Kid Cultivators Homeschool Community

About Us

WHO WE ARE:

Kid Cultivators Homeschool Community (KCHC) is an intentional community of life-learning families committed to discovering, growing and enjoying life together while partnering with and guiding the learning of our children. Each year, we commit to weekly gatherings to encourage each other while engaging in purposeful exploration and fun with our children.

Since our beginning in 2007, we have been a resource for parents, a brave space to share, vent, ask questions, offer and receive encouragement as we parent purposefully and educate our children. We offer formal and informal spaces to build and foster relationships between adults and children alike.

KCHC is an intentional space for Black families. We have families ranging from 'new to homeschooling' to 'seasoned in homeschooling'; from 'school-at-home' models to self-directed. The children are a variety of ages: toddlers to young adults. Our group is interfaith and not affiliated with any one religion, denomination or spiritual path. We are committed to centering ourselves, our culture, our stories, our experiences.

WHAT WE VALUE

We value being intentional.
We value non-judgemental support.
We value accountability.
We value authentic connection.
We value life-learning (learning over a lifetime).
We value engagement through participation and commitment.
We value Black joy.
We value choice.

WHAT WE BELIEVE

About Community

We believe we all need community.
We believe we all need a place to belong.
We believe community is a verb.
We believe that by rehearsing our beliefs and commitments, we make our community stronger; we can trust what we say and what we do together.
We believe in self-care; As adults, we believe in working on ourselves alongside others.
We believe in community-care; As adults, we are open to stepping outside of our own experiences, being vulnerable with one another and keeping an open mind.
We believe in being open to connect with others in addition to academics
We believe in asking for what we need.
We believe everyone has something to offer, coming with knowledge and experiences that we all can benefit from.
We believe in making room for the whole person for both parents and children.

About Parenting

We believe in children as whole people.
We believe in collaboration between parent and child.
We believe there are no experts; we are always learning, revamping, redefining – it’s a dynamic process

About Childhood

We believe children have a right to feel safe (at home, in their bodies, in community, in the world).
We believe childhood is a time for exploration.
We believe childhood is a time to practice the skills of independence and advocacy; we are open to guiding this behavior and modeling it

About Learning

We believe that learning happens all the time and takes time.
We believe that learning happens over a lifetime – life-long process.
We believe learning happens at different paces for different people.
We believe learning can happen anywhere, through various means.
We believe learning happens beyond academics – milestones are reached at an individual pace.

HOW WE EMBODY OUR VALUES & BELIEFS:

By sharing resources
By offering encouraging words
By listening deeply
By giving space for mistakes and getting it right – Grace & Support
By honoring each others’ choices
By allowing everyone to show up as themselves
By taking care of ourselves and each other
By learning together as adults, as families
By sharing space (we want to do this, we choose to do this)
By connecting to and with the whole being
By discussing everything; making room for new thoughts and solutions to challenges.

Expectations & Commitments:

Upon joining our community, we require that you become an ACTIVE PARTICIPANT*. Your comments, suggestions and ideas are not only welcomed but encouraged. We need you to participate online (in groups & discussions) and in person. YOU are important to the continued success of our group. Our community requires an intentional level of commitment and emotional intelligence. Each family commits to being an active part for a full calendar year (September to May).

Thursdays are the day of each week we hold our gatherings, activities and events. There are also classes and workshops that take place on Wednesdays. We've added a Moms' Only Chat on Tuesday or Wednesday evenings (virtual). Our required gatherings take place on the first Thursday of each month and two Tuesdays or Wednesday evenings throughout the month, with the exception of January. In addition to the first Thursday gathering, all families must participate in at least one more event to be considered an active participant. The more activities families are able to participate in, the better, as this is how our community continues its growth and is maintained.

Our community has a list of Required Reading that all new families must read. These books offer insight into our shared definitions and understandings around what we mean by community and how we build relationships within it. We begin with the adults and then, in turn, socialize the children by example. Here are the titles on our growing list:

Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto
Friendships Don't Just Happen by Shasta Nelson
The Art of Showing Up by Rachel Wilkerson Miller
Raising Free People by Akilah S. Richards
Untigering by Iris Chen
Set Boundaries, Find Peace by Nedra Glover Tawwab
Nonviolent Communication by Marshall B. Rosenberg

The 2024-2025 Homeschool Year Member fees, requirements and mandatory gatherings: $50 per family for the year plus T-shirts for each participant of your family. Required Gatherings for the year:

Three (4) Parent-only Meetings (August, December, January, May)
Beginning of the Year Celebration (September)
End of the Year Celebrations (Two in May)
1st Thursday of Month (except January)
Two (2) Tuesdays each month (virtual)
One (1) additional event/activity each month

As a member, your family will be invited to all activities: Park Days, Game Days, Field Trips, Community Service Projects, Workshops, Book Discussions, Sip & Chats, Moms' Nights Out, Celebrations and other Events throughout our the year. You will have the chance to join any group buys the community makes on resources/online programs/etc.. Each family member is required to purchase a T-shirt for group outings and events. T-shirts are $20 each.

The deadline for monies is August 25th of current year. More information will be emailed to prospective families about attending our info session for interested families once you've completed this form. Please note: we hold two Info Session each year, one at the end of our current year (usually in April) and one right before the start of our new year (usually in August). After attending an Info Session, you can sign-up for an interview to further confirm that your family is a good match for our community.

New members are welcomed during our open enrollment period. Interested families must attend complete our Inquiry Form (linked below), attend an Info Session, participate in both an in-person (Park Day) and virtual (Moms' Chat) event, attend an interview and completed an application. To see what kinds of things we're doing, we invite you to follow us on Social Media. We're @kidcultivatorshomeschool on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/kidcultivatorshomeschool/). Here's a link to that page: https://www.facebook.com/KidCultivatorsHomeschoolCommunity/

Inquiry Form Link:

We invite you to share your interest with us by completing this form: https://forms.gle/z7TJKW13BbQu2vbNA

We look forward to having you with us.

*Adjustments have been made due to COVID-19. More information will be shared during the Info Session.

How to Join for the 2024-2025 year:

At this time we have closed our processes for the year. You are welcome to send a email to [email protected] to join our waiting list.

Additionally, you are invited to follow our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/KidCultivatorsHomeschoolCommunity to be notified about our open Park Days which will take place on Thursdays in the Fall.