Friday, October 08, 2010

Homeschooling and Socialization

 We attended two events last week that made me thankful for our friends and the town we live in. On Sunday we met up with 3 other families and went to Unearth at Saluda Shoals Park in Irmo. For this event, the park organized more than 20 artists, musicians, and drama teams who were all performing along the nature trails. (It was put on for the entire Columbia area not just homeschoolers.)
 Some artists had hands-on demonstrations while others just talked about their work.

 The day ended with the Lake Murray Symphony set up for a free concert right by the river.
  
 On Wednesday, Harbison State Forest hosted our homeschool group for a Fall Field day. The 60 or more people in our group divided up according to the ages of their children and we split up for nature hikes and relay games.
When we first started homeschooling people would ask me if I was concerned about my kids having enough opportunity for socialization. I was pretty confident even then that finding friends would not be a problem. Now I find that it is hard to choose from all the field trips, clubs, classes, and events that Columbia has to offer for families and homeschoolers. The girls (and I) have amazing friendships and are thankful for the relationships, play times, learning opportunities and memories of these early elementary years.

4 comments:

April said...

Oh this sounds like fun!!! Saluda Shoals is one of those parks we have yet to visit. It's been on the list we just have not made it there! We have been doing Nature Classes at the Carolina Children's Garden and those have been wonderful! May I ask what support groups are you guys in? (you can email me atkelley@sc.rr.com to keep it private) We would have loved to have joined in on this Sunday, what fun!!!!! ITA too about the friendships, I always have to laugh now when people ask me about socialization and usually after being around my children 5 minutes they are amazed at how social they are!

William Kruidenier said...

Great pics -- what a great way to get an education!

Jennifer King said...

thanks for posting these Jen! I feel the same way. I have trouble keeping up with all of the stuff to do as you know.

Kallie said...

You are so very blessed to have such a strong homeschool community where you live. It is so important to have a circle of friendship and support. I have really enjoyed getting glimpses into your homeschool world and I think we have a lot in common as far as philosophy and style, which I didn't realize:)