~ETCNWA~

7 REASONS

TO CONNECT WITH A

HOMESCHOOL SUPPORT GROUP

by A. K. Knight

The decision to homeschool, to buck the system and take our child’s education into our own hands, in many ways, takes a renegade.  It can be tempting to think that we can do it all alone.  However, here are 7 good reasons to seek out support during the homeschooling years.

1. If it weren’t for those mid-week field trips with our support group, would my child go through life without the rewarding experience of standing in a line, raising her hand, or taking turns?  Of course those are experiences I couldn’t spare her even if I wanted to, but taking part in activities with my homeschool group is one way I can seek out opportunities to train my child in a smorgasbord of social situations. 
2. Cooperative effort and collective resources help me make the most of my time and money.  Whether it is shared information about educational community events, group buys at deep discounts, co-op classes or carpooling to area fieldtrips, many hands make light work.
3. My homeschooling friends help me feel normal…or at least not too abnormal.  When I start to think I am the only person in the world cleaning acrylic paint out of a dust ruffle or changing a diaper with a red grading pen clinched between my teeth, a quick phone call to a friend deep in her own homeschooling trenches can bring me back to reality.  There are hundreds of thousands of moms reforming education at their own dining room tables.  My support group gives me access to dozen of them who remind me that I am not alone.
4. The best curriculum and teaching tips that I have found, have not been dug out of volumes of educational catalogs.  They have come at the recommendation of fellow home educators.  My homeschool friends have saved me big bucks, too.  A friendly warning about curricula that doesn’t live up to the hype has inoculated me against unnecessary cases of buyers remorse.  The collective opinion of a group of fellow home educators can be a great navigational tool through the curricula marketing maze.
5. If I were to keep my experiences as a home educator to myself, I miss opportunities to minister to others.  Someone took the time to answer the “Where do I begin?” and “What about socialization?” questions that plagued me when I first considered homeschooling.  Someone else is asking those same questions now.  By joining a homeschool support group I am making myself, and my experiences, available to those newest to homeschooling.
6. Homeschool groups help give the impression of legitimacy.  I say “impression” because homeschooling is already legitimate.  But when we organize, when we work together for our common good, the public takes notice.  Together we can better influence public policy. By helping make the homeschool movement a success, we are also paving the way for our grandchildren’s homeschool.
7. By connecting with those with common interests, I have an opportunity to give glory to God for what He has done in my life through home education.  I’ve often called homeschooling a “gateway issue” because when the world of homeschooling opened up to me, it led to numerous issues in my life that God wanted to get involved in.  In many ways homeschooling has shaped my family, my marriage, my home, my worldview, and my faith.  I want to glorify God through my homeschool testimony. 

Don’t be a homeschool lone ranger.  Find the support and connections you need.  Check out our long list of area support groups.

2010/2011 ETC Membership

ETCNWA is now accepting applications for new members.

Please review the pages under the "About ETC" and "Membership" tabs for more information about the mission of the group and the membership requirements.  Use the "Request Membership" tab to join.  Contact the leadership at etcnwa@yahoo.com for more information.

ETCNWA  serves as a support system for Christian home educators who strive to implement non-traditional teaching methods. We each aspire to prayerfully disciple our own children as the Lord directs us and in a manner that takes into account the dynamics of our individual families, our unique gifts and talents, our personal convictions, our children’s strengths and weaknesses, and our goals for which we aim to train our children.