F.R.E.E. is a secular network of homeschoolers that is open to everyone, regardless of ethnicity or nationality, religion, method of homeschooling, or sexual orientation. Children are welcome at all events. Activities will be oriented to the entire family & will support learning for all ages, when we are not just all out having fun for the joy of it! We are based in Northwestern NJ & willing to travel anywhere. There is a weekly support meeting for children (aka play group). Since this is a network, we want to network. Anyone is welcome to plan or start an activity, class, group trip, etc. but it is not mandatory to do so. If you decide to plan something, just let us know & it will be posted on the network website. Some ideas we have been considering are a science club, unit study groups, a newsletter for the kids to show off their stuff, & music days. Some activities will appeal more to one person than another... that is fine! There is not a mandatory requirement to attend anything! The only thing we ask is that if you are interested in attending or participating in a planned event, other than play group, please let whoever organized it know so that they can plan accordingly. Since this is a network, we fully expect smaller, more personal groups to form according to personalities, ages of children, homeschooling styles, etc. The only thing we ask is that you keep all members informed of activities or the start up of such groups since, after all, there may be members that want to join you! We want to support ALL homeschoolers. We believe that diversity keeps us from stagnating & the more diversity, the more approaches to learning!
We don't have many, but please keep these few in mind:
1. Parental involvement is a must in all activities. Each parent is responsible for the behavior of their own child(ren).
2. Check the website &/or email loop regularly to find out about new activities, changes in play dates, or other important information. As the network grows, it will be harder for everyone to keep in touch regularly. The website, email group, & play dates will be our primary means of communication. If you don't have internet access, please let us know so that we can make sure that you are informed of all events & changes.
3. If an activity has any stipulations attached to it, please state this clearly in the description. For example, if there is a fee attached, a deadline for registration/payment, age appropriateness, or limit to the number of people who can participate, others need to know this so that they can plan accordingly. On the flip side, if you want to participate in an activity, please abide by any deadlines, RSVP requests, fee schedules, etc. &, if you enjoy something, it doesn't hurt to say so! Sometimes that can make the difference between someone continuing to plan activities or not bothering anymore because they feel under appreciated!