Just got a truly lovely letter from a homeschooler who is moving to the Tallahassee, Florida area. She wants to know if I had any secular homeschooling contacts over there, and I told her I'd do my best to put the word out and find something for her.
I know there's a thriving homeschooling community in Florida, and I think it's big and diverse enough to have a lot of secular homeschoolers; but I don't know any in particular. Anyone want to drop me a line that I can forward?
And while we're on the subject: what would be the best way to help out people who write to me with this kind of question? I do get them now and again, and it bums me out not to have much to offer other than hopes and good wishes. Should I have a strictly non-romantic "Secular Homeschooling Lonelyhearts" column in the magazine, devoted to such inquiries? (The romantic variety might be fun, too, but that's another question altogether.) Would something online be better -- maybe a page on the mag's site where I can post requests? Would that be weird, or a perfectly natural extension of the magazine's work, a large part of which is simply letting secular homeschoolers know that they're not alone?
Let me know what you think. Posting here is great; for something to forward to my new Tallahassee friend, you can also write to me privately: deborah at 2ds dot org
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
I would love to be able to see something online for readers of the magazine to help us find local contacts.
One of the reasons I love the magazine so much is that it makes me feel like less of a freak here in Alabama.
I have found a few (very few) others out there who homeschool for non-religious reasons, but there are still people within those groups who are religious. There's nothing wrong with that, but I would like to meet others like me.
I think it'd be great to have a section like that!
Of course, I homeschool for non-religious reasons, even though I am religious. I don't need to talk about religion all of the time, and I like being around people who are different from me.
Tallahassee has a thriving homeschool group, but it is not secular. At least most members are not. I did find a couple of unschoolers in my two years here, but honestly, I didn't look too hard since my last homeschooler graduated last year. The main local group seems friendly enough on the boards and emails, but those that do post most definitely are not secular homeschoolers.
Deborah,
Make you could have a blurb somewhere where people in different states could give you their contact info, and you keep your own private little database? I would be happy to be a contact for Ohio/ Cincinnati~ specific. Maybe others would do the same. I wouldn't mind setting up a separate gmail account or something if you wanted to have a list on the SHM site. You could ask for people to be on the list in the next issue.
just an idea.
korin
Just wanted to say that you should have somewhere on your blog for people to suggest stories that they want to see in your magazine! I was talking with a woman on Sat. at the Apple store (during a youth workshop) and she was telling me that her boyfriend had issues with his ex about homeschooling their kids. I ended up saying that he should be willing to research home schooling and then be willing to talk with his ex in an informed manner. Be willing to make suggestions on curriculum and maybe even taking some of the teaching on himself when he could. What do you think? I am gripreed2003@yahoo.com AKA toni baloney and the amazing grippettes
There is a mostly secular homeschooling group that meets Thursdays in Optimist Park in Indian Head Acres from 2:30 - 6ish. I've been meaning to go so can't vouch for it but I've heard fabulous things!
Did anyone ever find anything out? I'm moving to Tally soon! I found a gulf coast secular homeschool group but it's mostly for panama city - Mobile area. I have family that way so I don't mind, but it would be nice to have something closer.
Post a Comment