By Sarah Kuper
This past Valentine’s Day, a group of educators organized one of the largest Valentine exchanges in the state.
The party was thrown by Birmingham Homeschoolers and it was an opportunity for area home school families to get together, have fun and be creative.
Kristy Trent is the coordinator for Birmingham Homeschoolers. She home-schools her four children in addition to fostering a sense of community among families through the Essential Church School and Birmingham Homeschoolers.
“There are a lot of misconceptions about home schooling – that kids aren’t socialized etc. But we have a community where we use each other’s talents and have fun monthly events,” she said.
According to its website, the Essential Church School offers off-site instruction for home school families as well as tools to assist and support a home school education.
Since 2007, Essential Church School has grown from a handful of home school families to about 300.
The group was born through a home school community at Church of the Highlands but it is not affiliated with the church.
Trent said there are several organizations like the Essential Church School in the greater Birmingham area, and through Birmingham Homeschoolers she helps bring them all together to share resources and tools.
The Birmingham Homeschool Fair and Curriculum Share is one event Trent helps organize as a way to keep a growing community tightly knit.
On April 2, home school educators from near and far will go to the Cahaba Grand Conference Center to discuss ideas, buy and sell curricula and meet with area organizations about educational opportunities.
Trent said representatives from Alabama colleges will be there as well as civic organizations eager to reach out to the home school community.
“A lot of organizations love the home school community because we are using the facilities and resources they offer. Families have the freedom to let their kids explore their passion for robotics at the children’s museum or zoology at the zoo. Libraries love us,” she said.
Trent said that when she moved to the area in 2006 it seemed like home schooling was an anomaly, but now the prevalence of home schooling has exploded.
“In 2007, it was just five or six families meeting at the park and now we have more than a thousand people connected through our website and our events regularly have two or three hundred people show up,” she said.
This will be the second year for the Birmingham Homeschoolers Fair.
Last year the group organized the event in six weeks and had a surprisingly large turnout. This year, Birmingham Homeschoolers has worked for months on the fair because of the obvious demand.
“One purpose of the home school fair is to bring people together and make connections. The more we can show we are working together for the same purpose, the more people will realize that we aren’t people who raise goats and ride in buggies,” Trent said.
She said this year’s event has gotten a lot of support from the community through sponsorships and awareness.
The fair is free to the public. To register for the event and receive updates on exhibitors, visit birminghamhomeschoolers.com.
