(Elissa Wahl) – By now you probably know someone that homeschools, or know of someone who knows someone….but are you still falling for that old myth of “What About Socialization?”
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the number of homeschooled children has grown over the past decade from 850,000 to over 1.5 million. And this number is actually rather conservative, as there are whole states where homeschoolers do not have to register.
As the numbers grow, so does the amount of active, involved parents, leading to more homeschool support groups and activities. Here in Clark County we have over 40 homeschool support groups…some averaging 150 families. Support group activities differ – some have monthly parent’s meetings, park days, teen groups, educational classes – but most have field trips & activities.
There is a homeschool support group, or two or three, out there for everyone. Some are based on geographic sides of town, some on religion, some are based on curriculum choices, and some are open to everyone. Most groups encourage families to join more than one, to find where their family’s needs are best met.
My family is active in three of those 40 support groups.
Two of the three offer monthly parent’s meetings, which I enjoy. One offers elementary academic classes one day a week. Another has a teen group with an academic component where the teens meet once a week for various classes – and also a social component with planned activities varying from service projects to formals. The third group is one I co-founded and it is inclusive, but does not have a “home base”…meaning it’s not out of a church, etc. It’s solely member-run and organized through the use of a Yahoo Group.
Even if a family chose not to join a support group, there are many city-wide activities to partake in for homeschoolers. This is a growing market and many businesses recognize it and offer great deals during the day!
We have City-Wide Homeschool Roller Skating every 3rd Friday at Crystal Palace (Rancho location) and City-Wide homeschool SkyMania day every First Friday. We’ve also had ongoing city-wide ice skating days, PE days, rock climbing days and more.
Sometimes there are activities that are one time events, but open to all homeschoolers. Last summer the US Space and Rocket Center sent their nationally known Space Camp program out to Las Vegas, for a week catered to homeschoolers. The kids got to attend a full week of the Build-A-Shuttle Program, culminating in a full re-creation of the Space Shuttle, International Space Station and an orbiter. It was amazing!
The only downside to all of this growth is there is not currently a homeschool resource facility in Las Vegas. We are seeing a growing need for such a facility as homeschooling grows.
The support group I founded would love such a building. Because we have no “home” we tend to use parks and people’s homes. If weather situations arise, or too many people RSVP to any one event, things can become chaotic.
It is very hard to find enough space for some events, and even harder to find affordable space. I see this happening even in the support groups that have a “home”, because our needs as homeschoolers are becoming so great.
Recently, I teamed up with a few other women who see the same need – a Homeschool Resource Center in Las Vegas. We have formed RISE Resource Center, whose mission is to provide a facility and resources to support educational choice. We are actively pursing a facility rental in the hopes of being able to accommodate homeschool support groups, co-op classes, one time rental needs, assemblies and more.
When the facility is a reality, it will also house a Library and Resource Center. New or interested families can come in and see the various curriculum choices before spending money; books and educational equipment can be borrowed; and manipulatives can be played with and used in classes, etc.
With the advent of such a facility, we will see support for homeschoolers grow and, therefore, homeschooling itself will continue to grow and flourish! Myth be gone!
(Elissa Wahl is a homeschooler and co-founder of the Nevada Homeschool Network. For more information, please visit www.nevadahomeschoolnetwork.com or contact Elissa at briansmom99@yahoo.com)
Elissa, great to see you’re still doing such great things in the Homeschooling Community. I can confirm that my kids were never left feeling like they were left out of the “socialization” part of life and that seems like ages ago.
Good luck on your community center. I miss all of you.
Elissa, you’ve been such a blessing to all of us homeschooling moms. I’ve been homeschooling our daughter for 7 years now and we love it. Olivia has made so many kindhearted friends, and with all the groups that we’re in, we have a hard time deciding what event on the calenders that she can make it to. Just having a teen that loves to learn is so refreshing. Now we’re leaving to Singapore for 3 months and her books are going with us. Isn’t it great, the world is our classroom!
Best of luck on the resource center.
Elissa, thank you for all you, and the rest of Nevada Homeschool Network, does in this community! EVERYONE I spoke with when I first considered homeschooling, referred me to you!
You took the time to speak to me one on one, regarding plans, curriculum, and all of my options. You still host 2 monthly ‘mentoring hours’…. I don’t know how you do it, but I’m so grateful that you do.
As for the socialization… Honestly, there is sooooo much to do, that we have to weed out which activities we have time for. lol So, is there such a thing as too much socialization? lol
What a pleasant surprise to find this article online to read! The socialization question still comes up and your answer addresses it so succinctly.
I also appreciated the time you took to explain the basics of homeschooling in Nevada to me when we were first starting out a few years ago. Having someone to point out the path was helpful in starting a journey like homeschooling as it is something I was unfamiliar with at first. Thank you, Elissa!
For all of us who appreciate what Elissa and other leaders in homeschooling here in the Las Vegas area have done and do for all homeschoolers, there are ways we can also give back. We need to help, too. They need our helping hands as well as our thanks. It will benefit all of us.
How can we help? Go to the RISE resource center website and find a way to pitch in. Elissa is right; homeschooling groups are growing and many need a way to consolidate the activities and resources. This center is a reality and will fill so many needs, let’s get to work and make it happen for our kids and all their friends who want it.
Elissa, I also want to thank you for taking the time to talk to me one-on-one last year. You answered so many of my questions and were very helpful and encouraging. You never once made me feel as if you were too busy or didn’t have time, and that made a huge impression on me.
It amazes me that the socialization “myth” still exists… our kids are young and involved in so many activities already. The ironic thing is that we haven’t even joined an official homeschool group yet! The opportunities out there alone just with the community centers, churches, sports leagues, etc. etc. are huge… now factor in the homeschool groups that offer an abundance of opportunities, and it boggles my mind that the “s-word” (ha ha) even comes up anymore.
Anyway, I think the RISE resource center is exactly what Vegas needs. I’m going to check it out… our family is “officially” homeschooling this year now that we have a son in Kindergarten. We’ve been at it with preschool for 2 years, and we are thrilled at the results we’ve seen — there’s no stopping now! Thanks for a wonderful article.