Social Opportunities are sometimes difficult to face for home educators, but they don't have to be. You need to decide how much socialization you want for your children and yourself, and then go out and find groups to meet those needs. There are park days, field trips, clubs, activities, workshops, and many other options to consider. If you look for a SHEA-sponsored group, you will find consistency in planning, and lots of inclusive activities.
Why Park Days? You may be asking what the relevance is to park days. As you work through your first few weeks of home education, you will soon find out why a consistent and reliable park day source may or may not be relevant. Park days give the kids a chance to have "P.E." or just plain relaxation. You get out, you get fresh air, you socialize. Parents have a chance to revive and renew by sharing with other parents. A really good group leader will offer inclusive opportunities for everyone without regard to religion or home education methods, to interact in a positive atmosphere. If you are having trouble finding an inclusive group in your area, you may want to join SHEA today and check out our park days!
FIELD TRIPS - are a bonus to your journey. You may want to schedule these independently with just you and your children, call a couple of friends, or you may be wanting to get a group discount for a facility and meet lots of new friends along the way. SHEA specializes in great field trips that are academically-oriented for our members. And we schedule in social time as well - so that before or after the academic instruction, you and your children can meet new friends!
Clubs and Organizations - Again, SHEA area leaders are signing on to organizations such as Kiwanis Builders Club, Key Club, and other youth service clubs that public school children normally take part in. We believe these opportunities should be available to home educated students as well. In addition, we want to help you find clubs that serve your child's interests such as math clubs, chess clubs, book clubs, lego clubs, various girls clubs, scout troops, and more. SHEA asks for constant feedback from the students in our organization so that we are striving to meet their needs.
Libraries - Your local library will have various opportunities available to help you interact with others on a regular basis. This resource is especially helpful for moms with younger children. SHEA leaders form strong bonds with their local librarians, and know what is offered in their area.
SHEA's 2008 THEME: Be An Example!
We all have a challenge this year to overcome the one objection to homeschooling that seems to be forefront in the minds of our family, friends, and neighbors when we tell them we are homeschooling our kids.
What can we do, as homeschoolers, to help people understand in a positive and effective way how homeschoolers socialize?
There is more to home education support than telling people where to file their paperwork. SHEA also focuses on the social aspects of homeschooling, with great emphasis on academic opportunities and activities. Although we specialize in preteens and teens, we try to meet the needs of all ages (including parents). From park days to field trips, to free online curriculum and workshops, and much more, SHEA constantly strives to do better in serving the homeschooling community. Our 2008 theme is Be an Example.
So many times we watch the conversations on support groups turn sour as one person asks for advice on how to handle a socialization question that is coming at them from family, friends, or acquaintances. At SHEA, we feel that the best way to show people that homeschoolers get great socialization, is to - well - socialize! If we sit around and try to come up with witty comebacks for socialization questions, we are only going to drive people further away.