Unschoolers in Indiana

[NordHealth]

Are there any unschoolers in the Elkhart/South Bend area?  Quite frankly, I'm looking for some moral support for both my kids (son: 5, daughter: 2), my husband, and myself.  There is no doubt in our minds that homeschooling is the right answer (more specifically, that UNschooling is the right answer), but we've had a bit of difficulty locating other families with our educational beliefs in our area.  (Perhaps I'm not looking hard enough...or LOUD enough)

Thanks!
Amanda
 

[4evermom]

I'm in Pennsylvania. Around here people do a lot of networking through yahoo groups. Here are two that come up with a search of "Indiana Unschoolers." You'll need to open a yahoo account to join them.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianaUnschoolers/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/INunschoolers/

Good luck!

[mary3mama]

Originally Posted by NordHealth 

Are there any unschoolers in the Elkhart/South Bend area?  Quite frankly, I'm looking for some moral support for both my kids (son: 5, daughter: 2), my husband, and myself.  There is no doubt in our minds that homeschooling is the right answer (more specifically, that UNschooling is the right answer), but we've had a bit of difficulty locating other families with our educational beliefs in our area.  (Perhaps I'm not looking hard enough...or LOUD enough)

Thanks!
Amanda
 

Well, being in the Indianapolis area we are too far south to be of specific use to you... 

But I will ask my homeschooling friends who might know and come back and post if they have suggestions.

Unschooly homeschoolers are sometimes quite 'under the radar' even within homeschooling communities for a number of reasons. It can be hard to find us/them. 

I've been able to branch out and find like-minded home educators by:
a) participating within local homeschooling groups at park days (because eventually it becomes clear which mamas are talking curriculum and which aren't); and,

b) starting a group on FB for unschoolers in my area. via nothing more than word-of-mouth the group grew from the 5 that I added initially to closer to 50 members in a little more than a year.

HTH,

[amandaleigh37]

Hello! I'm not in your part of the state, which is too bad, because it seems we have a lot in common. I have a 5 year old, 3 year old, and 10 month old. I'm so glad to know at least one other local unschooling family, but I'm feeling nervous as we meet more homeschooling familes that we might just not fit in anywhere :/ 

[bobandjess99]

Here is a semi-local conference for unschoolers.  

http://www.unschoolerswaterparkgathering.com/

It's not just local U/Ser's, people come from all over the whole country.  But it's fun.  

We unschool in South Bend, kids are 4.5 and almost 8.  From what I can tell, while homeschooling is pretty popular in our area, unschooling is not.    While we unschool and don't use a particular curriculum or have set "sit down and do your work" times or anything, we do a lot of structured activities, classes, camps, etc.  Are you feeling more pressure now that you have a child who is "school age"??  Your OP sounds like you are stressed.  (hugs)

[nomadic_foolz]

We're in SB and homeschool (Hi Jess!) with a mix of waldorf and unschooling. I'm on the Michiana LIFE yahoo group which is a secular hs group made up of people who use all sorts of methods and we used to gather weekly to play but I don't know of any unschooling specific groups in the area.