I've started a homeschool support group in my area. It's a rural/small town area in North Idaho and there's not a lot of support for homeschoolers as yet (I'm hoping to change that), also the population is scattered. Anyway, I've not had anyone show up yet. It's been almost 2 months. I have a web site and put up fliers in local stores and the libraries in the two principle towns of our county. I've also told a couple of homeschool moms I know, but I don't know many. Any other tips on how to get the word out? Or tips on what to provide to make it attractive to homeschoolers?
Are you part of a state organization? If so, maybe they have some ideas for you.... I am also assuming that YOU are a homeschooler yourself, not a school teacher, or former teacher or something else of the sort that has no connection to homeschooling, no matter how well-meaning you are. I know when my husband wanted to teach computers to homeschooled kids, we were often asked WHY he, a public school computer teacher, would be "targeting" the hs community for this. I would then explain that we have homeschooled our children since Day One, and the attitude changed immediately.
Plan a field trip.. or a park day kind of thing. Most people, though not in the traditional school system, still follow the summer off rule.. so many are vacationing it right now.
Is there a state email list you could join and promote your group on? If there isn't, start one and start publicizing it on message boards, state group websites, national email lists, etc. This is actually what I and another mom did for Nova Scotia and a couple of years later it's helped a lot of homeschool moms connect. I also have an events email list just for the posting of homeschooling events and a regional used curriculum sale list that I just started due to a bit of demand and they help people connect as well. I've had a lot of success with email lists.
http://www.home-school.com/groups/add.php?LA http://homeschoolcentral.com/support/louisiana_homeschool.htm http://www.thehomeschoolmom.com/states/louisiana.php http://www.homeschoolclassifieds.com/show_state.asp?st=LA http://localhs.com/?page=1&ord=added&state=LA http://homeschooling.about.com/od/lasg/Support_Groups_Louisiana.htm http://www.homeschooldads.com/state_organizations/louisiana_homeschools.html http://unschoolers.com/louisiana.html http://www.hslda.org/orgs/default.asp?State=LA Post your group on all those sites and any site that has a list for homeschool groups. Do you have a yahoo group, that was a good way for me to attract members.
The way I found out about our local support group was by calling our public library. so, if you like, get in touch with your local library and leave your name and number in their file. leave flier also there. good luck
You could also find out about how HSLDA puts groups up on their site. That's how I found the ones I belong to.
I started one last year in a small town area. Get your group on state lists; that makes a big difference as your web site is too new to be trolled yet by just an Internet search. Create a cover letter/flier and send it to your local area churches [any within reasonable driving distance] that includes the basics of what your group does and directs them to your website. When you get a few people together, take pictures of the group and get it in your local paper if you can. I got a bunch of people contact me after we took a picture of some kids in our group after we did a geography project. You might also try starting a Yahoo group for your homeschool group to communicate on. Growth generally happens in August or, for our group anyway, May. Send out info to your local church children's ministers [or whoever might be in charge over the children's area] and see if that doesn't help jump start some interest.
One of the ideas we had was to have a back to school picnic with a book sale / swap. Our paper has a place where you can put an ad for free for activities for children every Monday, so we are going to put the picnic in there.
Cara, I'm not so sure a booksale/swap will work in the fall. Most people have their books bought by then, and are hesitant to buy anything else. But a picnic right after the public school started would be GREAT!
I didn't think it would either but a lot of the mom's have requested it, so we are going to try it. If it doesn't work we'll scrape it. We are also going to do it again in the spring and keep which one works better.
Thanks for your ideas. Yes, I am actually a homeschooler . . . six boys. I'll put the group in more online directories, start a meet-up group, and be patient. I love the idea of submitting a picture and short article to the local paper. Thanks, y'all.
Well, if it's been requested, it sure won't hurt! And if the sale doesn't work exactly as they want, you'll have a fun picnic out of it! (Heck, ANY excuse to get together and eat....)
The thing that sold me on yahoo vs meet up is that yahoo was free and meet up groups cost money. It just seemed that any money we collected as a group could be better served then paying for the meet up group when we got the same thing through yahoo for free.
Some local papers will let you list your group for free as long as its not making money. Or paying for a small ad in the newspaper especially before the start of a new school year. Two people mentioned the "Library" excellent advice! Sam
put it in the news paper a few times........... but I'd wait until the END of summer. Also have a meeting for interested parents at the local library. set up fliers at churches other than your own.
Our homeschool group has a curiculum show and tell sort of thing, parents bring the books or curiculum that works for them and other parents can look through it and see if it would work for them, they do it at a sweet shop for coffee in the evening ------- I think in the fall. Also we have a clothing and curriculum exchange...... the clothing is free take and bring what you can........... the curiculum exchange is a "sale"....
One thing I would be sure to do as well--- don't know if you're doing this or not--- is to go ahead and plan a schedule of regular weekly activities for a month and post it on both your website and your Yahoo group. I usually post the general info on the website and direct people to the Yahoo group for more detailed information [like times, addresses, etc.]. I remember being a member of a group that was supposed to be fellowship oriented, but the moderator of the group never planned things. She just left it open to others to suggest stuff. Well, no one ever came. When I created my group, I made sure to have a weekly plan and list a month's worth of them online. We do stuff like park days, movie days, zoo days, botanic garden days, theme fun days at people's houses, etc. However, I can guarantee you that, despite the fact that we're getting to a decent size now, this group would fall apart in a blink if it weren't for me planning all of this out. Now, I always make it VERY clear that anyone can suggest any activity at any time they'd like, so it's not like others can't contribute; however, I know full well that people are more apt to show up to something that's already all planned than to have to come up with something on their own.
