We are so lucky to have built an amazing group of homeschool parents and kids over the last 5 years. We started with just a few families and now have over 50 kids in the group. Today we held our last get together of the "year" and had a Field Day. The kids and the parents all had so much fun. Our kids range in age from infant to 15 years old, and they all interact with one another wonderfully.
Tell me about the activities and fun events your homeschool group hosts!
Terri2007-06-28T18:37:12Z
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nice positive question, love it! Yes, we have two homeschool groups that are awesome in their own unique ways. One is a smaller group, with anywhere between 20-50 families each year. This is a support group with activities. This group is where I learned so much about homeschooling. We have teacher's meetings, weekly PE days, field trips, workshops, picnics, activity clubs for elementary, jr. high and highschool groups, things like this. This is a close knit group with plenty of room for newbies! The second group is a large co-op with around 200 families. This group does it all and does it well. They offer every type of class imagineable, from the same credit classes offered in public schools, complete with full labs, to fingerpainting for two year olds! Literature, book clubs, geology, art, Spanish, French, acting, drama, choir, street hockey, billiards, volleyball, tennis, cooking, mosaics, basketball, book studies, photography, a yearbook, open house (twice a year) Dad's and donuts, fundraisers (LOL) graduation ceremonies, you name it. They also have a prom that attracts students from all over the nation, competitive drama teams, choirs, and this year even a homecoming complete with flag football: students VS. alumni, concessions stands, half time show (tiny tots cheerleaders, precious!) and homecoming dance. And who says homeschoolers are sheltered and have no opportunities?????? Not around here!
I'm in Oklahoma, and in our area we have five or six homeschool groups, based on what your wants are. My favorite is the unschooling group, it's small and quite personal. We meet once a week for a trip somewhere (zoo, museum, berry picking) and then once a week usually have a playgroup at someone's house. There are maybe 30 families involved in that one, 1/3 show up regularly. My friend and i have the oldest two children, at 12 years old, and the youngest is due next month! What I love though is that the parents (and grandparents) are right in with the kids, so there really is the multigenerational feel that is so important, yet lost, in this day and age.
There is also another group for just my city, that's open to all homeschoolers. There are about 300 families involved, they schedule trips around the state and country, weekly fieldtrips, pe, dances, classes of every kind from foreign languages to math tutoring. The third group is similar, it's for a larger area though, the central Ok area.
Then there is a group that is just for teenagers, with serious classes. It's a coop teaching program, and they have all the labs, every type of class you could want for high school, as well as sports teams, regular dances and proms, graduation, etc.
We also do alot through the city park and rec dept. It's not homeschooling specific, but we can do pretty much anything that you'd get through school, and we are surrounded by all kinds of people, homeschooled, public schooled, from all over the city. We've made some good friends through that program as well as learned some cool stuff (dance, chinese, tae kwon do, basketball, you name it!)
We started out just meeting for playdates. Then field trips and such.
Then there was a guy who had been a science teacher and worked for a local children's museum who has all kinds of licenses in animal handling, he started teaching a class to our kids in a local park, he'd bring all kind of animals-- it was so great and the group grew, he started splitting the class up into younger/older kids.
More people started offering classes.
Then we formed a co-op and had fundraisers like garage sales and bake sales, we got a facility and have classes once a week throughout the school year. There are 4 periods a day, plus a lunch/recess period.
There are classes for kids from ages pre-school till high school, and an amazing variety-- all kinds of sciences, engineering, math, art, writing, knitting, social studies, spanish, sign language, dance, music... the choices just keep growing. There's talk of adding a second day eventually.
We also go on group camp-outs a couple of times a year, have big holiday parties, and there are all kinds of community events we take part in, from having a float in our city's Christmas parade last year to cleaning up natural areas.
We also have a great library with an awesome children's section, there are lots of events like reading groups, sunday spectaculars, chess club, sign language, yu-gi-oh tournaments-- kids in the co-op frequent these activities as well, though they are open to all kids.
The group I started at my church is doing an art class taught by a former Disney Animation's artist. We are also doing a great science book together. In the past we have done art appreciation, History, choir, drama and park days. The kids range from infants to 15 also. The infants of course just stay with their moms or play in the playground.
There are a lot of activities offered, some of these are: The Spring Formal (home school prom), graduation, sports, swimming lessons, bowling, skating, several clubs, including Lego club, Literary, 4H, Civil Air patrol, Toastmasters, Christian Speech and Debate, summer library reading program; done by the library, summer picnics in the park, potlucks, an array of field trips, music, and language lessons.
Our home school community is made up of parent volunteers; we use all available community resources like art classes at museums, history, and science fairs to offer a well rounded program. Often you can find members of your congregation, or in you local community who have talents that they love to share, and this gives us an opportunity to set up a class, and anyone interested can join in. Our group just has a web site where any family can post activities, or classes they know of, and families who are interested just contact them for further information.
We have several smaller groups in our area, most do not meet as a support group, or coop's so to speak, families meet at varied activities, and from there they may get together, and form closer friendships.
The activities that are offered are open to all regardless of what group they are with.