Re: Home schooling in the Common House
From: KChrysos (KChrysosaol.com)
Date: Sun, 2 Mar 1997 23:40:01 -0600
Hi, I'm the Mom of John's homeschooling family.

Rob wrote:

> Are these people currently homeschooling now? Or are they wanting to once
they 
> move in? I find it amazing that they take so long a period in the day for 
> schooling.  

We are currently homeschooling and have been doing so for two years. When we
were discussing using the Common House with John, we were trying to explain
that homeschooling tends not to happen only at dedicated times. We also said
that homeschooling requires a space that you can be noisy and messy in, and
for us, requires a fair bit of storage and bookshelf space. So, no, we don't
homeschool from 9-5 straight. We do, however, access our homeschool materials
all the time.

As Rob mentioned, it tends to be more convenient to school at home where you
have all your materials at hand. (Also easier on the babies, the housework
routine,answereing the phone, etc.) It was for these reasons, and others that
we preferred to do our schooling at home. We wanted to expand our living room
and office area to accomdate this. (The group very kindly agreed to our
proposal and I got my first taste of being at the center of the consensus
process spotlight... both scary and uplifting for someone who tends to be
quite shy.)  

John suggested that the Common House could be a wonderful center for
educational efforts, and I agree. We are, as yet, an unbuilt community, and
my family is new to the group. I wanted to take it slowly and see how the
other group members felt about homeschooling and kids in general. I was
thinking that starting with something along the lines of the science co-op
that Rob mentioned might be a good way to test the waters. It would be
particularly wonderful if other families in the neighborhood could get
involved in some sort of after-school class once or twice a week. I
understand that there was some trepidation on the part of the residents when
our co-housing group proposed their development. I think that making friends
with the kids might be one of the best ways to bridge the gap between
co-housers and the existing neighborhood. I think that most of us don't
bite... very often.:)

-- Karen Chrysostom

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