[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hen you decide to homeschool, you’re making a super huge commitment. And this commitment? It’s going to take a lot out of you. Sometimes, it’s going to take more than you have to give. By Friday, you might be running on fumes, and on Monday, you’ve got to get up and start it all over again. Now, I love homeschooling. Don’t get me wrong.
But it isn’t easy.
People form partnerships and groups for things that are far less consuming than homeschooling. Take fitness and health, for example. You can get a workout partner or join a weight loss support group. You can train for a marathon with a friend, or hold each other accountable while you try to give up sugar.
You see, when we try to do something hard, we instinctively know that we need support — that we can’t be successful alone.
And yet homeschoolers are notorious for trying to do it all on their own.
Even when they don’t have to.
We Scholé Sisters want to encourage all homeschool moms to find, join, or create a community that learns together, grows together, and supports one another. This is our marathon training, where we encourage each other and help each other up when we fall.
The fact is: we need each other.
My Group
My local group started out accidentally. Three of us — all AmblesideOnline moms — started reading a book together and meeting to discuss once per month. A couple ladies joined us a few months later, and for years it was only the five of us.
There is this idea we sometimes get that groups have to be huge to be a “group.” That tiny group in the very beginning was just as encouraging and enriching as the large group that we have now grown to be.
I knew I had felt a bit lonely trying to do something different than just school-in-a-box-with-Bible-added-on-top, but I didn’t realize how lonely until I started meeting with some others who got it, who had the same goals as I did when it came to education. I felt the difference. I used to be alone, and now I wasn’t. It was a beautiful thing. I had people who would be there for me, and to whom I could be a support.
This group has been a huge blessing in my life, and I love my sisters.
Find Your Sisters
We’ve created some tools to help you form your own groups, so that you can start enjoying the benefit of a learning community with other homeschool mamas.
First, we have our new free ebook, How to Start a Scholé Sisters Group. With an introduction by Dr. Christopher Perrin from Classical Academic Press, we cover both vision as well as practical details like how to form and how to lead — even how to be a good member!
Second, we’ve put together a How to Start a Scholé Sisters Group Workshop. In it, we discuss how our own groups work, and even how a virtual group can solve practical issues for the geographical- and babysitting-challenged. The workshop includes not only the video component, but a number of downloads that serve as quick-references as you set out to start a Scholé Sisters group of your very own.
Together, these two resources should provide everything you need to get going.
Well, except for the people. Of course, I have mentioned many times that if you are looking for a Charlotte Mason group — or wanting to start one — a great resource is Charlotte Mason in Community. Also, I know that my local area has a private Facebook group, which is a great place to recruit people for a mother’s club. Check Facebook to find other homeschoolers in your area!
Go Do This!
You were created to be a part of a community, and you need other moms on this journey to help you keep to the path when times get hard. If you really want a group, then I would pray about it, asking God for help, and then Go Do It. If you’re putting things off because you are hazy on details, use the resources mentioned above. If you’re putting it off because your house isn’t clean enough or something, then you need to meet at a coffee shop and let the other details go.
You probably needed a night out, anyhow. 😉
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