What are Home-educating Communities?

Drop-ins, sign-ups, drop-offs and co-ops

From the family unit to organised groups, to the village and co-housing. Home-educating communities come in all shapes and sizes.

A community is a group of people who have something in common; it could be a locality, an interest, a shared experience, etc... People within the same community share resources and responsibilities, such as space, physical items, finances, decisions, time, energy, creativity, vulnerability, enthusiasm, celebration… As such there is an element of risk involved.

Each different type of community involves a different level of commitment, and membership is made up of people who this level of commitment appeals. Each type of community does not appeal to everyone. I think this is in part because of personal preference, and in part due to us not necessarily understanding what it is to be in community.

Perhaps it would be fair to say that we have lost touch with what it means to be part of a real solid sense of community. What it actually looks like. How to ‘do’ community. How to ‘be’ a community.

It certainly felt like a re-learning when we got together to create ours, (PACE: Playful And Collaborative Education), we made many mistakes and received life-learning beyond anything we’d imagined.

Family

Obviously, the family unit is a community at its most basic and this can be plenty for some families. A family unit contains a group of people who share space and resources and must choose how to arrange things fairly. There are always changing dynamics to stimulate exploration and learning, and the number of relationships matters less than the quality of those relationships.

However, most do long for social exposure beyond this and there are many and varied ways that people create spaces in which to share their home-ed adventures.

If you are a home-educator, you will probably be familiar with the way things are done. If not, here are 4 ways that I see home-educating families experience community within their journeys.

1. Drop-ins

Drop-in days were my first introduction to home-education. I first ventured out in search of the wider community when my boys were 1 and 4 years old. I found a Friday group in a secure outdoor adventure playground that we could just turn up at anytime between 11am-4pm. We went religiously every week for at least a year and it was where we got to create those first relationships.

I went on to host one outside of the city, and both were a lifeline for a number of families. There was no commitment necessary, and it could always be relied upon.

Families can be encouraged to bring and share activities, or it could simply be a park and picnic day.  They are open to all and very supportive to whole families wanting to stay together and get the benefit of social learning time.

2. Sign-ups

This is one of the things that Facebook has enabled to a much greater degree. Before using this platform for organisation you probably had to know a bunch of other home-ed families and work out trips and tutors together in person.

As any home-educator, (in the Bristol area at least), will tell you, we are absolutely spoilt for choice with events, both recurring and one-off. The subjects being as varied as the people who offer them.

Anyone can post an invitation for others to participate in something they’re interested in and want others to share the experience or cost. This can be academic tutors, informative trips, exciting days out, forest schools, regular skill development (woodwork, pottery, metalwork, etc…), sports, cooking, festivals, camping and even foreign travel!

Drawing a group together to commit to a short-term investment means you get to access things you might not have otherwise. Sometimes small groups are formed that continue for years on a weekly or annual basis perhaps, or it really could just be a one-off opportunity.

I co-organise the Bristol Home-education Camp which my family has attended annually for 14 years. It’s something we all look forward to and has nurtured ongoing relationships.

As with drop-ins these can involve whole family participation, however, it may be that parents get the opportunity to socialise together whilst their child is engaged, or drop-off and collect after.

3. Drop-offs

Drop-off sessions are for any children ready to be without their parents. It can be from one hour to 3 consecutive days. Cost is also variable and activity dependent.

My boys went to forest school for years, every Monday which they loved. It was within a wood with a river and lots of adventure. My daughter loved forest play as well, but because she wasn’t ready for drop-off, I created a ‘Let’s go to the woods’ group which met regularly for social play in the woods.

Most of the examples I gave for ‘sign-ups’, (above), involve dropping a child off, however, I guess what I’m more referring to here are the number of ‘small schools’, democratic projects, self-directed learning hubs, Steiner informed, or simply creative play spaces that have popped up in recent years. Some of them may just be one day a week, most are 3-day-a-week commitments.

Three consecutive days is meant to be the minimum time required to establish a strong sense of community.

I have heard it said that many home-educators would consider mainstream school if it was just 3 days a week. Obviously, schools are communities too, however, it is their systems and culture that we often question in terms of what creates a healthy environment for our children to be raised within.

These ‘small schools’ have often been created by home-educating parents who work hard to create a culture of care, which is a lot easier to do on a smaller scale.

4. Co-ops

I personally love working as part of a co-operative. I love the unfolding dynamics of a group who have made a commitment to each other to show up every week to collaborate and share their home-ed experience beyond the odd trip or drop-off.

I’ve been part of the organisational groups of co-ops because I wanted more. I love depth and the co-creation of shared experiences adds more richness than any one person can come up with themselves. It’s a collaboration that represents the groups interests and so grows into whatever it needs to be.

Co-ops are a great opportunity for building strong relationships and hence strong community. Because everyone’s voice is valued, everyone has a say and so the first job in hand is to agree a fair decision-making process.

Group process is a fascinating phenomenon, and I love how things unfold. So much so I took a certificate in community organising to learn more about how to support ours. You may have heard of Tuckman’s ‘forming, norming, storming and performing’ model which describes the developmental stages of a group or community as it progresses.

Even just knowing that it’s a normal part of the process to ‘storm’ or experience conflict after the honeymoon period and initial efficient working period felt very reassuring. It allows a sense of trust which inspired creative ways forward for example, learning Nonviolent Communication skills or the Restorative Circles process for dealing with issues. We then become more adept and dealing with each new cycle, until we’re old pros!

Our co-operative was blessed with an incredible depth of experience that not only served the children, but also the parents. This is where I came to understand the importance of HE parents supporting HE parents, in our co-op to the point of feeling like we had recreated a village.

Our set up of 3 days a week was a little different. One day was a forest school drop-off day, one day a drop-off facilitated day with a range of skilled facilitators, (from academic to handcrafts and everything in between), and our final day was a family day, a place for whole families to come together and for all the magic that follows. This was the glue that kept us together.

One of our members even went on to co-create a housing co-op at a Farm in Devon for home-educators!

Of course, it doesn’t have to be so big a project or commitment. Home-ed learning co-ops are more often a group of parents meeting one afternoon a week to share a fun craft, baking activity or games. It doesn’t need to be any more complicated than that. It all depends on what level of investment you want.

If you'd like some help in setting up your first home-ed learning co-op, get in touch at www.healthneedsthyme.co.uk