Rebecca Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 I am attempting to lead a very small group geared for primary grade families. Next month- our focus is "encouragement for the home school mom"... it is a brand new group with no membership dues or anything. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I could do to really support and encourage the moms that is FREE or very inexpensive? There are at max five other women who would probably come- so it is a very small group. Thank you kind ladies- you are my support! Rebecca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 I am attempting to lead a very small group geared for primary grade families.Next month- our focus is "encouragement for the home school mom"... it is a brand new group with no membership dues or anything. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I could do to really support and encourage the moms that is FREE or very inexpensive? There are at max five other women who would probably come- so it is a very small group. Thank you kind ladies- you are my support! Rebecca Yes. When you have your meeting (is it a "Moms' Night Out"?) let them talk. Better still, have the meetings in different homes and let the hostess lead the meeting. That was the turning point in my support group: when we began letting the hostess decide the agenda. And the topic was never announced ahead of time. We found that people would think, "Oh, I don't need to hear that" and stay away, when the truth was that either they *did* need it, or they had something important to say about it to the others. Also, don't try to do everything yourself. Start with something simple, such as your meeting, and do only that until someone else says, "Hey, why do't we do thus-and-such?" And then you look at her and say, "Sounds like a great idea. Why don't you organize that and get back to me?" Otherwise you may end up being the Queen, lol, and burning yourself out (or the other members. I've seen that happen, too.). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca Posted January 27, 2009 Author Share Posted January 27, 2009 Thank you so much Ellie! It is a simple group right now. I will heed your words. Did you/do you serve hot drinks and snacks at your meetings? Have you had conflicts between families and how have you handled it? THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH! I realized I posted this on the curriculum board. Whoops! So Sorry! Rebecca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca Posted January 28, 2009 Author Share Posted January 28, 2009 Bump. :lurk5: Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nanmom Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 my kids are high school age and up but when they were younger I co- led a small group that met weekly in my home. We tried having a mothers night out type meeting but it never worked out since most of us did not have baby sitters. So we moms visited while the kids played within eye range. We all brought bag lunches and food for our own family to save on expenses most of the time unless we were doing a special type thing. We would let each mother schedule a field trip per month. We did free things like visiting the local vet, fire station park, jail ect. We would plan speical crafts every so often like make valentine cards where all the mothers shared the expense. We also had a larger more organized local group that some of the mothres ended up going to. We found not all mothers personalities mixed well and it was better that those who did not mix well went on to other groups. There were some real personality conflicts and the groups membership was constantly changing but that is just reality unfortunately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Thank you so much Ellie!It is a simple group right now. I will heed your words. Did you/do you serve hot drinks and snacks at your meetings? Have you had conflicts between families and how have you handled it? THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH! I realized I posted this on the curriculum board. Whoops! So Sorry! Rebecca Remember that we met in people's homes. Hostesses generally provided some sort of munchies, but it was completely up to them. Whatever they provided, we were happy to have :-) For the most part, we all loved each other. However, any personal conflicts would have been handled between the conflicted parties. The rule of thumb should be that if someone goes to the leader with a complaint, the leader should stop the complainer in midsentence and direct her to go back to the person who offended her. If the two of them can't work it out, then they could go together to the leader and ask her to be sort of a mediator. They should not go to other support group members. OTOH, if there is behavior that affects the whole group, i.e., a child who is unruly at the park or on field trips, or a parent who generally causes hate and discontent, then the leader needs to go to the parent. We only had two situations that required intervention. In the first case, a child was a bully on the playground while his mother looked on and smiled. The leaders were getting ready to talk to her when her dh got a job in another city so they moved. Whew! In the second case, the leaders did have to tell the mother that her dss were not welcome on field trips unless and until she could get them under control. Happily, she completely understood. It isn't always easy being a leader.:glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca Posted January 28, 2009 Author Share Posted January 28, 2009 Thank you so much ladies. I have so much to learn! Rebecca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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