Homeschooling Support Group

[Kate1126]

I am a Catholic Homeschooler and I’m wondering, there are a lot if us in my area but there is no support or fellowship. I was wondering if you need permission from the archdiocese to start a support group? There is one about 50 miles from me but it is very inconvenient. It seems like we are terribly underserved. Looking for some opinions on this.

 

[mommamaree]

You do not need permission to start an association for homeschooling families in your parish, but it is a challenging thing to do. I have lived in two parishes during my time as a homeschooler. One had a very active and large homeschooling association, the other had a very small and non-cohesive association. I regret the fact that our current parish has no fellowship between the homeschooling families, but I have tried and failed to encourage more cohesiveness. I gave up.
So, definitely give it a try, and notify your pastor so that you can advertise in the Church bulletin and get the word out a bit. But if it doesn’t work, don’t feel bad. It took me quite a while before I realized that the problem is the dynamics of our parish and not my fault. Good luck. I hope you have a much better experience than I did at starting up an association. God bless!

 

[Kate1126]

I asked my pastor. He told me we couldn’t use the church hall to meet because you need permission from the Bishop to start it. It would’ve been more then our parish. Feeling discouraged.

 

[Eleanor61]

Trying to get homeschoolers to work together has been likened to herding cats…but I have been in several Catholic as well as secular groups over the past 25 years. Some work well for a period of time and then fizzle out, others start with hurt feelings and never get going.

The best groups aren’t too ambitious and are just a few like minded moms meeting for tea in the kitchen while the kids play, or getting together at the park.

Secular groups often work better because religion can actually be quite divisive. I know we are all Catholic, but that means a lot of different things in practice. Some pastors are more homeschool friendly while others see it as revenue taken from the Catholic schools.

If you are content with a small group you should not have any trouble getting started. If you have ambitious ideas realize that such groups are rare.

 

[Kate1126]

I don’t want to impose on anyone. I was thinking it could be great for say field trips and stuff to get cheaper rates. Maybe have some spiritual direction. My pastor straight out said no today after giving me the run around for three weeks.

 

[Rau]

I asked my pastor. He told me we couldn’t use the church hall to meet because you need permission from the Bishop to start it. It would’ve been more then our parish. Feeling discouraged.

Why does the Bishop need to be involved in a homeschooling support group? Is it because the homeschooling reflects a choice not to use Catholic schooling? But wait, that makes no sense, the bishop is not involved in a decision to use the State school system… Is the issue related to some legal liability issue?

 

[Kate1126]

I believe we scare him and he doesn’t want the weirdos…no liability just fear of the unknown.

 

[Rau]

Trying to get homeschoolers to work together has been likened to herding cats…but I have been in several Catholic as well as secular groups over the past 25 years. Some work well for a period of time and then fizzle out, others start with hurt feelings and never get going.

The best groups aren’t too ambitious and are just a few like minded moms meeting for tea in the kitchen while the kids play, or getting together at the park.

Secular groups often work better because religion can actually be quite divisive. I know we are all Catholic, but that means a lot of different things in practice. Some pastors are more homeschool friendly while others see it as revenue taken from the Catholic schools.

If you are content with a small group you should not have any trouble getting started. If you have ambitious ideas realize that such groups are rare.

A secular group makes a lot of sense. The major challenges in homeschooling are not specific to one’s faith.

 

[Rau]

I believe we scare him and he doesn’t want the weirdos…no liability just fear of the unknown.

I’ll assume you’re not a weirdo, but homeschooling is unknown to me! Can you explain the motive (versus the school options you have), and do homeschoolers normally persist right through high school, or do they typically switch over to the school system at a particular point?

 

[Rau]

To be fair to your parish priest and to your bishop, there actually is liability on their part. Especially if you use church facilities for a gathering. If a child were ever hurt or lost or something ever happened then the parish could “on the hook” for whatever may have happened although the law varies depending on where you live.

A simple gathering of moms and children suddenly becomes not so simple after all. Some parishes have to make sure that all adults coming into contact with young children have to have passed background checks it can be a nightmare. I am not saying this describes your situation exactly, or that your parish priest or bishop should not have tried to help you further, just that there could be other factors you may not know about. I know personally this can be the case because we ran into similar situations here where I live. I found out just what obstacles that parishes are up against and it’s too bad really.

That being said don’t give up! Homeschooling is a beautiful vocation and if you are feeling called to start a group I think that is wonderful! Let the Holy Spirit be your guide. Clearly you are not alone, there must be other mom’s seeking fellowship, even if just a few. God bless you and please be assured of my prayers for your spiritual journey. God bless you.

Whatever the reasons, the lady should have been given them by the priest. Sometimes I think that priests need to be reminded that the facilities they have were all provided by the people. A “no” without explanation is unacceptable.

 

[Kate1126]

He asked me to start a moms group but got negative when I mentioned homeschooling group. To be fair there is no difference in liability from a moms group and a homeschooling moms group.

 

[KCT]

How many families are you talking about?

You don’t need permission to meet at someone’s home and pray. Or to meet at a pumpkin patch for a filed trip.

 

[Kate1126]

I know, that’s why his demeanor was so perplexing.

 

[mommamaree]

I asked my pastor. He told me we couldn’t use the church hall to meet because you need permission from the Bishop to start it. It would’ve been more then our parish. Feeling discouraged.

Some pastors do say this. I forgot about that. Our current pastor does not say this, but the previous one did. It should not be too hard to get approval, assuming your bishop is not hostile to homeschoolers (some bishops oppose it, but others are very encouraging). If you want to use church property, go ahead and talk to your pastor about getting approval.
Or, if you don’t want to wait for that, start an email or Facebook group to start planning get togethers with the other families in your area. Everyone can take turns hosting gatherings in their homes. Or plan gatherings at the park.

 

[mommamaree]

I don’t want to impose on anyone. I was thinking it could be great for say field trips and stuff to get cheaper rates. Maybe have some spiritual direction. My pastor straight out said no today after giving me the run around for three weeks.

Then I would just go with a casual approach and do the email and Facebook group idea. Some pastors know nothing about homeschooling and are wary of us. Others have seen how great Catholic homeschooling can be and they welcome such groups. It is disappointing, I am sure, but I can tell you it is extremely hard work to run a homeschool association and that time investment takes away from the time you have to teach and take care of your family. I have found a lot more success in the casual approach.

 

[mommamaree]

He asked me to start a moms group but got negative when I mentioned homeschooling group. To be fair there is no difference in liability from a moms group and a homeschooling moms group.

Lol! Again, I wish you better luck and success starting up a moms group than I had. I was asked to start up a moms group, too, and it is not going well. Sigh. It is so hard to start up these groups, or to keep them going, and so few people want to volunteer to help, but all are so ready to reap the benefits of YOUR hard work. I had to postpone the launching of the moms group. But you are absolutely right, the liability issues are the same.

 

[Kate1126]

Lol! Again, I wish you better luck and success starting up a moms group than I had. I was asked to start up a moms group, too, and it is not going well. Sigh. It is so hard to start up these groups, or to keep them going, and so few people want to volunteer to help, but all are so ready to reap the benefits of YOUR hard work. I had to postpone the launching of the moms group. But you are absolutely right, the liability issues are the same.

Sometimes you just need a vent. I emailed him tonight. I told him he might have my idea a bit wrong. And that I would like to sit down with him and talk about it. We’ll see…pray for me. The moms I have talked to are really receptive to it so if he was on board the church hall would be ideal.

 

[KimberlyCat]

Um…the priest is upset because the church school will be losing tuition money if everyone starts to homeschool their kids. I don’t blame him. Of course he will not approve it.

 

[Kate1126]

Um…the priest is upset because the church school will be losing tuition money if everyone starts to homeschool their kids. I don’t blame him. Of course he will not approve it.

We don’t have a school…

 

[Rau]

Um…the priest is upset because the church school will be losing tuition money if everyone starts to homeschool their kids. I don’t blame him. Of course he will not approve it.

He is required to give his reason!