About
Purpose
To support and encourage Brazos Valley area families in their homeschool journeys. We strive to be a safe place for everyone and each child is encouraged to learn at their own pace.
We particularly feel called to encourage new homeschool families, to lend our years of experience (or just a sympathetic ear) to help newcomers navigate the unfamiliar territory, and gain the confidence they need to successfully move forward in the path best for their individual family.
For this reason we do not require new homeschoolers to teach a class; we always need nursery people, substitute teachers, and cleanup crew, which allows newbies to serve in a capacity that still helps the group but doesn’t add extra burden to people just learning to homeschool.
Meeting
We meet once a week, on Mondays, from 9:45am-2:30pm. Wheelock Baptist Church, Robertson County, Wheelock, Texas, has been wonderfully accommodating and considers us a ministry of the church - they help us keep our costs to a minimum. We follow a standard semester format, with a fall and spring semester closely following that of the public schools in the area.
Academics
We strive to be academically sound and relevant; we are blessed to have an upper math teacher among us, along with a high school science teacher. Other classes are decided upon on a year-by-year basis, depending on the needs of the group at the time.
Participation/Teaching Expectations
Each family (from 2nd year to veteran) is expected to teach at least one class per semester, co-teach another, and help with clean up during/after class day. We have found that co-teachers create a wonderful backup for when life happens, and that person knows the class and is uniquely equipped to take over if the teacher is absent. Class capacity is determined by each individual teacher.
We work hard to make sure that everyone has a place; if you are arriving mid-year we will do our best to make sure you have a spot, but please understand that classes and lesson plans are set at the beginning of the year. Some classes may have an easier time accommodating latecomers than others.
Costs
1. Love Offering to Wheelock Baptist Church once per semester (twice per year) to help cover the cost of the utilities. If you can do more, that is appreciated.
2. Class fees vary by instructor and subject, but usually are very minimal.
3. We purchase a group insurance policy to protect the church from any liability in case of injury- the cost on that varies from year to year, but generally is $40-60 per family, depending on the size of the group. We also require background checks for teachers.
4. Each family participating in the potluck meals is expected to help provide the paper goods that the group uses for potluck lunch every Monday; we use SignUp Genius to make sure everything gets taken care of.
Joining
We have families from all over the Brazos Valley in our group - current and previous areas represented: Franklin, Hearne, Bremond, Calvert, Wheelock, North Zulch, Marquez, Benchley, Black Jack, Bryan, and College Station. Most of our families live in Robertson or Brazos counties.
Rarely, we may have to close our enrollment due to capacity. If this happens, please know that we have a roster of veteran homeschool moms willing to talk to newcomers or people who are working with special needs children. Give us a call; we will put you in touch with a few people who have offered to be available.