Nov 20, 2017

Finding Your Un/Homeschool Community

How did we find support for our outside-the-box lifestyle?

It wasn't easy, that's for sure. Well, the process was essentially simple, but finding the path to it was fairly difficult because we were conditioned to thinking traditionally when trying to connect with other families. The more we leaned towards just being ourselves and letting those that liked our authenticity come to us, the more we found the relationships we were seeking.

Here are some tips that help us find awesome Community.

1. Be Yourself. To find YOUR tribe, you need to be you. It saves heartache being upfront and helps attract those with like minded values.

2. Make a Facebook group. We started our local Club in 2012 with just Freeschoolin' Daddy and I, and now there are over 750 members. The Un/Homeschool Club is now the largest home education group in the Barrie, Ontario area.

3. Make Casual Meet-Ups. Use the local homeschool groups to connect with families casually through park or library meet-ups. Just pick a convienient time and date for your family when you'd be going to a park or library anyway and invite everyone to come along. If no one shows, no harm done. If they do? Great!

4. Create Field Trips. Want to visit the local Zoo? Ask your local homeschool group if anyone wants to go. See if there's enough interest to achieve a discounted group rate. If payment is required upfront you can use Email Money Transfers to collect fees. 5. Attend Events. Seek out the already coordinated homeschooling events of interest in your area to invite opportunity to connect with other families. Say hi to everyone you can and be on the look out for any kindred spirits.

It can take years to build, but it's worth the effort to find community that suits your family right. It will set up our kids for their future relationships and it teaches facilitators social skills they may not have been comfortable with in the past.