ERWIN — Homeschoolers will quickly have a new room in the Unicoi County Public Library to verify out curriculum, network with other homeschoolers and learn arms-on.
Homeschool Headquarters is the brainchild of Laura Elliott, a community volunteer and member of the UCPL board. Elliott, who homeschools her son, mentioned she got the notion for the place following she had issues acquiring homeschooling resources.
“I just begun homeschooling my son, and I tried using to get to out on-line, on social media, to see the various items that they have readily available for homeschooling,” Elliott explained. “There wasn’t really a great deal out there, not that I was ready to see, for homeschoolers at property to get hands-on discovering working experience. Properly, instantly, I imagined we require to adjust that.”
Elliott approached UCPL Director Selena Harmon with her strategy, and concerning the two and their shared passion for discovering, Elliott’s plan to make homeschooling resources a lot more accessible grew into Homeschool Headquarters.
“You can see in someone’s eyes, you can listen to it in their phrases, when they are truly passionate about some thing, and I seriously favored that and we clicked and we have been working jointly,” Harmon claimed.
Despite the name, equally Harmon and Elliott explained the Homeschool Headquarters house is not just restricted to homeschoolers, but is a source for any one interested in supplementing their child’s education.
“It is not minimal,” Harmon mentioned. “Yes, it is homeschool, but that seriously defines what we’re making an attempt to encompass in the collection. This is education and learning. It is supplemental education and learning. So it’s not minimal just to individuals who are strictly homeschooling. It is for people today who have little ones in public educational facilities but they just want to nutritional supplement a tiny much more at house.”
Parents can come across a wide variety of curriculum books, ranging from K-12, for checkout in the place. Options are also in the operates to consist of workbook printouts inside of copyright rules, journal subscriptions and discovering applications.
“Curriculum on one grade level, just for the children’s guides, can assortment any place from $200 to $600, and then when you get a parent’s kit, like when they are more mature and you have to master it you, that can be $300 to $500 far too, and this is free of charge,” Elliott said.
Homeschool Headquarters goes significantly past curriculum publications, although. The library strategies to present do-it-your self experiment kits, a microscope, a telescope, dissecting kits, a human anatomy product and absolutely free university materials. The space will also be obtainable to hire by homeschooling teams, co-ops or family members.
Homeschool Headquarters is funded completely by the Initially Dibs UCPL On the internet Book Sale group on Facebook, in which Elliott sells freshly-pulled and duplicate publications from the library.
“It’s on Fb, and that money this homeschool headquarters solely,” Harmon mentioned. “So those monies will be utilized to acquire further curriculum making components from progress to novice.”
Elliott claimed her aspiration for the space is to broaden and pull in people today from all over the region.
“I hope and dream that persons from other bordering counties will occur and that they’ll want to be a portion of it,” Elliott explained. “I hope the community desires to soar in and support fund this as perfectly. It is not just for 1 unique group, it is for everybody to use if they want.”
Elliott and Harmon are performing to fill Homeschool Headquarters with elements, and equally explained the space will proceed to improve.
“The prospects are limitless,” Elliott stated. “Every day I appear up with a complete new setup.”
In get for the room to increase and triumph, nevertheless, Elliott mentioned it will get the community’s aid, regardless of whether that be as a result of donations of funds or devices or by way of the e-book sale.
“The significance of developing is group assistance and funding,” Elliott explained. “I do not mind, as far as books and how prolonged it usually takes to do it and established up that internet site and factors like that, I do not thoughts. But inevitably, we’re heading to require to get improved equipment, far better factors, and to get duplicates so that more than one particular particular person can check out a microscope. Things like that. We do need the neighborhood aid.”
The 1st Dibs UCPL On-line Book Sale group can be uncovered on Facebook and is open for any person to be a part of, and numerous homeschool curriculum textbooks are out there for checkout at the UCPL.
