Tri-City Homeschoolers is a loosely-structured, all-inclusive group of homeschooling families from the Fremont-Union City-Newark area. The purpose of our group is to offer activities and share resources to enhance and support the homeschooling experience. We are open to new and experienced homeschoolers alike. We welcome all people, regardless of sex, age, race, religion, or homeschooling program, including those families who are still exploring the homeschool option and seek further information about it.
We homeschool for many different reasons, but our shared goal is to fan the spark, the desire to learn, that all children are born with, and to provide a nurturing and loving environment to facilitate that learning. Toward this end we strive to be open-minded, tolerant, and tactful, and to be aware of and responsive to the needs of others in our group. Tri-City Homeschoolers aims to provide a source of support, inspiration, and friendships for members of all homeschooling families in the Southern Alameda County area.
We are not a school; we do not provide tutoring services or teach children other than our own. Tri-City Homeschoolers neither condones nor encourages the violation of state, federal, or local laws in the pursuit of homeschooling. There is no fee to join our support group.
We expect, and insist on, positive social behavior. We further believe that this insistence on positive social behavior must first come from, and be reinforced by, reponsible and aware parents.
We ask that parents explain to their children that disruptive or harmful behavior (sand-throwing, spitting, hitting, biting, swearing, name-calling, teasing, taunting, etc.) by any child will be taken as a sign that the child is ready to leave, and that, if the behavior continues, the parent will indeed, simply and matter-of-factly, remove the child from the group. If the parent is unaware of a problem with her child's behavior, it is expected that other parents noticing the situation will notify the parent of the child. The understanding is that, although the child is not presently ready to engage in positive social interactions, he is welcome to come another time and try his skills again. By doing this we hope to
Through the means outlined above, we hope to help the more aggressive and dominant children in the group to learn to channel their considerable power into co-operative and friendly interactions with other children, rather than into negative actions that lead to intimidation and to disruption of activities. Toward this end, we also ask that children refrain from using their toys as weapons or from play fighting.
We recognize that our group is made up of people from diverse backgrounds and that we homeschool in many different ways and for many different reasons. Our expectation is that everyone should be tolerant and tactful in their dealings with each other and be aware of, and responsive to, the needs of others in the group as much as possible.
We ask that people do not smoke while at group activities.
We accept a wide range of parenting techniques, but shaming children in front of others, hitting, or spanking are not considered acceptable or even effective. It is neither expected nor desirable that parents should discipline children other than their own, except in emergency situations.
The opinions expressed on the Tri-City Homeschoolers web site do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors, contributors, or webmaster.
No information presented on the Tri-City Homeschoolers web site constitutes legal advice. Information that pertains to legal issues should be verified and evaluated independently to determine whether the information is accurate.
Mention of commercial services does not constitute endoresement of said services by the editors, contributors, or webmaster of the Tri-City Homeschoolers web site.
For more information, e-mail us or contact the following individuals: