Home Ed Community
I just got back from a lovely little home ed camp in The Mendips and its got me musing about community.
We’ve all heard the phrase “It takes a village to raise a child” but what does that mean and how do we find or create such a village?
At a time when more and more people are reporting feeling lonely, and when children are being forced out of school by lack of funds, systemic prejudice and bad actors, we need community more than ever.
Read on to find out more….
Written by Jay Byrd
“My child and I attended a home ed camp in The Mendips this May and the sense of community and connection was everything”
How I found community
I have been a member of the home ed community since I was born (or at least since I reached statutory school age 5 or so years after that). That’s over 40 years of belonging to a worldwide group of people who decide to do things differently, for many different reasons. As a child, my mother would organise home ed events for local families using the Education Otherwise (EO) paper directory to contact people. As a home edding parent myself I have organised events and advocated for the community wherever possible.
When I first deregistered my child, I knew that we would need to have some time apart and I knew that I wanted them to have other adults in their life so I chose to send them to a local home ed setting. This gave us both a sense of community and all that comes with that (positive and negative!) We withdrew from that group over COVID and when restrictions eased, Bean Learning Bristol was set up by 2 good friends so my child went there. “BLB” as we like to call it, is a consent-based setting catering to 9-18 year-olds on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and 5-8 year-olds on Mondays and Fridays. It’s situated in East Bristol and the best HE setting I have ever known.
Bean Learning Bristol has provided us with so much - inspiration, connection, an opportunity to have a little space from each other. I have provided ad hoc cover there as well so I get to spend time with the other young people, facilitators and parents. There are more and more settings now catering to home ed families, sometimes in the form of forest schools, sometimes learning hubs and sometimes parent-led collectives.
Home Ed Chat - Our free, online, monthly chat group for home educating parents and carers. Click here for more info.
The village is out there!
There are other ways to find community as well. Facebook is an incredibly useful resource for home educating families, providing online spaces where home edders can come together and share information, ask and answer questions, connect with like-minded families and find events etc. If you are just starting out in home education, I would highly recommend getting on there (even if you don’t usually use it) and finding at least your local group. Check out the EO directory for signposting. There are also specific groups for families who are interested in exams, older home edders, word-schoolers etc. Instagram is also a good way to see what other home edders are up to, learn useful information and find inspiration and support. The Bean Learning Online Instagram page has all sorts of content on it and I regularly share content by other home edders as well as various others. I haven’t yet delved into the likes of BlueSky, Mastodon etc but I am sure there is plenty of HE action going on there too!
For those who prefer face-to-face interactions, there are many home ed camps and camps that have a home ed vibe to them. I just returned from a weekend away at a lovely, intimate home ed camp in The Mendips and it was a slice of heaven for those seeking community. A lot of the young people were teens and it was just glorious to hear all about their lives, what they are bringing to the world and to see how they interact with each other, the adults there and the world in general.
I also found the adults there super welcoming. Many of them have been attending the camp for 18 years so it would be easy for them to be cliquey but that wasn’t the case at all. I had some wonderful conversations and met some fascinating people, all in a beautiful setting!
In a couple of months, it will be time for HEFF 2025, a festival run just for home educators. I’ve never been but it looks brilliant!
The difficulties of community
Having said all of this, I want to recognise how hard it can be for people to find community, even with all of the above being available. It may be that you live in an area where there aren’t very many other home educators, or where the home educating community have different fundamental views than you (home edders are not a homogenous lump! We home educate for very different reasons and in very different ways). If you or your children are neurodivergent or otherwise disabled there may be other obstacles to overcome as well (although it’s worth bearing in mind that a lot of the home ed community are neurodivergent so don’t assume that others won’t understand!)
Our community
Bean Learning Online started during COVID, and part of our raison d'être was to provide a space for the home ed community to connect at a time where many were very isolated. I am proud to say that we succeeded in creating a very special community, both through clubs and through Home Ed Chat (a free monthly online group for home educating parents and carers). One of the young people in my Tuesday Lego Club has come to every single session (apart from one when he was ill) for 5 years! Many of the others have been coming for 2 or more years and there are parents who come to Home Ed Chat who I have known since the pandemic. Each club is a mini community in its own right, with the children getting to know me and each other - sometimes across multiple clubs - and building relationships which occasionally even cross over into real life.
I guess what I am getting at is that community is great, really great. It doesn’t have to be big, or particularly stable - it all depends on what your family needs and wants - but there are lots of ways to find it.
If you are struggling to find yours right now, please do check out Home Ed Chat and/or one of my weekly clubs. We’d love to have you!
