Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Homeschool Community - Friends and Groups

*This post contains affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for details.

Welcome to day 3 of the 5 day homeschool essentials blog hop. Homeschool essentials will be different for every homeschool family. So make sure you visit the other TOS crew members to see what their essentials are. I hope you enjoy this blog hop series and find some helpful information along the way!

Be sure to stop by everyday this week to find out what our other homeschool essentials are.

Our homeschool friends and our amazing homeschool group with 115 families is definitely a homeschool essential for us. Friends and groups are not only important for the children but also for me. Having the support of other moms who understand the daily joys and struggles I am dealing with everyday is very important!!! And this applies to both my online and "in real life" friends. I am blessed to have an amazing close knit group of homeschool mom friends who I meet with on a weekly basis. But I also treasure my many online homeschool mom friends too. There are several that I have met IRL (in real life) but the majority of them I have only spoken with online via social media. My friends are part of my support system and a big part of what keeps me going, especially on the rough days. Each and every time I need them I can count on at least one (often more) of them to be there to listen to me and offer advice. When we began homeschooling in 2011 my husband insisted that I make friends (something I have always had a hard time with since becoming a mom) and that I get out of the house at least once a month for some "alone time". Thank goodness a fabulous homeschool group popped up at the beginning 2012!!! I met some of the most amazing women who I not only became great friends with but who I can also sneak out of the house with once a month for some much needed "alone" time!


That crazy stereotype about homeschooled children being unsocialized always makes me laugh...hysterically. My kids have way more friends than they ever would if they were in public school. Those 115 families in our homeschool group each have 2+ kids...that's a lot of friends and acquaintances. And I love that not all of their friends are the same age as them. They have younger friends and older friends all whom they get along great with. They see several of their friends at least once a week for various events such as parties, clubs, fieldtrips or play dates. And my children have no problem making new friends. It doesn't matter where we go they will make a friend even if it is an 80 year old lady. They cherish their friends and rely on their friends just as much as I do mine!


If you are not part of a homeschool group I highly encourage you to search Yahoo Groups and Meetup to try to find local groups in your area to connect with...or perhaps start your own.

Also be sure to head over to Schoolhouse Review Crew Blog to see what else is essential to homeschoolers across the globe!

Here are a few quick links to some of my bloggy friends:

Shalynne @ Wonderfully Chaotic
Jody @ Because I’m Me
Melanie @ A Year of Jubilee Reviews
Emilee @ Pea of Sweetness
Nikki @ Angels of Heart
Sara @ Embracing Destiny
Heather @ Only Passionate Curiosity
Jennifer @ Simblissity Cottage
Kathy @ Kathys Cluttered Mind
Annette @ A Net in Time



What is essential in your homeschool?

7 comments:

Angela Kinder said...

My family are book addicts as well! I am estimating that we have at least 100 (possibly more) stored in the garage, and maybe 100 in the house. In fact, I have to have a book on hand every week.

When our car was out of commission, we couldn't go to the library and I had read every book in the house at least twice. I was going crazy for new books, and refused to re-read books I have partially memorized. You could imagine my excitement when I had won 3 books in an author giveaway. New reading stuffs!

We might not own Kindles or eReaders or even have eBooks on hand, but we sure love reading!

Cindy Batchelor said...

look at all the books! That's great! Reading is so important for young ones! Thanks for sharing! loved seeing the pics!

Patricia said...

I total agree with you. Books- especially paper ones are great and every household should have them.

Brittnei Washington said...

I think I'm going to try to make this. I love kale and we almost always are eating chicken. It will be a nice change to my normal chicken noodle soup :)

Simply At Home Mom said...

Yum! I love soups with kale since it's so good for you!

Elizabeth @ Food Ramblings said...

YUM! Loving kale in soup right now!

J Shallow-Miller said...

We are book addicts too, at least of kids books. I almost always borrow mine from the library.

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by! Please check the follow up box so you can receive my replies.

 
Designed By: Wacky Jacqui's Designs