North Star School and Homeschool Resource Center by Marcie O'Brien
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When my family and I moved from Seattle to a rural area in South Kitsap County (approximately an hour away), we were disappointed to find no support networks such as those we had enjoyed in the city. We are "unschoolers," meaning that we believe that learning occurs naturally for children and that rigid schedules and curriula hinder the process, and the only homeschool support organizations in this rural area were either religiously affiliated or a product of the school district.
Quite accidentally, I stumbled upon a tiny ad for North Star School & Homeschool Resource Center. I phoned and had a long conversation with Kara Willowbrook, who shared our unschooling philosophy and was planning, along with Shari Weber, to open a homeschool resource center in the area. They would be holding a series of community information and planning meetings, and when I attended one of these meetings at the local community center, there was a lively discussion of all methods of homeschooling and the people in attendance debated many ideas.
A few weeks later, I toured the site Kara and Shari had found for North Star. The building had been a church. It had been neglected for a few years, but with a thorough cleaning and some sprucing up it would be a pleasant place for children and parents to spend time in. It is impressive in size and has a wonderful waterfront location with fabulous views. It has a large open room with a high ceiling, an art center, play loft, library, office space, kitchen, dining area, bathrooms and more. Outside it has a garden space, play area and lawn.
During the spring and summer of 1999 we placed flyers around town, sent out press releases and held several more community information meetings. From the start the public was supportive. We cleaned the building and painted murals. A local paint store made a generous $1500 donation of primer and paint. Kara's husband, Rick, dedicated weeks of his time patiently scraping and painting the building a cheerful yellow. This was an enormous job and a true labor of love. Shari and her husband designed our website. A fundraising rummage sale was held to raise much needed capital. Lots of friends and families pitched in and to see the combined effort was inspiring.
Our vision for North Star is to provide a democratically governed homeschool resource center where parents can cooperatively pool their talents and expertise while homeschooled children take advantage of "elective" type classes in the extras like music, drawing, theme unit study, drama, newspaper or participate in group activities. In addition we provide a place for families to meet and share ideas. A food buying co-op and babysitting exchange were some of our early plans. Although we have an abundant supply of high quality games, manipulatives and art supplies, our belief is that the basics are best covered by the homeschool parents and their children individually. North Star is simply another "home" in which homeschooling families and children can learn and socialize.
North Star opened in September, 1999 with 18 students grades K-6. Some had come from traditional school environments, some were lifelong homeschoolers, some had parents who hadn't considered homeschooling before but were looking for an alternative to public school for their children. In the early weeks we introduced the democratic self-government system and worked on theme projects such as apples and medieval history. It was clear to us right away that we were challenged by the ratio of kids to adults. We had deliberately not made any minimum time requirements on the parents who enrolled their children, figuring that it would exclude homeschooling single parents or families in which both parents work outside the home. This meant that there were some limitations on what we were able to do at North Star. With two or three adults and 18 kids, we were well within our insurance policy mandatory ratio but unable to do all the wonderful things we would have liked. Still, we managed to take a field trip to press fresh apple cider and put on a medieval feast.
During the fall we experimented with the level of structure that best suits a wide range of ages, interests and abilities. Our enrollment fluctuated slightly as families decided how this fit into their homeschooling program. We delved into theme unit studies on space, ancient Egypt, and horses. The children learned the democratic model of self-governance well. We began our food-buying co-op and the children were delighted when the 18-wheeler pulled up into our parking area with pallets of food to be unloaded. The kids were impressed to hear that the driver stopped at North Star to make our delivery before heading to large chain supermarkets. Experiences like this provide homeschooled kids a chance to see the food distribution system up close and personal and to practice real life math. Dividing the bill and figuring totals was as much fun as measuring out pounds of flour and beans.
On December evenings we held both a craft night and a dessert party. North Star families had a great time at these events. After returning from holiday break in January we began a homeschool support group and a family board game night, both of which meet monthly. In addition, we have started to bring in outside instructors to teach specific classes based on the children's interests. Currently a music class and a pirate theme unit are wildly popular. As many of the kids are young, our "elective" classes include things like paper mache, nutrition, math games, newspaper, paper making, drawing, etc. We also offer chemistry, geology, theme unit study, writers' workshop, drama, and community service projects which seem to appeal to older students. Kids also have time for individual studies or "down time" activities like baking a batch of cookies, having a tea party, etc.
North Star is evolving and changing as we go through this first year. We are learning what works and what doesn't. More parents each day are choosing to spend time here with their children and offering to teach classes or share ideas. We are hoping to foster babysitting co-ops and outside ways that North Star families can provide a network of support for each other as well as social contacts for the children. We are also working with a non-religiously affiliated homeschool support group based in nearby Bremerton to provide more services and information to homeschoolers living in the area.
North Star is a nonprofit organization. We receive no outside funding. Fortunately we were able to operate in the black financially from the beginning. Our tuition is based on the number of half days (a 3-hour block of time) each child attends. At this time it is uncertain whether our tuition scale will stay exactly the same next year. We are considering different ways to fund North Star and are looking at many options including trades of services or instruction for evening and weekend use of the building and a plan to swap volunteer time for tuition. You are welcome to contact us at:North Star School and Homeschool Resource Center
1880 Lawrence Avenue
Pt. Orchard, WA 98366
(360) 876-7706* * * * *
© Copyright 2000. Marcie O'Brien - All Rights Reserved.