Ways to meet people when home schooled?

[rocknrolly]

To cut a long story short, DD year 10 is being home schooled from now on. She has been at school from reception to the end of yr9 and for a lot of reasons this is what’s best for her. She will go back into school for college.
So what are some ways she can meet other people her age? She is mature for her age, bubbly, outgoing, into fashion (brandy melville!), loves the band 5sos so an ‘average’ teen in so many ways but school doesn’t work for her at the moment.

Your help would be so so appreciated.

look for youth groups in your area, and other clubs that she could take up (learning to play an instrument, film making, a sports club)

local youth club. Join clubs for subjects she enjoys.
if she does music, drama etc H.ed kids are still allowed to access clubs run by the LA, even when held in schools. Obviously, she couldn't attend activities run directly by a particular school.
How abouut DofE or scouts, mine has met people from all over the world doing this.

My dd is the same age, also quite mature compared to her peers. She has made a lot of good friends through extra-curricular stuff like dance and drama. That said, her closest friendships are still through school.

She has been dancing for years, so those relationships have been built up over time, but the drama group is comparatively new (a couple of years) and it seems that newcomers are integrated into the group pretty quickly. They do meet up outside of the sessions too. Would something like this be of interest to your daughter?

I'd agree with other PP - what are her interests ? There are sure to be some youth groups which cater for the things she likes to do. Or a local church youth group could be good for general activities.

Duke of Edinburgh award. There are out of school organisations which run expeditions.
Army/RAF/sea cadets
St John’s ambulance cadets www.sja.org.uk/sja/young-people/cadets.aspx
Girl guide volunteer www.girlguiding.org.uk/get-involved/become-a-volunteer/ways-of-volunteering/
Community choir

Home educating family here.

As well as the usual after school activities where they obviously meet friends who are at school during the day we attend daytime activities specifically for home edders.
Is there a facebook group locally to you? We often have new home edders asking if anyone has a child of the same age and similar interests.
There may be specific interest groups that meet or maybe just a general social meet up where all ages and interests catch up.

Where do you live? And what curriculum do you follow?
We home ed and we met on a Friday (3 out of 4) each month to do revision with the kids and for them so socialise. Also a good time for mums to catch up.
Look for a Facebook page for home educators near you.
Ps best decision you ever made! You'll both love it xxx

HE Facebook groups are your best bet! There is SO much going on (in many areas). I am on FB for this purpose alone.

fb pages.

Definitely find your local Home Ed group on Facebook. There are usually a list of meet ups and activities that are attended by home ed kids. My girl attends 3 a week and has met some lovely friends

As others have said, Facebook is definitely a good place to start. It seems there's an increasing number of teens being home educated (in my area at least), so more options for social activities for the kids and more support & guidance for you!

Yep, join some groups on FB and go along to the meets in your area and surrounding areas. We have in our area some meets for older children only which is great.

My kids also have friends from swimming club, lessons, beavers, scouts, pony club, kids at church, etc.

Don't worry as that's easy to do. The home ed community is big, friendly and great at organising trips, fun days, meet ups etc. Facebook is a great way to find other home ed families, events, sports days etc. Depending on where you live join the local home ed groups and then you will both meet other children and parents. There really is a lot going on. You could also start your own group that meets your child's requirements and let others know so they can join. A lot of homeschoolers are mature for their age so that shouldn't be an issue. Enjoy.

If you are in a city, a choir is a good option, the choristers at church are very eclectic and friendly, they socialise a lot

My grandchildren have never been to school. They are 15, 12 and 10
They have loads of friends.
They have been involved in he groups since being quite small.
My daughter has made amazing friends also and it’s lovely how they go the extra mile for each other
The eldest is just starting his second year at college on a course aimed at home edders
He spends one day a week there doing maths, science and English and he loves it
The rest of the time he spends teaching himself to play guitar and following up on his other interests.
They are lovely children. Nobody’s fools. They are polite, curious, kind and loving
I’m besott with them
I always wanted to home Ed but my circumstances forbade it so I’m thrilled my daughter, who didn’t have a brilliant time at school, has done it

Although not essential, a car is useful for getting to remote activities. My grandchildren have done a lot of forest school.
Also you’ll probably need a tent 😁👍

My DD has made friends outside of school through dancing and Guiding. She is a member of a Ranger unit (section above Guides, starting at 14) and dies loads of different activities with them. Look on the Girlguiding website to find your nearest units.

You'll need to get in touch with your local home ed groups, which you can find on Facebook and there are still some active email groups eg I admin one for South London. It can be hard to make friends at that age because most home ed teens will be travelling independently at that age rather than going to HE social groups, but depending on your area there may be some teen workshops going on etc. This page is aimed at South London but may give you some ideas of what might be on in your area : Home Education for Teenagers
For info on gaining qualifications from home education see The HE Exams wiki.

Finally, I'd suggest asking for this to be moved to the home - ed board so that you can connect with other home educators on Mumsnet.