I am attempting to homeschool a 3 year old. Not just any 3 year old my very strong-willed 3 year old, I think I know better than you, 3 year old. Over the last few weeks I have had a crash course in homeschooling preschoolers and figuring out what direction to go in with my little one. I know I want to do a mixture of unschooling and unit study, but for right now we are just doing the basics. Coloring, Playdoh, painting and a little bit of drawing lines on a workbook. Lots of dolls and free-play! I notice some moms and anti-tv, however, I use shows that I mentioned in a previous article to assist in reinforcing lessons I am trying to get her to learn.
Recently we have added a soccer membership, part time Montessori school and swimming into her schedule, all in efforts to ensure she is getting socialized with kids her age and learning the fun of playing and learning as a group.
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We started this journey in early August, and already I am figuring it this is not a journey that I need to do on my own, so I have been looking for resources and community. We are trying to ensure that she hits her milestones, have fun, as well as have community. This has been extremely hard to find a community to have fun with, we live in the belt buckle of the bible bet, and we are non religious people. To add insult to injury we also happen to be African American. Most of the homeschool groups in our area are religious base, and filled with Caucasian Christian nationalists. The county Republican headquarters is 7 min from my house, if that puts it in perspective, the kind of area I live in.
Virtual Community Spaces and Places
One of my quest is to find community that intersects with my cultural and spiritual backgrounds. So hubby found an African American homeschooling Co-Op and I immediately joined and so far it has been a breath of fresh air. This particular group provides me a virtual support from moms , who are homeschooling their little ones to ensure they are getting the best educational experience possible. The group founder is a former educator, who happens to be a mom. However there are moms from all over the country that are apart and genuinely and actively building a safe space for other moms to find community for themselves and their children.
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As a non-religious African American mom living in the bible belt of the south I have struggled in finding a local community to connect with, and that makes this chapter in my life story a bit lonely. Living in the bible belt of the South, I don’t expect the environment to change, however I do need to find a local community of parents, and that I have not found. As I grow in this area, I will share some of my experiences. If you are a homeschool parent, a parent of an adopted child or just curious about this. I would love to hear about your journey as well.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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