Two years ago we started Allschoolers. Every homeschool group in Delaware had stopped meeting in accordance with government dictates and a small number of families insisted that our children needed to be outside with friends. We consisted of more than just homeschoolers. “Virtual, “crisis,” and “temporary” public and private schoolers joined us from the start. We chose the name “Allschoolers” to ensure that what we were providing was available to all families who felt the same needs.
I was poking around some of the admin tools on Facebook today and I’d like to share some of the exciting and illuminating statistics I found.
We’re nearly at 800 members! Most all them are Delaware residents and represent an entire family that participates in our meets.
I do not know how Facebook defines “active,” but we are regularly reaching hundreds of families with our posts and an increasing number of members are sharing events, pictures, and insights. Only one of the top posts was written by an administrator, another encouragement for me as I hope to steward a community full of leaders. Three of the top posts are turning into new in-person events arranged by members.
I didn’t have to cherry pick stats, every metric demonstrates an engaged, growing, and local community.
I’ve joked about being in the 1% of home educators as a dad at the head of our educational helm and it is great to see that I’m in more of the 5-6% range! These dads are super active and an important part of our group. Our focus is always on inclusion and being a place where dads step up and participate isn’t terribly common in homeschooling circles (anectodally speaking, that is).
“Diversity” can be a loaded term, but for our little state, it seems like we are attracting people from all over. It’s exciting to meet new people and learn about all the different approaches to home education that families are employing.
I was a naysayer from the start of this project, but it did seem worth a shot when everything had changed for the worse. I’m so glad that I was so wrong. We’ve created something special and each new member brings an important piece to our community.