If you’re the only CM mom in your local area, you can still take a similar approach because most homeschooling parents are interested in Nature Study, Literature, or the arts, even if they don’t follow Miss Mason’s philosophy. You can follow the method informally so it can have a more inclusive atmosphere and provide the fellowship your child needs.

Special Celebrations

Another idea for group gatherings is to do special homeschool celebrations.

I’m an Event Coordinator for one of the local chapters of a NYS homeschool support group called LEAH (Loving Education at Home) and have been blessed to work alongside fellow LEAH moms in providing such opportunities. We also partner up with other non-LEAH homeschooling mamas and our local library. Here are some of our events that usually end with tons of play-time afterwards (another plus for an only child):

• Meet & Greet Park Day
• Apple Picking
• Family Potluck
• Thanksgiving Potluck
• Reading Masquerade (Dress up as book character from a current book read and do a book presentation)
• Night of Recitation (can be done in the day as well)
• National Pancake Day @IHOP
• Math Challenge
• Spelling Bee
• Science Fair
• Education Fair
• Cultural Fair
• Field Day
• Recognition Night (Award Ceremony at the end of the school year where parents create their own award and celebrate their children. One year for my daughter, my award was titled the “The Pickwick Club” since my daughter loved the Little Women series and really connected with Jo’s character. I gave her a quill pen and ink set as a gift to celebrate her growth as a writer.)

We also do trips together to museums, theaters, nature preserves, etc…

Another special thing I do with my “only” at home are book celebrations. After we finish a book for school, we put together a themed “party” and invite friends to participate.  Sometimes we dress up as the characters, create activities based on the book, and/or cook foods from the story.  In the past, we’ve done Narnia, Little House, and quite a few other titles/series. 

Organize Weekly Meet-Ups

Leading your own content-specific groups or events sound too nerve-wracking for you? Then just plan weekly meet ups to a park or a preserve to do a nature walk together. You can choose a park, day and time that others know will always be in place. Share with other homeschooling friends, local groups and social media. As the word spreads, more and more people will come with their kiddos.

Keep Balance

When you have an “only”, it’s easy to get sucked into participating in every group possible, like I did. You’re desperate for fellowship and don’t have as many financial or childcare constraints that parents of multiple children often have. With that freedom, it’s tempting to be part of everything offered for your child’s sake. My first year homeschooling, I was out of the house so much, we barely did any schooling at home. There was an imbalance.

To keep the balance, it’s so important that you really know your child and understand who they are as a person. Think about what their desires are and what are the needs you help fulfill as their mother. Also, remember what the vision God has given to you for your child and for your homeschool.

I had to look at what was really dear to my daughter’s heart, what was pivotal in our homeschool and what activities I just thought were really cool but not really necessary.

On one end, I had to balance the fact that my daughter is a SERIOUS extrovert. But I also had to keep in mind that we needed time to do school work at home too. As a result, I started being more protective of our mornings and carefully choosing what afternoon activities we could participate in so they wouldn’t interfere with our morning lessons or keep us out of our home all day.

Just recently, being quarantined caused me to do some self-reflection. I really enjoyed being home without running from activity to activity. I asked the Lord what should I let go of in our busy schedule once quarantine is over.

My daughter LIVES for dance and gymnastics so that couldn’t go anywhere. Thankfully, dance is on the weekends, which doesn’t affect our school day. Gymnastics is only once a week for a local homeschooling class I put together. So that’s not a problem either. Music, however, involved me traveling twice a week for 3 classes (in addition to a co-op class and several afternoon meet-ups).

Being homebound, my daughter was meeting with her music teachers virtually. What was an eye opener for me was how much she was practicing on her own, creating original pieces and independently learning other songs not assigned by her teachers. It got me thinking that maybe it was time for her to learn independently online since she has a strong music foundation.

So we had a good discussion as a family, weighing all the pros and cons. Since my daughter is already 10, we let her decide and after a couple of weeks, she decided to continue learning piano online, allowing us to be home more (and save us a ton of money). We did, however, set up with our CM group to have recitals at the end of our terms next year, that way she’s still able to celebrate and perform among peers.

Spend Time with Family & Other Non-homeschooling Friends

Group gatherings don’t all have to be with other homeschooling friends. There are other opportunities like spending time with cousins and friends from the neighborhood, church, extracurricular activities and other walks of life. The point is that even though our child won’t be with other children “from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same”, we can provide ongoing opportunities for companionship.

Teen Years

A huge benefit of homeschooling is that most of our kids can hang out with children of various ages easily because they’re not used to being separated by ages or grades. My daughter can effortlessly spend time with a one year old as she would another 10 year old as she would a teenager. It’s pretty amazing to watch.

Regardless, the teen years can get more challenging. There may come a time your teen doesn’t want to attend activities where there are mostly little kids. Or there are less teens being homeschooled so your child is in the minority. This is when parents have to be even more proactive with group gatherings.

The suggestions I gave above still apply but the content and audience change. Church youth groups and extracurricular activities supply wonderful opportunities for teens to connect. For school, you can try finding teen groups that are gathering in your local homeschool support groups. If there aren’t any, like I said before, create your own.

Don’t worry if there aren’t enough teen homeschoolers in your community. It’s not about quantity. It’s about quality so if you have a solid group of 3-5 teens, that’s all you need.

Now, I know firsthand how much work it takes to organize something. However, the big shift here that differs from before is that you now have a teen on your hands. Your teen, along with the help of others, can work independently in creating communities they want to be part of. All you would have to do is provide opportunities, support and guidance.

This past year, our local LEAH chapter came across this very same need for a teen group. We shared ideas with each other but I also reached out to a fellow homeschool mom from another chapter who has 3 teens. She shared the following ideas that worked so well for their teen group, that she didn’t do a thing except be a support, facilitate co-ops,  and find spaces for them to meet up at.

IDEAS FOR TEEN GATHERINGS

Start off a Teens-Only Meet-Up

This can be whatever your teens want it to be and they can meet up however many times they want.   It can be monthly or weekly. Whatever works for them.

Vision Meeting for the Teens

Parents can set up a Vision Meeting for the teens. Have them over for brunch or pizza in the evening. Ask them what they want to see or do for the year so there’s ownership. It’s not another homeschool class mom wants them to attend. Instead, it’s a gathering of value for them. It can be their safe place where they make life-long friends.

Meet-Up Activities

If they are monthly meet-ups, some ideas could be:

• Paintball/air soft 
• House gathering/“Hangs”
• Movies 
• Escape Room
• Meet at a Museum 

Hot Topics Discussion

It can include relevant topics chosen by parents based on observations or student interests: Current Events, men are from Mars & women are from Venus, DC vs Marvel, etc… It’s a great intro to get them into talking. (If it’s a debate, let them know beforehand of the topic and they have to prepare in advance to defend their stance.)

Teen Co-ops  

Classes can be alternated by terms (12 week sessions)

Some class ideas can be:

• Art
• Handicrafts
• Citizenship
• Civics
• Book Club (can include literature from a historical period)
• Creative Writing
• Shakespeare
• Poetry
• Drama

Drama Ideas:

1) Book/Discussion/Play

Term 1-Read a play

Terms 2 & 3- Discussion/Production (rehearsals, costumes, set, sound, created bulletins, etc…)

2) Create an Original Play

Term 1- Write a play

Terms 2 & 3- Discussion/Production (rehearsals, costumes, set, sound, created bulletins, etc…)

Science Day Workshop–

-full-blown dissections

-3 hour workshop

-Resources: Specimens and Dissection Kits bought online

Yearbooks:

Created by the teens. Some ideas:

Kids submit pictures, stories, poetry, artwork.  

Parents submit pictures from events throughout the year. 

Profile page for graduates or profile page for teens (maybe vision for their graduating year: i.e:Vision for 2020)

Newsletter Team:

Kids work on it with editor-in-chief (parent or student)

Possible Content:

• Upcoming events 
• Current Events
• Movie Reviews
• Jokes 
• Art
• Poetry 

These are all just ideas to show that there are many group gatherings you can provide and tailor for your child as well as their local homeschooling community