. . . Providing Homeschool Information

by Pam Sorooshian

A mom whose son is being bullied regularly at school. A dad whose child is in the school district's independent study program and is having hours and hours of busywork piled upon him. The mother of a very bright and creative 10 year old girl who is failing and miserable in school. Parents of children labeled gifted, who are languishing in school, unchallenged and uninspired. Parents of children labeled learning disabled, who seem to have been given up on, who are not getting needed help from their schools. Scared and frustrated parents who have had teachers suggest that their child might need Ritalin or other drugs. An unending stream of mothers and fathers who can't stand the thought of eventually sending their babies or toddlers off to schools that they consider to be dangerous and ineffective.

All of these, and many others, have come to our homeschooling group's monthly "homeschooling basics" talks. Some arrive already enthusiastic supporters of homeschooling; others are doubtful and come only out of desperation. Some come bubbling over with questions; while others are quiet and cautious, not at all sure what to expect. Many have done their own research, often on the internet, about homeschooling. Others know nothing at all about homeschooling and some come filled with misconceptions.

What they get from us is a simple, one-hour talk that summarizes a large amount of information about homeschooling. Then, after that, their questions are answered by a number of homeschooling parents. There is plenty of time for informal conversation and they have a chance to observe and talk to homeschooled children.

Our homeschooling group is mostly a "play group." We meet around noon in a park, once a week, for unprogrammed free time. Sometimes people (kids or adults) organize activities such as a science experiment, putting on a play, an art project, or theater games. These are offered to those who are interested and are usually scheduled before the regular park day so as not to interfere with the long hours of uninterrupted play time that we value so much. One day a month someone usually offers some sort of organized activity for the kids who come early so that their parent can participate in our "homeschooling basics" talk.

The talk is held once a month, at 10:30 am, an hour and a half before our regularly scheduled park day. We meet right at the park where the group will be gathering that day. People coming to the talks bring their children, too, they are welcome to participate in any planned activities, and we don't expect formal, uninterrupted adult time. We are casual and comfortable with needing to stop while a parent takes care of a child's needs. Usually, several of us "regulars" are there right at the start. I do the actual talk while at least one or two other experienced homeschooling parents sit in and add their own comments once in a while. Older homeschooled kids often sit with us and occasionally will speak up too. As people straggle in to attend the park day, they usually pull up a lawn chair and join us.

We hand out an agenda and a resource list. The agenda helps people know what we plan to cover in the talk. We try to stick to it, but we also find we need to be flexible. Sometimes the people attending the talk already know all about the legal aspects of homeschooling, for example, so there is no need to spend much time on that. Other times that is something that the attendees are most wanting to learn about. So, although we do try to cover everything on the agenda, we might skim over some of it and go into more depth on other parts.

This is the agenda we hand out:

Homeschooling Basics Workshop

• Legal Ways to Homeschool in California
• Curriculum
• Unit Studies
• Interest-Initiated Learning (unschooling)
• Why Homeschool?
• What Does the Parent Need to Know?
• How can I teach my child math (or science or history or whatever..) when it wasn't my best subject in school?
• What About Socialization?
• What About College?
• What to Expect as a New Homeschooling Parent
• Q&A Discussion
  
  

In addition to the agenda, we hand out a one-page resource list. It includes information about homeschooling legal options, various local and state-level homeschooling groups and, of course, the National Home Education Network. It lists our favorite homeschooling-related books and magazines as well as internet resources including websites and email lists.

I usually talk for most of the first hour, with brief interruptions for questions and answers. Then we go on to a real question and answer time which usually turns into an informal discussion and eventually people break up into smaller groups and continue to talk among themselves. We don't have a specific ending time, the various discussions just go on as long as people have the time and interest. The subjects discussed range over all the areas in which homeschoolers, and those considering homeschooling, are usually interested, everything from "How do you teach math if you hate it yourself," to "What about socialization," (we usually just smile at that one and gaze off in the direction of the groups of kids socializing all over the park).

An average of about five interested people show up at each talk. The only advertising has been mention on a couple of internet mailing lists and most people who come have heard about it from someone in our group or from someone else who heard about it from them. This has worked out well, since having just a few people there at a time means they are able to really get their own specific questions answered and, if we had many more than that, we wouldn't be able to keep it as informal and friendly as it is now.

This talk-in-the-park was simple to establish and has been easy to continue. Over time, talking to just a few people a month adds up, too, to a lot of people and it is very satisfying to feel that I am paying back a bit of the huge debt I owe to those who held my hand and patiently answered my questions when I was first considering homeschooling by carrying on the long-standing tradition of homeschoolers volunteering to help others get started.