Older Homeschoolers: Building Community

We've been thinking about communities, what they are and what they mean to us; why we have communities and how we are building community with other homeschoolers.

In these essays, Garth describes what a community is; Courtney finds that joining new communities expands her view of the world; Jack talks about showing respect to your community; and Ben reminds us that humanity is one big community.

What It Takes to be a Community

by Garth Marsh-Prelesnik

Since the earliest times human beings have banded together in groups for companionship, help and protection. Community is a group of people who share similar beliefs and/or customs and may live in the same area.

A true community is not a dictatorship. There may, however, be a leader, or organizer, that others look up to. In the earliest times the leaders would have been the elders. Nowadays the leaders may be the persons with the most experience or natural leadership abilities. A community is healthiest when it's membership is balanced in skills.

In our times many people are transient due to job changes. It can be very stressful to move to a new area where there is no one else that you know. Fortunately there are many communities within our towns and cities that are established. When a family moves they are then able to contact groups that have similar interests as themselves, and then they can become a part of their new community.

We are fortunate to have our home school community which is inclusive to all families regardless of home schooling styles, religious belief, parenting styles, etc. Overall, what I believe it takes to be a community is commitment, trust, respect and an open mind.

Expanding into New Communities

by Courtney Rockenbach

I have found that the more I expand into other communities the more I expand my view of the world, because by being a part of many communities I see a greater variety of people, life-styles, and religions than I would see in any one community. I use the things I learned from one community in the next one.

For example, with my Dale Carnegie course, I built my self-confidence and then I used it in my 4-H club by becoming President. I also use it when I want to join into another community, just to take that first step and call about, say, riding lessons. The Dale Carnegie course helped me with the "O'l Lady Inda Shoo Players", as it gave me practice being in front of an audience. The "O'l Lady Inda Shoo Players" helped me take my first step into the theater world by giving me practice in listening to directions and practice performing as a young lady of the Renaissance era.

It's really exciting to join new communities and learn new things. But every person has limits to how much they can take on. I am learning right now what my limits are. It's hard for me because there is so much that is interesting and good in this world that I want to be in a hundred communities. I keep reminding myself that "you get what you put in", so the more communities I have the harder it is to keep up with all of them. Life is about balance, and I am learning how to balance the things I want to do with the things I can do.

Respect and Community

by Jack Carlson

Because humans are social, communities are an important part of being human. Everybody is a part of some community, which is why it is important to have respect for your community.

There are many different types of communities. The community of one's family, the community of friends, or the community of any group of people that shares something in common. Without these communities, everybody would be a hermit. There is nothing horribly wrong with being a hermit, just not everyone would like to be, or could stand to be, a hermit. Try to imagine living without anyone around, no one to talk to, no social interaction except talking to yourself. We are all part of communities because we want and need social interaction.

Respect for one's community is very important, because it is what keeps communities alive. One way to show respect for your community is to take personal responsibility to help maintain the community, though sharing what you know and sharing your time. Without respect, communities would not be able to grow, and would not even come into being.

There are many different communities, and all of them are important factors of day-to-day life. This is why respect is so important. If someone does not have respect for their community, they would not be important to that community and in effect no longer be a part of that community.

The Brotherhood of Man

by Benjamin Soderstrom

It seems the more common things are, the less people think of them. Perhaps it's the same when we think of communities.

No matter who we are or what we do, we will always be part of a community. It's not just the town you live in, or a place you go where people share the same beliefs, but everywhere you go and everything you do. Perhaps part of the problem is that we do not realize this, and we divide our communities into separate worlds where ideals clash and beliefs are spit upon.

When the truth is that we are all part of the same community, whether we like it or not; just people being people, trying to find some clue in life. And only if we could realize this brotherhood, this union or community, could we start to understand each other and accept each other...

But in reality, that is still a dream. I do not write this to change anyone, but to remind ourselves of something we easily forget.

Though somewhere in our hearts we know it is true.