[happyus3]

I'm new to homeschooling this year, and I am looking for a homeschool group that I fit in with. I do not attend church regularly, and am wondering how to find support groups and other homeschool kids to play with. We live in the Broomfield/Lafayette area. Looking for veteran homeschool moms as well as new ones, childrens ages are 1,3,4,7 and 12. Any advice for my first year would be great as well, the 12 year old is my neice and lives with me part time on school days, this is her first year homeschooling too. My son (7) attended K and 1st, public school doesn't fit us, I would like to find other families that are homeschooling for reasons greater than religion. Thanks,

*Even to have somebody to talk to via email would be great!

:

: mommy of Caleb 2/99

, Kanyon 6/02

, Natalie 8/05

: and part time mama to Sammy 12/02

 

[Fiestabeth]

We homeschool also, though not completely independently, as dd is enrolled in a Virtual Academy. We don't attend church, either.

You are going to be very busy with that many kids to take care of! This will be our third year hsing, and I've found that you have to strike a balance between being disciplined and flexible. Too strict and the kids burnout; too flexible and it takes a lot of extra time to get the school year finished. We should definitely chat through pm or email - I am trying to come up with creative ideas of how to keep the little one entertained while helping the older one!!

 

[happyus3]

Thanks for replying! Yes, we are very busy, but a more peaceful busy, much better than when in school. As far as ideas for the little one, I would say anything that might keep her in a high chair or booster for a few minutes would be helpful - (all supervised of course) play doh, crayons & markers, puzzles-large pieces with knobs, finger paints, building blocks, large legos, wedgits. Play food and one of your pots is usually pretty entertaining, a real purse with any things that you would really have in it - a hair brush, wallet with a credit card (Like a grocery discount card), cosmetic brushes... anything fun, but safe. Oh, and we are trying to get the right medium, between strict and flexable, I keep thinking the unschoolers learn without much direction, and then I think back to four hours a day is about four less than last year. I don't know, we'll get it some day.

Jenn

 

[Fiestabeth]

Hey, great ideas!! I think I'll write some down. Isn't funny how you can't think of all those great ideas in the moment?? She is a busy one....

Yeah, it's hard for me to imagine being on a real school schedule. I love the flexibility that comes with homeschool, and the ability to sleep in if you need or want to. What system have you come up with for household management? I do well on a "one (or two) thing a day" plan - laundry on Monday, clean one floor on Tuesday, etc. I have given up on the blissful thought of the whole house being clean at one time!

 

[happyus3]

Well, I don't really have a system, yet. I usually do a little laundry every day, with all of these people it piles up quickly. I also try to do one/two things a day, but I usually fall behind and then have company comming

: and clean the house top to bottom in the day or two before they come

. I am trying to get a schedule going though

. So, you have never attended traditional school? How did you come to the decision to homeschool, and how did your family/friends respond? Also, are you part of a homeschool group, how did you find yours?
Have a great weekend!

 

[Fiestabeth]

We originally decided to homeschool because M has an anaphylactic allergy to peanuts and we were just too scared to send her off to school. But now we have found that we really enjoy it and are sticking with it for the time being. She has said that she may want to go to "real" school by fourth or fifth grade, which would be fine with me. Our family has been super supportive. A few friends have asked about "socializing," and if she has any friends. I don't know why people hold the belief that it's impossible to make friends outside of a traditional school setting.

We don't really have a homeschool group, but we have an entire school community through the virtual academy. We have participated in playgroups, field days, field trips, a talent show, etc. All events are posted on the online forum, and you can pick and choose which ones to participate in. We've gotten to know several other families that we've become close with and get together on a fairly regular basis. I really have felt that we have the best of both worlds, schooling at home but still having a school community and events to participate in.

 

[Rockies5]

Another co homeschooler here, we have 4 in school ages 2-5-7-8 and a new baby (7months) I have "school hours" that I try to stick to but am pretty flexable as long as we are following pretty much what I have planned. I clean incessantly.

Last year was the only time we attempted any schooling outside of the home. There were more negatives then positives but we stuck it out the whole year.

This year we do the "enrichment program" with our local school district. It is extremely flexable and I was able to get the children placed according to talent rather then age. It gives the kids a fun day with friends and a few extras (like music, spanish and art) while I focus on the basics. So mom teaches 2 days, dad does 2 then they go to the program on Friday and feel all special about bag lunches and backpacks. Its great for me so I can get a planning period on fridays, play on the 2yold level for once, and get their rooms cleaned!

 

[happyus3]

I was thinking of putting my son in the enrichment program, but I thought that he would have to go everyday, I never thought that it might be just one day a week. If you could give me a little more information on that I would really appreciate it. I don't know if the rules on that differ between counties or states... what county are you in? We are now in Boulder county. My son went to a Jefferson County school last year, they go to one "special" everyday, so I figured that I would have to follow that schedule in order for him to attend those classes.

I don't know if you live anywhere near me, but do you have a group that gets together to play? Or do you know how to find one? I really only know one other mom who homeschools, and I thought that it would be a little easier to find homeschooling families than it has been.

 

[ChristaN]

We homeschooled for a while, but are back in ps for now. We're hopeful that we can make the ps work, but if I have to go back to homeschooling will do so. I, too, am not deeply religious and was not making that choice out of religious concerns. Have you checked out this link: http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/...l/Colorado.htm

That would be a good starting place to try to build community. We did send dd to "specials" only and her prior school when we were homeschooling. The district seemed quite open to us cherry picking whatever services we wanted b/c they got some funding if dd came at least part of the time. We're in the Thompson School district (Loveland area) although my kids are not attending school in that district right now.

 

[Mirzam]

Quote:

Originally Posted by happyus3 I was thinking of putting my son in the enrichment program, but I thought that he would have to go everyday, I never thought that it might be just one day a week. If you could give me a little more information on that I would really appreciate it. I don't know if the rules on that differ between counties or states... what county are you in? We are now in Boulder county. My son went to a Jefferson County school last year, they go to one "special" everyday, so I figured that I would have to follow that schedule in order for him to attend those classes. I don't know if you live anywhere near me, but do you have a group that gets together to play? Or do you know how to find one? I really only know one other mom who homeschools, and I thought that it would be a little easier to find homeschooling families than it has been.

Hi, I am a homeschooling mama in Boulder. I am homeschooling my 8 yo DD, my other two go to school. I wonder if you would be interested in Boulder Options, it is a one day program (Mondays) for homeschooled kids where the spend a day doing various classes, ie science experiments, math games, art, drama, music PE. The program is free and is run by the Aurora public schools. You are also able to order all differnt kinds of free curriculum through the program too. I was able to get Rosetta Stone French for DD and Singapore Math for nothing! The one day a week really is only for enrichment, although some of the classes for the older kids do require more work outside of the program, generally the rest of the time you do your own thing. They also offer Options in Longmont and Broomfield, but I believe they are full, Boulder still has places as it is new this year. If you would like info PM me and I can give you the email and phone # of the organizer. The first day of Boulder Options in this Monday (9/11), DD is so excited!

There are a couple of email groups that organize lots of homeschool activites:

NICHE which is largely comprised families from Longmont, Erie, Broomfield and Layfayette, but some from Boulder and other areas too.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ColoradoNICHE/

BCHIA (Boulder County Home Educators/Instructors Assoc)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BCHIA/

 

[happyus3]

Thank you! How did you find out about this?

 

[Mirzam]

I pm'ed you with the info. I found out about Options through both NICHE and BCHIA email lists.

 

[teastaigh]

Hi,

There's also a pretty open yahoo group called EHCO where a lot of nonchurched homeschoolers have connected. You can go to www.yahoo.com and the group section and subscribe for a while. People are helpful and kind and there are open activities and field trips even. There's also a very cool sounding lady who hosts a once-a-month coffee house homeschool chat for anyone who wants to show -- no group membership thing. I find this very appealing!

peace,
teastaigh

 

[Rockies5]

guess I need to chek in here more often. Im In the Springs though so I wouldn't have been of muh help anyways.

 

[cohsmama]

Happyus3, I'm posting info below about a homeschool fair that I'm hosting (as part of NICHE). Members from all over the area will be attending and it would be a great opportunity to meet some folks from the boulder county area. I hope to see you there. email me if you need further info at [email protected]

It's almost here! The Homeschool Fair will be this Friday. Talks about various homeschooling topics will occur beginning at 11:00 (I still have room for a few more if you have a passion to discuss). There will be time for new homeschoolers to meet and resource with the experienced homeschoolers, for all the homeschoolers to enjoy some play time and for everyone to peruse various curriculum and catalogs. We can never have enough curriculum to look through, so please feel free to bring your favorites (does anyone have rosetta stone on a laptop that they could bring?) If anyone wants to sell curriculum, feel free to do so.

Please feel free to forward this information to any groups or families who may be interested in the fair. Let's make sure that every homeschooler enjoys a supported year!

DETAILS

WHEN: Friday, August 31 at 11 (talks). Gathering, chatting and perusing will continue throughout the day.
WHERE: Willow Farm Park, 901 S. Fordham (aka Barn Park) the link below is a mapquest map to the location. The fair will be on the Fordham side of the park.
http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp...y=US&geodiff=1