“What about the social?” I can’t tell you how many times I got that. And I’m so surprised that after all these years, people are still asking that of homeschoolers. But it’s not a tough thing, except your title might become “Taxi Driver”...until one of your children gets their driver’s license. Bwa ha ha. When we only had two kids left at home and the 16-year-old got his license, someone asked if he was excited to have it. With a heavy sigh, he responded, “No. It’s only a way for my parents to further enslave me.” Double Bwa ha ha. Yes, if he was running around in the car, he usually had errands too, or he had to run his younger sister around. Before you get worried about how much “extra” work he had to do, he also took the car to go to the park, to his friends’ homes, to teen night (organized by a homeschool mom and my friend), etc., etc.
JOIN and JOIN-IN is the name of this game.
My kids were involved in girl scouts and boy scouts. My oldest went on to also be a part of an older troop of boy scouts called Explorers (or something), and he was in the civil air patrol. We participated in “Park days” when a homeschool friend put out there, “anyone want to get together at the park today?” My friend had a regular teen night at her place. The teens had to be in the living room and the moms got to be in the back room. We had snacks. I mean, the teens had snacks. The moms sat around and talked about homeschooling techniques. Yeah, right.
There were church activities, and 4-H activities. Our 4-H group had outdoor school for homeschoolers every year in the fall before the weather got too cold or wet. My youngest ended up being one of the youth leaders a few times. Because of that connection, she also was a youth leader once for Master Gardeners Jr. You can find the 4-H group in your area at the link above. They have a wonderful selection of groups that you might be able to join. I say “might” because sometimes the groups are full. In my area, and might be so for all 4-Hs country-wide, the first year is free to be a part of it. You’d have to check. The groups range from large animal groups to photography and many more.
The homeschool co-ops we were involved in offered activities now and then, such as p.e., art classes, conferences and curriculum sales, and just calendaring get-togethers for kids and parents. It doesn’t have to be all up to an official co-op. My friend asked me one day, “Do you want to teach theater on such-and-such a day once a week for this many weeks? I’ll have two other instructors doing this-and-that and we’ll rotate the kids involved.” In a different group, my youngest ended up being with a group that was learning about Shakespeare. I ended up directing the play that was scheduled for the spring. So many good friendships created from that contact.
I did some play productions and theater classes in my community and of course my kids were involved. One of my kids would plan not only her birthday parties but also random “play dates” when she was a little older. I’ve heard of small groups of friends getting together to do crafts or Legos, just because that’s what those friends all liked. I know there are homeschool groups whose focus is hiking. There are also sports teams if your child is interested.
Oregon is fairly reasonable about homeschooling and so my children were able to take a few classes of interest in middle school and high school, such as art, theater, history, choir, writing.
If there’s something that you want for your family, then plan it if it’s not already available. If it is, join in and support that group. If a friend says to you, “we should get together,” your answer is not, “yeah, we should.” Your answer is “Let’s. When?” And you set a date and time.
“What about the social?” Yeah, what about it? You are covered!
JOIN and JOIN-IN is the name of this game.
My kids were involved in girl scouts and boy scouts. My oldest went on to also be a part of an older troop of boy scouts called Explorers (or something), and he was in the civil air patrol. We participated in “Park days” when a homeschool friend put out there, “anyone want to get together at the park today?” My friend had a regular teen night at her place. The teens had to be in the living room and the moms got to be in the back room. We had snacks. I mean, the teens had snacks. The moms sat around and talked about homeschooling techniques. Yeah, right.
There were church activities, and 4-H activities. Our 4-H group had outdoor school for homeschoolers every year in the fall before the weather got too cold or wet. My youngest ended up being one of the youth leaders a few times. Because of that connection, she also was a youth leader once for Master Gardeners Jr. You can find the 4-H group in your area at the link above. They have a wonderful selection of groups that you might be able to join. I say “might” because sometimes the groups are full. In my area, and might be so for all 4-Hs country-wide, the first year is free to be a part of it. You’d have to check. The groups range from large animal groups to photography and many more.
The homeschool co-ops we were involved in offered activities now and then, such as p.e., art classes, conferences and curriculum sales, and just calendaring get-togethers for kids and parents. It doesn’t have to be all up to an official co-op. My friend asked me one day, “Do you want to teach theater on such-and-such a day once a week for this many weeks? I’ll have two other instructors doing this-and-that and we’ll rotate the kids involved.” In a different group, my youngest ended up being with a group that was learning about Shakespeare. I ended up directing the play that was scheduled for the spring. So many good friendships created from that contact.
I did some play productions and theater classes in my community and of course my kids were involved. One of my kids would plan not only her birthday parties but also random “play dates” when she was a little older. I’ve heard of small groups of friends getting together to do crafts or Legos, just because that’s what those friends all liked. I know there are homeschool groups whose focus is hiking. There are also sports teams if your child is interested.
Oregon is fairly reasonable about homeschooling and so my children were able to take a few classes of interest in middle school and high school, such as art, theater, history, choir, writing.
If there’s something that you want for your family, then plan it if it’s not already available. If it is, join in and support that group. If a friend says to you, “we should get together,” your answer is not, “yeah, we should.” Your answer is “Let’s. When?” And you set a date and time.
“What about the social?” Yeah, what about it? You are covered!
RSS Feed
