Start a Homeschool Support Group—LDS Homeschooling in California

LDS Homeschooling in California—and everywhere!

How Do I Plan A Field Trip for My Group?

Where Can My Support Group Go on Field Trips?

Do I Need a Homeschool Support Group?

LDS Homeschool Groups in California

How to Start a Support Group

If you don't have an LDS support group in your area, you might want to start one, especially if you already know at least one or two other families in your area that homeschool. It isn't as hard as it might seem and could be a great benefit. Many people are afraid to start a group because they think it will take a lot of their time to plan everything. Of course, if one person does all the planning, it will take a lot of time! There are at least two ways around that. One is to get everyone in the group to contribute. Another alternative is to simply stick to park days. If you meet at the same park every Friday for instance, it takes almost no planning at all.

A group doesn't have to be big, but most groups will grow as word gets out that you are meeting regularly. Encourage group members to invite their friends. The important part is not to get discouraged if you have some less than well-attended activities. Don't give up too soon! It takes people a while to have the get in the habit of coming. Some people might even need to be convinced that they need a support group and that it's worth the sacrifice it takes to attend.

Unless you are happy to do everything yourself, start by having a meeting together, perhaps at a park. Discuss what your goals are and the reasons you want to have a support group. Together you should decide how often you want to have activities and what sort of activities you want. Find out what other people have in mind and what their needs are. Be willing to plan quality activities, but don't feel you have to do it all yourself.

There are many different types of support groups. Some groups plan weekly or monthly field trips, some plan park days, some have classes, sports, games, service projects or other activities. What you will be able to do will depend on your location, the number of families you have and how close they live to each other, the ages of the children, etc. I suggest meeting every week, if possible. That makes activities easy to remember and builds bonds faster. Not everyone will be able to come every week, but don't worry about that. You will soon have a core group that comes every week and others that come occasionally.

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Park Days

Park days are nice to start with since they doesn't take a lot of planning or preparation. All you need is a calendar and a way to spread the news. You might choose to meet at the same park once a month, or a different park each week. In addition to being easy to plan, park days are an important opportunity to get to make friends and get the real support you need. It can be hard to get advice at field trips when everyone is listening to a docent or at an activity where parents are busy helping.

If your group members live a distance apart, it's nice to meet in different areas so people get to go to a park close by sometimes. People are more willing to drive to a park farther away but near their friend when they know it will be near their house the following week. Also, it's fun to experience a lot of different parks. You could also pick a central location and meet there every week, which would make it easy to remember. You can also decide to have easy-to-plan activities like sports, crafts, games and service projects at the park. Older children can even be in charge of the activities.

If you live in an area where meeting at a park is difficult in the winter, you might be able to meet in someone's basement, a community center or library. You could also plan indoor activities such as museums, roller-skating, factory tours, and nature centers. Some areas have indoor play centers similar to the play areas at fast food restaurants. You could also plan some outdoor activities like sledding, skiing, ice-skating or snowman building.

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Planning Activities

Some support groups let the individual members decide when and where they will plan activities. This means you could have five field trips in one month and nothing for the next three months, depending on who gets the energy and enthusiasm to plan something. You might also have 4 nature center tours in a row! Other groups are much more organized with a leader (or planning committee), a plan and members who take assignments. This will usually result in a better variety of activities, more even distribution of work and more orderly schedule. Members will also get into the habit of going every week and be less likely to miss something important. Some people prefer to plan simple activities by themselves. Whatever works for you is fine!

If you decide to do field trips, develop a list of places to go in your area and gather phone numbers for them from local guidebooks, the Internet, telephone books and libraries. You could then give the list out to families and ask them to plan something, or you could develop a plan for the year, or part of the year, and ask families to choose which one they want to be in charge of. You might decide to do field trips, park days, crafts and sports on a rotating basis.

Some support groups let the members decide when and where they will plan a field trip. This means you could have five field trips in one month and no field trips for the next three months, depending on who gets the energy and enthusiasm to plan something. You might also have 4 nature center tours in a row! Other groups are much more organized with a leader (or planning committee), a plan and members who take assignments. This will usually result in a better variety of activities, more even distribution of work and more orderly schedule. Members will also get into the habit of going every week and be less likely to miss something important. Some people prefer to plan simple activities by themselves. Some groups want to have co-op classes every week. Whatever works for your group is fine!

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Getting the Word Out

You will need a way to get the information gathered and disseminated to your group members. This can be done by paper newsletter, by phone tree, by email or by website. With a newsletter or website, you need someone who is willing to make the newsletter or is able to put up a website. With email everyone can do their own posting of the activity they are planning, but a calendar is still nice. List servers such as Yahoogroups, SmartGroups, MSN Groups, and Google Groups usually have an easy calendar feature you can use which can even send out reminders for you. However, not everyone is connected to the Internet yet! If you have members who aren't, you might need to use a phone tree. A phone tree is an organized list in which each member calls one or two other families who in turn call one or two other families until everyone is notified.

One of the most important parts of starting a group is letting people know about your group. If your group is LDS, be sure to let the National LDS Homeschool Association know about your group. If your group is in California, please let me know and I will list it here. If you have state listings for support groups, such as through a statewide homeschool association, like CHN list your group with them also.

Having your own website is very helpful because people looking for information online can find you. If you start an LDS support group in California, please let me know and I will list it above. Announcing your group on an email discussion list such as LDS-hs-inCA, is also an excellent way to find people in your area. If your area has an LDS newspaper or business listing (ask at LDS bookstores) you can place an ad. Some groups have tried calling local church leadersand asking if they know any homeschoolers. Word of mouth is also good since many people who start homeschooling knew someone who did it first.

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How Do I Organize My Group?

There's not one right way to organize a group, but here are some ideas I have used successfully. Feel free to use as is, modify them to suit your fancy, or chuck these ideas altogether and use your own.

In our group, we have 2 planned activities like field trips or a talent show each month and the rest are park days. This gives us about 18-20 children's band activities per school year that need planning. Planning that many activities per year would be a full time job for one person and we all have families, callings, etc. But almost anyone can plan one or two activities per year in exchange for getting to go to all the rest of the activities! Smaller groups can have less frequent field trips, perhaps with each family planning two or three activities per year.

When I was the leader, I liked to have the whole year planned out ahead of time, so in the spring, members vote from a list of activities that we could do the following year. Everyone has the opportunity to contribute activity ideas and to vote. I add up the votes and make a schedule based on the votes, taking into consideration the costs, the weather, the driving distance, etc. It would take a couple hours to get a schedule with a variety of activities. Then we had a meeting where I passed out the schedule and volunteers chose an activity that they would plan.

As extra incentive to get help, we charged dues. Those who plan an activity get a partial refund after completing their activity. We used the money we collected for group activities such as party supplies, treats once in a while, website fees, etc. If your group has a newsletter or website, you can use the dues to pay the costs of paper, copying and mailing them out or paying for the web space.

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How Do I Plan A Field Trip for My Group?

Once you have decided what field trip you will take, call the location and find out how soon the field trip can be booked. Each location is different. Some fill up fast and book up to a year in advance and others can't take a reservation until a month or so ahead. Mark your calendar with important follow up dates. If you procrastinate and wait until the information is due to make your calls, it will more than likely be too late to book the tour. Your group members will probably need to know the details at least 2 weeks in advance.

Ask for details about the activity. Find out things like the price, what you will do and learn, how long it will be, whether they need a deposit, how many people can go, age limitations, whether certain clothing is required, if they can accommodate strollers, etc. Get directions. If there is a website, you may be able to get some of the information from it.

Then notify your group members of the date, time, cost, description and directions. Include the address for those wishing to look up the location on an internet map. It's a good idea to have a deadline and sign-ups. That way you will know how many to expect and the docent will not be surprised. People are less inclined to change their minds at the last minute if they have paid ahead of time, and this will also give you less stress on the day of the field trip. If you have to collect money, you might want to do it ahead of time or at the field trip depending on the needs of the location and your preference. You may like to ask for exact change to make things easier.

On the day of the field trip, have your list of members that signed up and check off their names as they arrive. Give the docent or worker the number of people, money, etc. Don't forget to enjoy your field trip!

Many of the schools that docents deal with send thank you cards, drawings, or short reports of what they learned. Consider doing this with your homeschool group as well. We want to leave a good impression!

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Where Can My Support Group Go on Field Trips?

Homeschool Support Groups can go on field trips almost anywhere. Of course you can go to the same places that public schools go on field trips such as museums, nature centers, and local historical sites, but you have the flexibility to do a lot more too! Over the years, our group has gone to factories, IMAX movies, the circus, fire stations, the post office, animal shelters, zoos, live theater plays, county fairs, art exhibits, family history centers, and more. Since we are not too far from Los Angeles, we've also been able to go to the Forest Lawn Cemetery, a Surfing Museum, a TV show taping, the Los Angeles Temple Visitor's Center, California Missions, Long Beach Aquarium, Knott's Berry Farm, Sea World, and Navy vessels. Take advantage of whatever you have in your area. Below are a few sources of ideas (let me know if you know of others). In addition, look in your local phone books and libraries, and ask around!

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What is an Email Group?

An email group, such as LDS Homeschoolers in California (lds-hs-inCA) can be a great help. These groups, also known as "mailing lists" or "loops," are similar to message boards, except they are more private because the messages only go to those who subscribe to the list, and generally, only members can read the mail. If you join the email group, you may ask questions, share articles or ideas, etc. and your question or comment and the responses goes out to everyone in the group. You might find others in your area, and you will be able to get new ideas from other members of the list.