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“But aren’t you concerned about socialization?” If you’re a homeschool parent, chances are you’ve heard this question or some version of it more than once. When parents choose to homeschool their children versus sending them to traditional school, they often have to give up the built-in peer support network. But that doesn’t mean children won’t get any social interaction. To have a successful homeschool experience, community is extremely important. If you struggle with building community or are looking to expand your community, we have some ways to help.

1. Join a Co-op

A co-op is a group of homeschooling families who meet together on a regular basis. Some homeschool co-ops meet every day of the week. Some meet once a week. Some only meet up for field trips and special activities. The size and age-ranges of co-ops also vary. In some co-ops, parents take on some of the teaching duties, presenting courses to small groups of students. The courses students take are typically enrichment-oriented. For example, students may take a course on Shakespeare’s England or Model Rocket Building, offering unique ways to get in some of the science, history, and English lessons.

Finding a co-op can be difficult for some homeschoolers. Many co-ops have monthly or annual fees to help cover the cost of the space they meet in and the materials needed for the courses. It’s also important for parents in a homeschool co-op to get along and share similar educational goals and values. For example, a parent who believes in a classical Christian education may not mesh well with those in a co-op that focuses on unschooling. To find a co-op or other support group near you, check out the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) or The Home School Mom’s Local Support resources.

2. Visit Local Attractions

Sometimes just getting out of the house and visiting local attractions can be a great way to build a community as a homeschool parent. You may encounter other home school families at the zoo, the local art museum, or the science center. If you’re visiting these places and see a mom (or dad) with children who look like they are school age, consider striking up a conversation to see if their children are homeschooled. Perhaps you’ll find a new friend in the process. In addition to randomly approaching strangers, you can check out the events page for your local library and other local attractions. Many libraries and museums offer special homeschool programs on a weekly or monthly basis. Even some amusement parks offer discount admission for homeschoolers at the beginning or end of the season.

3. Go to School

While you may not want your children to attend public school full-time, many school districts offer part-time options where homeschooled students can attend for part of the school day or take special classes, such as physical education, band, or art at the school. If your area public school does not offer this benefit, you can often find the same benefit at a local private school. If you’re struggling to find homeschool groups that cater to your child’s age group, sending your child to school for an hour or two a day can be a way to build those peer connections while still maintaining control over your child’s education. In addition to taking classes at the public school, many school states have laws that allow homeschool students to participate in athletic programs at public schools.

4. Play a Sport

Even if you choose not to participate in the athletic programs available through your local school district, sports can be a great way to build community as a homeschooler. Check out your town’s recreation department or local YMCA for different athletic opportunities. Chances are you’ll find sports programs to cover every season. For example, your child may play soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter, baseball/softball in the spring, and swim in the summer. Look beyond the popular sports too. For example, your local bowling alley may

5. Celebrate Homeschool Spirit Week

During the last full week of September, many families celebrate International Homeschool Spirit Week. Just like Spirit Week at more traditional school, this week gives homeschool families a chance to participate in themed days, such as Crazy Hair Day and Superhero Day. Families can participate as a co-op or individually. Photos can also be uploaded to social media channels using a special hashtag. As you look through photos from other homeschool families, you will feel a sense of community and you may also find some kindred spirits in the process.

If you live in a community that doesn’t have a strong homeschool presence or you find it difficult to make it out of the house to attend a co-op, you can also find community online. Search Facebook for homeschooling groups or conduct an internet search for “online homeschooling groups” to find a wealth of possibilities. Just like with an in-person co-op, look for groups that share your core values and educational goals. For example, you might search for “Christian homeschooling groups” or “unschooling groups.” Whatever group you find, make sure that you feel supported in your homeschooling journey and leave any negative groups immediately.

6. Connect Online

offer a youth bowling league or, if you live in a town with an ice rink, you may be able to sign your child up for ice skating lessons or a curling club. Dance and gymnastic teams and classes can also be a good way to find a community to connect with.

7. Volunteer

The community you build does not have to be one full of other homeschoolers. You may find that community through a local non-profit organizaation or another volunteer opportunity. Check out your local animal shelter to see if they offer volunteer opportunities for homeschool families. Contact a local nursing home to see if you can bake cookies and visit with residents once a week. Serve meals at a local homeless shelter or help at a local food pantry. Many of these organizations have loads of people ready to volunteer on the weekends, but during the week they can often really use the help.

8. Get Involved in Your Community

Beyond volunteer opportunities, just get out and get to know people in your community. Visit the local library and the post office. Spend time playing at the local park. Talk to the workers at your local grocery store or hardware store. Attend community fairs and festivals. If you’re religious, get involved in a local church. The more you get out of the house and experience your community, the less likely you are to feel isolated as a homeschooler.

How do you build community as a homeschooling family? Share your tips in the comments!

In 2016, Help Teaching, once again, shared blog posts about a wide range of educational topics. We started the year off with our annual Top 100 Free Education Sites. In September, we updated our Ultimate Guide to Teaching Science. Throughout the rest of the year, we shared posts related to social studies, language arts, and general education. We even included some test-taking and teaching strategies. To round out the year, we’d like to take a moment to highlight some of the posts HelpTeaching users found most useful. You might discover a few you missed or a few you want to share with friends.

#1 25 Ways to Show Kids You Care About Them

At the end of the day, kids just want to know you care about them. We’ve come up with 25 ways to help you make that happen. Everything on the list can be done right away, without a lot of thought or planning. Watch for more posts in 2017 to help you develop a better relationship with your children and your students.

#2 Guide to Quality Screen Time for Babies, Children, and Teens

When it comes to technology, it’s important to pay attention to what type of content and how much content your children are consuming. We break down what you need to know about the AAP’s guidelines for screen time and provide you with some quality educational apps and video series you can feel safe letting your kids interact with.

#3 Everything Your Students Always Wanted to Know About Electing the President…

In the United States, 2016 will go down as the year of one of the most talked about elections in history. All of the attention around the election likely raised a lot of questions in students’ minds. For example, what is the electoral college? This post seeks to answer students’ most pressing questions about the presidential election. Now that the election is over, in 2017, we’ll bring you facts about the inauguration and more posts to help you understand U.S. and world history.

#4 Brain Breaks: Helping Students Refresh, Reset, and Get Moving

Do you use brain breaks in the classroom? Brain breaks are one of the latest trends to help improve student performance. They give students a chance to recharge so they can focus on learning. If you’ve never used brain breaks or are looking for new brain breaks strategies to use in your classroom, this post will help.

#5 How to Become a Champion Speller

Can you spell hippopotamus? How about ambidextrous? Using the strategies found in our post about becoming a champion speller, you can help your students improve their spelling skills. We include advice from pros and other tried and true spelling strategies.

#6 Why I Review With Students and How You Can Too

Review is an important component of the learning process. Without regular review, students are likely to forget the material they’ve learned throughout the year. We’ve listed some reasons to make review a part of your classroom routine, as well as strategies to use with students as they review. Don’t forget, you can find plenty of worksheets to use for review on our site.

#7 10 Ways to Help Students Avoid Procrastination

Some students love to procrastinate. However, procrastination rarely leads to a quality learning experience. Use these tips to help your students learn to manage their time and avoid the pitfalls that come with procrastination.

#8 Social Studies Reading List

If you’re looking for quality social studies texts to use with students, check out our social studies reading list. The texts on the list are designed to spark students’ interest in social studies and help them learn the basics before heading into class.

#9 10 More Fun Facts for Geography Awareness Week

In 2015, we brought you 10 Fun Facts for Geography Awareness Week and in 2016 we brought you even more. Did you know that the wettest city in the United States is Mobile, Alabama or that China shares its border with 16 nations? Find these facts and more in our post.

#10 Science Activities You Will Want to do with your Kids

Science can be a lot of fun. Instead of letting your kids have all the fun, why not enjoy some activities with them? We’ve come up with a list of experiments and other science activities that you can do with your kids. When you’re finished with the activities on this list, check out our Ultimate Guide to Teaching Science for even more fun science activities and resources.

Stay tuned to Help Teaching’s website and blog in 2017 for even more quality content to help you both in the classroom and at home. Is there anything in particular you’d like to see us cover? Share it in the comments. Who knows? It may become the next topic featured on our blog.

Between work, school, and extra-curricular activities, family time is at a premium. Take advantage of your free time on the weekend or during school vacations and try one of these science activities. Spend some quality time as a family, learn some science, and even get a bit messy!

Each activity focuses on a key scientific concept, yet can be done with basic materials. Encourage scientific thinking by asking your child to predict what will happen before doing each activity. Focus on the reasoning behind the prediction, rather than accuracy. Remember, the scientific method is a process designed to be repeated. If the prediction is not correct, that is fine, it’s science!

Pre-K – Grade 2

Young children as natural scientists. They continually experiment with the world around them. Has your toddler ever thrown food from her highchair? Perhaps she was really experimenting with gravity and projectile motion!

http://www.science-sparks.com/

Fun with Shadows – Get creative with your child while exploring light and shadows. Extend this activity by making puppets from translucent materials (see what is available in your recycling bin) and comparing their shadows with those of the opaque cardboard puppets.

Sink or Float with Nature – Although he most likely hasn’t studied density or buoyancy, your child probably has a good grasp of what floats on water. Don’t worry if it’s winter, gathering materials for this activity doubles as a good excuse to bundle up and head outside for a while. A large mixing bowl set on a towel will work well if weather requires that the experiment takes place indoors.

Walking on Eggs – The potential for an activity to go spectacularly wrong and end in a slimy mess always adds excitement to a science project. Thanks to physics, cathedral arches hold up and so should raw eggs under your child’s feet. Once your child masters the art of walking on eggshells ask her to predict the minimum number of eggs that will hold her weight. Of course she will have to try it! As an extension, this may turn into an assignment on finding the best household cleaner.

Grades 3 – 5

Older elementary students have been introduced to a wide range of science concepts. They have begun to study the various branches of science and are ready to extend learning by developing scientific questions. Challenge your student to ask follow-up questions after an activity, then design a way to test one of the question.

https://sciencebob.com/

Coloring Flowers – Flowers brighten a home no matter the season, so why not color them your child’s favorite colors? This activity demonstrates how water is pulled through plants by transpiration. White flowers work well for this, but celery acts as a good substitute. Ask your child what will happen if the stem is split and placed in different colors. Then, try it with her!

Balloon in a Bottle – Air is all around us, but understanding that this invisible gas takes up space is not necessarily intuitive. Ask your child to predict what will happen before trying to inflate the balloon each time. Be sure to use latex free balloons if any household members have latex allergies.

Discovering Sound Matters – The idea that sound requires matter can be a difficult one to grasp.  Take the opportunity to learn about sound as a vibration through matter by demonstrating the abstract with this simple and fun project.

Diaper Science – Who doesn’t love a little potty science? Disposable diapers contain sodium polyacrylate, a superabsorbent polymer. This property allows diapers to absorb and hold liquids. Maybe your scientist wants to experiment further by testing how well the diaper absorbs different household liquids.

Middle and High School

At this level, science students have a solid understanding of the scientific method and have conducted experiments at school. Perhaps they have even designed and presented experiments at science fairs. Ask your child to explain the science to you as you work on these activities together. You may be amazed by what she teaches you!

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/

Strawberry DNA – This activity is a great introduction to DNA for students studying life science or biology. It takes an abstract concept and yields a visible result. High school students can follow-up this activity with our self-paced lesson on DNA Structure and Replication.

Build a Roller Coaster – What tween or teen doesn’t love a roller coaster? Okay, this one is a bit smaller than the ones they are used to riding on, but it is a good model for discussing transformations of mechanical energy. Add on tubes and have an all ages, family-friendly competition to see who can construct the longest track that works or the one with the tallest uphill or most loops.

Mini Snow Machine – Combine the studies of electronics and fluid dynamics by simulating a blizzard with this mini snow machine activity. See if your student can draw a electrical schematic diagram for the machine. Then, try changing the sizes of the pieces of paper to see if it impacts the blizzard.

Cleaning the Air – If your student is interested by environmental science or enjoys tinkering and building, this is the project to try. Use the engineering design process to create, build, and test an air filter to capture particulate matter. Redesign is a key step of the engineering process and should be in this activity as well!

Visit Help Teaching and utilize our growing collection of K – 12 science printables and lessons. Read The Ultimate Guide to Teaching Science for our favorite science resources for teachers and homeschooling parents.

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Joe Pizzuto-Pomaco is an educator, writer, and editor who has taught in public and private schools 15 years.