Families choose home school for a variety of reasons and use a variety of methods and curricula based on their needs and beliefs. The Golden Belt Home Educators group has resources for any home-school family.
“Although the group is Christian in nature and leadership, and many member families are motivated by their faith, this is an open group,” according to the GBHE website at www.homeschool-life.com/KS/gbhe. “We aim to be welcoming as we encourage and equip local home-schooling families!”
Member schools can be found in Great Bend, Ellinwood, Hoisington and Larned, as well as St. John, Ellsworth, Russell and Hays. Students range from pre-school to high school.
The group offers a monthly “Mom’s Night Out” for social support. Sometimes the “night out” activity is simply getting together for dinner or meeting at a local coffee shop. This year there is a great mix of events, from Escape Room and Hatchet Axtion to curriculum night and Christmas painting. It is always a great time of encouragement and laughter, one member said.
There are park days and field trips, such as the October family day that will be held at the Long Pumpkin Patch.
There is also an educational/enrichment co-op called Academy Days that meets for two 12-week sessions (fall and spring), each school year. Students meet Thursday mornings in Great Bend for three or four classes, with subjects such as science, art and gym. This is a parent-directed group, where parents stay to help with teaching, assisting in a class, serving as a hall monitor, or by serving in the nursery/toddler/Pre-K areas.
This semester there are 140 students from close to 40 families, with several new classes such as Map & Survival Skills, Food Science, Chemistry with lab, Adventures in Writing, Entrepreneurship, World Geography, Drama, and World Religions.
A new session will start in the spring.
This year, the group started a Pre-K group called “Early Years” that meets a couple of times a month to play and have story time.
For more information, send an email to gbhomeeducators@gmail.com or leave a message via the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/GoldenBeltHomeEducators.
