how did you find a live group to belong to?

[Momma Aimee]

How did you find a real life group of homeschollers in your area to be a part of?

Aimee

[zjande]

Simply by Googling " ~my city/state~ homeschoolers". Then I surfed everything that came up, found a few Yahoo groups, then cruised around their calendars til I found the weekly park days listed. I started going to a weekly homeschoolers park day in the area & there I found a lovely group of friends for both me & all my kids! I rely entirely on the Yahoo groups to see what activities & events people have listed & then choose which ones we'll go to. We've found an awesome community that way in the 3.5 yrs we've lived here. I can't imagine homeschooling without the internet!

ETA: Also, when we 1st moved to Oregon, I went to several MDC gatherings as well in search of a community of friends. Those I found listed in the Finding Your Tribe forum. They were fun but I found folks I connect better with through our local homeschool lists.

[RiverSky]

Places for you to look:

- ask your area children's librarian is she/he knows of any homeschool groups

- search Yahoo Groups for your area and see if any come up

- if there are any provincial or state-wide (don't know where you are) homeschool organizations in your area, they might have lists of local support groups

- there are support group lists here:
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/...ks/support.htm
and
http://www.homeedmag.com/groups/

- if there are any free parenting magazines in your area, pick one up and check the calender area for any homeschool group events. there might also be a list of homeschool groups in your area in there. you could also email the magazine's editor and ask if they know of any

- do a search on your local newspaper's website for "homeschool" and see if any articles come up that mention local homeschool support groups

- sign up for homeschool classes through local museums and parks and recreation and ask the other parents what groups they belong to

[bdavis337]

I was lucky - I have several friends that are hs'ing so they got me started. But I also googled for hs groups in my area, asked lots of questions and told EVERYONE I knew that we're hs'ing. Someone always knows someone else doing it and they say "my so and so is hs'ing their kids, let me give you their email" and I'd take it.

Basically, don't be shy. Step up, speak up and ask right out "are you accepting new members right now".

[dotnetdiva]

I googled my area. I found a dead homeschooling group, but someone noticed my email on the boards and contacted me to point me to the totally rockin' one! WOW! They do something almost everyday of the week. The email list is really active. People hold classes in their homes or out in the fields (like the rocket launch last week). A class on Ancient Egypt for 6-7 year olds (we might get into that one). We're having a Valentine's Party next week. It is so active and it looks like the people are great!

[elizawill]

i live near charlotte and the homeschoolers are vast here. i just googled around when i moved here from CA & found some yahoo groups...which led me to more groups....which led to more groups, etc. i am now part of a co-op that meets bi-weekly. for field trips, i follow a totally different group than our co-op & for playdates, i follow a totally different group than those. i just pick and choose from whatever interest us. it's very laid back here.

[meetoo]

hang out at the library in the afternoons

[kgianforti]

I have friends with dc close in age that HS. Also we have a local chapter of LEAH here.

[mimid]

I stumbled onto a flier for LA Jewish Homeschoolers at a kosher market and went to a meeting. I also belong to an AP mamas Yahoo group an one one of the women there mentioned a local homeschoolers group. Google provided links to others that were mentioned by the above resources.

[Reebekah]

i went to MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meetings.....got to know who the homeschoolers were....told them I was interested in homeschooling....they told me about a Yahoo group to join that they use to communicate with each other regarding homeschool information and activities.

[ocelotmom]

I searched on yahoogroups for my city (and county) name and homeschooling. This found me several groups, which I didn't join at the time since my kids were 3 and newborn.

Then one day, I was at the park, and the group I was most interested in happened to be there, and they were wonderful, so I went ahead and joined anyways

So... I suppose, if you don't feel like going the internet route, you could cruise the local parks in the early afternoon and look for groups with lots of school-age kids!

[Momma Aimee]

Originally Posted by ocelotmom

I searched on yahoogroups for my city (and county) name and homeschooling. This found me several groups, which I didn't join at the time since my kids were 3 and newborn.

Then one day, I was at the park, and the group I was most interested in happened to be there, and they were wonderful, so I went ahead and joined anyways

So... I suppose, if you don't feel like going the internet route, you could cruise the local parks in the early afternoon and look for groups with lots of school-age kids!

I wish



we are 45 minutes away from the "city" .. there are two "towns" here (12 minutes and 8 minutes) but no groups

so trolling for them won't work.

thanks

I will search the net some more

[ankh]

Originally Posted by zjande

Simply by Googling " ~my city/state~ homeschoolers". Then I surfed everything that came up, found a few Yahoo groups, then cruised around their calendars til I found the weekly park days listed. I started going to a weekly homeschoolers park day in the area & there I found a lovely group of friends for both me & all my kids! I rely entirely on the Yahoo groups to see what activities & events people have listed & then choose which ones we'll go to. We've found an awesome community that way in the 3.5 yrs we've lived here. I can't imagine homeschooling without the internet!

Same here.

[craft_media_hero]

Hang out at the local library during school hours. Chances are, if you see moms with kids, they're probably homeschoolers. We met my dd's hs friend this way.