If you belong to (real life) homeschool group, what kind of things do you do together? Our homeschool group is still in the newborn stage so I'm looking for ideas to suggest at our next get together.
Here is a list of some of the things our group does (we have been around for a few years): Quarterly Meetings: usually a speaker, video, pannel or workshop. They have included a homeschool graduate pannel, new homeschooler workshop, homeschooling middle school, how to organize Curriculum share night:We get together and share a couple of different curriculums that we liked. I have gotten some great ideas of books I had never heard of before. Field Trips: members organize various field trips to plays, orchestra, museums, events or whatever else they decided. Co-op: We have a co-op that memebers can choose to be a part of. We offer 2 10 week session. Classes varry each session although there are normally art, science, history and gym classes (among others). Testing: In NYS we are required to test (2x between 4th-8th and then each year 9th-12th) We offer a couple of different tests and have a week of testing in the spring. Prom: We have a senior prom every year. Used Curriculum Sale Occassional events (happens some years but not every year) Spelling bee, project and presentation day, harvest party, Christmas Party
Our group does everything that mschickie's group does. Our holiday parties are more set, though (they do them every year). My favorite part about our co-op, which could be done without a co-op, is the yearbook. I absolutely love that my boys will have these priceless books. Then again, I'm a picture junkie and still have all my old yearbooks from grade school on up.
This week we are putting together sack lunches for needy kids who utilize our local food bank. After the food bank delivery, we'll have lunch and playdate, while moms gab. We have regular field trips,(botanical gardens, the post office, zoo days,etc) and various theme days yearly(medieval day,mad-science day, valentines party) One of the kids favorites is Yuckfest. Food fights and messy obstacle courses(think creamed corn belly crawl!) make for some really smelly memories! Our group is really informal and really friendly and open. Anyone is free to plan an activity. One of our tweens is even very active in the planning. our group is about 5 years old with about 8-10 very active families.
I'm involved in several homeschool groups in my area (4 I think)....there are about 8 more...but....lol... MOSTLY the groups do things like Science Fair Days, International Day (each kid does a country and a display board for that country, and usually a food for that country), States Day (Like International Day, but each kid does a different State), Art Show, Talent Show, etc. We also organize field trips for larger groups of us...when it benefits to go somewhere as a larger group (i.e. discounted tix, etc). We also do monthly bowling days, roller skating/ice skating days, etc, too. One of the groups I am involved in does a major class each year - like last year it was Nutrition Class/Human Body - the first half of the year was all about Nutrition, the 2nd half was all about Human Body. This years' is an Art class, so we're not doing it. We also go to a bi-weekly co-op that does Art, Music, Gym and Science Classes. This one costs about $150 a year to belong to. It worked great for us this year b/c my oldest is in the 7th-12th group and they got to pick all their classes, she did Literature Discussion, PA History, Drama (they're putting on a play at the end of the year) and Art (half of year was advanced sketching, the other half was Photography). We LOVE this co-op. Parents are the teachers, which helps keep costs way down. Oh, and all the groups do various service projects...work at a food bank, visit the elderly, make up snack bags for after school clubs, etc. I think that's it!!!
Thanks Little vent follows, not need to respond I'm just getting stuff off my chest before tomorrows get together... I set up this homeschool group as a way of getting homeschoolers in the area in contact with each other. Turns out they want more than just contact with each other, they also want to get out and about and do activities together. I'm facing several teething obstacles...most seem to be about attitudes and people wanting it all to fall into their laps. +Our area is made of several towns seperated by farmlands so there's not a lot of things that jump out and scream do this, it's fun! At least that's the feeling you get from the involved members. I was going to copy and paste a list of things to do in our area but it took up 42 pages, so obviously there is plenty to do around this area. +The kids range from preschoolers to teenagers, what one end of the scale finds fun the other end finds boring. I feel we could arrange a variety of activities and people can pick and choose what they go along to. They could even arrange with other families with kids their own age to get together and do something. Initiative people! +One family wants to keep all activities in the tararua area. Another family wants to take advantage of activities in the neighbouring area. I feel we could arrange activities in both areas and people can pick and choose what they want to go along to. +There's been negative feedback about the group being based in a central town, as well as people not wanting to travel to activities. It's the tararua people, you're gonna have to travel, even to things around your particular town. I feel like saying "well use the bl**dy facebook page to organise a get together/activity in your town, it's what it's there for!" It feels like some people expect it all to just land on their front yard, all organised and ready to enjoy. +The facebook page has been set up in such a way that communication is difficult and the ones who set it up are the only ones who can modify it and they don't even monitor it or update it. Ok, I'm feeling a bit better. I've typed up and printed off a bunch of ideas and suggestions. I'm gonna be positive and proactive. Rome wasn't built in a day
1. My group (and the ones in the city we just moved from ) use Yahoo, not FB. Yahoo Groups are more user-friendly, imo. 2. Our current group is structured in such a way that if you want a field trip, YOU organize it. The moderators aren't here to serve you. 3. Our group has a "field trip suggestions" document on the Yahoo group (another upside to Yahoo is the ability to share documents very easily). No one can claim there's nothing to do. lol
I started a fellowship group about 5 years ago [just celebrated our 5th year anniversary in February]. When we first started, I used a Yahoo board to help communicate what we'd be doing. We meet once a week, generally Fridays. Anyone can plan an activity at any time. Any Friday not taken by a member, I'd fill in. Now, most of the time, I do the vast majority of the planning. That's OK; I expected that when I started the group. I have just this last year had a mom who has specifically stepped in to plan field trips to take that off my shoulders, and it's been great! However, even though I do end up planning most stuff, having the rule that 'anyone can plan something any time' frees me a great deal. There is no whining about an activity; if you don't like it, you are obviously always free to plan your own. I should also mention that this is part of our group rules and is something I always state up-front with any new members. I make it clear that you're free to not like something. You don't have to come to any activity, and you can always plan something that is more in keeping with your preferences. Over the last 2 years, we moved to private message boards for communicating. We also have a 'secret' group Facebook page for those who use FB. I like the private message boards over the Yahoo group boards because people can communicate far easier. You can post about curriculum or something, and it doesn't lead to a conversation that spams everyone's e-mail. However, you have an 'e-mail all' option that allows you to send out reminders about upcoming stuff. The boards allow people to RSVP for activities and read details about them all in one place. Plus, we have some additional boards for just general conversations. Again, that allows our members to converse without spamming everyone the way a Yahoo board does. As for activities, we meet weekly. These can be simple game days to movie days to bowling. We have special events like Yuckfest, mad science day, Christmas parties, Valentines parties, water day, Medieval Day, etc. In fact, we're doing a Redneck Day in May. We also do field trips to a variety of places. As far as age groups, we've seen the development of a tween-aged group within these last 2 years. We've tried out a Final Friday tween day [tweens do something one place while younger kids/younger siblings do something in a different place]. However, that hasn't gone super smoothly due to a variety of reasons. Really, though, most stuff we do can fit with almost any age range. For example, when we do our special event days, I try to have team games that involve all-team simple relays [so the younger ones can participate] but also games that are more challenging that you pick a team member or two to represent your team [so the older kids can do stuff that's on their level]. Ultimately, balancing the age differences hasn't really proven too difficult so far. Our group has a lot of fun, and we do a lot of different stuff. Ultimately, I've learned as the group founder that you just plan stuff the way you want. People either show up or they don't. Really, most people are followers. They will NOT lead. I started off in a fellowship group that left it to the members to plan stuff. The group never did anything. Everyone was waiting for someone else to do it. So, when I started this group, I just assumed that the responsibility for most planning would fall on me. I also assumed that people would just shut up and be on board or not come. And, truthfully, that's pretty much how it is. Our group's grown from averaging about 5 kids at an activity to pulling in around 30 kids at a big event and averaging around 15-20 at a regular activity. The moms have all made good friends with one another, and the kids all seems to have a good time. Again, sometimes families have to pick what they'll do and what they won't, but that's life. You can't please everyone all the time.
Our group is a little different in that it is huge now!! We meet every Friday morning from 9:30-12:00. Birth-high school. The kids pick 2 classes each semester that the parents teach. The last Friday of the month is field trip day. Sometimes all ages, sometimes broken up by ages. We have moms night out once a month. Each month we pick an organization to help out: Animal Shelter, shoes for orphaned soles, Operation Christmas child, local food bank, etc. Our group started with about 12 kids and now we're over 300. It's fantastic and hard at the same time Good Luck!!!
I should add, most of ours are run via yahoo groups. And if someone wants to plan something, they plan it, post it, and whoever wants to join in, does. Three of the groups I'm on are like this. The one group is a tad more organized b/c it's run by a super organized person. She's actually moving away and we're all afraid about whats going to happen to the group. on the others...for example, If I want to go to a local museum, I send out a "feeler" email and say that we want to do this and try to gauge interest. Once I know a few families want to do it to, I call the museum and see what's involved in organizing a school group, then go from there. Collect $$ pay, get tix. We've gone to other trips that other folks have organized. And if it's too far, out of my comfort zone driving wise, etc, we don't go...it's always worked out nicely.
Thanks for all your replies, it's great hearing what other groups get up to. Today we had four families and about 12 kids aged 1-16years. We all made suggestions and have arranged to do something fortnightly on thursdays. We've managed to find activities that are for all ages and spread across the area. The other two main mums make a really great team and are more than happy to plan activities, great news for when I have baby
I'd really like to do this for our group, but I have no idea where to start. Do you have to have a website host? Then how do you get a message board on it? [I almost asked in a PM but figured others might have the same question.]
It was super easy! I first used one set of boards, but they went down and stayed down for a long time doing maintenance; so, I switched us to proboards. I've had no problems with them at all. Here's the site: http://www.proboards.com/ They take you step-by-step through the process of creating your board. You can use the free boards [this means an ad banner will be at the top], or you can pay and have ad-free boards. I haven't had any inappropriate ads on my boards pop up that I know of. The ones I've seen have always been in keeping with what our boards are about --- so, ads to book sites, cleaning stuff, etc. I've kept our Yahoo board as a way of weeding out people who clearly aren't homeschoolers [we have a website, so anyone can try to join]. If a person seems on the up and up, I then provide them a link to our boards. Our boards are set to 'registered users only,' so the content isn't visible unless you join; as the moderator, I have to clear anyone joining. So, no weirdos get in and have access to personal member info. I FAR prefer the private boards to the Yahoo one. This way, people can converse back and forth about topics, and the conversations don't fill up everyone's in-boxes. I still have the e-mail all function, so I can use that to send out group reminders. Proboards also allows you to customize the look of your boards. I've got a number of 'skins' our members can choose from.
I took charge again and organized a venue for regular get togethers for the first and third Friday of each month. Today was our first time at this venue and we had six families there!!! I'm so happy and everyone seemed to have a good time.
