i've been doing a lot of research and picking of brains lately about homeschool cooperatives and support groups from homeschooling families. there isn't one within an hour's drive of us, and it was starting to wear me out.

i am the type of homeschool mom that wants to be with other homeschool families - no matter what their slant or curriculum choices are. it's important to me to get to know other parents that have made the lifestyle choice of homeschooling their chidlren. it's important to me to have my kids meet and befriend other kids of all ages that are homeschooled (in addition to their friends that go to school, not to replace them!).

i also love the idea of a cooperative group that pools together the talents other homeschooling parents and puts them in a group where our kids can benefit from their teaching style and expertise.  i dream of the day that there is a local co-op that our family can plug into.

but for now, there is nothing in our area. so a few weeks ago, i sent an email to a group of families that are part of a yahoo group in our area about getting together formally and we have started to meet already. right now, i think we're all fairly new homeschoolers (with the exception of a few seasoned parents - of whom i'm very grateful) so we're all kind of stumbling around trying to figure out what this group will look like.

i am hoping for a full-on co-op someday. we'll just have to wait and see what this group wants to do. because it all depends on the desire and talent of the parents involved.