Local & State Groups
Support groups offer a way for those interested in homeschooling or new to home education to get information and support. They also offer opportunities for social activities, group learning, and networking. Find a support group near you in Ohio.
Resources
Not Back to School Camp
Not Back to School Camp is a non-denominational, non-religious homeschool camp. The camp offers workshops, spontaneous events, and special evening gatherings, bringing together campers who are excited about life and willing to be themselves and to reach out and connect with the others.
Local & State Support Groups
Homeschool Network of Greater Cincinnati (HSN)
The HSN is families working together to support each other in the joys and responsibilities of educating their children at home. Members come from the greater Cincinnati area, including southern Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. Members' children range in age from infants to graduating seniors. They do not advocate any particular method, style, or philosophy of home schooling, but help families to connect with one another and to find the information/resources that they need.
Mahogany Homeschoolers of Ohio
Mahogany Homeschoolers of Ohio purpose is to provide support for African American homeschooling families. They are located in the Canton-Akron area. This support group strives to unite African American homeschooling families by providing encouragement and information that is critical for successful homeschooling.
Ohio Home Educators Network (OHEN)
Ohio Home Educators Network (OHEN) is a regional network of homeschooling families. They are an inclusive group supporting families of all religious beliefs. Although OHEN supports a student-led, interest-centered approach, they welcome all homeschooling families regardless of educational philosophy or teaching style. OHEN’s purpose is to provide interested parents with accurate information about home education in Ohio. They hold informational meetings and publish an monthly email newsletter listing activities scheduled by members.
Inclusive North Columbus Home Education (INCHES)
INCHES stands for Inclusive North Columbus Home Education Support. Inclusive means that it is open to anyone regardless of race, religion, home school styles, parenting styles, etc. Public online charter school and "08" school families are welcome to join this support group and participate in activities. This is an informal support group that meets on the first week of each month.
CHESCA Support Group (CHESCA)
Christian Home Educators Stark County Association's email list is intended to provide support to Christian home educators in the Stark County, Ohio area. This is a restricted list. You must be a current member of CHESCA to receive announcements from this list.
Columbus Metro Unschoolers' Group
News, announcements and discussion for the Columbus Metro Unschoolers' Group.
Christian Home Educators Co-Op (CHEC)
Christian Home Educators Co-Op (CHEC) is a large group consisting of approximately 85-100 families each year. We provide support, resources, activities, and Christian fellowship to its members. They are located in Summit County, Ohio and meet primarily at The Chapel, 135 Fir Hill, Akron, OH, near the University of Akron.
Families Independently Schooling at Home (FISH)
FISH is an online group of Ohio homeschooling families coming together to offer help and support to each other. They are also an online resource for families that are just starting or thinking about homeschooling. Although many members homeschool for religious reasons, they are not an exclusively Christian group.
Wright Independent Learning Cooperative (WILC)
WILC, Wright Independent Learning Cooperative, is a homeschool support group located in the greater Dayton, Ohio area. Participating families are primarily located in Montgomery and Greene counties with most activities centered in this area. WILC is a loosely-structured inclusive group of homeschool families who gather for support and enrichment in their homeschool experience. Members of WILC homeschool for many different reasons, but the shared goal is to provide a nurturing and loving environment to facilitate their children's desire to learn at home. Toward this end WILC strives to be tolerant, open-minded, and tactful to all in the homeschool community.
Local & State Online Groups
Unschoolers Network Ohio (UNO)
This is an email list for unschoolers in Ohio. The mission of this group is to promote and support unschooling, AKA natural learning, interest led learning, child led learning. Join in discussion about the unschooling lifestyle, how to succeed within Ohio regulations, and basically anything that relates to learning by living life.
Families Independently Schooling at Home (F_I_S_H)
YahooGroup email list for all homeschooling families in North Central Ohio regardless of religious affiliation or educational philosophy.
homeschool-Ohio
This list is for the discussion of topics related to homeschooling in Ohio.
Ohio Virtual School Families & Friends
This group is for families, or friends of families with children enrolled in virtual charter (community) schools in Ohio. This is a private group not affiliated with the Coalition or with any one virtual charter school or academy. Its members may be associated with any of the virtual schools or digital academies currently open in Ohio including, but not limited to: BOSS, Connections, ECOT, OHDELA, OHVA, TRECA, VCS Ohio.
SE Michigan Homeschooling Teens & Preteens
SE Michigan Homeschooling Teens and Pre-teens is an informally structured homeschool support group comprised of homeschooling families in Southeastern Michigan. Email list offers a place to connect to place events and activities for teens and pre-teens.
Gifted Ohio Homeschoolers (GOHome)
Email list for Gifted Ohio Homeschoolers, parents who are homeschooling or considering homeschooling a gifted child in Ohio.
Northern Ohio Unschoolers
The purpose of this group is to have a place where Unschooling families in Northern Ohio can find a local unschooling community and plan activities, field trips, park days, learning opportunities, etc.
Home-Schooling the Only Child
Homeschooling an only child can be quite challenging at times. This group is open to anyone for support, enrouragement and ideas for those who choose the home-schooling road for you and your child. Although they are based in NC, anyone can join for support. They have a database that you can access to see who is in your state to get together with.
Toledo Homeschool Education League of Parents (ToledoHELP)
An email list for members of the Home Education League of Parents in and around Toledo, Ohio, and for non-members looking for information about area resources, child-led or interest based learning, or general homeschooling issues.
Ohiohomeschool
This is a mailing list for people who home school or are thinking of homeschooling in Ohio, kids and parents alike. Here you can exchange ideas, support each other, and share resources and information.
Dayton Area Homeschoolers
Dayton Area Homeschoolers is an informal, inclusive group of homeschoolers, or those interested in learning more about homeschool, in the Dayton Ohio area. They have no religious affiliation. The main idea: to share info, go on field trips, teach or participate in co-op classes in all subjects, support each other in whatever method of homeschool is used.
Inclusive North Columbus Home Education (INCHES)
INCHES stands for Inclusive North Columbus Home Education Support. Inclusive means that it is open to anyone regardless of race, religion, home school styles, parenting styles, etc. Public online charter school and "08" school families are welcome to join this support group and participate in activities. This is an informal support group that meets on the first week of each month.
CHESCA Support Group (CHESCA)
Christian Home Educators Stark County Association's email list is intended to provide support to Christian home educators in the Stark County, Ohio area. This is a restricted list. You must be a current member of CHESCA to receive announcements from this list.
Columbus Metro Unschoolers' Group
News, announcements and discussion for the Columbus Metro Unschoolers' Group.
National Forums
Encouragement Forum at vegsource.com
If you are feeling burned out or need encouragement, this forum is for you. Share your struggles and get help, ideas, and support from those who have walked in your shoes.
Military Homeschoolers Forum at vegsource.com
Connect with other military homeschooling families at this vegsource.com message board.
Secular Homeschooling Forum at vegsource.com
A message board at vegsource.com for those who homeschool for non-religious reasons.
Unschooling.Info Forum
This message board is designed for unschooling parents to connect, ask questions, share information and ideas, and get support.
Work at Home Moms (WAHM) Homeschool Forum
The WAHM message boards provide a forum where you can make announcements, promote your home business, find business services, and much more. The WAHM forum is also a great social network for work at home moms. Share your WAHM stories, find help, support and advice, and meet other WAHMs across the USA and around the world.
Unschooling Forum at vegsource.com
Unschoolers meet to talk and share ideas at this vegsource.com message board.
Charlotte Mason Forum at vegsource.com
Discuss Charlotte Mason's ideas and find new way to implement those ideas at the forum sponsored by vegsource.com.
Homeschool Christian Working Homeschooling Parent Message Board
Whether you work part-time or full-time, this board is to support you! It's not easy being a breadwinner and a homeschooling parent. You can find the encouragement you need right here.
Homeschool Christian Solo Homeschooling Parents Message Board
This message board is designed for single homeschooling parents to support each other and get ideas and information on homeschooling as a solo parent.
Homeschooling Humor Forum at vegsource.com
Got a funny story to share? Need a good chuckle? You'll find it here as homeschooling moms and dads share the joys and humor of homeschooling.
National Online Groups
Families of Color Utilizing Home Schooling (FOCUHS)
This list is for Christian families of color who've opted to home educate their children. They exist to offer support, fellowship and to share resources with other African American and bi-racial Christian homeschooling families.
Afrocentric Homeschoolers Association (AHA) Yahoo Group
A discussion group for pro-Black African and/or African Diasporan, Black homeschoolers, unschoolers, deschoolers, home-based educators everywhere. It is also open to non-homeschoolers and non-Blacks who are trying to teach their children about Blacks.
Tons of Kids
This mailing list is set up for parents of large families. Large for this list is defined as having five or more kids. They welcome everybody who has at least that many of any religion, or even no religion.
Homeschooling Catholic Montessori
Here is a place for home schoolers, using Montessori Method in their home education, to share and learn.
CM Curricula
This list is for the buying and selling of resources (biographies,poetry and art books, teacher resources, etc.) that are in conformity with the Charlotte Mason "twaddle-free" philosophy. This is strictly a buying and selling list.
Onlies-HS
This list is dedicated to families homeschooling only-children. These families have unique socialization issues and must often be super-creative in their solutions. Join this list if you are homeschooling a wonderful Only.
Large Families
This list provides a forum for families who have three or more children to discuss the unique concerns and joys of raising what is today considered a larger family. Parents of smaller families who are considering having "maybe one more" will also find the list a great place.
Basically Beechick
Ruth Beechick Style Homeschooling is an Eclectic approach which focuses on natural learning through Real Books and Real Life. Basically Beechick is a Christian homeschool support group to discuss the methods and ideas of Dr. Ruth Beechick. Other authors whose ideas mesh well with Beechick's are discussed as well. These authors include (but are not limited to) Susan C. Anthony, Rebecca Rupp, Jean Soyke, E.D. Hirsch, Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer, Harvey and Laurie Bluedorn, Laura Berquist, Robin Scarlata, Jane Claire Lambert, Valerie Bendt, Clay and Sally Clarkson, Cindy Rushton, Mary Hood, Marilyn Howshall, and Charlotte Mason.
Unschooling Discussion
Large traffic email list whose stated purpose is to move out of comfort zones and critically examine beliefs, ideas, and viewpoints about learning, and seek a deeper understanding of unschooling and more respectful relationships with one's children.
Waldorf at Home
This email list is open to all homeschoolers working with Waldorf education (also known as Steiner education, after its founder Rudolf Steiner), as well as those exploring the possibility. Others, such as teachers or parents with children at Waldorf or public schools, who are interested in an open approach to Waldorf in the home, are also welcome.
Shining Children with Radical Unschooling
This list is a forum for those either radically unschooling or learning how to radically unschool to discuss our "shining" children (Highly Sensitive, Out of Sync, Asperger’s traits, Explosive) and all the issues that accompany life with them--how we grow and learn ourselves thanks to our non-typical children and how unschooling frees their spirits and allows them to truly "shine."
Jewish Homeschoolers
The focus of this list will be to provide homeschooling support and resources to Jewish homeschoolers of all levels of observance. Topics include curriculum choices, teaching tips, and holiday observances.
African American Homeschooler
This is a Yahoo group email list for African American parent(s) who homeschool their children.
BVI-Education
The BVI-Education mailing list is a list for the discussion of all aspects related to the education of blind, partially sighted and deaf-blind students, as well as visually impaired students with multiple disabilities.
African-American Unschool Teens
African-American Teens who unschool/homeschool: Come hear how others live exciting, creative lives outside of traditional schooling. This is a free and comfortable space for teens to call their own.
K12 Large Families
This group is for large families using the K-12 curriculum created by Dr. William Bennett. Both homeschooling families and Virtual School families are welcome. It is particularly intended for families with more than 3 children in K-12 as well as additional teens, toddlers and babies. Discussions include both the curriculum and the challenges of implementing it in a large family.
Mater Amabilis Teacher Training Forum
Mater Amabilis is a free online homeschool curriculum, which takes the methods of Charlotte Mason and applies them for the 21st century Catholic family. Offering a detailed and flexible syllabus for each age level, Mater Amabilis can be used as a complete curriculum or simply as a springboard for learning. This online teacher training forum provides support in implementing the methods of Charlotte Mason and tips for adapting these methods to today's family.
Always Unschooled
This is a list dedicated to achieving a deeper understanding of a Radical Unschooling lifestyle with young children. It is geared towards thoughtful discussion and exploration of what Radical Unschooling looks like in the early years, from toddlerhood to around age 8 or so. Experienced and new Unschoolers can discuss how they made the transition from peaceful parenting to Unschooling in daily practice, when that transition occurred and what benefits children gain by Unschooling from the beginning.
Homeschooling Creatively
This list is a place where parents can come to understand and give value to our creative children as we home/unschool with them. The focus will be on discussing alternative ways (versus public school methods) to help our creative children learn which best suits their learning style and respects their complex personality traits, taking a look at creating a success-based learning environment that draws on the strengths of our creative learners while providing support-based opportunities to gently guide their intense natures.
CM4earlyyears
Email list designed to discuss the Charlotte Mason method of homeschooling for children, ages birth through 6 years. While this list is not primarily religious in nature, there are often discussions of Christian topics.
Big Families Recipes
A recipe group list with recipes that big families can enjoy. Discuss recipe successes and failures. Feel free to upload your own recipes or download others.
CharlotteMasonKindergarten
A group for Charlotte Mason Mom's using the curriculum outline suggested in Karen Andreola's summer of 93 Parent's Review titled, "A Formidable List of Attainments for a Child of Six", and also trying to complete the Kindergarten Skills list as described in Catherine Levison's book, A Literary Education.
African American Homeschoolers
This group is for African American parents (or parents of African American children) who are homeschooling their children. It is also for parents looking to supplement their children's education with home study.
Live Free Learn Free Email Group
This group is an announcement list for the print magazine Live Free Learn Free, a forum for unschoolers and relaxed homeschoolers in which to share ideas and experiences.
Christian Unschooling
Christians can and do unschool. Here you'll find support and more.
1 Parent HS
This group is for support, advice, friendship and educational helps for single parents who are homeschooling.
CM Audiobooks
CM Audiobooks was created to allow homeschooling parents the ability to share MP3 files of personal book readings. These audiobooks are of Twaddle-free books per the Charlotte Mason method and specifically created for those using the Ambleside Online curriculum. Anyone using the Charlotte Mason method is welcome to join and participate by reading books.
Homeschool Helper
Homeschool Helper is an email group that focuses on specific curriculum questions, needs, and concerns.
Unschooling Families
This list is a friendly place for all to chat about anything you wish to explore. Parenting issues, schooling issues, political issues . . . as unschoolers, we know that nothing is off topic.
Radical Christian Unschoolers
Feeling like you must be the only radical unschooler in the Christian faith? Tired of hearing those who claim to be Christian unschoolers discuss curriculum or how to make their kids do chores? Tired of hearing secular unschoolers say that you couldn't possibly exist?
Look no farther! On this list there will be no talk of curriculum, spanking, chore charts, coercive limitations, forced respect, or anything else that doesn't jive with radical unschooling. This list is for discussing radical unschooling by people who already "get it" and want to connect with other radically unschooling Christian families.
Large Family Moms
This list is for moms only that are part of a large family consisting of four or more children. Large families are wonderful, exciting, and very challenging. Here you will find time and money saving tips, advice and support.
Pregnant Again
This is a list for all who are pregnant for the third or more time and are having a large family by choice. Discussions include the difficulties of having several at home when dealing with sickness and fatigue, homeschooling, and more. This is a supportive list where people believe that large families are wonderful.
Teach Art at Home
A monthly newsletter that delivers free art projects and lessons that are contained on www.teachartathome.com - the home of Masterpiece Art Instruction. Join the group and be the first to receive the new projects every month along with drawing lessons and fun ideas for using art to teach other subjects such as history and science.
Sonlight Unschoolers
This email group is for those who use Sonlight curricula but also like the unschooling approach (and other compatable methods). Working out how to mix the two, curricula exchange/sales, and connecting with other eclectic Christian unschoolers is the object.
Always Learning
Discussion for homeschooling fans of John Holt, whose books Learning All the Time, Never Too Late, and Teach your Own have made unschooling an option for thousands of families.
African-American Single Parent Homeschoolers
African-American Single Parent Homeschoolers is a discussion group designed to lend support and resources to parents who are home schooling alone.
Living Book Reviews
Living Book Reviews offers reviews of books considered "living" books for children which are useful for acquiring a love of learning.
HEM-Networking
This list is sponsored by Home Education Magazine (HEM) for networking and communication within the online homeschooling community.
Literature Alive
Literature Alive! is an email group list for the literary website of the same name. This list seeks to encourage and support parents who have a love for literature and a desire to share good wholesome books with their children. Its purpose is to develop the art and excitment of using great living literature in a learning lifestyle. This group will share information on how to turn a living book into a cherished book within the home. Different literature study methods enhanced by Charlotte Mason's writing will be discussed: lapbooks, notebooks, journals, book clubs, reading settings, etc.
Catholic Charlotte Mason
Online support group for Catholics interested in the Charlotte Mason method.
Magnum Opus
Raising a large, Catholic, homeschooling family is a great work (Magnum Opus) and a great deal of work!
Hopefully this email discussion group will be a place for parents of four or more to help each other with the nitty-gritty details of raising and educating a large, Catholic family.
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Featured Resources
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Homeschooling: The Teen Years : Your Complete Guide to Successfully Homeschooling the 13- to 18- Year-Old (Prima Home Learning Library)
The teen years are when many homeschooling parents start to question or abandon their efforts. It's a precarious time, with challenging academics, pressing social issues, and the prospect of college looming. Parents can now breathe easy: this guide calms the teen-time jitters and even offers hope to those just turning to homeschooling now that their child is about to enter high school. With brief "how we did it" testimonies from other parents sprinkled throughout the book, author Cafi Cohen offe...
Five in a Row
Five in a Row provides a step-by-step, instructional guide using outstanding children's literature for children ages 4-8. Unit studies are built around each chosen book. There is a series for preschoolers called "Before Five in a Row," along with other volumes for older children.
LeapPad Game - Mind Wars Interactive Game
Bring a friend and try this brand new way to play with your LeapPad! Travel around the board in this fast-paced, head-to-head game as you hit your buzzer before your friend can steal your question! Be the first to close all five windows and you will become the Mind Wars master and learn important 3rd-5th grade skills in math, language and fine arts, science, history, and geography!
Visual Brainstorms
Children who love word games, logic puzzles, secret codes, mazes, and math mysteries will stretch their mental muscles with Visual Brain Storms. This set of 100 cards, each of which includes a humorous, full-color drawing, promises "the world's best brainteaser questions." The characters in the questions often have funny names (Professor Pith Bugby pops up often) or faces or dilemmas to solve. The answers and explanations are on the back of each card, along with a related bonus question. Many of...
A Reason For® Handwriting
A Reason For® Handwriting provides a fun, meaningful approach to developing effective handwriting skills. Each lesson is built around a Scripture verse chosen not only for proper letter combinations, but also inspirational content. “Border Sheets” encourage students to share God's Word with others. You'll find product information about A Reason For® Handwriting here.