Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Homeschool co-op seeking a home base in Memphis

Homeschool co-op seeking a home base in Memphis


Homeschool co-op seeking a home base in Memphis

Posted: 30 Nov 2010 04:21 AM PST

A newly established co-op of homeschooling families in St. Clair County seeks a home base from which to meet each week and educate children.

Michael Mantas and Anna Chaudry of the St. Clair County Secular Homeschool Co-op appeared before the Memphis City Council to request that the board grant permission for the group to use the city's community center once a week on Fridays for a one-year period.

"We are a group of home schooling families. We have folks all across St. Clair County including this area. Ms. Chaudry, her hometown is here in Memphis, and I worked in Memphis for three years at the Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Center," Mantas, a Kimball Township resident, told city council members last week.

Mantas and his wife Dawn founded the group a few months ago.

"We have been members of homeschool co-ops in the past and when we moved to St. Clair County there was no secular homeschool co-op available," Mantas said of his search for a co-op not affiliated with a religion.

Mantas said he and his wife have undergraduate and graduate degrees in the arts, clinical psychology and education.

He worked in southeastern Michigan communities as a clinical psychotherapist for over 12 years; his wife is a publisher and author.

"The parents of families in the St. Clair County Secular Homeschool Co-op are very diverse which is a great benefit to our children," Mantas said of the six-family co-op that is growing and open to all homeschooling families in St. Clair County, especially to those tired of going it alone.

Mantas said that reasons vary as to why families choose to homeschool children.

"A love of learning and the family bond the experience of learning together creates, (and) strong beliefs and values about education that differ from our school system," are two incentives, he said. Continued...

Dissatisfaction with school system performance levels, the challenges of effectively addressing individual learning styles and needs, religious beliefs and the conviction "That children learn and grow better outside of the limitations of outdated school system settings," are other reasons Mantas mentioned.

Mantas said he and his wife are self-learners with a lifelong love of learning and want to pass that passion and value on to their children.

"We love being able to turn any engagement with our children - from catching frogs to the mathematics of building a side porch, to growing vegetables to a trip to the DIA - into a learning process if we desire," he commented.

Each family in the co-op maintains its own homeschool curriculum and agenda within its own household and once each week the families get together as a group.

Mantas said SCCSHC homeschooling families benefit from the shared expertise, experience and resources of other parents; opportunity for children of various age groups to engage in collective learning; diversity of teaching styles and socialization in an educational setting; group classes such as band, collaborative science projects and physical education; shared expenses and engagement with the local community.

In the past the group has met at various libraries but the libraries, according to Mantas, "Don't want to make a long-term commitment."

To that end Mantas and Chaudry appeared at the Nov. 16 Memphis City Council meeting to request use of the community building.

"We thought it would be a wonderful place to meet. It's a wonderful facility," Mantas said.

The city council hesitated to grant permission that night.

"The issue I think that most of us might have is that that building and its utilities and upkeep and maintenance are supported by our taxpayers, and us basically giving that use away to non-taxpayers you know from outside the area ... might be seen as unreasonable by some of our taxpayers," Mayor Dan Weaver said. Continued...

A newly established co-op of homeschooling families in St. Clair County seeks a home base from which to meet each week and educate children.

Michael Mantas and Anna Chaudry of the St. Clair County Secular Homeschool Co-op appeared before the Memphis City Council to request that the board grant permission for the group to use the city's community center once a week on Fridays for a one-year period.

"We are a group of home schooling families. We have folks all across St. Clair County including this area. Ms. Chaudry, her hometown is here in Memphis, and I worked in Memphis for three years at the Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Center," Mantas, a Kimball Township resident, told city council members last week.

Mantas and his wife Dawn founded the group a few months ago.

"We have been members of homeschool co-ops in the past and when we moved to St. Clair County there was no secular homeschool co-op available," Mantas said of his search for a co-op not affiliated with a religion.

Mantas said he and his wife have undergraduate and graduate degrees in the arts, clinical psychology and education.

He worked in southeastern Michigan communities as a clinical psychotherapist for over 12 years; his wife is a publisher and author.

"The parents of families in the St. Clair County Secular Homeschool Co-op are very diverse which is a great benefit to our children," Mantas said of the six-family co-op that is growing and open to all homeschooling families in St. Clair County, especially to those tired of going it alone.

Mantas said that reasons vary as to why families choose to homeschool children.

"A love of learning and the family bond the experience of learning together creates, (and) strong beliefs and values about education that differ from our school system," are two incentives, he said.

Dissatisfaction with school system performance levels, the challenges of effectively addressing individual learning styles and needs, religious beliefs and the conviction "That children learn and grow better outside of the limitations of outdated school system settings," are other reasons Mantas mentioned.

Mantas said he and his wife are self-learners with a lifelong love of learning and want to pass that passion and value on to their children.

"We love being able to turn any engagement with our children - from catching frogs to the mathematics of building a side porch, to growing vegetables to a trip to the DIA - into a learning process if we desire," he commented.

Each family in the co-op maintains its own homeschool curriculum and agenda within its own household and once each week the families get together as a group.

Mantas said SCCSHC homeschooling families benefit from the shared expertise, experience and resources of other parents; opportunity for children of various age groups to engage in collective learning; diversity of teaching styles and socialization in an educational setting; group classes such as band, collaborative science projects and physical education; shared expenses and engagement with the local community.

In the past the group has met at various libraries but the libraries, according to Mantas, "Don't want to make a long-term commitment."

To that end Mantas and Chaudry appeared at the Nov. 16 Memphis City Council meeting to request use of the community building.

"We thought it would be a wonderful place to meet. It's a wonderful facility," Mantas said.

The city council hesitated to grant permission that night.

"The issue I think that most of us might have is that that building and its utilities and upkeep and maintenance are supported by our taxpayers, and us basically giving that use away to non-taxpayers you know from outside the area ... might be seen as unreasonable by some of our taxpayers," Mayor Dan Weaver said.

In addition the length of the commitment was a concern to council members.

"I'm not against it. I'm just not sure that I could commit to you know 40 dates, certainly not tonight I wouldn't," Councilor Eric Schneider said.

A motion was made to send the matter to the city's advisory committee to consider maintenance and utility costs and whether a proposal to establish a fee for use of the building could come to fruition.

Further information about the SCCSHC can be obtained online at groups.yahoo.com/group/stclaircountysecularcoop.

Jeanne Kniaz is a freelance reporter. She can be contacted at jeannestory@hotmail.com.

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