What have you done to serve the/a homeschooling community?

[8filltheheart]

Who's talking about mega sized communities ?!

The descriptions being given are not about a few close families getting together for activities or a few subjects.

 

Or their unreasonable demands of insisting people provide X for them without at some point providing any letter from the alphabet soup to others is a symptom of unreasonableness in some of them when participating in X. They show up late, don't follow through on assignments, don't participate fully, don't cooperate with the leadership and such at X and then complain people just aren't providing much X anymore and someone, anyone but them, needs to solve that problem. If people respond about the behavioral issues that caused X to end, there are accusations discriminating against people with different parenting philosophies, different educational philosophies, etc. ....

 

There is a very large co-op here that requires new members to first provide an activity to the group and only after they have, allows them to participate in an activity run by someone else. As I mentioned there are groups that require a contribution within the first year to participate in the next year. Lists include things like physically setting up and putting away chairs, sweeping up, taking out trash, setting up the field trip and field trip sign up page online and collecting money, sometimes it's bringing snacks, sometimes it's teaching a class, whatever. I think classes and co-ops would be better off explicitly stating that their group is for parents who insist their children arrive on time, attend all the classes except for illnesses, fully participate in class, turn in assignments on time, meet stated behavioral standards, etc. Students and/or parents who don't will no longer be allowed to attend.

These are co-ops with leadership and multiple teachers and so many kids that discipline, attendance, illness, etc are major issues that need addressing. I have seen co-ops that have over 100 families involved. There are teachers for just about every subject with church classrooms full of multiple classes being taught simultaneously.

 

My experience with a co-op mirrors Regentrude's In terms of quality and attitude.

 

If you are talking small groups or families supporting each other and with knowledgeable teachers/mentors who are precious gems who impact our children's lives, then yes, they are wonderful. Kathy in Richmond was definitely that for my ds. But that is not the same as the big co-ops I am familiar with that have issues of people wanting something and then not volunteering like I see being described, or at least my interpretation of it.

[MerryAtHope]

Actually, some descriptions were about a few close families getting together for activities or a few subjects. My original post in this thread mentioned groups no larger than 15 kids, and as small as 3 kids. Maybe you didn't read my post.

 

My experience is with a smaller homeschool group, though not quite that small--generally we've had between 15 and 40 families who sign up, and about half that many come regularly. Ours is a support group rather than a co-op, so there are seldom "classes" though at times there have been a subset who did either a class or a small co-op. But we organize other things like plays (both putting on a play as well as going to see one as a group for the "school rate"), service days, graduations, a used curriculum sale, field trips to places that don't just accept walk-ins, activities like boffer wars, a spelling bee, etc... And some jobs are as simple as "help clean up after the sale"--a one-time commitment for the whole year that will take 30 or so minutes of a person's time. Even in this type of scenario, there are always people who have been happy to benefit from what the group offers but never willing to find even a small way to serve. Some people are always willing to serve, and some will serve if asked to find a place, but others just won't.

 

Sometimes I do think it's genuine fear of the unknown (people don't want to learn what it takes to do leadership positions, for example, because they assume it will be too hard. Or people don't want to do something like organize a field trip just because they've never done that before.) But there also is a sense in which at least a segment of people just wants to enjoy the benefits of being part of the group without giving back. Sometimes there is a legitimate reason, but sometimes there really isn't--they just somehow don't have a vision for the idea that we're a member-led group and that means we all participate and do something. It's not for lack of our leadership communicating that message, nor for lack of those who have done something being willing to come alongside someone who hasn't before--and those actions do help. In the end, I've come to think it's just unrealistic to expect everyone to "get it" though--not because they shouldn't but because that's how it is. I don't know what else we could do after years of trying to help people and walk alongside and encourage and even try requiring it as a part of membership. I think the best you can do, if you want a group to continue, is to help those who are willing to do something become effective in their area of service, whether that's giving them the tools they need or tapping into their particular expertise, and keep trying to encourage those who are not involved--some may eventually join in more fully. 

[eternalsummer]

Why are people assuming that homeschool mom class means 'not very good' ? My degree is in writing, I run a damn fine LA class. I could charge for it, because I get paid elsewhere by normal people to do the same job, but I don't, because I want people struggling financially to be able to access it.

 

Most moms I know have plenty to offer. They're not idiots.

 

I wish this were my experience.  In my experience (in a couple of different geographical areas in the US), classes offered as a sort of For Homeschoolers By Homeschoolers paradigm are maybe 1/4 as good as the ones offered by professionals (who also offer classes to non-homeschoolers) or under the aegis of the public school system.  I would love to live in an area or find a community with homeschoolers who were both not religious (or who at least didn't care that I am not religious) and committed to or able to provide significant educational challenge.

[eternalsummer]

We'd like to eventually end up in NZ but we'd have to either make $750,000 or acquire some skill they really need. :)

 

Australia has about a zillion too many deadly creatures.  People seem nice, though!

[Arcadia]

I'm trying to figure out what factors play into someone volunteering to do something for the homeschooling community and someone not volunteering anymore or at all.

 

If not is it because they were burned when they contributed in the past? Do they feel no obligation to reciprocate at all, ever?

I have volunteer burnout from years of volunteering before kids so nothing to do with homeschooling. My family opt for homeschooling for academic reasons and find more common ground with local afterschoolers than with the local homeschool social community. For one thing, we can't make small talk about which church we are attending or which VBS our kids may be attending.

 

My only contribution to homeschooling is when someone would like to chat with a secular homeschool person who also happened to be a foreigner. I had chat with many interested moms and dads immigrants/expats over coffee and then they go home and talk it over and decide if they want to homeschool. I have given gently used curriculum away.

 

My husband and I volunteer at our kids non-profit German Saturday school because there is a long list of activities we can volunteer for and volunteering helps keep cost down for everyone. Like we volunteer to clean up after recess and we help with setting up the auditorium for the biannual performances. We agreed a long time ago that volunteering to teach or be teacher aide at co-ops are not our thing. So my husband and I choose to pay for all outside classes and treat it like a private school expense.

[AimeeM]

My posts in another thread about what you don't get about homeschooling/homeschoolers seem to be derailing it, so I'm posting the heart of the matter here with related sub categories. 

 

The primary question is what have you done to serve the/a homeschooling community.  This means you took responsibility or shared responsibility with (an)other(s) to provide an academic, enrichment or social activity/event/opportunity that included (an)other homeschooler(s) in addition to your own children.  Anything from co-ops, playdates, inviting someone over for dinner, service activities, projects, classes, coordinating simple meet ups in a building or outdoors, trips, field trips, inviting guest speakers, being a guest speaker, disseminating useful homeschooling information, anything at all.

 

What was the activity/event/opportunity? I have co-hosted several dances and more formal parties for homeschooled teens in the area with a homeschool-dad friend of mine. I did host a homeschool chess club last year from my home as well.

What was the age/ability range? That's where it was sticky at first. Initially we tried using "grade levels," but that didn't work, as homeschoolers often work across several "grade levels," and we had 10 year olds running wild at a middle and high school dance/function. After that, we determined access by age (12+). Eventually I anticipate that we will grow a bit with our oldest children and move the ages to 13+.

Where was it? (Local, more than an hour travel time, out of state, out of country) Local

What was the financial cost to participants? Depended on the function. For smaller parties (say Valentine's Day parties at a private residence), we just asked participants to bring a dish to share. In hindsight, not a great idea because we were still out a good bit of money for other food items and decorations. For more formal parties and dances, at another location (location was volunteered to us and didn't cost us anything but time, cleaning up, etc.) we have charged $15-$20 a head to cover things like a DJ, a photographer, food, and decorations.

What kind of coordinating/planning tasks did you do? I helped maintain the guest list, advertise, set-up, shop for necessary items, determine rules and activities, and chaperone.

What kind of prep or participation was required of the student and parents who participated? None. We asked a select few to stay as active chaperones and anybody who was willing to help stay after and clean, but nothing was required outside of either A) paying the fee, or B) letting us know their child wanted to participate but that the fee would be a hardship for them

How many homeschooling families were invited? The parties at private residences have a limited, select guest list due to space constraints and those lists were determined based on personal friendships. The parties and dances at the venue included everyone in several homeschool groups we belong to. I would say over 100 were invited.

How many showed up and participated? For private residence parties (at my home) I try to keep the guest list to 10-12 students, because I know several parents will also stay. For the larger venue parties and dances we've had anywhere from 20 kids to 35 or 40. 

 

One secondary question is what is  your perspective on providing that/those opportunities now that you can look back on it.  What should someone new to providing opportunities to a/the community need to know before doing it so their expectations are realistic? You can't please everybody. Don't try to! Really - you will only end up frustrated and swearing you'll never do it again (been there, done that!).  

What advice would pass on to someone else considering a similar event? See above. Do NOT try to please everybody. There will be parents in every bunch who complain about everything, but continue to send their child(ren) to your events. There will be parents who will gripe (behind your back) about the cost, but that still want all of the bells and whistles (just at no or low cost). Shrug it off. It really got to me the first couple of events.

Would you do something differently if you could do it over again or how have you done it differently since then?  I'm not sure.

Were you surprised by anything? How fun it was for us hosts and parents!

What was predictable about any aspect of it? The interest level was pretty predictable. 

 

Another secondary question is what was your personal situation when you provided the opportunity? I'm not sure what you mean by my "personal situation."

 

About how long had you been homeschooling when you provided this opportunity? 4 or 5 years

How many kids did you have at the time you provided the opportunity?

What age rage were your children? (Infant/toddler, preschooler, elementary, middle school, high school) a preschooler, a grade-schooler, and a high schooler (at the time we started with the events, my oldest was a late-middle schooler.

Are you an introvert, extrovert or a mix that leans more one direction? A mix. I lean extrovert as long as I know one or two in a group of several. I clam up entirely if I know noone.

 

Anything else related to this list or you think should've been included on this list.

 

 

[abba12]

There could be an AU/US difference in homeschooling demographics to explain this. Idk. 

 

Come to Sydney, we do well with the 'not religious' thing!

 

To my understanding, the origins of Australian homeschoolers were generally more academic and less religious than American homeschoolers for a range of reasons. We had our religious element, but, the denim dress wearing large families were a fairly small subset, and I've never heard of a support group reject families based on religion, ever, except for the IBLP (Gothard) families which most homeschoolers never even came across unless they were already deeply religious themselves like DHs were. 

 

It has been my totally anecdotal experience that back in the 90s, Aussie reasons for homeschooling usually included academics, bullying/disability, and family lifestyle reasons (radical unschoolers), while American reasons were frequently religious in nature. 

 

Of course that's changing now, and I'd actually say the religious subset has become LARGER in Australia, not smaller as it seems to be in the US, from gauging trends in my local area. But the same problem of homeschooling now being easy and accepted, leading to people homeschooling now who never ever would have 20 years ago, and the lack of commitment, the changes in expectations, the lack of leaders and increase in 'consumers'.... that all still applies here, and I think has more to do with homeschooling now being more mainstream than it does with anything else. 

[Rosie_0801]

Around here there is a big difference in homeschooling culture between city and rural. 

[Carol in Cal.]

I have volunteer burnout from years of volunteering before kids so nothing to do with homeschooling. My family opt for homeschooling for academic reasons and find more common ground with local afterschoolers than with the local homeschool social community. For one thing, we can't make small talk about which church we are attending or which VBS our kids may be attending.

 

My only contribution to homeschooling is when someone would like to chat with a secular homeschool person who also happened to be a foreigner. I had chat with many interested moms and dads immigrants/expats over coffee and then they go home and talk it over and decide if they want to homeschool. I have given gently used curriculum away.

 

My husband and I volunteer at our kids non-profit German Saturday school because there is a long list of activities we can volunteer for and volunteering helps keep cost down for everyone. Like we volunteer to clean up after recess and we help with setting up the auditorium for the biannual performances. We agreed a long time ago that volunteering to teach or be teacher aide at co-ops are not our thing. So my husband and I choose to pay for all outside classes and treat it like a private school expense.

We used that German school for about 4 years.  It was great!

 

Do you know about Academic Antics or the group that meets at the Coyote Grange?  Those are tilted toward the academic end and secular.  Also, Schmahl Science used to offer excellent classes at Kelley Park, and they will organize science classes for a group if you pull the group together.  

 

Also, Vivace Youth Chorus of San Jose is outstanding, presenting choral music for children at a very high level.  

 

FYI, since you're in my area.

[PeacefulChaos]

My posts in another thread about what you don't get about homeschooling/homeschoolers seem to be derailing it, so I'm posting the heart of the matter here with related sub categories. 

 

The primary question is what have you done to serve the/a homeschooling community.  This means you took responsibility or shared responsibility with (an)other(s) to provide an academic, enrichment or social activity/event/opportunity that included (an)other homeschooler(s) in addition to your own children.  Anything from co-ops, playdates, inviting someone over for dinner, service activities, projects, classes, coordinating simple meet ups in a building or outdoors, trips, field trips, inviting guest speakers, being a guest speaker, disseminating useful homeschooling information, anything at all.

 

What was the activity/event/opportunity?  Three of us organized an art class for homeschoolers 2-3 years ago; I schedule and plan field trips for the local homeschooling community; The same three of us organized and pulled off a pretty awesome field day; last year I scheduled physical fitness following the old presidential fitness standards, open to all in the homeschooling community, for 8 weeks in March and April; We put together sports afternoons where we all just got together and played _____ (soccer, kickball, etc).  I also keep a running list of all homeschool days and other things of potential interest - theater productions, etc - public on FB and post it to our state homeschooling pages.

What was the age/ability range?  All.  Art class was for Pre-K-12 (split into 2 classes); field trips are open to all; field day was open to all, most participants ranged from age 4-14, as were the physical fitness and sports participants; co-op has all ages.  This is our first year at this co-op, and first-year moms don't teach, we assist.  I assist in 2nd-3rd grade art, high school woodworking, 2nd-5th grade P.E., and Middle and High school P.E..  Next year I plan on volunteering to teach 2nd-5th P.E., 2nd-3rd art, and possibly a science class.  Haven't decided yet. 

Where was it? (Local, more than an hour travel time, out of state, out of country) Everything is local; some field trips go up to 3 hours away.

What was the financial cost to participants? Varied.  For art we hired a teacher, and the cost was split by all participants - $35/kid per semester.  It was our priciest endeavor, and in retrospect I wouldn't pay that much again.  But it was our first thing, and now we know.  Field trips vary - they range from free to maybe $15/person?  Most fall under $10, though.  Field day, physical fitness, and sports are all free, though we did put a jar out for donations at field day - no pressure.   Co-op cost is materials only + a donation at the end of the year to the church that lets us use their gym.

What kind of coordinating/planning tasks did you do? Art: Got a location to meet, set up dates, managed email lists, brought supplies + cleaning supplies, set up, tear down, assisted the teacher; Field trips - research and find places to go, put out feelers to gauge interest, set a date, create an event on FB, take money, RSVPs, etc, and lead the caravan there, if needed; Field Day - game planning, buying supplies, painting signs, trying games, setting up, heading up many events, cleaning up; researching and finding appropriate physical fitness goals, setting up plans for running, practicing, and playing games for 8 weeks, buying supplies if necessary; sports afternoons - scheduled, brought/bought supplies, if needed; FB list - look online and on various websites to compile the list

What kind of prep or participation was required of the student and parents who participated? Art: they needed to provide their child(ren)'s supplies only; Field trips - RSVPing to me by the deadline, with money if necessary; Field day - helping to supervise events; physical fitness - help to count sit ups/push ups (a parent at each station), and people staggered along the trail so that the little ones were always in someone's line of sight while running; Sports afternoons - none; co-op - same as mine.

How many homeschooling families were invited? Art: It was open to all of our local homeschool community - our local homeschool group has 171 members, we'll assume there's been a growth of ~50 people in the last couple years, and that not every person represents a full family, and say maybe 50ish?  Field trips: Varied.  If I have a lot of space on a trip or no limit, I'll start out with our group of 171 (so maybe 80ish families) and then open it up wider if needed.  So far I've not opened it wider, though I may need to for a couple trips this spring.  Field day, physical fitness, sports - all the same, on that local page.  

How many showed up and participated? Art had about 10 students per class because of the high cost.  My highest attended field trips were the local zoo and the apple orchard - each of those had 50-100 people.  Many trips are much smaller - 10-20.  Field day was about 40.  Physical fitness had regular attendance of about 5 families; sports afternoons varied, from 5-10 families. 

 

One secondary question is what is  your perspective on providing that/those opportunities now that you can look back on it.  What should someone new to providing opportunities to a/the community need to know before doing it so their expectations are realistic? I'm sure every homeschooling community is different, but what I've learned about our local homeschoolers is that 1. they are frugal.  If a trip is something that is highly discounted or promises a lot out of it (educationally, experience, etc), they are more likely to want to attend. They want to feel like they are getting their money's worth, and free options are always celebrated. So I never expect to have a large turnout when we decide to go see the new art exhibit for $10/ticket, but I know that the zoo tickets will be a hot commodity. and 2. they don't like to travel too far.  :lol:  On one hand, we live at least an hour from pretty much everything - on the other hand, in an hour you can reach a lot of field trip destinations in our state.  They also have tastes that one can never fully account for - I never expected to have four times people go on a field trip 2.5 hours away for one thing when usually any trips 2.5 hours away for other things have about 5 families.  But that's ok.  

In that same vein, it would be remiss for me to say that I do all the field trips 'for them'.  I don't.  I do the field trips for us.  These are all places that I'd go either way, but that we can get better options for with an educational group.  Not everyone likes to take a field trip to a museum on a weekday, especially if there is a longer drive involved - they'd rather go as a family on the weekend.  That's all good.  But usually there are enough to do a trip during the week so that we can get the educational programming, the scavenger hunts, the special perks of being a 'field trip group' - which makes it worth it.  I think that anyone coming into trying to plan field trips and stuff just have to be cool with the differences in each family's tastes and not be offended if people choose not to go on their trip.

Those general things apply to pretty much everything I've done - good cost, good location, and still just allowing for people's differences.  And just going with the flow of it all.  I do this because I love it and I think it's fun.  If I didn't, I wouldn't do it because it would just feel like a chore.

 

What advice would pass on to someone else considering a similar event? All of the above :).  Though I will throw in there that doing field day was a huge investment on the part of those of us who put it on, and it was worth it.  It was seriously amazing - I still can't believe that we pulled it off.  The rewards we reaped were not financial, but experiential.  So be prepared for some instances like that.

Would you do something differently if you could do it over again or how have you done it differently since then?   Only thing I'd do differently is that art class the first year.  We wouldn't have hired the teacher.

What were the pros and cons? For field trips, the pros are going on the field trips.  :D  There aren't many cons, other than making sure everything is in order, which may not fit every personality.  For field day, pros were the fun, cons were maybe just the amount of work that went in and how hard it was to finally get all the paint off everyone :lol: (it really wasn't that bad).  For physical fitness, we were very busy those 8 weeks.  With any commitment that you step forward and initiate or take the role of supervising, there aren't days off and I feel 100% should always be given.  I am notoriously late, but not for any of my scheduled events.  For something I've put on, I like to be the first one there and the last to leave.

Were you surprised by anything?  Not really.  Ok, after doing the next one I'll add this - when there is a lot of initial interest in a trip, but then when it is scheduled, suddenly no one is interested anymore.  :lol:

What was predictable about any aspect of it? The mixed reactions.  With the different styles and personalities that each homeschool family has, I've never been surprised by low turnouts; I've always been more surprised by high ones!

 

Another secondary question is what was your personal situation when you provided the opportunity?  Personal situation in what way?  I guess I'll just cover the bases - I'm a SAHM; I worked less than part time (a couple evenings/ 6 hour weekend shifts per week) from 2013 to 2015; we are what I believe was once called the working class.  Lower middle income.  3 kids, none of them babies any longer. 

 

About how long had you been homeschooling when you provided this opportunity? Less than 5 years.

How many kids did you have at the time you provided the opportunity? 3

What age rage were your children? (Infant/toddler, preschooler, elementary, middle school, high school) Let's see, we did the art class the first time I began scheduling field trips other than just as a family, and I believe that was in the 2014-15 school year.  So that year, Link was 10-11, Astro was 8-9, and Pink was 5.  So I had one middle schooler, one elementary, and one K.  We added on more things last year.

Are you an introvert, extrovert or a mix that leans more one direction?  Extrovert.

 

Anything else related to this list or you think should've been included on this list.

 

 

All I would add is that no one should feel like they need to do anything for the homeschooling community.  

 

Every person who homeschools has only the responsibility for what goes on in their own homeschool.  You do you (in the general sense).  As I said before, if I didn't think it was super fun, I wouldn't do it.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Actually, some descriptions were about a few close families getting together for activities or a few subjects. My original post in this thread mentioned groups no larger than 15 kids, and as small as 3 kids. Maybe you didn't read my post.

 

A  few close families getting together for activities don't need volunteers.  And they don't have to stand on ceremony because they are close (ie. friends).  So if I got tired of hosting the close friends I could say "Hey, I've hosted the last couple of times.  Can we meet at or near your house next time?"  All of the OP's questions were geared toward organized activities which need coordination and help.  I would find the kinds of questions she asked very formal for getting together with a couple of close friends and their kids. 

[PeacefulChaos]

Ok, now that I've actually gone through and read all the responses, I think a lot of my post above is probably moot.  :lol:  Oh, well.  :D

 

 

In regard to organized 'groups', I often mention the FB group but there is no official 'group' other than on FB.   If that makes sense.  There are a few different co-ops around and all that, but in general many of the local homeschoolers are on that page just for random offerings that may go out on there.  

 

In regard to co-ops, I stay away from all things academic.  It never fits with what I am doing.  Or one class will but the rest won't and it's a waste of a day, so we don't do it.  I have no interest in doing it.  The co-op we are a part of is actually still called the Mennonite co-op, though I think maybe only one lady who is there is Mennonite any more.  Also, it's pretty low-commitment - we meet twice a month from October to March.  We have maybe 10 families in it.  Pink (2nd grade) has art, music, P.E., and geography class.  Astro (5th grade) has Current Events, art, P.E., and robotics.  Link (7th) has art, current events, P.E., and woodworking.  

 

Anyway, I stay away from co-ops that have a high commitment (once a week - no way!) or are academic in nature.  

 

I actually stay away from academics pretty much as a whole, when it comes to 'group' events.  I stick to fun extracurricular stuff, because those are the things that I think are fun as a group.  

 

 

I'm also very 'if I want it, and it doesn't exist, I'll create it' in thinking.  That's where it all starts.

 

[Rosie_0801]

 Every group needs a leader.

 

I have been pondering this myself. What people will commit to very much depends on who is perceived to be the leader. In one of our groups, nothing much will happen unless one woman (who would rather not) takes charge. Anyone else's idea really needs to be rubber stamped by her, or few others will bother with it.

[LMD]

Around here there is a big difference in homeschooling culture between city and rural.

I'd be interested in your thoughts on this! We started hs in the burbs but now we're more rural.

 

I have noticed a lot of religious homeschoolers, but they don't seem to be quite the same as the US descriptions. They all take educating their kids, daughters included, very seriously. It's usually the atheist unschooler stereotypes that raise my eyebrows! I have been to events with both.

Eta- that was tongue in cheek, the atheist unschoolers are lovely!

Edited January 19, 2017 by LMD

[Rosie_0801]

I'd be interested in your thoughts on this! We started hs in the burbs but now we're more rural.

 

I have noticed a lot of religious homeschoolers, but they don't seem to be quite the same as the US descriptions. They all take educating their kids, daughters included, very seriously. It's usually the atheist unschooler stereotypes that raise my eyebrows! I have been to events with both.

Eta- that was tongue in cheek, the atheist unschoolers are lovely!

 

Ah yes. The unschooly types in a few places we've lived refused to associate with the rest of us. :lol: We just weren't crunchy enough for them!

 

Currently we attend one group in a regional city and another in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. In the country town, everyone is pretty cruisey. The raw vegan can sit down with the Happy Meal. :lol: And everyone generally agrees that the unschooler family really hasn't a choice considering their circumstances, and Ms Regimented here hasn't one either. None of us have much money, so if worst comes to worst we can all bond over the RVs we can't afford to buy. :lol: No one has any desire to do academics as a group. We all do our own thing and for the most part have no idea what everyone else is doing.

 

The group in the city is an entirely different beastie. Almost no one will show up for a park date, even with little kids. (Many don't in the country either, but they all have large families and property, so it's not worth the petrol money.) Everything has to be educational. The "incursions" are very popular. Sport classes run during the day for homeschoolers seem to be too, though I've not attended them because they're not worth my time and petrol money. They also tried a co-op, because everyone wanted one, but it couldn't be organised by the people willing to organise it because they weren't the right people, the damned bossy so and so's who wanted everything their own way and wouldn't do what everyone else suggested, and it was all supposed to be child directed anyway, even though most of the kids were 8 at most and certainly were not going to organise themselves to do research projects. Much politics, and certainly enough to justify that run on sentence. :D While it ran, it mainly consisted of kids running around like ferals and not interacting with the mostly lame excuses for educational activities. One mustn't descriminate against people too young or too disinterested to want to be quiet, pay attention and work together. So I heard, anyway. I know enough about human nature to stay far away! It was sort of supposed to be classroom activities for radical unschoolers, even though none of them are radical unschoolers and all of them disapprove of classrooms enough to pull their kids out of them. Very interesting stuff.

[LMD]

Ah yes. The unschooly types in a few places we've lived refused to associate with the rest of us. :lol: We just weren't crunchy enough for them!

 

Currently we attend one group in a regional city and another in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. In the country town, everyone is pretty cruisey. The raw vegan can sit down with the Happy Meal. :lol: And everyone generally agrees that the unschooler family really hasn't a choice considering their circumstances, and Ms Regimented here hasn't one either. None of us have much money, so if worst comes to worst we can all bond over the RVs we can't afford to buy. :lol: No one has any desire to do academics as a group. We all do our own thing and for the most part have no idea what everyone else is doing.

 

The group in the city is an entirely different beastie. Almost no one will show up for a park date, even with little kids. (Many don't in the country either, but they all have large families and property, so it's not worth the petrol money.) Everything has to be educational. The "incursions" are very popular. Sport classes run during the day for homeschoolers seem to be too, though I've not attended them because they're not worth my time and petrol money. They also tried a co-op, because everyone wanted one, but it couldn't be organised by the people willing to organise it because they weren't the right people, the damned bossy so and so's who wanted everything their own way and wouldn't do what everyone else suggested, and it was all supposed to be child directed anyway, even though most of the kids were 8 at most and certainly were not going to organise themselves to do research projects. Much politics, and certainly enough to justify that run on sentence. :D While it ran, it mainly consisted of kids running around like ferals and not interacting with the mostly lame excuses for educational activities. One mustn't descriminate against people too young or too disinterested to want to be quiet, pay attention and work together. So I heard, anyway. I know enough about human nature to stay far away! It was sort of supposed to be classroom activities for radical unschoolers, even though none of them are radical unschoolers and all of them disapprove of classrooms enough to pull their kids out of them. Very interesting stuff.

😂😂😂

[abba12]

Ah yes. The unschooly types in a few places we've lived refused to associate with the rest of us. :lol: We just weren't crunchy enough for them!

 

Currently we attend one group in a regional city and another in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. In the country town, everyone is pretty cruisey. The raw vegan can sit down with the Happy Meal. :lol: And everyone generally agrees that the unschooler family really hasn't a choice considering their circumstances, and Ms Regimented here hasn't one either. None of us have much money, so if worst comes to worst we can all bond over the RVs we can't afford to buy. :lol: No one has any desire to do academics as a group. We all do our own thing and for the most part have no idea what everyone else is doing.

 

The group in the city is an entirely different beastie. Almost no one will show up for a park date, even with little kids. (Many don't in the country either, but they all have large families and property, so it's not worth the petrol money.) Everything has to be educational. The "incursions" are very popular. Sport classes run during the day for homeschoolers seem to be too, though I've not attended them because they're not worth my time and petrol money. They also tried a co-op, because everyone wanted one, but it couldn't be organised by the people willing to organise it because they weren't the right people, the damned bossy so and so's who wanted everything their own way and wouldn't do what everyone else suggested, and it was all supposed to be child directed anyway, even though most of the kids were 8 at most and certainly were not going to organise themselves to do research projects. Much politics, and certainly enough to justify that run on sentence. :D While it ran, it mainly consisted of kids running around like ferals and not interacting with the mostly lame excuses for educational activities. One mustn't descriminate against people too young or too disinterested to want to be quiet, pay attention and work together. So I heard, anyway. I know enough about human nature to stay far away! It was sort of supposed to be classroom activities for radical unschoolers, even though none of them are radical unschoolers and all of them disapprove of classrooms enough to pull their kids out of them. Very interesting stuff.

 

I heard of one of those here in southern suburbs of brisbane!

It didn't last long, so far as I know.

[Guest]

Cheerful bean dip gets old after a decade.

 

It's disappointing, that's all. But hey, I guess humans are disappointing, so in a way, it's just par for the course.

 

My solution was to stop offering. It's a good solution for me, but not so good for a community that now cannot access good quality literature classes for free. They won't go out and hire a literature professor to run it instead, that's for sure. They'll go without. And with just a little more give, and a little less take, it doesn't have to be that way.

Did you tell them you needed something back/help if you were to keep offering the class?

[happypamama]

I've done a fair amount. I've taught a few co-op enrichment classes (and even when I didn't teach, I manned the nursery). I've set up/helped set up field trips, a giant safety day event, an annual portfolio share, and a high school at home seminar. I currently am the VP of our local support group, and I handle membership. Whenever someone wants to join our group, they go through me. I also get emails from people who are new to or considering homeschooling, and I do my best to answer their questions.

 

I agree that there are seasons to life, and at times I have had more or less time and energy to do more for other homeschoolers. These days, I find it harder to get out to do more physically, but if it involves emails, those I can do.

 

ETA: I rarely host people at my house. I'm an extreme introvert, and I also live pretty far from most people. I have a great President though; we and the rest of our board are a good fit together. She handles all the logistics and is the face of our group, and I get to do the behind the scenes stuff that suits me just fine.

Edited January 19, 2017 by happypamama

[8filltheheart]

If the situation below is describing interactions amg a small group of friends, I would think the solution is to find different friends. Most people don't have these sorts of conversations or emotions about/or toward their close friends. It would be beyond sad if this was the emotional state of someone volunteering to organize amg friends.

 

I think this might be a perpspective difference due to location bc here large co-ops have pretty much started to dominate the homeschooling culture. Here, the stealth groups would be what I would assume the OP considers amg friends vs the large school-substitute co-ops.

 

..... People complain to other homeschoolers and homeschool leaders that there are not other people providing an opportunity for them to sign up for X....

 

.......They insist they should never be expected to the person volunteering to provide X or Y or Z or Q or F or M or J or.... Many homeschoolers seem afraid to question the complainers about their underlying faulty assumption that it's perfectly fine for people to continue to participate in X ....... If you do, accusations of being judgmental and snobbish, etc. come out or reasons to not help like the age of their children, their inexperience homeschooling, their personality types, or whatever. .....

 

Or their unreasonable demands of insisting people provide X for them without at some point providing any letter from the alphabet soup to others is a symptom of unreasonableness in some of them when participating in X. They show up late, don't follow through on assignments, don't participate fully, don't cooperate with the leadership and such at X and then complain people just aren't providing much X anymore and someone, anyone but them, needs to solve that problem. If people respond about the behavioral issues that caused X to end, there are accusations discriminating against people with different parenting philosophies, different educational philosophies, etc. I'm Judgy McJudgerson if I dare explain the problem and propose the obvious solution. "It sounds like the groups available to you aren't a good fit. Why not start you own?" or "It sounds like there aren't any groups at all available to you. Why don't you start your own?"

 

I honestly believe there must be ways to preemptively with a lot of this, by setting much clearer expectations and making some reasonable demands with newbies (and some vets) but it requires better understanding the different mindsets and explicitly stating which mindset the group has and that those with the same mindset are good fits for the group and those with a different mindset are not. You can insist you'll never provide anything, but don't assume every group out there will allow you membership.

 

....If homeschoolers are too afraid of pointing out the elephant in the room, then their passivity will cause opportunities for everyone to die out or all groups will become stealth, by private invitation only, don't talk about the group in front of anyone who isn't invited, groups.

Edited January 19, 2017 by 8FillTheHeart

[stutterfish]

 

nm

 

Edited February 6, 2017 by stutterfish

[mschickie]

lol, it would be a lot better of a community if, getting back to the OP's question, the people who took advantage of it also gave something to it!

 

 

This is why our one support group requires everyone to volunteer on something.  Now even though we have that requirement some folks still do not meet it while others help out everywhere.

 

In our area there are several different homeschool groups that offer co-ops.  There is one that is a one day drop off program that is becoming very popular.  It is pricey in comparison to other local groups but the parents are not required to volunteer (if they do they can get a discount).  I did not like it for the younger grades because it really dictated what curriculum you used and topics you studied based on what they were doing for that grade.  In the upper grades you can come in for just one or two classes and we might do that at some point depending on what they offer.

 

The smaller co-ops that really require parental involvement do not seem to be growing in fact many that I have ended up disbanding.  There are some that have been successful but I am seeing that less and less.

 

I was just talking to someone in one of my groups about the fact that the family that basically coordinates everything is going to be aging out in a few years.  Since no one else seems to be stepping up I am not sure where that will leave the group unless they decide they still want to help.

 

It seems that the programs that require less from the parents are the ones really growing.

[Jean in Newcastle]

lol, maybe in the US. Over here someone needs to set the dates, email everyone to decide on a topic, collect resources, send out a reminder of the date and run the darn activity, or arrange a roster to run the darn activity.

 

Trust me, I've tried the democratic way with small groups and it doesn't work. Every group needs a leader. Even if you are friends, even if it is small, someone has to 'take charge'.

 

In fact, that would be my one piece of advice for anyone wanting to organise anything...make sure someone is prepared to lead.

I doubt that it is a geographical difference. I bet it is a philosophical difference regarding friendship and how we get together as homeschoolers. Friends don't flake on each other. At least I don't choose to befriend flakes. But also, friends understand that life happens and that none of us are perfect and we extend grace and flexibility to each other. And friends know each other's strengths and weaknesses and play to the strengths and help shore up the weaknesses. Again- I am specifically talking about one tiny subset of groups where a couple of close friends and their kids get together. I'm not talking about friendly acquaintances who are coming together for convenience sake instead of actual friendship.

[Bluegoat]

Cheerful bean dip gets old after a decade. 

 

It's disappointing, that's all. But hey, I guess humans are disappointing, so in a way, it's just par for the course.

 

My solution was to stop offering. It's a good solution for me, but not so good for a community that now cannot access good quality literature classes for free. They won't go out and hire a literature professor to run it instead, that's for sure. They'll go without. And with just a little more give, and a little less take, it doesn't have to be that way.

 

It is sad when this happens.  I have seen some people say they found asking for money, but not very much, actually made a big difference to how people treated classes and trips.  It's like once they have to pay, they start to see it as worth their attention and even gratitude.

 

I think sometimes people just don't see beyond their needs.  The science center here has offered homeschool classes for a while.  At parent's requests, they did it so you could buy only access to those dates you wanted, you didn't have to buy the whole set.  People were constantly complaining that it should be possible to only pay on the day, so if you don't show up there is no cost.  I finally became so frustrated that I pointed out that they were being kind to let people buy one-offs, in most cases you have to pay for a set of classes and if you don't show up its your own problem.  They actually have to pay the people that teach these classes and for materials and they still have to pay if 30 ditsy homeschool families say they will come but don't show up on the day.

 

The response was oh, they never thought of that.  I think they kind of see education as something "in the public good" so other people ought to do stuff for them.  Well, yeah, that's the public school system.

[AMJ]

I'm trying to figure out what factors play into someone volunteering to do something for the homeschooling community and someone not volunteering anymore or at all.

 

If they do, is it a phase of life that makes people more likely to contribute to others? Do they feel compelled to give to others because someone gave to them in the past?  Is it only to fill a gap for their own children? What particular kind of opportunities do most people provide at each stage of life? 

 

If not is it because they were burned when they contributed in the past? Do they feel no obligation to reciprocate at all, ever?  

 

I'm trying to get a better sense of whether or not my personal observations about who contributes is generally true or if it's more characteristic of the people I'm seeing first hand. I'm part of a group and know of others that require contributions of members.  I've been part of groups that didn't.  I want to compare that to what the hive members are doing.

 

 

For the purpose you state here I find this second set of questions a lot more pertinent than your original post.  I can understand this curiosity.

 

 

 

Myself, I do not plan or organize or arrange things for homeschoolers other than my own kids.  Why?  I have my hands too danged full with getting my own kids educated, my own health issues, issues with aging and ailing family, and life in general.  Life is just too full already for me to go looking for more to take on.  

 

I have volunteered in the past through many different stages of my life.  I have faced burn-out several times in my life and not just due to volunteering, so I am cautious about what I agree to add to my schedule.  I have found that life is full of "little" "inconsequential" ways of helping or making a difference, so this is where my "volunteering" efforts are now focused.  

 

When I am asked for help I help, or I explain why I can't or won't.  I might not help to the extent the requester wanted, but I do what I can and try to brainstorm other ways to get the need met.

 

I visit with people.  I talk to them, but I also LISTEN to them.  When people ask me about homeschooling I engage with them to find out what they want or need to know, and then I tailor my responses to THEM.  Generally this tends to be more helpful to them than me rambling on about my own way of doing things and my own opinions.  I'll still ramble at times, but I try to keep in mind who I'm talking to and what their interest in the conversation is.  Many times the answers I give to their questions are not what they want to hear (life is seldom that simple), but those who ask who then have opportunity to talk to me later usually raise the topic with me again, to discuss further.  I like to think this means I have said something of some help.

 

I tell people to stop stressing over what other people expect of them as homeschoolers.  Each child is unique.  Each homeschooling situation is unique.  Only the person doing the homeschooling has a prayer of knowing what ultimately works for him/her and the kids he/she is teaching.  Responsibility to make a decision requires the freedom to make that decision.

 

I keep myself open to other people and the conversations that can start.  I seem to do more good of lasting effect this way than I ever accomplished through organized activities (though some of the conversations did occur during organized activities).

 

 

 

Here in this hive there is such a wide range of homeschoolers that just about every possibility is represented.  You have started a thread to inquire into what drives or affects others' decisions about volunteering.  I think you will find a wide range of answers, but please do keep in mind that the responses you receive are limited to those people who see your thread and take the time to respond.  Many very good people with very insightful input to offer might never see your thread or might not have the time, opportunity, or inclination to respond to it.  I only saw your thread because I was looking for it after someone else mentioned it, and until I saw the particular post I quoted I had no inclination to actually respond.  In fact, I nearly stopped reading the thread altogether and this particular post caught my eye as I was reaching to close out of this thread.

 

While your personal observations are restricted to just the people you encounter first-hand I would hesitate to state that what you are observing is characteristic of that group of people without more information into their individual lives.  Chances are very strong there are factors and influences for each of them of which others are entirely unaware, private matters they each keep private.  Does this negate the legitimacy of frustration about some people who seem to only take and not give in return?  Not at all.  But it is a reminder to be careful about judging the person.  If you find you have a problem with particular actions (or lack thereof) then address those actions if you wish.  Communicate expectations clearly, and make sure your target audience knows the means by which you are communicating (and actually gets those communications.  I have found many times in the past that a perceived problem turned out to be a short-coming in the chosen means of communication.)

 

There will always be people you don't understand, however much you might try.  Handle such encounters to the best of your ability, but always keep in mind that there is likely something of which you will remain entirely unaware factoring into the decisions those people make, the things they do or don't do.

[daijobu]

Awesome!!! So jealous. We would have joined you in a heartbeat.

 

The kids in our local homeschool group are mostly not even on grade level in math. DS tells me that none of his friends have completed college prep high school level math during homeschool high school. 

 

LOL, I must admit that I can often be found begging and pleading for students to join our team!  Most of our homeschooling friends don't make math problem solving skills a priority.  (Waldorf is very big around here.)  

 

But I also have a small group of parents who have been on board with these math programs through the years and sometimes multiple siblings.  

[birchbark]

I pay lots of library fines!

 

I share experience online or IRL if it is asked for.

 

That's it.

 

I think it's a lot to ask anyone with preschool children and younger at home to volunteer for anything. And I agree with the experienced moms upthread that our responsibility in HSing is to our own family, not others.

 

If people won't/can't volunteer or won't/can't pay for coops or whatever, then the market just can't bear it as they say in the financial world.

[StillStanding]

Everything I have done for the homeschool community has been to benefit my children:

 

 

1. I helped start a Homeschool Cub Scout Pack and was a leader in this group for five years. I moved up each year with my son, until he graduated into Boy Scouts. This included summer camps.

 

2. Became and American Heritage Girl leader (once my son was in Boy Scouts) until my daughters were done with it. This also included summer camps.

 

3. Taught free Spanish classes at our public library for Preschooler (and elementary age homeschoolers).

 

4. Taught Spanish (2nd grade-7th grade) in a local Tutorial so I could afford for my children to be in the tutorial.

 

5. Taught high school Spanish in a second tutorial so I could afford my children to take classes there.

 

6. Started my own co-op when after trying the second tutorial I decided I wanted higher quality classes for my highschooler. I lead the group for three years and then I resigned after I got fed up with people doing the minimal to be part of the co-op.  I guess my standards of what constitutes quality classes not always matches those of other families in my area.

 

7. Now I teach small classes, for a fee.  Usually a science class my children need.  I also continue to teach Spanish even when my kids don't need it.

 

 

I don't feel I owe anything to my homeschooling community.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Tbh Jean, this is a bit of lecture, and it's not really appreciated.

 

Neither is it correct in describing or responding to what I see or experience. 

 

It is my opinion based on what I see and experience.  I am free to give it.  Most of the experiences I had were of this nature or evolved into this once the flakes left and we were left with a core group of friends.  Once I saw that pattern, I stopped pursuing groups that were of the friendly acquaintance variety and just stuck with groups of true close friends.  I never was interested in the big expensive groups so I have no experience with them. 

 

You don't have to appreciate my opinions and experiences nor do you need to evaluate them to see if they fit  your definition of "correctness". 

[eternalsummer]

This is a really common complaint from veterans here about newbies (people who've been h/sing under 5 years). And yes, I do think it's bringing an attitude learned from the school system into the homeschool community. Newbies probably need to deschool themselves a bit, I think, especially when they've come from the school system. Or at least be open to watching and learning how it's done. 

 

With this I completely agree; I would go farther and say that I don't know that, at least in some places where I've lived in the US, people necessarily need to be talked out of the public-school mindset.  I think it works pretty well to expect services to exist for homeschoolers in the same way they exist for public schoolers (city or state funded sports, music, drama, etc., and help with gifted learners or disabled learners or whatever, and even the cottage school programs).  I think it makes a lot of sense for the state (or city, whoever runs your schools) to also provide services like these to homeschoolers, and it solves a lot of the cost problem.

 

You still have flakes, so that sucks, and you don't get quite as eclectic or interesting options, as they tend to be as bland as the local schools (some are less bland, though).  But they're free, easy to access, widespread, have no religious entrance requirement (which is huge for me) but at the same time aren't militantly liberal, and don't require any volunteering or sort of awkward social explanations of why I don't volunteer or what should I do, etc.

[Bluegoat]

With this I completely agree; I would go farther and say that I don't know that, at least in some places where I've lived in the US, people necessarily need to be talked out of the public-school mindset.  I think it works pretty well to expect services to exist for homeschoolers in the same way they exist for public schoolers (city or state funded sports, music, drama, etc., and help with gifted learners or disabled learners or whatever, and even the cottage school programs).  I think it makes a lot of sense for the state (or city, whoever runs your schools) to also provide services like these to homeschoolers, and it solves a lot of the cost problem.

 

You still have flakes, so that sucks, and you don't get quite as eclectic or interesting options, as they tend to be as bland as the local schools (some are less bland, though).  But they're free, easy to access, widespread, have no religious entrance requirement (which is huge for me) but at the same time aren't militantly liberal, and don't require any volunteering or sort of awkward social explanations of why I don't volunteer or what should I do, etc.

 

That is one way it can be done.  Or as in some provinces here in Canada, homeschool parents are able to access the funds that are allocated to their students within the system.

 

The difficulty I see with actually offering many services is that homeschool parents being the kind of people they are, they are likely to want services that align very closely with their own approaches.  Any organizing body would be likely to find they couldn't win.

[eternalsummer]

That is one way it can be done.  Or as in some provinces here in Canada, homeschool parents are able to access the funds that are allocated to their students within the system.

 

The difficulty I see with actually offering many services is that homeschool parents being the kind of people they are, they are likely to want services that align very closely with their own approaches.  Any organizing body would be likely to find they couldn't win.

 

In Colorado Springs, which was large enough (maybe 300,000?) to support such a thing, there were lots of different options - a classical model, a Waldorf charter, a STEM charter, and arts one, an outdoors one where they learn archery and forestry and etc., a sort of traditional b&m one, etc.  The only thing missing was a gifted one, which they have up in Fort Collins.

 

Here is Grand Junction (Colorado as a state has a pretty varied educational system as they support a lot of public charters) the homeschool option is, as far as I can tell, an umbrella school that offers a few classes (none of which we'd be able to use), give you advice, tests your kids regularly, and pays $2000 or so towards curriculum and outsourced classes.

[AMJ]

This is a really common complaint from veterans here about newbies (people who've been h/sing under 5 years). And yes, I do think it's bringing an attitude learned from the school system into the homeschool community. Newbies probably need to deschool themselves a bit, I think, especially when they've come from the school system. Or at least be open to watching and learning how it's done. 

 

 

 

I think I have found a couple of problems with how you presented your argument here:

 

False analogy:  Not everyone who has fewer years of experience is brings an "attitude learned from the school system".  These are two entirely different classifications of people which are neither mutually inclusive nor mutually exclusive.  Lumping them together in this way is bad logic and weakens any point you are trying to make.

 

Chronological snobbery:  Suggesting that people with less than 5 YEARS of experience being the primary teacher of their own kids should watch others (who don't know them or their kids) to learn "how it's done".  Again, this logical fallacy weakens your point and holds the potential to alienate people in the discussion.

 

 

 

Speaking as what you call a "newbie" I can safely say that not only do I NOT bring "an attitude learned from the school system" (for pity's sake, that's why we left!), most of the other newbies I have talked with ALSO do not bring such an attitude.  Additionally, while I might have been homeschooling less than 5 years at this point I have spent the ENTIRE educational career of both of my kids afterschooling and augmenting the brick & mortar educations they were getting before I started homeschooling officially.  I may still be relatively inexperienced in handling the whole shebang myself, but I am VERY cognizant of my kids' particular modes of learning.

 

When I was still sending my kids to brick & mortar school I encountered plenty of examples of what appeared to be all-take-no-give parents.  I also encountered such people in church when I was growing up, in college, and in the workplace.  This is NOT particular to a certain subset of homeschoolers, nor is it a problem unique to homeschooling in general.  These sort of people are encountered throughout life.  Pointing fingers and casting recriminations do NOT serve to help resolve such problems.  Addressing the behaviors, expectations, and communications does, but this can only be accomplished if all of those involved feel that they, too, are listened to and respected.

 

The vast bulk of the "newbies" are wonderfully smart, considerate people--just like the vast majority of experienced homeschoolers--who are trying to learn a lot of stuff in a little time so they can be confident they are on a good path to provide a quality education for each of their kids.  Even experienced homeschoolers do not know it all, cannot know everything about every approach.  It is often the new-to-homeschooling crowd that is doing lots of research into various options, strategies, and methods of teaching kids themselves.  They often find out things that those of us already getting fairly entrenched time-wise in our day-to-day don't have time to discover on our own.

 

They know their own kids.

They are actively engaging with others to see how others do things.

They assess whether methods and resources they discover, including those done by experienced homeschoolers, will work for them in their own situations.

They often find out new resources, new approaches worthy of consideration the rest of us hadn't had time to dig up or discover.

 

If you happen to find that newbies tend to present more strongly among those who do not step up and contribute in the ways you expect please consider this:  Such newbies not only often have much younger children at home that constrain what they can volunteer for and when, these same newbies also do not yet have their support network established, they don't have the time-saving shortcuts figured out, they do not yet have relationships with others on which they can call for support and give support in return.  They also don't know how the system works or how to figure out how they can contribute in return, or how to get something started that is manageable for them to run.  They need exposure and inclusion in the group, yes, for a few years, in order to work out the kinks and figure out how to give back.

[SilverMoon]

I'm clearly not the target audience for this one. So much of this thread seems like serious overthinking to me. I don't feel like I owe the homeschooling community at large anything. I owe my children the best education I can supply for them and the buck stops there. I do subscribe to the pay it forward mentality in general though. Quite honestly nothing I've experienced in local homeschooling circles in any of the three states we've lived in have come close to impacting my homeschool as much as this board. I do try to pay it forward by contributing back to the people coming along behind/beside me, as the ones in front of me did for me. (And continue to do!!)

 

The casual local group we're in gives us casual social experiences. We do not go to every field trip and I'm not really interested in co-op type classes that spring out of the group from time to time. If there is drama in this group like mentioned in this thread I am oblivious to it. We just hang out and socialize. We've made some great friends that I'm really thankful for in that group, but I certainly don't feel like I must teach a class to give back to it. I share my experiences with the people coming behind/beside us when it seems useful and give away books occasionally.

 

Quite honestly I feel like my plate is so full this year I can't imagine having to take on extra responsibilities for a group. I'd probably do such a lousy job it wouldn't be worth it.

[AMJ]

lol, you forget I've been a newbie, with small kids. Who had to do all of the above. I managed. Mostly b/c I didn't bitch and complain at veterans, but watched, learned and then stepped up.

 

I don't care how other people homeschool their kids; I just care about whingy people who want community but who don't care to work for it. If you're not in that category, you have nothing to get tetchy about.

 

 

I did not forget, though I did not know for certain one way or another (about you being a newbie at one point WITH small kids).  I just assumed that this was the case at some point.  You will notice, I trust, that never once did I state or imply that you have always been a font of experience.

 

 

Pointing out problems with logic that undermine another's attempts at persuading others on a point is neither whinging nor being "tetchy".  Neither is sharing experience of my own that serves as counterpoint to an argument you presented.  

[AMJ]

Oh for goodness sake. If you don't take advantage of others in a homeschool community, why are you even commenting ? Do you live in my city ? Do I 'know' you ? If not, you wouldn't have a clue what issues we deal with on an ongoing basis. 

 

 

No, I have no clue who you are or where you live, beyond what I have read about you in your own posts.  I know only as much as you have chosen to share in the posts I have seen (which are very few).

 

As for why I am commenting:  The original poster started a discussion about whether or not we do anything to give back to any homeschool community, and why we do or do not.  I posted in response to that initially.  In the nature of discussion there has been some back-and-forth on several different points, some of which I cared enough about to join in on.  The overriding theme of my discussion on this thread has been to encourage a less judgmental approach in communicating with others and adoption of a tone that seeks to understand and accept instead of alienate, since getting others involved and giving back tends to require such a tone of communication.

 

If you take exception to my "font of experience" comment then you have failed to see the clumsy compliment it contained.  I was acknowledging the truth that you were once a newbie and not such a font back then, which carries with it the direct implication that you are one now.  I am pretty sure I am not mistaken in this, though your approach comes off as a bit combative so it makes it hard to verify.

[lanalouwho]

This is a really common complaint from veterans here about newbies (people who've been h/sing under 5 years). And yes, I do think it's bringing an attitude learned from the school system into the homeschool community. Newbies probably need to deschool themselves a bit, I think, especially when they've come from the school system. Or at least be open to watching and learning how it's done.

I think that most 'newbies' who don't volunteer are most likely doing exactly what you suggested. They are watching and learning and finding their place in the community. People don't just jump in and try to run stuff; if they did that would be very presumptuous. I'm sure that if a group leader or veteran would ask a newbie to do something small and manageable, most would love to help out. But to insert themselves in a larger capacity with little experience is just setting themselves up for failure.

 

Sent from my HTCD160LVW using Tapatalk

[8circles]

I admit I haven't read all the posts because some of them are quite lengthy & I just don't have time ATM. But I think I understand the gist of the points people are making.

 

I have to out myself as someone who *has* complained, as a newbie, about my needs not being met in homeschooling groups. When we started homeschooling, I didn't know anyone else with kids similar in age who were close enough to me. So when I joined a homeschooling group, it was for community - not for any other particular reason. I didn't expect anyone to "give" me anything. I still don't expect anyone to "give" me anything. I wanted to have people I could chat with - about school - what were some of the opportunities out there, what curricula people seemed to like, just stuff we chat about on here - but anything, really. I didn't expect to have the group full of both parents and kids whose friend quota was already met and gave me the cold shoulder.

 

What do I give to the homeschool community? Same thing I give to the wider community. I am kind and generous. I try to make newbies feel welcome and am happy to share my knowledge about opportunities and resources available. I don't teach because I'm not good at it for many reasons. I do invite people over. I am happy to pay for co-ops and other parent-led classes as well as lend a hand doing grunt work, driving, cleanup, supervising, etc. I also give away all curricula & supplies that we no longer need or that didn't work for us.

[Artichoke]

Sure. I said pages back I waited till I was in my third year of homeschooling to offer anything. 

 

The difference was, I wasn't complaining for those three years that what the older women were offering wasn't 'good enough' and then doing nothing productive about it myself. 

 

 

I think this is the crux of the issue for me.  I'm not sure how to overcome my negative feelings towards the complainers.   I realize that I have to own my own emotions, but I'd sure like to be able to just pass the bean dip and let it go without feeling guilty.   I try really hard, but it's time for new registration in our group and things are raw for me right now.   

[Bluegoat]

I think I have found a couple of problems with how you presented your argument here:

 

False analogy:  Not everyone who has fewer years of experience is brings an "attitude learned from the school system".  These are two entirely different classifications of people which are neither mutually inclusive nor mutually exclusive.  Lumping them together in this way is bad logic and weakens any point you are trying to make.

 

Chronological snobbery:  Suggesting that people with less than 5 YEARS of experience being the primary teacher of their own kids should watch others (who don't know them or their kids) to learn "how it's done".  Again, this logical fallacy weakens your point and holds the potential to alienate people in the discussion.

 

 

 

Speaking as what you call a "newbie" I can safely say that not only do I NOT bring "an attitude learned from the school system" (for pity's sake, that's why we left!), most of the other newbies I have talked with ALSO do not bring such an attitude.  Additionally, while I might have been homeschooling less than 5 years at this point I have spent the ENTIRE educational career of both of my kids afterschooling and augmenting the brick & mortar educations they were getting before I started homeschooling officially.  I may still be relatively inexperienced in handling the whole shebang myself, but I am VERY cognizant of my kids' particular modes of learning.

 

When I was still sending my kids to brick & mortar school I encountered plenty of examples of what appeared to be all-take-no-give parents.  I also encountered such people in church when I was growing up, in college, and in the workplace.  This is NOT particular to a certain subset of homeschoolers, nor is it a problem unique to homeschooling in general.  These sort of people are encountered throughout life.  Pointing fingers and casting recriminations do NOT serve to help resolve such problems.  Addressing the behaviors, expectations, and communications does, but this can only be accomplished if all of those involved feel that they, too, are listened to and respected.

 

The vast bulk of the "newbies" are wonderfully smart, considerate people--just like the vast majority of experienced homeschoolers--who are trying to learn a lot of stuff in a little time so they can be confident they are on a good path to provide a quality education for each of their kids.  Even experienced homeschoolers do not know it all, cannot know everything about every approach.  It is often the new-to-homeschooling crowd that is doing lots of research into various options, strategies, and methods of teaching kids themselves.  They often find out things that those of us already getting fairly entrenched time-wise in our day-to-day don't have time to discover on our own.

 

They know their own kids.

They are actively engaging with others to see how others do things.

They assess whether methods and resources they discover, including those done by experienced homeschoolers, will work for them in their own situations.

They often find out new resources, new approaches worthy of consideration the rest of us hadn't had time to dig up or discover.

 

If you happen to find that newbies tend to present more strongly among those who do not step up and contribute in the ways you expect please consider this:  Such newbies not only often have much younger children at home that constrain what they can volunteer for and when, these same newbies also do not yet have their support network established, they don't have the time-saving shortcuts figured out, they do not yet have relationships with others on which they can call for support and give support in return.  They also don't know how the system works or how to figure out how they can contribute in return, or how to get something started that is manageable for them to run.  They need exposure and inclusion in the group, yes, for a few years, in order to work out the kinks and figure out how to give back.

 

I really don't get where you are coming from here.  Saying something is a common complaint about a group doesn't mean it is universally true.  And it isn't a false analogy in any case, I'm not sure what that is even supposed to mean in this context.

 

And newer homeschoolers can offer lots of good things and be very competent, but yes, they are by definition inexperienced.  It's almost universally good advice that the less experienced can benefit from watching the more experienced.  In any case I think you are really taking Sadie's comment out of context.

[OneStepAtATime]

I doubt that it is a geographical difference. I bet it is a philosophical difference regarding friendship and how we get together as homeschoolers. Friends don't flake on each other. At least I don't choose to befriend flakes. But also, friends understand that life happens and that none of us are perfect and we extend grace and flexibility to each other. And friends know each other's strengths and weaknesses and play to the strengths and help shore up the weaknesses. Again- I am specifically talking about one tiny subset of groups where a couple of close friends and their kids get together. I'm not talking about friendly acquaintances who are coming together for convenience sake instead of actual friendship.

I'm going to be honest here, Jean, I adore you but this kind of hurts, although I am certain you didn't mean it to be hurtful in any way and were not directing your response at me.  Still, this statement is kind of hurtful and a bit insulting.

 

I spent a very large portion of the last 3 years trying to hold together two different homeschooling groups made up of people I considered friends.  These groups were full of people I looked up to, and enjoyed spending time with.  One woman I had known since her daughter and mine were in kindergarten together.  I considered her and her family close friends.  We had done a lot of things together over the years and had helped each other out several times.  When I started homeschooling and her daughter began getting bullied in school she turned to me for advice and began homeschooling herself.  She was a real dynamo, very organized, highly respected among our circle of friends, and was a huge asset to the homeschooling groups we were a part of.  I met a lot of other wonderful people through those homeschooling groups and some I became close friends with.  I did not go out and choose flaky friends.  I gravitated towards people that seemed very stable and reliable and deeply caring of their families and their friends.  Our early days were filled with great ideas and a sense of community and we offered some wonderful things for our kids and for the larger group in general.  

 

And yet both groups completely fell apart and in such an ugly way that long term friendships blew up in our faces.  I was a leader in both groups.  I put my heart and soul into those groups, as did several others.  We all cared deeply about what we were offering to our own kids and those who were members.  Turns out, when push came to shove, there were some darn flaky people in our group, people I had always thought of as reliable, trustworthy and my personal friends.  It was painful, exhausting, ended several friendships in honestly pretty shocking ways, and has caused me to seriously pull back from any involvement in local homeschooling communities.  I have a hard time even going to our local library because so many horrible, stupid, flaky arguments happened there.

 

Your statement makes it sound like the failure of many homeschooling groups is in large part the fault of anyone who forms a group with flaky people.  How do you know in advance that someone is going to turn out flaky?  It makes it sound like the complete collapse of these two groups was partly my fault because my "friends" must have been obvious flakes and I should have known the minute I met them that they were obvious flakes and I should have avoided these flakes at all costs.  I find that unrealistic at best.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I'm going to be honest here, Jean, I adore you but this kind of hurts, although I am certain you didn't mean it to be hurtful in any way and were not directing your response at me. Still, this statement is kind of hurtful and a bit insulting.

 

I spent a very large portion of the last 3 years trying to hold together two different homeschooling groups made up of people I considered friends. These groups were full of people I looked up to, and enjoyed spending time with. One woman I had known since her daughter and mine were in kindergarten together. I considered her and her family close friends. We had done a lot of things together over the years and had helped each other out several times. When I started homeschooling and her daughter began getting bullied in school she turned to me for advice and began homeschooling herself. She was a real dynamo, very organized, highly respected among our circle of friends, and was a huge asset to the homeschooling groups we were a part of. I met a lot of other wonderful people through those homeschooling groups and some I became close friends with. I did not go out and choose flaky friends. I gravitated towards people that seemed very stable and reliable and deeply caring of their families and their friends. Our early days were filled with great ideas and a sense of community and we offered some wonderful things for our kids and for the larger group in general.

 

And yet both groups completely fell apart and in such an ugly way that long term friendships blew up in our faces. I was a leader in both groups. I put my heart and soul into those groups, as did several others. We all cared deeply about what we were offering to our own kids and those who were members. Turns out, when push came to shove, there were some darn flaky people in our group, people I had always thought of as reliable, trustworthy and my personal friends. It was painful, exhausting, ended several friendships in honestly pretty shocking ways, and has caused me to seriously pull back from any involvement in local homeschooling communities. I have a hard time even going to our local library because so many horrible, stupid, flaky arguments happened there.

 

Your statement makes it sound like the failure of many homeschooling groups is in large part the fault of anyone who forms a group with flaky people. How do you know in advance that someone is going to turn out flaky? It makes it sound like the complete collapse of these two groups was partly my fault because my "friends" must have been obvious flakes and I should have known the minute I met them that they were obvious flakes and I should have avoided these flakes at all costs. I find that unrealistic at best.

You are reading things into my post that are not there. My OPINION is that I don't consider flakes to be true friends. Have I had people that I thought were friends who turned out not to be the type of friends I wanted? Of course. But that is beside the point because the context of the post I made was simply one where I was trying to define the types of groups I found best suited for ME and MY FAMILY. In fact a few posts down I explain that my idea of what worked for me changed over time because I found the groups based on friendly acquaintances didn't work for US. Why did I bother to define all of this? It's because the OP asked us to answer questions about OUR OWN SITUATION. The reason I went back and defined further the idea of a group of close friends was simply because it seemed like what others were describing was not what I meant, when I said close friends. Since when did that become an indictment of all homeschool groups? Or some kind of insult towards people I haven't even met on a message board?

 

Others are allowed to define things the way they see fit and to describe what seems to work best for them. Fortunately you don't have to do things my way.

 

PS - my other main point had to do with small groups of close friends not needing volunteers IN MY EXPERIENCE since volunteering was one of the concerns of the OP.

Edited January 21, 2017 by Jean in Newcastle

[Heathermomster]

I have close friends that homeschool; however, our kids don't take classes together because we live a long distance away.

Our first year homeschooling, DS attended a co-op with a band. DS played trumpet at the time. The leader of co-op held a beginning of the year meeting and then showed up 15 minutes late. As she walked into the parent meeting, her words were, "Sorry, I was teaching a Mandarin Chinese class. Oh well.''

I drove across town too and had a terrible time arriving when scheduled. I don't care how many classes she teaches, and she called the meeting. That experience set my mood for co-ops coupled with the fact that none of my son's fellow bandmates practiced their music. Son's band teacher started skipping classes and sending her DH over to sub. DS is now mostly turned off by homeschoolers. I don't feel like I was asking too much for meetings to start on time.

We are enrolled in a separate hs cover. I contribute there by supporting son's teachers and ensuring his work is completed. My DS is 2e with 3 SLDs. The homeschoolers that I have met are not up to speed wrt remediation, therapies, accommodations, and testing. I have provided info to help several families get the helps their kids need. For a couple of years, I read aloud the SAT-10 test to a dyslexic and ID student so they could have testing accommodations.

I don't complain about a lack of homeschool classes and opportunities. I am grateful that the cover offers classes, and we use them on Friday. I simply don't have a need or interest to be more involved. I expect my feelings will change once my DS graduates next year.

Edited January 23, 2017 by Heathermomster

[Bambam]

My posts in another thread about what you don't get about homeschooling/homeschoolers seem to be derailing it, so I'm posting the heart of the matter here with related sub categories. 

 

The primary question is what have you done to serve the/a homeschooling community.  This means you took responsibility or shared responsibility with (an)other(s) to provide an academic, enrichment or social activity/event/opportunity that included (an)other homeschooler(s) in addition to your own children.  Anything from co-ops, playdates, inviting someone over for dinner, service activities, projects, classes, coordinating simple meet ups in a building or outdoors, trips, field trips, inviting guest speakers, being a guest speaker, disseminating useful homeschooling information, anything at all.

 

What was the activity/event/opportunity?  Several things. 4-H Club, Homeschool Band, Anchor (Community Service) Club, inclusive homeschool group, homeschool teen group, various field trips

What was the age/ability range? 4-H - 8+, Homeschool band - 10+, Anchor - 11+ official but we let 8+ tagalong younger siblings, homeschool group - any age, teen group 13+, field trips - varied 

Where was it? (Local, more than an hour travel time, out of state, out of country) Local except for field trip - some required travel 

What was the financial cost to participants? 4-H $20/year, band ~ $20/year, Anchor $20/year, homeschool group - free, teen group - free, field trips - varied

What kind of coordinating/planning tasks did you do? 4-H leader, band - President of the board (clueless musically), Anchor - leader, homeschool group - co-admin, teen group -leader, field trips - coordinator or back-up coordinator

What kind of prep or participation was required of the student and parents who participated? Varied - 4-H & Anchor - some minimal prep at home sometimes, Band - parents should have kids practice at home, parents also had to volunteer to supervise band and setup up/take down setup as well as clean afterwards, homeschool group - print out and bring a form once/year

How many homeschooling families were invited? For 4-H, band, Anchor, homeschool group - you live in the area and want to come, then come. Teen group - if right age and in the homeschool group, come, field trips - need to be correct age range

How many showed up and participated? 4-H ~ 13-15 families, band ~50 kids, Anchor ~ 18 kids (probably 12-13 families), homeschool group - 100+ families, teen group ~ 30 kids, field trips - varied, some where capped attendance

 

One secondary question is what is  your perspective on providing that/those opportunities now that you can look back on it.  What should someone new to providing opportunities to a/the community need to know before doing it so their expectations are realistic? It is hard to find people to help. If you do, appreciate them and let them know regularly. 

 

What advice would pass on to someone else considering a similar event? Be prepared to do everything yourself. Sometimes people will help, but more likely they won't. Make sure it is something you *want* to do, and make sure you won't be unhappy if you don't get help. If setting up a free field trip, be happy if you get 50% of the people who said they would come to actually show up. Expect 20% to be late. 

Would you do something differently if you could do it over again or how have you done it differently since then?  Well, I really enjoyed the boat trip field trip. You aren't here at 9 am, boat leaves dock. Period. No refunds. So much fun.

What were the pros and cons? I do the things I do for my kids and for the other kids. I want the kids to have opportunities. If some of us don't step up, no one will.

Were you surprised by anything? Quite frankly, I've been surprised at people who ask for things but aren't interested in helping. I'm surprised at people getting things for free and never once offering to help. 

What was predictable about any aspect of it? Homeschoolers will be late. Many are not dependable (just like any group of people). 10% do 100% of the work. 

 

Another secondary question is what was your personal situation when you provided the opportunity? Not sure I understand this question. I had two kids. I wanted the activities for them, so I was willing to do it for others as well. ?

 

About how long had you been homeschooling when you provided this opportunity? Started field trips - probably 6-7 years, everything else 8 years.

How many kids did you have at the time you provided the opportunity? two sweet and helpful children

What age rage were your children? (Infant/toddler, preschooler, elementary, middle school, high school) grade school when started field trip, middle school and high school with everything else

Are you an introvert, extrovert or a mix that leans more one direction? Introvert

 

Anything else related to this list or you think should've been included on this list.

 

[Sebastian (a lady)]

But how does that not make the same issues apply?  People want someone other than themselves to do X.  Most of those same people will never be the people who volunteer to teach other people's kids (in addition to their own) X.  People complain to other homeschoolers and homeschool leaders that there are not other people providing an opportunity for them to sign up for X. 

 

It just doesn't matter what X is.  People have a disconnect that people providing X are homeschoolers just like them.  If they want more opportunities to choose from, more people who aren't providing opportunities will have to fill the void because those who are aren't the ones contributing to the problem.

 

What I'm seeing is people demanding of others what they aren't willing to do themselves.  Where do they think opportunities for X come from?  From people volunteering to provide X.  They insist they should never be expected to the person volunteering to provide X or Y or Z or Q or F or M or J or....  Many homeschoolers seem afraid to question the complainers about their underlying faulty assumption that it's perfectly fine for people to continue to participate in X and usually a little Y and Z and G, without ever providing some X or B or D or S or R for others at some point in their homeschooling careers and that it's exacerbating the exact problem they complain about.  The solution to the problem they complain about is people who have been insisting they are not responsible for ever providing anything to provide something now and then.  If you do, accusations of being judgmental and snobbish, etc. come out or reasons to not help like the age of their children, their inexperience homeschooling, their personality types, or whatever.  Yet as we can see in this thread, and as my personal experience has shown me, people with all ages of kids at all stages of homeschooling are providing things for others at times.

 

Or their unreasonable demands of insisting people provide X for them without at some point providing any letter from the alphabet soup to others is a symptom of unreasonableness in some of them when participating in X. They show up late, don't follow through on assignments, don't participate fully, don't cooperate with the leadership and such at X and then complain people just aren't providing much X anymore and someone, anyone but them, needs to solve that problem.  If people respond about the behavioral issues that caused X to end, there are accusations discriminating against people with different parenting philosophies, different educational philosophies, etc. I'm Judgy McJudgerson if I dare explain the problem and propose the obvious solution. "It sounds like the groups available to you aren't a good fit.  Why not start you own?" or "It sounds like there aren't any groups at all available to you.  Why don't you start your own?"

 

I honestly believe there must be ways to preemptively with a lot of this, by setting much clearer expectations and making some reasonable demands with newbies (and some vets) but it requires better understanding the different mindsets and explicitly stating which mindset the group has and that those with the same mindset are good fits for the group and those with a different mindset are not. You can insist you'll never provide anything, but don't assume every group out there will allow you membership.

 

There is a very large co-op here that requires new members to first provide an activity to the group and only after they have, allows them to participate in an activity run by someone else.  As I mentioned there are groups that require a contribution within the first year to participate in the next year. Lists include things like physically setting up and putting away chairs, sweeping up, taking out trash, setting up the field trip and field trip sign up page online and collecting money, sometimes it's bringing snacks, sometimes it's teaching a class, whatever. I think classes and co-ops would be better off explicitly stating that their group is for parents who insist their children arrive on time, attend all the classes except for illnesses, fully participate in class, turn in assignments on time, meet stated behavioral standards, etc. Students and/or parents who don't will no longer be allowed to attend. If homeschoolers are too afraid of pointing out the elephant in the room, then their passivity will cause opportunities for everyone to die out or all groups will become stealth, by private invitation only, don't talk about the group in front of anyone who isn't invited, groups.  

 

Convention workshops need classes on how to decide if a group is for you. Are you fine with the content, approach, schedule, location, fees, behavioral standards, etc.?  No, you're upset by one of those?  Then it's not for you. Do you know if the primary focus is academic or social?  Find out.  If you don't agree, it's not for you. A significant percentage need to be taught how to operate within a group. Decisions can only be made for the group, not what suits each individual.  Either be OK with what the group has going, or don't join the group.  Customization if for when you homeschool your kids, you don't get to customize how someone else runs their group or class. They need workshops on how to contribute on a large scale and how to contribute on a small, more simple scale (usually the most needed.)   People need to learn how to lay out a paid class or activity  for other homeschoolers and communicate things like content, focus, materials, scheduling, expectations for parents and students, syllabus, prerequisite skills, etc. so a parent can have a very good idea of it's a good or bad fit before they sign up for it.

 

People are so terrified of being accused of being mean, exclusive, snobbish, judgemental, and cliquish they allow these problems to continue on and get worse. To solve problems, you have to clearly define them.  To have someone meet expectations, you have to clearly define them.

 

I like so much about this post. However, my experience is that it isn't just a homeschooling group issue.  It is a people issue.  I see much of the same behavior within scouting.  The parent who complains to me that meetings aren't organized and they didn't know that they needed to sign up for something, pay for a registration, or bring certain supplies to a campout are the same parents who drop off and don't come in to help or even see what is going on.  It is the same families whose kids show up late or not at all and who miss the monthly planning meetings even though their scouts are in positions that are supposed to be doing the planning.  I finally got tired of it this year and when it was recharter season and some parents mentioned that their kid was frustrated at the activities (or lack of planned meetings), I started gently pointing out that this was a scout led troop, planning happened first at the monthly planning meeting, next between meetings by scouts in leadership positions.  If an individual had an idea, they should bring it to the meeting and put the work in to seeing it carried out.  I lost a couple families at recharter, but a couple others came back with some good enthusiasm.

 

I don't know that I like the idea of requiring contribution of an activity BEFORE being able to join.  But I do think that groups need to be clear what they are.  If they are a volunteer led group that expects everyone to help, then they need to be explicit about that and communicate ways for people to be helpful.  

 

Also, for the most part if there are restrictions on a group, it is because the event has inherent restrictions or goals, not because there is a desire to exclude a particular child (most times).  If an event is listed as 8 and up or 13 and up, there is a reason.  It may be because the location has restrictions, because toddlers would not be safe at the event, or because the group is trying to engage older teenagers.  You are welcome to ask if your circumstance can be accommodated, but don't be offended if the answer is no.  

[booksdelight]

Hi All,

 

I am a newbie on these boards and a relative newbie to homeschooling(about 3 years or so). We homeschool due to academic reasons. I am finding these discussions very enlightening. I have to say that as a family we have certain goals in homeschooling (part of that includes community service in the homeless shelter/ soup kitchen / library etc. for my sons) and I do more to propagate those rather then actively trying to serve the homeschooling community. The only clubs I arrange, and are part of, are the social meetings(with my friends and their kids) as my sons have very different academic needs then most kids their age. Even  these social meetings initially included many families, but after paying for too many no shows, in too many events, now I only invite people that I know are reliable. Initially, I did pay for and arrange community robotics classes, book clubs, theatre classes etc. but I soon realized that different homeschooling philosophies and situations in life made group classes (especially free ones) difficult to say the least. Now I still have these classes for my children, but I pay for them in a setting where they are with like minded individuals (or kids who are interested in their particular niche science groups) for the most part and whose parents subscribe to the philosophy of the class.

 

 

[...................]

Generally my contribution has been to volunteer with a smiling face, go above and beyond and always be one of the first who is thought of to help out. I have done everything from helping to run park day to setting up tables to running a craft fair to overseeing study hall at the co op to coaching soccer and baseball! For every single

Activity or organization I joined I was instrumental in some way to help, bring Stuff, raise money, whatever they needed or asked!

 

I ran a small intimate homeschool talk and prayer group for a whole year.

 

I have never taught at a co-op or organized a co op with friends. I might do that in the future but so far have not. :)

Edited February 3, 2017 by Calming Tea