<div dir="ltr"><div><div>I promised to share the replies that I received. They are excerpted below.<br><br><div style="margin-left:40px">
We used to do that. Then they moved to the gymnasium of a local church so they could combine more activity.
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:rgb(23,54,93)">We
didn’t have a support group per se, but one of our local home school
co-ops reached out to me to do a library information class for their
second graders. It was a great experience!
We went over how to use the library resources, how to look at websites
critically, we looked for books to read for fun. I’d be interested in
what other libraries have experienced – my hope is we can be a stronger
resource for our local groups too.</span></p>
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<div>Homeschool groups provide great outreach opportunities. They can be
hard to get involved with, remembering that they often have religious
or other driving factors for the decision that is best for their family
is important. I have found that it works best to ask homeschoolers what
they want and start small to build trust. I have worked with my team at
other libraries to build outreach with success. Currently, we are
offering a program for the “end of year” and a couple of small group
experiences at HLPL. </div><div><br></div><div>The most important thing,
as I am sure you know, is to be prepared to do what they ask even if
the image you have may be different from the one they do. In other
words, to provide them with what THEY want rather then what you think
they may want. </div>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)">We
do have such a group. We’ve called it our “Home School Advisory
Board”, and I’m very pleased with how it is working. It took some time
to get a core group of participants, but with patience and perseverance
we’re now seeing an active and functioning group. I’m attaching a copy
of the purpose statement. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)">Some of the outcomes I’ve seen (in no particular order):</span></p><p class="gmail-m_-2711544272745491745MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)"><span>-<span style="font:normal normal normal normal 7pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)">A place to “plug in” for new home schoolers or home schoolers new to the area</span></p><p class="gmail-m_-2711544272745491745MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)"><span>-<span style="font:normal normal normal normal 7pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)">Successful new programs at the library: weekly chess club, annual science fair, bi-monthly book-movie pizza night</span></p><p class="gmail-m_-2711544272745491745MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)"><span>-<span style="font:normal normal normal normal 7pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)">New
ways for the home schoolers to work together: performance days at local
retirement communities, a budding archery club, play dates</span></p><p class="gmail-m_-2711544272745491745MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)"><span>-<span style="font:normal normal normal normal 7pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)">Good
dialogue between active patrons and the library, informing our
collection development and making them aware of what we offer</span></p>
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<div>We have been running a weekly home school group for a number of
years now. We have a solid group of regulars. We use unit studies for
our home school programming. While this requires more work from us, the
number/participation of home schoolers attending is well worth it. We
are currently studying Native Americans. The students do an oral/visual
presentation for their peers. We then follow with an activity which
might be art, food, music or a game that applies to the study. The
group is for grades 2-6th although we have a number of younger students
that come with older siblings. We allot 2 hours. There are some unit
studies available for purchase but we develop most of the studies
in-house. The parents participate with the hands-on activities but
otherwise they spend most of the time socializing. (lol)<br></div>_________________________________________<br><br></div>Hope this will also help some of you who wanted to see the replies.<br><br></div>Thank you to everyone who responded!<br><br></div>Phyllis<br><div><div><div><div><div style="margin-left:40px"><br clear="all"></div><div><div><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><br><br>------<br>Phyllis Rickard<br>Director<br>North Adams Community Memorial Library (zv245)<br>110 E. Main St., PO Box 248<br>North Adams, MI 49262<br>517-287-4426<br><a href="mailto:northadamslibrary@gmail.com" target="_blank">northadamslibrary@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://www.northadamscml.michlibrary.org/" target="_blank">http://www.northadamscml.michlibrary.org/</a><br><br><br></div></div></div>
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