One of the things that has blessed me in various seasons of homeschooling is being able to fellowship with other homeschool moms. Even though I am an introvert and rarely make social plans, I occasionally enjoy a good conversation with friends. It’s one of those things where you don’t realize how much you needed that interaction until it’s over. Fellowshipping with other homeschool moms always feeds the soul, and I feel lighter after a friendly get-together. 

But, with all the children and busyness in our lives, how can we be intentional about fellowshipping together? After leading a local homeschool group for almost six years, I have a few ideas for you. Some successful gatherings didn’t take much effort, yet they blessed us all. 

 

Homeschool Moms are Designed for Fellowship with One Another

So technically, we are all designed for fellowship with one another. But it sure does help to know and lean on fellow homeschool moms when homeschooling. 

We homeschool moms are in the trenches of discipleship, and we are called to encourage one another. Learning from one another and praying together is a gift and a shared commitment to God. 

There are some struggles that homeschool moms face that may not be fully understood by moms that have never homeschooled before. So, it does help to share and encourage one another from authentic experience. 

And speaking of experience, I encourage you to friend homeschool moms of all ages and stages. There is always something good to be gleaned from an older homeschool mom! Mature veteran homeschool moms are a blessing to moms that are brand new to homeschooling. 

Proverbs 27:9 AMPC

Oil and perfume rejoice the heart; so does the sweetness of a friend’s counsel that comes from the heart.

Here are 6 Ways You Can Plan to Fellowship with Other Homeschool Moms

1. Dinner with friends. A meal is an easy way to get together and spend a little while having conversations. In one of the local homeschool groups that I led, we homeschool moms got together to fellowship over a meal once a month. Choose a day each month, like the third Thursday or the first Friday; that way, all of your fellow homeschool moms can mark their calendars. This also makes finding a sitter or coordinating childcare for a couple of hours easier. Choosing a reoccurring date will help everyone to plan ahead and remember. Then you can either pick a local restaurant to meet up at or rotate hosting in each of your homes. If, of course, that doesn’t cause too much stress for anyone. The point is to meet consistently to enjoy fellowship with other homeschooling moms. You can keep the meal plans as simple or as intricate as you all choose. Encourage moms to invite one another to the dinners or leave it open to other local homeschool moms that may be looking to connect. 
2. Bible study. You may have to plan a bit more intentionally to set up a Bible study, but it sure will be worth it! Open up your home weekly or bi-monthly to a small group of fellow homeschool moms. You could rotate one or two moms to watch over the younger children. Another great option may be to use your local church. Another idea might be to encourage older teen girls to attend the study too. It is a blessing to have a place to model and share learning to study the Bible together with your teen daughters. (Grab these FREE Bible study notes to use.)
3. Park or library day. Meeting once a week or once a month at a local park or library is another way to meet up with your kids in tow and still fellowship with your fellow homeschool moms. Since the library or park has books and playscapes to keep most children occupied, the moms can usually have a friendly chat. 
4. Coffee. You might be hard-pressed to find a homeschool mom that doesn’t enjoy coffee or tea. Another great way to plan a consistent weekly or monthly fellowship is to meet at your local coffee shop for a “come and go” meetup. This flexible window kind of meetup is great for busy moms who may need to pop in or out. Some moms aren’t ready to commit to an hour-long dinner but don’t mind swinging by for a cup of joe. So you can extend an offer for a coffee meetup from 6 PM-8 PM (for example) and stay the whole time or come whenever. 
5. Craft or hobby party. We homeschool moms can struggle with finding time to do our own crafts and hobbies, despite that we all have unique giftings. This is another idea that may require some additional planning, but it can be a lot of fun! It can be a refreshing time to meet weekly or bi-monthly and craft! You can host a scrapbooking, beading, jewelry, or painting party in one of your homes. You could rotate craft ideas and even rotate homes to host them. Encourage each mom to bring a snack or dish, and you have a party. As far as the craft or hobby materials, you could have each mom pitch in $5-10 to cover the expense. That way, each mom could take home her finished crafted item afterward. This is one of my favorite events to do before the holidays! Making wreaths, table settings, and ornaments are perfect for a gathering like this. 
6. Book club. We homeschool moms read a lot of books! But how many of those are adult books when you are homeschooling littles? There isn’t a ton of time for leisure reading as a mom of younger children, but a book club can be so good for you if you can squeeze it in. This idea is flexible, too, because you could even host this event weekly or monthly over a zoom meeting. If no one is in a season to physically meet, a zoom meeting can help you all still gather and share. 

I hope these ideas help you cultivate companionship amongst the moms in your local homeschool community. A friendship between women that can encourage one another and build each other up is priceless. And having fellow moms to call on through your homeschooling journey will be a blessing to you!