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[Drama Llama]

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Edited May 8, 2021 by BaseballandHockey

[Lori D.]

I don't know what will be open pandemic-wise in the fall, but pre-pandemic there was the potential for many social opportunities. The main thing is that you will have to do some searching -- things like teen clubs (book club, film making club, chess club, robotics club, etc.) I would look at the local library and schools for after school/weekend/summer opportunities. Some community activities will be all ages, such as rocketry, orienteering, electronics, raising a puppy for Guide Dogs, etc. Some you may have to directly connect the venue to find out what teen activities/programs they have available, like rock-climbing gym, trampoline recreational business, bowling after school league, etc.

Below are ideas -- some are middle school/high school; some are high school only. And of course, YMMV as to what kinds of community activities are available to you, as to how large/small of a community you live in, and how rural/urban you are. 

Music Extracurricular
- private lesson providers (instrument or voice) and participation in recitals
- homeschool co-ops offering music/drama/performance-based classes and end-of-year performances
- some private, public or charter schools allow participation in their band/orchestra
- join a community youth band/orchestra/choir
- look into community classes or organizations for folk music, folk dancing, etc.
- community youth theater groups (example: Christian Youth Theater)
- class offerings of your local Parks & Rec department
- participation in a church choir, worship team, bell ringing group, etc.
- many large churches have special Christmas musical performances opportunities for youth

Fine Arts/Writing:
- attend student matinee showings of theater productions, concerts, etc.
- field trips to art museum, glass-blowing studio, pottery studio...
- art from a private lesson provider
- homeschool co-op offering fine arts classes
- Parks & Rec classes: arts and crafts, jewelry-making, print-making, etc.
- student writes articles for publishing in a local newspaper
- student writes own blog
- participate in NaNoWriMo

Sports/Athletic/Outdoor
- club sports (AYSO, Bobbysoxers, Little League, Pop Warner, etc…)
- swim team
- NYS sports teams
- YMCA sports teams
- public, private or charter middle / high schools allow participation on their sports teams
- Parks & Rec classes
- after school bowling league
- weekly homeschool group PE day
- private classes/studios: martial arts, dance, fencing, horseback riding, gymnastics, cheerleading...
- Orienteering
- Geocaching or Letterboxing
- family or local group for weekend hiking / running / biking / tennis / etc.
- weekend "pick up" games at the park or gym of basketball, ultimate frisbee, etc.

National Groups, with local branches
- 4-H (not just animals! -- archery, public speaking; rockets…)
- Scouting
- Math Olympiad group
- National Forensics League (speech/debate)
- STOA (Christian speech & debate)
- National Christian Forensics and Communication Association
- Christian Communicators of America 
- DECA (high school business-career oriented)
- FIRST Robotics (high school robotic team competition)
- National Science Bowl (middle school/high school knowledge competition)
- Youth & Government (model legislation program)
- TEEN Pact (government and the political process; Christian
- Junior State of America (civics and politics)
- National Model United Nations or Model United Nations (mock U.N. session)
- Teen Court, Youth Court, Mock Trial (mock judicial)
- Future Farmers of America

Community Opportunities
- community historical recreation group
- Community Gardens
- volunteer student tutor to young strudents at local library
- volunteer work with an animal shelter, food bank, or other group of interest
- volunteer teen docent at the local zoo, botanical garden, museum, etc.
- after school clubs at local middle/high school: chess, robotics, book club, etc.
- homeschool geography bee, spelling bee, etc.
- summer programs for teens, offered through your local University or Community College
- join an air soft and/or paintball group and go out on the weekends
- organize monthly ballroom dances for teens at a local church or hall 
- host a bi-weekly club at your house for DC and friends: book discussion, jewelry-making, cooking...
- teen works a part time job, or starts own cottage business

High School Military Cadet Groups
- Civil Air Patrol  (ages 12-18)
- U.S. Naval Sea Cadets (ages 11-17)
- Junior ROTC (grades 9-12)
- U.S. Army Junior ROTC

Edited March 27, 2021 by Lori D.

[catz]

The thing is if schools are able to go back to normal, other things will too.  My homeschooled kids toured high schools and thought it would be limiting!  They did a lot of group theater and music and dance related stuff along with in person co-op classes.  With 2 kids we had something almost every day of the week regularly.  But they had friends do sports, 4-H, quiz bowl/math team stuff, book clubs, volunteering, writing groups, building etsy pages, self created jobs, etc etc etc.  A lot of it was NOT homeschool specific stuff.  

[fairfarmhand]

Lots of good stuff listed as well, but also remember that for my extroverts, it doesn't ALL have to be with kids their age. They were also fine socializing with adults a bit. Like my daughter would volunteer at a church food pantry and the senior ladies there were great. She also volunteered at the agricultural office. 

I tried to choose things where the adults would be less likely to turn into something weird, so like the senior ladies at the food pantry were fine but I didn't want her volunteering at the homeless shelter without me or a VERY trusted adult. The ag office people were used to working with teens so they practiced the "2 deep' never be alone with a kid kind of thing. 

So with some thought and caution, getting some time with adults is ok too.

Edited March 27, 2021 by fairfarmhand

[Drama Llama]

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Edited May 8, 2021 by BaseballandHockey

[Spryte]

We have always homeschooled.

DS is an extreme extrovert, so we had to make sure his needs were met.

What we don’t have is a local homeschool group - so we had to be creative.

Here’s what we did, pre-pandemic:

We have long-term friends that homeschool, family of 5, and spend lots of time together.  Some schooly stuff, but mostly social.  We also have a huge crew of neighborhood kids who hang out at our place.  11 - 16 kids on a regular basis. DS’s best friend lives next door.

I host a *lot* of get togethers, and we had a standing Friday evening hang out here.  Weekends we often hosted Maker Days, or other mini-events, or just hung out.

Parkour Gym.  Regular classes, also free time.  Met some good kids there.  He’s been doing parkour since ... 7, 8?

Maker Night at the local science and arts academy.  Meets weekly.  Robotics and stuff.  

And the Big One: theater.  Acting classes, auditions, rehearsals, productions ... takes a lot of time and driving but he met some of his closest friends and formed a great, tight group through his studio. 

Lots and lots of outings and field trips, and opportunities to interact with people.  Yes, I have the kid who always asks questions and engages with the tour guide, if there is one.  

We travel a lot.  Lots of hopping a train to NYC or wherever a traveling exhibit or show might be, if it might fit in with school stuff.

Oh!  And we started a home school high school meet up group, which looked good until Covid hit, then fizzled.

There’s been a lot more over the years, but that’s what we were doing just prior to the pandemic, in 9th and 10th grades.

 

 

 

[Spryte]

14 minutes ago, BaseballandHockey said:

 

Like what the schedule looked like, and what people found to be enough. 

Here, enough was what I could handle. 🤣 For us, it was generally two activities and lots of social friend time - meet ups or at our place.  When theater was really in swing, that would take over the schedule completely sometimes.

I have friends who do triple the amount we do, but I just couldn’t maintain that pace.

Edited March 27, 2021 by Spryte

[catz]

I think schedules vary so widely depending on kid and interests. For my daughter, a busy period might look like the following.  We stayed on a regular schedule, most school work would be done by 2 or 3 pm most of the time.

• theater rehearsals 5 nights a week
• 2 music lessons a week
• 1 auditioned group singing class/week
• 1-2 hours of dance a week
• group violin/orchestra once a week
• Church related something once a week
• Co-op classes 1 day a week
• Maybe another online class once a week
• Monthly book club
• Monthly youth theater volunteer board meeting
• Random field trip maybe once a month (museum, show, outing, workshop, etc)

The theater rehearsals would be 6-8 weeks, with a run of 1-6 weeks and then we'd get a break until she'd find something else she wanted to audition for.  I always just kind of followed my kids lead and we rarely need to drive more than 15-20 minutes (though we have a couple things we will drive longer for).  Some kids would think this is crazy making.  Some kids want more.  I'd maybe start with trying like 3-4 things a week for a social kid (and some of that can just be time to game or hang out with friends, not everything needs to be a structured activity), give that 4- 6 weeks and see where you're at.

Edited March 27, 2021 by FuzzyCatz

[Lori D.]

10 hours ago, BaseballandHockey said:

... I'm just trying to figure out what it all might look like when it's put together.  Like what the schedule looked like, and what people found to be enough. 

 

10 hours ago, FuzzyCatz said:

I think schedules vary so widely depending on kid and interests...

Agreeing with @FuzzyCatz . What YOUR schedule will look like will totally depend on the individual student. And on the type of activity. And family abilities to drive to activities (or closeness so DS can walk/bike to it solo).

Not that it will help you at all, but here was our middle school schedule:

regular interactions
4x/week = interacting with friends outside of school hours
   Tues nights, 2 hours = hang out with teen friends at the house where DH & I had Bible study with the other parents
   Wed nights, 2 hours = church youth group
   Fri mornings, 2-3 hours = homeschool support group
   Sun mornings, 2 hours = church
1x/week, 2-4 hours = usually some sort of social time/get together friends, afternoon after school, or on the weekend

When sports season was on, in addition to the above regular interactions:
   5x/week = afternoons starting about 2:30 = sports practice or games

When not sports season, in addition to the regular interactions:
   1x/week for 6 weeks = after school bowling league

Also when not sports season:
   1x/every 6 weeks = field trip I organized for the middle/high school homeschoolers


Totally agreeing with @FuzzyCatz about how to get started. In addition to those ideas, totally just a thought here, but: since both parents in your family work, but perhaps look for a homeschooling family with children of similar ages as your DS and see if they would enjoy having him come and bring his homeschool work and work alongside them for one morning a week, just to be companionable. Just a thought.

Edited March 28, 2021 by Lori D.

[ScoutTN]

My extrovert is in school now, but not because of unmet social needs! When he was homeschooling these things were the core of his out-and-around schedule:

Church - Sunday morning, Wednesday evening, plus a couple of other activities every month, some youth only, some mixed ages.

Scouts - once a week plus camping and service every month.

Piano - a lesson every week

Sports - flag football, basketball and summer swim team. Strictly rec - for fun and exercise. Football and bball 3x/week for 8-10 weeks, summer swim 5x/week for 7 weeks.

Tutorial - art and drama enrichment, 1x a week during the school year

Science class at local science center, 1x week during the school year. I built our science courses around this hands-on element for two years. 

Summer camps - church camp, youth group service trip, working at VBS, Scout camp, etc.

Then add in random other things - extended family gatherings, dinners with friends, concerts, birthday parties etc. 

There were always more opportunities than we could even do!! The trick is to protect your real academic time. 

[EKS]

We are fortunate that here in WA we can access the schools as much or as little as we want.  So what ended up working for my younger son was part time enrollment at the public high school.  We wouldn't have been able to homeschool at all if that hadn't been an option.  The social opportunities for teens all center around the high school in our small(ish) town.

[Hilltopmom]

My oldest did Robotics club and that was at least 20 hours a week so that on top of DE classes kept him pretty busy. plus hanging out with friends from robotics.

[mom2scouts]

I've been agonizing about this for months for DD who has always been homeschooled. She is our last child and will start high school in the fall. Teen social life revolves around high schools here. So many of the suggestions don't work for us. For some reason there's few teen girls at youth group. Our transitioning neighborhood is full of empty nesters and young children, but no teens. Anyone she starts to befriend at dance suddenly disappears and later we find out they went to a different studio or quit to join another activity. It's happened again and again and usually before she gets to the point of getting their contact information. Most homeschooled teens go to public school for high school, so there's no teens at co-ops or opportunities to set up teen activities and organizations don't bother to include teens in homeschool classes they offer. Part time school isn't an option here. Other activities are not a good fit. For example, we live in a city in a rural county, so 4h clubs often are focused on things like pig raising or horses. Female Scouting groups struggle around here for some reason and have few girls. She's never had tons of friends, but one of her best friends dumped her in fall 2019 and her other friend is super busy and it's hard to get them together. Her long time homeschooled friend went to public school and became goth/emo and changed too much for them to have much in common. We really want to homeschool through high school, but I've very concerned about how it'll go socially. She really likes to be around people.

DS didn't have any friends his age in high school, but he's an introvert and seemed OK with it. He joined some groups and met people of all ages who shared his interests. This year I had him join a high school sports team because his other activities weren't meeting and that was good for him. Maybe DD will need to join a PS team to meet some new people.

[Carrie12345]

My youngest four have always been homeschooled. Pre-pandemic, most of their stuff revolved around co-op, including theater, art shows, Envirothon team, field trips, etc.  There was also Little League, events and activities with our environmental center and, eventually, volunteering with the fire department. 
Spring was kind of a nightmare for me, lol, but they had a pretty great time.

[madteaparty]

We never managed to and it’s a massive failing.