How Do the Oxford Hills
Homeschooling Moms
By Jennifer L. Padgett, M. Ed. Connect?
. . . An earthly connection that has eternal value—what could be better than that!
Let’s face it: Homeschooling can be reclusive if we are not careful. The daily grind of maintaining household duties in addition to
providing a Godly, scholarly education
for our children is not just exhausting
but can also be frustrating and discouraging at times. In the classroom, where
I spent many years teaching, I had the
ongoing camaraderie with other colleagues. If I had a challenging student, I
had veteran teachers who would give me
support. I am sure that most of us would
say that our own personal support systems consist of the Lord and family, but
what about the ongoing fellowship with
homeschooling parents who are walking
the same road?
During the 2010–2011 school year,
approximately five thousand students
were registered homeschoolers in our
state.
1 A homeschooling mom within
that group felt the Lord prompting her
to start a small support group in her lo-
cal church on the first Thursday of every
month. As word continued to spread, the
attendance grew. Before long, a Facebook
page titled “Oxford Hills Homeschooling
Moms Connect” was created; this page
offers frequent updates pertaining to
new field trips, curriculum suggestions,
and daily encouragement. Currently, the
homeschooling support group’s Face-
book page has more than fifty members;
approximately twenty mothers attend the
monthly meetings.
Sharing curriculum, ideas, and resources is a great benefit to being in
this group. The field trip opportunities
are greater with the cost generally being lower because of group discounts.
I have seen this group benefit both
myself and my children: the advice
from moms who are further along in
their homeschooling journey, the community projects prompted through
this group, and the new friendly connections my children have made. Just
hearing another mom say, “I hear
you!” has been a tremendous blessing.
Meeting Format
Because we have new mothers showing
up each month, it is important to start off
each meeting with an icebreaker game,
which always get everyone laughing
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