The Homeschooling Affinity Group, founded by Holly Ramsey in 2020, helps 51³Ô¹Ï members serve homeschoolers planning to attend college. The mission of the group is to stay informed about homeschool trends and current state legislation, share insights into what colleges look for in homeschooled applicants, and discuss appropriate guidance and resources for homeschooled students and families as they plan for college.
It is currently estimated that 6 percent (over 3 million) of school-age children are homeschooled. Some reasons families choose to homeschool include customizing the curricula, maintaining consistency because of frequent family moves, instilling values important to the family, and supporting a child with learning differences, medical conditions, or mental illness. Further, homeschooling methods vary considerably. For instance, some homeschoolers use self-designed curricula or pre-packaged curricula taught by the parents, while others join co-ops, tutorials, and online programs with classes taught by other instructors. Some begin their college journey early by taking classes at a community college or a four-year college, while others use extensive experiential learning in their communities, as they travel, or as they pursue independent passion projects. Finally, many use a combination of the above options.
Because of the complexity of navigating a plan to college, many homeschool parents seek the advice of IECs to help them plan their high school journey to college. In addition, because no two homeschool pathways are alike, parents seek the help of IECs to build a college list and document their child’s homeschool journey for college applications.
We invite all IEC members to the . Our group is a place to learn. We currently meet once per month to discuss homeschool news and current trends, homeschool legislation, homeschool pathways, and techniques for guiding families in their journey to college.
By Adriane Donkers, 51³Ô¹Ï (MD)