Welcome to the Homeschooling Resources

Social Support Page

Check below for suggestions on how to support your child and yourself socially throughout your homeschooling experience

For all its rewards, homeschooling can be challenging and isolating at times. It is a lifestyle, and it helps to have support and friends who are on a similar path. All of the groups listed below are on Facebook and are considered Private but Visible, meaning anyone can find the groups, but only members can see what is posted.

Disclaimer: Although Facebook is not everyone’s favorite place, the groups listed here have been established for years and therefore contain a wealth of information, especially when used with the search feature within each group. With search, you can often find answers to questions you may have without even having to ask. You’ll also have access to experienced homeschool parents who are also a wealth of information. Some groups are local and are great for making friends for yourself and your kids in real life, while other are discussion groups that consist of tens of thousands of people and are great for learning about and discussing homeschooling with experienced parents.

As you make friends and get familiar with the homeschooling world, you will find more groups and more ways to connect. You can also find more specific groups by using the search feature in Facebook Groups–try searching terms like: homeschool, homeschooling, unschooling, home learning, home learners.

Making Local Friends

The Haverhill Area Homeschool Group is one of the largest groups of homeschool families in the Merrimack Valley area. Here you will find online discussion, people willing to answer questions, and many opportunities to meet up with other local homeschoolers. It’s an active group of very resourceful parents who are scheduling meetups, sharing places to go, going on camping trips and ski programs together, and planning a wide variety of group programs to help homeschoolers enrich their learning experience. You will be asked a few questions in order to join the group and they also hold a roll call every year. Both these measures are in place to ensure privacy and safety.

The TeenSPARK group grew out of other local area groups as children began growing into their teen years to help facilitate meetups and other group activities for teens. (Younger siblings always welcome.) The meetups often take place in southern New Hampshire.

The Seacoast Unschooling group is an all-ages group for people who lean toward unschooling (more information about Unschooling can be found here, and by searching online). This group facilitates meetups in the New Hampshire Seacoast Area.

Making Online Friends

There are also many groups where you can meet homeschoolers all over the world. These groups are a fantastic place to get the lay of the homeschooling land, learn about curriculum and other resources, and to chat with other homeschool parents.

The Secular Homeschool Families  and Homeschooling Around the World groups each host an international membership. Discuss homeschooling and make friends with homeschoolers from all over the world!

Like it or not, kids like video games. In the Unschooling Gamers group, you’ll find parents who feel that gaming can be educational and are helping to facilitate their children’s learning using video games. They share resources for how to utilize video games as well as facilitate in-game meetups with other kids from around the world.

There is a very large group (over 60K members) for Dyslexia Support. This group is a wealth of information about dyslexia, dysgraphia, and other learning issues as well. It consists of many experienced parents that can help advise on teaching curricula and methods, assessment and services, and offer moral support. There are also library resources to help with dyslexia and other learning challenges.

Blue Collar Homeschooling is a large group of people who share the focus of having (mainly older) kids who are interested in going into the trades, military, and other fields of work that do not require a college degree. It’s a good group to join for information if your child is mechanically inclined, wants to turn their crafty hobby into a career, or has a career in mind that does not require college.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the members of this group, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine Homeschooling for College Credit, share information on how you can help your high school student use dual enrollment to complete college credits for free while they are still in high school. If your child is ready to move on to college-level work and you’d like to take advantage of the cost savings of using the dual-enrollment system, this is a rich and useful resource.

And speaking of college expenses, Affording the Homeschool Life is a large group of people who share tips and free resources to help keep the cost of homeschooling down.

Other Local Resources for Social Support

One of the benefits of homeschooling is that it gives your child more time to pursue other interests. It’s also helpful for children to have friends and social opportunities in addition to their homeschooling circle.

This is a link to the program schedule at the Haverhill YMCA. They offer many athletic opportunities such as swimming, basketball, gymnastics, floor hockey.

Lots of local homeschool kids enjoy the Exeter YMCA’s homeschool days at their Camp Lincoln. Usually someone will post about these opportunities on the Haverhill Area Homeschool Group when they are scheduled so the kids can enjoy the day with a group of friends.

Acting Up! in Lawrence offers classes and opportunities to participate in theater productions. If you can get enough families interested, they will create a daytime class for your group as well.

These are just a few examples–you’ll find so many more once you start making connections. Massachusetts is a fantastic place filled with countless activities and opportunities for children to learn.

If you have questions about any of the resources listed on these pages or want help finding additional resources, feel free to email us at kids@haverhillpl.org or give us a call at 978-373-1586 and ask for the Children’s Department.