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Mrs. B
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| Posted: July 17 2012 at 12:37pm | IP Logged
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I'm trying to gather some ideas for our homeschooling group. I don't want to hijack to the other threads but at what time does a small group decide that they need to move to something more structured? Ours has gone from 5 families to 15 with 40 + kids...and we are having some diverging ideas as to what is best for the groups future.
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dd-10, ds-8, dd-5, ds-2
and a bunch of rabbits, a pack of dogs, a clowder of cats, and some fish.
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: July 17 2012 at 2:08pm | IP Logged
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I think you need to really listen to what's going on with each family.
If it's stressing out some of the families to have the time totally unstructured then it may be time to have some structure.. even if it's playing games or such.. just something to keep everyone from running in circles screaming  But you can still have some unstructured time during that.. just like other groups do with a time at the beginning while people are arriving and then a time at the end with a snack so that everyone gets a chance to "play".
But that is different from say people who want to do a group learning time rather than just "waste time" playing. Then you can still do a split time with some learning activities for half the time and some play time for the rest.
We go back and forth with some things. One of the best we did was when we were given a box of activities about energy.. we were able to split it up over several sessions so it wasn't overwhelming and I think everyone enjoyed it. But that's what we did was do the activities for the first half once everyone was there and then had a snack and playtime after that.
A parent meeting without any kids present is the best time to really discuss this. Plus you'll know which families are really invested in doing the group. Those that can't make it will likely let you know what their idea is if it's really important to them. Those that don't show up or anything are more likely to just want someone else to do it. Certainly I would expect any family that is wanting more structure to be the ones stepping forward as volunteers to provide the structure.
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Mrs. B
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| Posted: July 18 2012 at 11:23am | IP Logged
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There are lots of divergent ideas within this group, but the parent meetings are 3 hour long affairs with new stuff being proposed and ideas that are trying to be implemented without being carefully thought out. There's no formal leadership or decision making process that they are using...there are some other problems that have to do with there being no leadership, no board and no formal schedules...so I'm stepping forward and trying to open up some dialogue about this because I really think it would be of benefit to all of us.
So I'm sort of wondering about establishing leadership, how to propose that we have a board and president. How was this handled in your groups, when did they become more formal?
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~ * mama to a houseful~ *
dd-10, ds-8, dd-5, ds-2
and a bunch of rabbits, a pack of dogs, a clowder of cats, and some fish.
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stacykay
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| Posted: July 18 2012 at 7:23pm | IP Logged
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Our group is on the large side (I think we are around 70+ families.)
We do not have a president or board or any position that anyone would vote for. We do have moms who step forward and volunteer for jobs. One mom handles membership and collection dues ($1.50 per year) and membership info (names, kids' names and ages, parishes, addresses, phone numbers, and anything helpful info for hs'ing, ie. what model of schooling do you use and how long have you been hs'ing.) Another member volunteers to take all that info and makes up rosters for everyone (which is where the dues go to- for printing and mailing.)
Another mom sends out the newsletter, via email. Another mom controls our yahoo group, admitting new members as they come along.
Another mom organizes First Friday Masses.
Another mom organizes the monthly meeting.
On occasion, a mom will print up member cards for everyone to have, to take to stores that want something official for teacher discounts.
And so on. When a mom finds an activity that she thinks would be fun and/or educational, she sends out an email and folks respond and she organizes whatever it might be. We are a rather busy group with lots of activities from which to choose. When someone decides they can't or don't want to continue their job, they just say they can't and someone else volunteers.
We email the group fairly frequently, about anything and everything. We're a rather chatty group, but, some do talk more than others. Some of the members are on facebook and "talk" even more!
I guess we're rather casual about the whole who does what thing, but it has worked well for us for many years, now. And, as is true for most homeschooling moms, we are all rather opinionated and run the gamut of ideas about various issues. The one constant, though, in our "mission" statement, is that we hold loyal to the Magisterium of the Church.
I don't know that this isn't very helpful, since we aren't officially organized. But this works for us. 
In Christ,
Stacy in MI
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Betsy
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| Posted: July 18 2012 at 8:33pm | IP Logged
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Mrs. B wrote:
So I'm sort of wondering about establishing leadership, how to propose that we have a board and president. How was this handled in your groups, when did they become more formal?
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If this is the route that your groups goes, I would highly recommend having mostly/only Fathers be in these positions. The politics, even among, good Catholics can be very difficult and cause many hurt feelings. Men seem to be able to handle this better and not take things so personally.
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Mrs. B
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| Posted: July 19 2012 at 9:29am | IP Logged
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I've been wondering about the issue of hurt feelings- thing is a new person came in some months ago and did several things to organize something that was rejected in front of everyone at the latest meeting. I'm sure that caused some frustration...I'm seeing some other problems which I think could be alleviated with a bit more structure.
I understand what you mean about hurt feelings, but I would rather not follow the decisions of a board made up of husbands. Many do not have the same interest or knowledge of the day to day homeschooling that moms do. I hope that doesn't sound terrible, I don't mean it to be.
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~ * mama to a houseful~ *
dd-10, ds-8, dd-5, ds-2
and a bunch of rabbits, a pack of dogs, a clowder of cats, and some fish.
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stacykay
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| Posted: July 19 2012 at 10:32am | IP Logged
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Mrs. B wrote:
There are lots of divergent ideas within this group, but the parent meetings are 3 hour long affairs with new stuff being proposed and ideas that are trying to be implemented without being carefully thought out. ...there are some other problems that have to do with there being no leadership, no board and no formal schedules...
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I am curious what sorts of topics are being discussed in the parent meetings and what sorts of things the group is trying to implement. What sorts of activities is your group involved in? Where does the group see a need for leadership and schedules? I'm just thinking, if your group is attempting a co-op sort of thing, that would probably be something that would run independently from the actual homeschool group. We have three or four co-ops in our local area, and those are very formally run. Maybe in separating the areas, it could help in deciding the best options.
Good luck!
In Christ,
Stacy in MI
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: structure vs unstructure for groups
