Unschooling logistics
Hi,
We're a full time working family (we don't have any other choice financially) living in Oakland. I have a 12 year old (7th grade) and a 9 year old (3rd grade) who have been traditionally schooled in public schools. We are limited financially, and even if we weren't, aren't interested in a traditional private school. I was wondering if there is a such thing as an unschool or free range learning or even loosely structured coop for working parents who want something different for their kids? I also have a 3 year old who attends a montessori day care 4 days per week. Thank you in advance. I'm off every Tuesday and every 3rd wednesday since I have a non-traditional career.
Mar 19, 2019
Parent Replies
We've been homeschooling for a couple of years now and it's been the been the best thing for our family. Locally, you might check out SFBUN (look for them on Yahoo groups), AOHL (Alameda Oakland Home Learners, http://www.aohl.net/), or the multiple local homeschooling groups on Meetup. People in those groups would also be good for leads on coops and microschools (Trackers has one, for example, and I think there are at least a couple others in the East Bay). There are also a ton of Facebook groups--Secular, Eclectic, Academic (SEA) Homeschoolers might be a good one to check out. It's not limited to the Bay Area, but there are a ton of helpful people there with lots of different approaches to homeschooling, and they may give you some ideas. You could also check out independent study charter schools -- Connecting Waters, Valley View, and Hickman serve Alameda County, and they give families money for classes/curricula, organize field trips, and some offer in-person classes as well. We're entering the enrollment/registration season for charters, so I'd check those out soonest. Good luck!
You can unschool while getting funding for schooling - try http://www.connectingwaters.org/. We unschool with Ocean Grove, a charter with a similar organization to connecting waters. It has been a great fit for us.