Use It Or Lose It

Home school parents are pretty talented.  I am always amazed at the amount of talent home school parents have.  I want to encourage everyone to use your talents.  I think it's a common feeling that “if I can do this, anybody can”.  Well, that's not true.  What one person finds enjoyable and easy to grasp, another is struggling to do.

I have home school mom friends that are great at: art, science, latin, Shakespeare, tennis, and on and on.  There are also moms (or dads) that are great at organizing things.  These people need to step up and share their talent with others.  There are ways you can use your talent to help others, your own kids and even maybe make some money to help pay for curriculum.  You could:

Teach a class in your home
Teach or tutor privately
Organize a team or group activity

I've talked before about our wonderful support group here in East Texas.  I just have to give them another big pat on the back.  We have moms (and even home school graduates) that are sharing their talents with others.  They are making themselves available to others that might not have an expertise in that area.  Spanish classes, math classes, history classes, art classes, latin classes, Shakespeare classes, science classes. 

The interesting thing about our group is the way they go about these classes.  Our group is very loosely organized.  We don't have a central leadership.  We like it that way.  Our moms and dads that want to offer something just jump in there and offer it.  Several of the classes that are offered are not open to everyone.  To control the amount of kids participating, they are by invitation only.  When I first heard about these, I felt a little funny.  I hated the idea of excluding someone who might want to participate, but I knew that these classes worked well. 

Just as a for instance, last summer a mom noticed that her son was really into sword fighting.  He had made wooden swords and wanted to use them.  She invited boys that were her son's age over one Sat AM for a fun-filled morning of sword fighting.  Another mom has a daughter that is really into Little House books.  She invited several girls her daughter's age to participate in activities that expanded on these books. 

This way of planning classes puts responsibility on our moms and dads to get involved and meet other home schoolers.  If you participate in activities, you're more likely to be thought of when another activity happens. 

Several years ago, when we lived in another city, a mom decided that her kids needed to get involved with other kids.  She was good at science, so she invited all the kids her boys' ages to a science class.  Well, the first class had about 15 kids.  That was a lot of kids.  The class was great, but that was a lot of kids.  Each time she had a class, more and more people had heard about the classes and her little science classes in her home grew to a very large amount of kids.   She even expanded it to 2 different sessions.

Now, she had a large project on her hands.  Her original intent was to get her boys to meet kids their age.  What happened was there were so many people involved that her kids not only weren't getting to make meaningful relationships with new kids, they weren't getting to spend as much time with mom.  She quit doing the classes.  If she had invited just a few kids that were her boys' ages, she would've had a manageable amount of students that could've really gotten to know each other.

One way to control the class size is to charge a fee.  That does control the class size, but it also leave out the kids who don't have the money to spend on activities.  The fee helps the mom in charge pay for expenses that are involved in the class.  It also helps keep the families involved committed.  Many times, if something is offered totally free, then it is not given much priority.  If a family has committed either their time or their money, then, they are going to be committed to the class.

This year I started a String Orchestra.  I invited everyone and I charge a fee. I don't want to exclude  anyone that can't afford it, but I do want the families to understand there is a level of commitment they have to make.  They have had to buy an instrument, book and set aside 1 morning a week to the String Orchestra.  That along with the fee gives me the confidence that these families are making music a priority.

Another class that I'm involved with has seen to it that all the families involved are participating in some way.  Most of the moms are teaching.  This type of involvement also ensures a commitment.

We don't have to a major organization that sets up activities for us.  We can do great things in little groups.  If you have a talent, even if you don't think it's that big of a deal, share it with others.  You will be amazed at how much fun it is and how much everyone will benefit from it.