So, one of the many reasons I was sad to leave Ohio was our amazing homeschool group. We had really just begun the year before we moved to Thailand, but I loved it right from the start. We were involved in a monthly class called world travelers, where the kids would study a country and then give a small report on it to the group. My boys were 6 & 4 and got up there to talk about what they had learned! We were a part of lego club, play dates, and many field trips every month. We were making friends and finding families we could relate to.
Then we moved to Thailand and we were completely on our own. We are the only people that homeschool in our area. I don't have other mom's to bounce ideas off of or talk to about curriculums or daily joys frustrations. The boys do not have other homeschool kids to relate to and feel like their school is "normal". Most seasoned homeschoolers will tell new homeschool families to find a homeschool group right away. You need the support. It is very difficult to do it on your own. But, we tried to make the best of it the past couple years. But I was always looking for a group to be a part of.
Within the past year I joined a facebook group for homeschoolers in Bangkok. This was a great start, but Bangkok is massive and people live all over the place. There isn't really a central group for homeschoolers. I have had multiple families contact me from all over Thailand to find local groups and none of us could really find anything. (Except I have heard that Chiang Mai has a great group!)
But, just last week I noticed on the facebook page and quick message about a co-op. I messaged the mom and she got right back to me and filled me in on the details. I then got in contact with the lady who runs the group and I made the decision to go try it out. It is a bit of a commitment for us. We have to leave our house by 7:30 am (we were in the taxi for 1 1/2 hours trying to get there) to make it there by 9:30.
Side note: Not only were we running late to the group but two, TWO, of my boys ended up getting car sick. I think it was a combination of not really eating breakfast and the starting and the stopping of the taxi. I couldn't believe it! The boys have never gotten sick in a taxi before. It was a crazy time getting there. Thankfully, we had a very friendly taxi driver!
I didn't take one picture at the co-op, but here is what the boys did. Britton is in the younger group and he had singing, story time with craft, soccer, and science. The big boys are in the group for 7-15 year olds and they had Thai, poetry, cricket, and music. Each week this will change a little. They also had lots of time to play with the other kids. They LOVED it! They all had so much fun and it was so nice to see them fit in with kids that have a similar lifestyle as them. All three of the boys mentioned that they can't wait to go back.
I cannot tell you how happy I am about this. Everyone was so nice and welcoming. I will be sharing more after our next co-op, but I finally feel like our homeschool experience is complete. We have finally found the piece we were missing. All of us were desperately needing this group. Just hoping next week's taxi ride is a little less eventful!
How many of you have a homeschool group that you are a part of? I would love to hear about it!
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