Faye C
Have you ever thought of using your local neighbourhood house or community centre to complement your home education?
Neighbourhood houses and community centres offer many activities that cover numerous learning areas. Classes and workshops for children are typically offered during after school hours or on weekends. Some houses and centres are very flexible with age too and are happy to allow a teenager to attend a class aimed at adults.
While home ed kids are perfectly welcome to join in any after-school and weekend activities, did you know that houses and centres can also arrange to run classes during school hours? The class sizes can be smaller, sometimes with as little as six children which is better for kids who may find larger groups stressful.
Houses and centres are very family friendly and encourage family participation. If you were interested in setting up a class, it is likely that you will be encouraged to have parents remain on the premises or being able to check in on their children – often there are enough rooms or a backyard play area to cater for parents or younger siblings.
Class fees typically fall into two categories: a concession rate and full fee rate. If you want to set up an activity with your local house or centre, you can nominate the maximum fee per student your attendees would be prepared to pay and also a class length.
I recently contacted my local neighbourhood house about sewing and art classes for teens and pre-teens. I was quite surprised at the positive response, because the staff at the house told me to leave it in their hands and that they would take care of hiring the tutors, organising a program (with my input based on what home educators prefer) and handle all the bookings and payment. Not only that, but the house was so excited about working with the home education community to offer programs and the staff were very keen to learn more.
I was also very surprised to learn that the house could organise activities and excursions at another location, including hiring a bus. Magnificent!
You can also hire a space at your local house or centre for regular home ed meetups.
Here are some of the classes and workshops neighbourhood houses offer, either for children or teens/adults:
If there’s an activity you’d like to set up but you’re not sure about venues, payments and so on, consider contacting your local neighbourhood house or community centre. Just give the mane idea of what you want, or how you can work together to set up an activity that is low cost and family friendly. You can also view their term schedules advertising the upcoming activities, to get an idea of what is on offer.
Neighbourhood houses and community centres are a wonderful resource and, in some cases, quite under-utilised. The home education community is well placed to both utilise and support these, by running activities and encouraging other home educators.
Otherways 158
