Newcomers’ Wayfinding

When families come to Seattle Homeschool Group, they’re usually looking for the company and support of other homeschooling families. If you’re new to SHG, you may be wondering, “How can we find that?”

First, know that as a new family you are not alone. New families are joining SHG every year. We encourage you to check out the SHG Events Calendar and check out as many events as possible. Prioritize those you are willing to travel to on a regular basis (consider traffic!). Even if you don’t have long conversations with other attendees at first, simply showing your face over and over creates familiarity.

SHG’s mission is to “empower Seattle area homeschooling families to connect, share resources, and build community.” This means that we strongly encourage members to take personal initiative to form and cultivate relationships.

This doesn’t come easily for everyone, so we offer a few tips:

• Make the first move. If you show up at an event and no one asks your name, it may be because people are not sure who is new and who is not. Don’t assume everyone knows everyone else. A regular park day attendee says, “I appreciate it when newcomers take the initiative and say ‘Hi, I’m new.’ Sometimes I’m not sure whether an unfamiliar parent at park day is a homeschooler or not.”

• Keep showing up. For some new kids, it’s tricky to show up at park day where unfamiliar children are scattered in all directions. Many kids use playground time to celebrate friendships they’ve already spent some time cultivating. Again, showing your face over and over creates familiarity – this applies to the kids, too! If you notice that your child has made a new friend or two, call them up before heading to the park so everyone has a familiar face to greet!

• Include quality time. Once you’ve met a few families, you might consider organizing one-on-one playdates so that you and your kids can get to know another family better in an environment that’s less hectic than a park day or field trip. You might find your new homeschool bestie this way. Many families have found community through their own small group of friends they’ve developed over time. “Community” can be as small as one or two families you and your children connect with for weekly playdates.

• Give community-building six months to a year. It takes time to get to know each other between travel schedules, rained-out park days, and conversations interrupted by trips to the potty or the need to follow your young one around the playground. Stick it out and show up often, and one day you’ll realize you feel right at home.

• Plan something. We encourage all members, even new members, to participate and contribute in your own way. Any SHG family is welcome to share activities with the group. See the Community page for ideas on what this could look like!

As one SHG parent said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m naturally shy and I hate the feeling of forcing myself on others, but I made a huge effort to get to know the group. I felt I had to for the sake of my children, but really I have benefited just as much as they have from having made the effort. It’s well worth it, in other words. I love SHG and am so thankful that we found it!”