Over the last several months, I have reached out and grasped at any and all opportunities to meet and connect with like minded homeschoolers in the area. I have Facebook to thank for the connections I have made. As it turns out, there is a huge homeschooling community in the area and I've actually been able to pick and choose from groups to find ones that meet our needs and lifestyles the best. Esperanza has made a small handful of friends, and I've found some like minded mamas to chat with and share ideas. The most consistent group that we meet with is ACE (Autodidect Community Enthusiasts). It is a secular group of unschoolers/homeschoolers, who meet in a building at a park in Camas once a week to visit and play. We really enjoy this group and the fact that they meet just down the road from us is a huge bonus.
Crafts at ACE
Birthday party for Madi and Izzie (6 year old twin girls we met at ACE and made friends with). Their mom, Amanda, is a super amazing homeschooling mama! She has such unique and fun teaching ideas and her girls are so bright and sweet! There were 2 sets of triplets and 1 set of twins at this party we went to.
Needle felting at Katherine's house with her kids. We met them at ACE as well. She has 3 kids, is a home-birthing midwife, needle felts, eats healthy, lives simply, homeschools her kids and lives in Camas close to us!
Though it may be a shocker to hear, I don't always take pictures. Many of our new homeschooling friends I don't have pictures of (yet). Through Facebook I met two other women who are mutual friends and homeschool with similarities. My kids have connected with their kids and we usually meet at one of our houses where we chat and get to know each other while the kids play. Two of the kids Esperanza has made friends with are Naomi (age 4) and Ryan (age 5).
At the same time that we met and made friends with all these new homeschooling families, some friends from back in my school days have come back into my life are contributing to our continued enjoyment of life and experiences. I have begun caring for a little girl, Opal, one day (sometimes twice) a week for a few hours each day. I knew her mom when we were younger and I offered to help her with childcare when word got out that she was in need. We all have so much fun together crafting, visiting and catching up. Opal is a few months younger than Esperanza and they just have a great time playing together when she is over. I also re-connected with another friend from school who moved back to Camas from the east coast recently. Her kids are much older than mine, but we all still get together often to visit and craft. She even plans to pull her kids from public school next year and begin homeschooling.
Esperanza with Opal and her brother Hayden with newly made play-doh
Esperanza and Ezra crafting with Shyla
My friend Jessica recently made the decision to homeschool her son Nicholas too. She and I already enjoy the common link between our girls in the same dance class and look forward to sharing ideas and challenges around homeschooling our kids too. This is her daughter Ella with Esperanza one day at dance.
We love our new and old friends! Our hope is to continue to build on our relationships with all of these people as we move forward into our journey of homeschooling and living!
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