.  The teenager is a daughter of another homeschooler.

 

And I agree, maybe a used curriculum swap, perhaps a guest speaker, plenty of chances to discuss what is on their minds, some finger foods, tea and coffee, etc.  All sound good.

 

What about seeing if any former homeschoolers, who have kids that are now in college or out of college would be willing to come talk about what worked/didn't work for them?  Or even have a former homeschooled student come and talk about what worked and what didn't for them?

 

You might encourage everyone to bring extra copies of a favorite recipe to exchange with each other.

[Lori D.]

What a lovely idea, and how kind of you! :)

 

Our homeschool group does an annual event similar to this. It is a tea/luncheon, held at a church, with each table having a "hostess" who decorates it nicely. (There is a small fee to pay for the food, which is usually things like Costco quiches, fruit bowl and mini-cream puffs variety of items.) The speaker is usually someone who has been homeschooling for quite awhile, or who has graduated her children, and has wisdom to pass on. Or, our group has paid to have someone from the larger city in our state and who is part of the state homeschool group and annual convention come and speak. Or a locally well-known female church or Bible study leader, who gives an encouraging message after the eating.

 

What about playing a video of an encouraging homeschool speaker -- or, put up a screen shot from the internet of the speaker and play a CD of them speaking from a convention session -- those are just the right length, too -- about 40-50 minutes. :)

 

 

At our homeschool group's PE days, 2x/month we have a mom encouragement time like that -- the lady who leads it posts the topic that will be covered in advance; sometimes it is going over a book, sometimes a curriculum "show and tell", sometimes discussing a specific topic. The kids are either doing the PE or are toddling around on the playground right there, so the moms can share and encourage one another.

 

That's a really helpful support system, so your encouragement day would be very welcomed by many homeschool moms! Good luck! Warmest regards, Lori D.