If you're part of the rapidly growing home-schooling movement, you'll be pleased to find a supportive and friendly home-schooling environment in Appleton and the Fox Valley. There are hundreds of families who are pursuing home schooling for a variety of reasons, and they are banding together and working with other organizations to provide social events, group outings, sports, and other activities that are often said to be the weakness of home schooling.

Home schooling can leave some important areas uncovered if you do it all by yourself in a cave. Fortunately, by cooperating with other families and organizations, you can provide many of the activities and social experiences that can supplement the academics your providing.

I spoke with one Appleton mother recently who is doing home schooling with her children and obtaining amazing academic results. I was surprised to learn how many activities their kids have with other families and organizations. A variety of local institutions treat home schoolers with respect and give them the same kind of discounts that other students get, adding to the fun and success that many serious home schooling parents are experiencing.

Yes, of course, Appleton has outstanding school with a lot of great opportunities. For those who care about academic success--often one of the concerns that leads some parents to prefer home schooling--there are places like the Classical School with a focus on academic excellence. But sometimes the available resources are inadequate, overloaded, or not what a family is looking for. Sometimes the social aspects of a school include bullying or exposure to other negative influences that lead some parents to favor home schooling. Whatever the reason, it's important to know that there are many serious and successful home-schooling families in the Fox Valley and a couple of different groups to choose from if you want to band with others for support. In fact, you can even put your home-schooled kids in a band in the Fox Valley. I'll provide some details in a future report.

Labels: education, families, home school, home schooling, parents