Community Blog

New to homeschooling in the Oak Park area? Wondering what groups are out there?

Westside HOUSE is the west suburban chapter of HOUSE, or Home Oriented Unique Schooling Experience, a non-sectarian group. HOUSE offers monthly parent support meetings, a Roots and Shoots Club for boys, and other classes and events scheduled as needed. Find them on the web at http://www.housewestside.org. Outside the Oak Park area? Check the Illinois House website to find a group near you.

TEACH, an Oak Park area Christian group, states that its purpose is to support the sharing of information and support between T.E.A.C.H. group members. Activities include a parent’s support meeting. Their yahoo group is here.

NUG, or Northside Unschoolers, can be found on the web at http://www.Northsideunschoolers.org.

In addition to a popular multi-age Girl Scout troop, NUG also hosts Open Gym, Mother’s Teas, and other events and classes planned as needed.

Are there more groups that I don’t know about? If you would like to share information about another group, please post a comment, thanks!

…Get up, eat breakfast, get dressed to the shoes, and you can do anything for 15 minutes.

What I mean about that 15 minutes bit is that for a non-favored subject, just break it down into 15 minute sessions to get it done.

Having your house in order sure helps for homeschooling. Though we have long been in the group that begins the day by saying, “Okay, let’s clear off some space on the dining room table,” at the moment, we’re actually using the dining room table for, well, dining. And when we need it for homeschooling, it’s already clear.

I have found Flylady’s cleaning tips and systems helpful. It’s all free. Check it out at flylady.net.

If I had to make a general rule for living and working with children, it might be this: be wary of saying or doing anything to a child that you would not do to another adult, whose good opinion and affection you valued.

John Holt in Freedom and Beyond

Basically, a webquest is a research project. You come up with a challenge and send off your little internet investigator to find the answers. At least, that’s how I understand it.

Turn on those kiddie-web filters first!

Find more details on webquests here:

http://www.homeschooldiner.com

(scroll down)

Here’s a sample webquest on the subject of art history: http://www.goshen.edu.

Update:

I’ve just found this website: Webquest.org, where it explains webquests in detail and has some actual quests, ready to go!

Here’s helpful Squidoo Lens called Audio Homeschool that helps you figure out if you are, and resources for auditory learnings. Check it out here: http://www.squidoo.com/audiohomeschool.

Really. The Toy Hall of Fame is at the Strong Museum of Play. Read the CNN story here.

A fun running around game at the Halloween party at co-op!

Making bugs!

As we gear up to opening day, and start thinking about packing lunches, I wanted to put out a quick reminder to everyone that we are a peanut free co-op. This is in the handbook also.

FAAN, the Food Allergy and Anaphalaxis Network has a great program for kids, the Be a P.A.L. Program.

Read about it here.

www.ulrichsfossilgallery.com

My daughter went to school for two years, K and 1, before we began to homeschool. She misses a couple of things — picture day and a school supply list for school supply shopping!

Now the co-op is taking care of one thing for her — she gets a school supply list!

If you’re on our yahoo list, you’ll get a the list on the there. Some of the items are for your child personally, and some are to share with everyone, like crayons and markers.

On the list you’ll also find some things you probably already have, such as shoes for gym and a waterbottle.