Jump to content

Menu

S/O Poverty Schooling - how to help?


Recommended Posts

I was one of the readers of that thread who had never heard that people homeschooled in or near poverty and even homeless. I live in a huge city and even I know people struggle for library access.

 

I have huge financial privileges. I wouldn't consider us more than firmly middle class, but we have all our needs, some of our wants, and as far as school goes, pretty much have an abundance of choices.

 

I believe in the right of parents to educate their children in the way that's best for the child, even when they can't afford it.

 

What's the best way to help homeschoolers in these situations? There were comments in the other thread about the lack of ability to funnel specialist volunteers to people who need them. Should I get some friends and see what we can do with that? Or what about setting up a curriculum drop off point for people to come get things others can no longer use?

 

Other thoughts?

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's more common than you think, honestly. But homeschoolers in poverty tend to show it less, I think because there is such an expectation and culture within the homeschooling movement of it being primarily middle-upper class families. I've known a couple homeless homeschooling families, living out of their cars/RV because the local shelter requires kids to be enrolled in public school. I've known a lot of single parent homeschool families that are just getting by, even with assistance such as food stamps. 

 

Speaking as someone who has been there - this is what helped us.

 

 

~Local event held twice a year called a "Blessings Bash". All the local homeschoolers bring things they want to bless other homeschooling families with - clothing, toys, housewares and homeschooling items. The homeschooling items are always the first place I stop, and I've been blessed to find things that would work for us there. 

~Local Homeschool facebook group version of the above {also called Blessing Bash}. Sometimes folks need to get rid of things now, or it's too big to haul, etc. They post in the Facebook group and give a general location. Also sometimes folks post an ISO - as in I need the following textbooks or grade level materials.

~Dead tech. Seriously. Dead Tech. That outdated tablet / smartphone / desktop PC / printer you have sitting around in a drawer because it's too obsolete for you even though it still works might be the biggest blessing to a homeschool family. I know for myself, tech items are the hardest to get. Books - easy to find used cheaply. But tech items - nearly impossible. One of the biggest blessings I've had was when the local homeschool center upgraded their desktop pcs and sold the old ones for $30 a system. I grabbed one for dd and 6 years later she is STILL using it. 

 

 

If you have a homeschool center that is a non-profit {or willing to work to create one} - another biggie that I see would be working with your local food bank {bank, not pantry} to help get homeschool families some of the same things given to needy kids in public school. Here for instance, kids below a certain poverty level {I think they use the lunch applications to screen} get new shoes at the start of the school year, and often holiday meal boxes for the whole family. Some schools even do weekly produce boxes for needy families as well. When I called a few years back trying to find out how to get my homeschooled kiddo into the shoe program because she desperately needed shoes, I was told that because there wasn't a school based group to coordinate screening, she couldn't get in. Despite the fact that I was willing to show proof that she was eligible. Ditto for back to school things and school supplies - I can't count how many times I've been told we didn't qualify for school supplies giveaways just because we homeschool. 

 

 

The Book Samaritan was a big resource too. I don't know of anything yet to replace it, even though it's very needed. HSLDA has something similar I think, but it's limited to folks eligible with their religious guidelines. 

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Start a lending library of materials if you have the space. Be selective (you don't need 1980s public school science textbooks) but ask people to consider donating. Our homeschool support group is a registered nonprofit, so donations to our lending library are tax deductible. We have almost a full range of Saxon math, for instance, which gets used a lot by our members. I try to keep an eye out for stuff that's free or cheap.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for starting this thread. I'm interested in ideas to help as well. We're very blessed and I would have no issues donating 100% of our materials after we finish  to someone in need- I would much prefer that to reselling.  I just don't know how to connect with those in need- I don't have much of a physical homeschool community and those I do know have kids completely different ages than my own. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One thing that got me through the middle school years was 4H.

 

4H is cheap. 4H is more than just animals. There's also writing and sewing, and nature studies, and whatever else your state office has thought of. And then you get free admission to the county fair every summer (at least, that's how it worked for us).

 

Kids can do projects on their own, or an adult can coordinate a class if it's something they have expertise in. I did a writing class in 4H that was taught by a 4H alumni, and it was almost exactly like Bravewriter (that's how the teacher taught it, not how 4H designed it, but 4H isn't picky about how the end project is done).

 

4H was really flexible, but had enough oversight to keep a group on track and goal oriented. I'm really surprised more homeschoolers don't plug into it, especially secular ones aching for a social group. Has it really fallen apart recently? Is it hard to start a group now? Or did I just really luck out with living in a county with a really good extension office?

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

One thing that got me through the middle school years was 4H.

 

4H is cheap. 4H is more than just animals. There's also writing and sewing, and nature studies, and whatever else your state office has thought of. And then you get free admission to the county fair every summer (at least, that's how it worked for us).

 

Kids can do projects on their own, or an adult can coordinate a class if it's something they have expertise in. I did a writing class in 4H that was taught by a 4H alumni, and it was almost exactly like Bravewriter (that's how the teacher taught it, not how 4H designed it, but 4H isn't picky about how the end project is done).

 

4H was really flexible, but had enough oversight to keep a group on track and goal oriented. I'm really surprised more homeschoolers don't plug into it, especially secular ones aching for a social group. Has it really fallen apart recently? Is it hard to start a group now? Or did I just really luck out with living in a county with a really good extension office?

 

Because they do a truly horrible job of putting information online. I can't figure out who to call or email to get information, and a lot of the info I have found is outdated. Are there meetings? Is someone in charge? I have no idea because how in the world else am I supposed to find out if I can't look it up online?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One thing that got me through the middle school years was 4H.

 

4H is cheap. 4H is more than just animals. There's also writing and sewing, and nature studies, and whatever else your state office has thought of. And then you get free admission to the county fair every summer (at least, that's how it worked for us).

 

Kids can do projects on their own, or an adult can coordinate a class if it's something they have expertise in. I did a writing class in 4H that was taught by a 4H alumni, and it was almost exactly like Bravewriter (that's how the teacher taught it, not how 4H designed it, but 4H isn't picky about how the end project is done).

 

4H was really flexible, but had enough oversight to keep a group on track and goal oriented. I'm really surprised more homeschoolers don't plug into it, especially secular ones aching for a social group. Has it really fallen apart recently? Is it hard to start a group now? Or did I just really luck out with living in a county with a really good extension office?

In my area the general 4-h club is only available to public school students. The specialty clubs are available to everyone but are very limited and expensive. We participate in one and it cost $400 last year just for the sign up.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

One thing that got me through the middle school years was 4H.

 

4H is cheap. 4H is more than just animals. There's also writing and sewing, and nature studies, and whatever else your state office has thought of. And then you get free admission to the county fair every summer (at least, that's how it worked for us).

 

Kids can do projects on their own, or an adult can coordinate a class if it's something they have expertise in. I did a writing class in 4H that was taught by a 4H alumni, and it was almost exactly like Bravewriter (that's how the teacher taught it, not how 4H designed it, but 4H isn't picky about how the end project is done).

 

4H was really flexible, but had enough oversight to keep a group on track and goal oriented. I'm really surprised more homeschoolers don't plug into it, especially secular ones aching for a social group. Has it really fallen apart recently? Is it hard to start a group now? Or did I just really luck out with living in a county with a really good extension office?

We've had a very hard time breaking into 4-H. Now that I have a couple kids in robotics, we've been able to access the other 4-H activities (our robotics team is a 4-H club). Until this year, I've called many times and never gotten any information on how to join a group. According to the site, we have quite a few groups in my county, but apparently they don't like to tell anyone what they do. We used to joke about the super-secret groups. 

 

Since my kids joined robotics, I've gotten information from the extension office on classes. The "Super Saturday" coming up (5 or 6 classes on one day) is open to the public, but no one would ever have heard about it. I would've sent all my kids to this every year; there's classes on woodburning, cooking, sewing, painting, etc. 

 

I still have not figured out how to get the kids involved in any projects yet. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We've been involved in a homeschool 4 H club for years now, another mom & I started it & she kept it going.

 

But yes, in general, it is hard to find groups, many are "just horses" or " just robotics", but there are general clubs out there and it's easy to start your own, call the extension office.

 

Locally, we do a curriculum sale each spring & lots of stuff is "free" at that (although very few people attend it, sadly) plus at 4 H & our old co op, we had a free table every week.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It sounds like many of us agree that we would like to get another Book Samaritan program up and running. But I think most of us don't have so much as an empty closet to keep the materials--and on top of that would be the postage cost, time for inventory, etc.

 

Is there a way we could make it work virtually? Maybe

- a private FB page of donors, with a few moderators/coordinators? or a private group here on TWTM?

- one coordinator's postal address or PO box made public on a website for parents to write away to and list what they need,

- the coordinator posts on on the FB group what is wanted (e.g., "Four people are requesting copies of Story of the World 1"),

- and someone who has it volunteers and is privately supplied with the address to mail it to?

 

This would solve the issues of storage and shipping items twice.

 

What do you think? Does anybody have a sense of how many requests BS was fulfilling a year?

Edited by whitehawk
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

For the reality of how it works, I suggest contacting the person who ran the ministry.  I'll see if I still have a name and address.

 

I used the Wayback Machine to find an email address (donations@booksamaritan.org), but my message came back undeliverable. Do you think it would be worth sending a snail mail letter?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd like to follow along if people are hoping to start up something like the book samaritan again. Since mostly everyone in Alaska homeschools with a charter/allotment we have an excess of homeschool materials in the state. Most of the moms I know would love to donate some of that to people who really need it. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some other ideas - 

--If you're arranging a co-op, workshop, or outing, you can quietly extend a discount or scholarship to a student who needs it.  If it's a more formal program, then set up a formal scholarship program.  

--If you are running an outing, you can keep a list of people who would jump at the chance of taking the already-paid-for spot of someone who had to cancel at the last minute.

 

--If you are taking your own kids to a museum or performance or workshop or park day, ask a homeschooled kid who lives nearby if they'd like to tag along.

--You can create a social culture where it is normal and expected to hand things down to others.  If you have a weekly or monthly gathering - a park day or skating day or group meeting of some sort, you can create a "give away" table to pass on free clothes, books, sporting goods, and the like.  Homeschooled kids raised in such a culture often delight in seeing a younger friend wearing what used to be a favorite shirt or using their outgrown skates.  Just put things on a table with a "free stuff" sign, and ask folks to either take home things that didn't find a new home, or assign someone to take what's left to the Goodwill.

--Find your local online homeschooling group - maybe a Facebook or Yahoo group - and post things you have to give away.  

--If you don't know anyone in need, ask your friends if they do.  Sometimes another family who is closer to the area of need can be a conduit for such things.

--Consider giving of your expertise, not just your cast-off things.  Run a workshop, a park day, a skating outing, a scout group, a math class.  Scoop up an extra kid and have them do certain subjects with your own kids.  

--Support your local library, though your donations and your advocacy.  Consider running programs at the library.

 

--Vote for politicians who value a social safety net when it comes to health care, employment, and education.  

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We've had a very hard time breaking into 4-H. Now that I have a couple kids in robotics, we've been able to access the other 4-H activities (our robotics team is a 4-H club). Until this year, I've called many times and never gotten any information on how to join a group. According to the site, we have quite a few groups in my county, but apparently they don't like to tell anyone what they do. We used to joke about the super-secret groups. 

 

Since my kids joined robotics, I've gotten information from the extension office on classes. The "Super Saturday" coming up (5 or 6 classes on one day) is open to the public, but no one would ever have heard about it. I would've sent all my kids to this every year; there's classes on woodburning, cooking, sewing, painting, etc. 

 

I still have not figured out how to get the kids involved in any projects yet. 

 

 

I think one the issues may be that since it's so low-budget, lots of people run their club out of their homes. My club met in the coordinator's basement. That makes it hard to bring in strangers. We were involved because of word of mouth (another local homeschool mom we knew found out about the group from another contact she knew). But secret group is right - my brother (who was an officer) really wanted to move our regular meetings to the free library meeting room so we could advertise and get new members, but got a lot of resistance on that from the coordinator.  :confused:

 

I don't know how hard it would be to form your own group in your county. Our meetings weren't super magical, we just talked about the 4H's for a moment, then played along with Robert's Rule's of Order to talk about upcoming 4H events, any events our group was planning for ourselves, the budget, and had someone present about their project or play a game or something. Our group was super small, only 3 or 4 families really. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The best help we ever received was direct help from others, including people in this forum. They were people that were either privy to our particular situation or contacted me via PM. I generally created an Amazon wish list and people bought off of that. It's a little more up front and scary from both sides and requires a level of trust you might not need if you're giving to a third party organization. It's also very humbling from a parent's perspective because I had some very specific programs I wanted to use from companies that worked well for ds. They weren't the cheapest things and that was hard to ask for, knowing that if it were me I'd make do with whatever was given. 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello!  My Name is Anthony and I am the founder and director of H Cubed - we are definitely active!  I was asked by Polly to post here about our organization and how it works.  But first, here is some general background on who we are:  We are a 501©(3) not-for-profit dedicated to helping homeschoolers who are in financial need through educational material and financial means.  The whole premise of the organisation revolves around the idea that homeschoolers who are in a good situation, help those who aren't.  
 
So, how it works:  Homeschoolers who are in a good situation donate material that they no longer use.  Homeschoolers who need assistance, submit a request (we don't require proof of anyone's situations - we trust that if someone isn't in need, they won't submit a request) and we fill those requests with the material that has been donated.  The only cost to request books is to pay for shipping - We hope to get to a position where we can offer shipping for free but in the meantime, it helps keeps the system honest and helps us put what financial donations we do have to purchasing material that is in high demand and purchasing supplies (boxes, tape, etc.).    We have been blessed to help many homeschooling families since we started.  Now that we are a nonprofit, we are hoping to help even more people in 2017 - I am excited!!  In addition to our material request service, we are also partnering with Bright Ideas Press to offer a college scholarship program to graduating homeschool seniors in financial need.  

 
Hopefully I answered everyone's questions!  If anyone has any other questions, I would be happy to answer them for you!  I will check back to this thread periodically to see if anyone has questions --- otherwise, please feel free to get in touch with us at http://www.homeschoolerscubed.org/
 
I hope everyone has a wonderful new year!

Edited by Anthony Warmack
  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello!  My Name is Anthony and I am the founder and director of H Cubed - we are definitely active! *snip*

 

Hopefully I answered everyone's questions!  If anyone has any other questions, I would be happy to answer them for you!  I will check back to this thread periodically to see if anyone has questions --- otherwise, please feel free to get in touch with us at http://www.homeschoolerscubed.org/

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful new year!

 

A few questions :)

 

1. Is there a best or worst time of year to put in requests? I know the Book Samaritan would get very backed up in summer because it was a peak time. 

 

2. How much does shipping run, on average? How is shipping paid? 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A few questions :)

 

1. Is there a best or worst time of year to put in requests? I know the Book Samaritan would get very backed up in summer because it was a peak time. 

 

2. How much does shipping run, on average? How is shipping paid? 

 

Sure thing!  

  1. The best time to submit is probably about now actually (late fall - early spring).  We get pretty busy during the late spring - late summer season since that is the time that everyone starts thinking of school again.  However, we do try to fill all requests, it just might take longer during the summer season.

     

  2.  Shipping averages about $10-20ish dollars depending on how much material we can offer you!  We always send it the cheapest way possible (usually USPS MediaMail if everything qualifies) and we don't make money by overcharging.  We have also subsidized part of the shipping cost in the past (thanks to generous contributions that we've received) for those who can't afford how much their package would cost to ship to get it a little more affordable.

Hopefully that answered your questions - Please feel free to ask more!  

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello!  My Name is Anthony and I am the founder and director of H Cubed - we are definitely active!  I was asked by Polly to post here about our organization and how it works.  But first, here is some general background on who we are:  We are a 501©(3) not-for-profit dedicated to helping homeschoolers who are in financial need through educational material and financial means.  The whole premise of the organisation revolves around the idea that homeschoolers who are in a good situation, help those who aren't.  

 

So, how it works:  Homeschoolers who are in a good situation donate material that they no longer use.  Homeschoolers who need assistance, submit a request (we don't require proof of anyone's situations - we trust that if someone isn't in need, they won't submit a request) and we fill those requests with the material that has been donated.  The only cost to request books is to pay for shipping - We hope to get to a position where we can offer shipping for free but in the meantime, it helps keeps the system honest and helps us put what financial donations we do have to purchasing material that is in high demand and purchasing supplies (boxes, tape, etc.).    We have been blessed to help many homeschooling families since we started.  Now that we are a nonprofit, we are hoping to help even more people in 2017 - I am excited!!  In addition to our material request service, we are also partnering with Bright Ideas Press to offer a college scholarship program to graduating homeschool seniors in financial need.  

 

Hopefully I answered everyone's questions!  If anyone has any other questions, I would be happy to answer them for you!  I will check back to this thread periodically to see if anyone has questions --- otherwise, please feel free to get in touch with us at http://www.homeschoolerscubed.org/

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful new year!

 

Good to hear from you directly--thanks for "coming over" to talk to us. :) If you don't mind a couple more questions:

About how many families a year do you ship a box to?

Do they pay the shipping via PayPal, or reimburse you with a check, or how does that work?

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great questions!!  

 

Good to hear from you directly--thanks for "coming over" to talk to us. :) If you don't mind a couple more questions:

About how many families a year do you ship a box to?

Do they pay the shipping via PayPal, or reimburse you with a check, or how does that work?
 

 

Not a problem!  The amount of boxes we are able to send varies depending on how much donations we have available to fill them.  This past year was the first year we started "counting" how many boxes we sent off but we haven't finished counting all of the numbers for 2016 yet (we are just now starting to do our yearly "wrap up") so I don't want to give a number for fear of overestimating but I will say that this year has been tremendous.  We have had a few major book donations so we were able to fill a ton more boxes.   

About paying for shipping - we use DonorBox which accepts credit/debit/e-check (via PayPal) but people have also paid via check.  Whatever works best for the family who is requesting books - Great questions!

 

Another question for H3.... Do you take requests from Canada?

Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk

 

Good question - We do accept requests from Canada!  In fact, we have received a request from as far as Kenya!  Depending on the area, shipping can cost more to areas outside of the continental US but we are more than happy to fill requests from all over the world!

 

 

Great questions - If you have more, please keep them coming!  I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year!

 

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A few more questions for H-3 -

- What general requests do you get most?

- What specific curricula do you get requests for most?

- Do you/could you post this info on your website? It would be handy to see periodically what you are looking for.

- Where are you located?

 

By the way, I checked out your corporate sponsorship page (not that I'm a curric provider; I was just curious!) and am wondering if you have ever approached providers about funneling materials your way that are either outdated editions and/or damaged and would otherwise just be tossed? It might be a tax benefit to them, and potentially less "costly" to them than a cash donation. Another idea is to ask them for "scholarships" for PDF versions (of course, you would have to know the family could make use of a pdf). Anyway, just a couple of thoughts off the top of my head.

 

Another idea would be an "angel tree" type of thing, where a homeschool group could come to you (I'm envisioning a WTM thread ;-) and you could say, "Here is a particular family and a list with kids' ages and curric needs, and the group could work together to get as many of the materials as possible. No idea if that could work - just a crazy idea that popped into my head!

 

Keep up the good work. I'm sure it is a blessing to many!

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great Questions!!

 

A few more questions for H-3 -

- What general requests do you get most?

- What specific curricula do you get requests for most?

 

There isn't really a general request that we get more or less of - it just depends on each individual family.  Sometimes a family will only request a few subjects while others might need complete materials.  As far as specific curricula, usually the popular/well written curriculum is given out faster - not necessarily because they are specifically requested but because usually those curriculum fits with families needs best (a few off the top of my head - Math-U-See, Teaching Textbooks, etc.)

 

 

- Do you/could you post this info on your website? It would be handy to see periodically what you are looking for.

- Where are you located?

 

We are actually planning on coming out with something within the next month or so with our "top" needs.  But, like I tell others who are interested in giving, really any curriculum you feel a homeschooling family can use will most definitely benefit another family!  We are located in Northern Illinois and we have partnerships with locations in a few cities that can accept drop off donations.  

 

By the way, I checked out your corporate sponsorship page (not that I'm a curric provider; I was just curious!) and am wondering if you have ever approached providers about funneling materials your way that are either outdated editions and/or damaged and would otherwise just be tossed? It might be a tax benefit to them, and potentially less "costly" to them than a cash donation. Another idea is to ask them for "scholarships" for PDF versions (of course, you would have to know the family could make use of a pdf). Anyway, just a couple of thoughts off the top of my head.

 

Another idea would be an "angel tree" type of thing, where a homeschool group could come to you (I'm envisioning a WTM thread ;-) and you could say, "Here is a particular family and a list with kids' ages and curric needs, and the group could work together to get as many of the materials as possible. No idea if that could work - just a crazy idea that popped into my head!

 

Keep up the good work. I'm sure it is a blessing to many!

 

Great ideas!  We have approached several companies in the past with the idea that they can donate items that they are not able to sell (damaged, etc.) - we received several donations this way.  But we haven't done so again since we've obtained nonprofit status - we will most definitely be doing that in the coming year!  Also a great idea about the angel tree type of thing!  I will have to contemplate that - we might very well do something like that - great idea!!

 

Thanks for all of the great questions!  If you have anymore, please feel free to get in touch again!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have homeschooled in both plenty and in poverty.

 

There are levels of poverty. Are we in a homeless shelter or are we in a stable-ish home?

 

A well designed plan utilizing public domain materials and a supply of paper and ink will go far.

 

Keep in mind, the most needy will have the most special needs. Trauma effects learning. Mom needs flexibility as much as she needs a solid resource. Resources that give a solid path but allow detours and stagnation are preferable. Strayer-Upton math, a basic phonics primer like Word Mastery, and lots of books.

 

Most poor moms are better off learning how to use copywork, narrarion, and dictation with raw materials rather than being handed a scheduled LA curric. Reality: child is doing copywork while mom is working, narrating over a meal, and dictation happens in a stolen 15 min before bed. A "nice" LA curric becomes a burden.

 

I have spent some money some years on nice currics. It did not result in more learning or better learning, with a few exceptions.

 

 

One program i would recommend keeping stocked to give, if we are serious about this is Dancing Bears Reading. It works amazingly well, even with my toughest student, it can be done quite well in 15-20 min per day, and it is relatively inexpensive.

 

Rather than take just cast offs, create a way to stock what will help most. Paper, ink, printers, Dancing Bears Reading, Strayer -Upton math, and a guide on how to do copywork/ narration/dictation. When Children Love to Learn would be a good book to distribute for that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm a single mama homeschooling my two daughters that I adopted.  I often forget that we are technically at the poverty level-but somehow make do.  I have been fortunate to receive some support through HSLDA/homeschooler's foundation (they have widows, single parents, special needs grants, etc.)  I've personally used some fund from ARC for my daughter with special needs for school supplies.  I know that the foundation accepts help so that they can help others.  There is a also a Facebook group/non-profit group-Homeschool Curriculum Free for Shipping.  You can post materials there that others can request and they also have Amazon wish lists that people have created that you can choose to help.

 

I'm sure that any way you choose to help will be greatly appreciated!  

Jennifer

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...