Creating a Homeschool Community from Scratch
My family has moved almost a dozen times and lived in five different cities since we started our homeschool journey, so we’ve had to learn how to find and make community in every new place. We’ve never lived where my husband or I grew up, so we’ve always had to find or create community from scratch. Here are some of the things that we’ve done or been blessed to come alongside.
Before my kids were school aged, I met people at the community playgrounds, public library, and at our church or MOPS groups. Because I was a stay-at-home mom, it was easiest for me to make friends with other moms or nannies who were home with kids all day, too. (While I do have a few mom friends who worked outside the home until homeschooling, it’s much more common for a parent who is already home with the kids in their first five years to continue to stay home as they begin to homeschool.) Whenever I seemed to click with another mom, we’d trade contact info and try to plan a scheduled park date. In a couple places, this turned into a weekly or biweekly event, where we just spread the word that we’d be at a certain park on a certain morning, and anyone else who wanted to join us could show up! We didn’t have a formal structure, but many of the moms I got to know while our kids played together on the playground ended up homeschooling as well, and even though we moved away, I still swap curriculum advice and encouragement with them on facebook all these years later!
I’ve also found that it’s easier to plan a regular playground date with homeschoolers who are already getting their kids up and out of the house at the same time, anyway. After our weekly Community Bible Study morning, a group of homeschool moms would all pack our lunches and take our kids to a nearby park to eat and play for a couple more hours. Over the years, this group ebbed and flowed, but I got so much advice and encouragement from whomever happened to be there in a given season. Similarly, we’ve befriended other homeschool families just because our little ones were playing together on the playground while older siblings were playing soccer or roller hockey or taking a ballet or art class. While it can feel overwhelming to lug all of your children out just for one or two of them to take a class, it ended up being a family social event when we made connections with other families whom we might not have met in our other homeschool endeavors.
As a mom of a bigger family, I have also loved connecting with moms of only children. One friend and I met when our sons were both taking a homeschool PE class. She was desperate for more playmates for her only child, and I was desperate for another set of hands as I dealt with a newborn baby, toddler, preschooler, and my school-aged son. She had the time and the free hands; I had the oodles of kids and the home full of toys. We homeschooled in tandem for several years and carpooled to countless field trips together. We’ve also found it handy to connect with families in the early days when their youngest was the age of my oldest or now, when my youngest is the age of their oldest. I didn’t have the bandwidth to host a lot when I had four kids aged six and under, but my friend whose kids were ages 6-20 had several older kids who would clean up and bake treats for the monthly book club that she hosted for homeschool moms. Her youngest didn’t have as many play dates or couldn’t stick around the park as long as the other kids his age because they were so busy running the teens to sports, but I was happy to have him stay at the park with my crew and just drop him off on our way home. Now that I have teen daughters, they love babysitting for my friends with little kids and will sometimes bring our youngest along so that she gets a play date, the other kids get a playmate, and both moms get a break! Don’t just limit potential homeschool friendships to other families who look just like yours.
While I hated field trips as a classroom teacher, particularly because most kids didn’t really want to be there, we love taking field trips as a homeschool family, because we can get in depth on the topic beforehand or afterwards to get the most out of our field trip. Whenever possible, I invite at least one other family along. Two or three homeschool families can get a group rate at many museums and attractions, and spending the day together can be a great way to deepen relationships. One friend started a facebook group for local homeschool moms where she would announce a place, a date, and an RSVP deadline to get in on group rate tickets. Because it’s a pain to hunt people down for repayment, this was truly a labor of love on her part, but we had some fabulous group field trips with her, and we’re still good friends despite both moving away from that community a decade ago!
Sometimes community happens with something as simple as offering a class or opportunity for other homeschoolers. Our family’s homeschool enrichment program has its roots in a homeschool choir that two sisters wanted to found for their own children and invited other friends to join. Now with nearly 60 participants, their choir has expanded to an all-day drop-off homeschool enrichment program. Another friend with a love of square dancing started offering homeschool dances to her friends and neighbors in a local church gym. Now dozens of tweens and teens in our are know all the common square dances and enjoy regular dance nights! If you have a skill or a hobby that could be shared with other moms or kids, try to find an opportunity to invite acquaintances to join you and deepen your friendships.
