[Michlib-l] Homeschool group discussion results

[North Adams Library]

I promised to share the replies that I received. They are excerpted below.

We used to do that.  Then they moved to the gymnasium of a local church so
they could combine more activity.
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We didn’t have a support group per se, but one of our local home school
co-ops reached out to me to do a library information class for their second
graders. It was a great experience! We went over how to use the library
resources, how to look at websites critically, we looked for books to read
for fun. I’d be interested in what other libraries have experienced – my
hope is we can be a stronger resource for our local groups too.
_____________________________

Homeschool groups provide great outreach opportunities. They can be hard to
get involved with, remembering that they often have religious or other
driving factors for the decision that is best for their family is
important. I have found that it works best to ask homeschoolers what they
want and start small to build trust. I have worked with my team at other
libraries to build outreach with success. Currently, we are offering a
program for the “end of year” and a couple of small group experiences at
HLPL.

The most important thing, as I am sure you know, is to be prepared to do
what they ask even if the image you have may be different from the one they
do. In other words, to provide them with what THEY want rather then what
you think they may want.
_________________________________

We do have such a group.  We’ve called it our “Home School Advisory Board”,
and I’m very pleased with how it is working. It took some time to get a
core group of participants, but with patience and perseverance we’re now
seeing an active and functioning group.  I’m attaching a copy of the
purpose statement.



Some of the outcomes I’ve seen (in no particular order):

-          A place to “plug in” for new home schoolers or home schoolers
new to the area

-          Successful new programs at the library: weekly chess club,
annual science fair, bi-monthly book-movie pizza night

-          New ways for the home schoolers to work together: performance
days at local retirement communities, a budding archery club, play dates

-          Good dialogue between active patrons and the library, informing
our collection development and making them aware of what we offer
__________________________________

We have been running a weekly home school group for a number of years now.
We have a solid group of regulars. We use unit studies for our home school
programming. While this requires more work from us, the
number/participation of home schoolers attending is well worth it.  We are
currently studying Native Americans. The students do an oral/visual
presentation for  their peers. We then follow with an activity which might
be art, food, music or a game that applies to the study.  The group is for
grades 2-6th although we have a number of younger students that come with
older siblings.  We allot 2 hours. There are some unit studies available
for purchase but we develop most of the studies in-house. The parents
participate with the hands-on activities but otherwise they spend most of
the time socializing. (lol)
_________________________________________

Hope this will also help some of you who wanted to see the replies.

Thank you to everyone who responded!

Phyllis



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Phyllis Rickard
Director
North Adams Community Memorial Library (zv245)
110 E. Main St., PO Box 248
North Adams, MI 49262
517-287-4426
northadamslibrary at gmail.com
http://www.northadamscml.michlibrary.org/
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