My local homeschool group has been discussing ideas for a resource center and they’ve been searching for role models and ideas for how to make it work. One excellent example someone found is the Village Home Center in Portland. Wow! I would have loved to do something like that with my kids. It’s the perfect mix of self-directed learning, passionate teachers, and interaction with all ages.
The way it works is: interested instructors propose a fun course they think the members might enjoy or need, such as medieval history, invention factory, math playground, Latin, computer programming or high school chemistry. If the Center decides that the course and teacher are a good fit (including background check), they work together to come up with a schedule/syllabus. The courses seem to be presented in three ten-week intervals, with one class a week. Students are free to sign up (and pay a reasonable tuition) or not. Some of the courses would involve extra work at home. Parents get involved too. (more…)
