Homeschooling as a community effort

I want to thank Corin at Gifted Homeschoolers Forum for passing me this article from last Thursday's Boston Globe. In case anyone still fears for homeschoolers' isolation, please read the article and my preparatory comments.

The description of the many and varied opportunities for homeschoolers mentioned in the following article applies to our community here in Silicon Valley, California as well. This year I am teaching an Algebra 2 (Saxon) class to 9 high school level homeschooled students. We also attend a Wednesday morning Sports league with over 100 other kids & parents. For two years Susie attended a Writing Co-op led by a homeschooled mom. This year our family is involved in five 4H Projects, all led by homeschooled parents: hiking, scrapbooking, candy-making, riflery, poultry. Add to this list of socialization opportunities church Youth Group twice a week, piano lessons, Friday night Square Dancing, and 6 hours of volunteering at the animal shelter on Saturdays. Both my children, an introvert 16-year-old son and an extrovert almost 14-year-old daughter, have the flexibility to participate in more meaningful activities now than during their six years in public school.

Now on to the article...
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Expanding the horizon for home-school students. Advocates cite wider range of shared outside activities as helpingfuel growth of practice once relegated to fringe

By Lisa KocianBoston Globe Staff / December 6, 2007

Eight-year-old Ben Shapiro's days are a blur of gymnastics, piano playing, and art history lessons. He can also be found doing fractions, reading a biography of Marco Polo, and, soon, delving into physics. But he's not at school. And he's not alone. He is part of a fast-evolving home-school movement that is traveling away from the stereotype of child and parent at the kitchen table. Shapiro does spend most of his day with his mother, but not alone. Instead, she shuttles him from one group activity to another.The home is no longer where all the action is in this new wave of homeschooling. Although some instruction takes place at home, parents now choose from an increasing number of options that allow their children to interact with and learn alongside other home-schooled peers. The opportunities for socialization are numerous - swim lessons at theYMCA, staging a play with like-minded friends found over the Internet, or any of myriad academic courses offered at cooperative schools in the area.%-----------
The rest of this article can be found athttp://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/12/06/expanding_the_horizon_for_home_school_students/