How to choose a homeschool support group is an important question if you are a homeschool family whether or not you are a newbie or a seasoned homeschooler.

We all need support: emotionally and physically.

The first year we started homeschooling we were not part of a homeschool support group simply because I was not aware of any in our area. The internet was still new back them.

However, we are at a much greater advantage today due to the fact that most homeschool support groups usually have a website. Of course, you can’t judge a book by its cover, but you can definitely weed out the groups that would not meet your family needs.

How to Choose a Homeschool Support Group

Location – Find out where they meet and what part of town do the majority of field trip take place in? I once joined a homeschool group, but didn’t end up participating because all the field trips were too far away from our home. The local meeting place was within a reasonable driving range, but most of the members lived on the other side of town. This made it difficult to make friends and arrange play dates.
Statement of Faith – This is extremely important to find out what exactly the homeschool support group represents. Are they Christian or secular? You can usually get a feel for what the majority of the group believes by reading their statement of faith. Most groups require members to sign and agree to their statement of faith.
How often do they meet and when? Do they meet weekly or monthly? Keep in mind you do not have to participate in every activity that is offered. For example, if you are interested in attending field trips and they are scheduled for the first Monday of the month, this might not work out if your children have piano lessons on Mondays.
Field Trips – it’s always nice to see what field trips are planned in advance, so you can modify your school lesson plans.
Support Group – Is there a support group or way you can correspond with other members? Is there a facebook group, etc? This is important because we always need suggestions or encouragement during the school year. Is it active?
Programs – What type of programs do they offer? Family Night, MNO, or Teen Night? Does this align with your homeschool mission statement?
Dress Code – I have 5 boys, so I want to protect them from immodesty and this includes the parents, as well.
Ages – What age range are the children? If you have high schoolers and a majority of the children are elementary schoolers, this would not be a good fit.
How much is the membership? Is there an annual cost and what does it include? You don’t want to be limited due to cost reasons. I would expect all field trips to be extra, but for monthly events, I would want to know if there was an extra fee for each event.

We have been blessed by being part of homeschool support group that is truly wonderful. If there is not one that meets your needs, start one yourself with a few other like-minded homeschoolers. In fact, that is exactly what we did. Our group initially started 3 years ago by 4 like-minded families in our area. And we were truly amazed how many homeschoolers actually existed in our neck of the woods.

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Is choosing a homeschool group important to your family’s homeschool journey?