The ‘Bigs’ portion of this website is currently an active experiment on how we might homeschool in a more collective and hands-on way. Homeschooling families have a unique opportunity to be active participants in their learning and development. We do not have to take the same approach to learning as public schools and this is a gift that we can give to ourselves and children.

Pod Elements:

  • Using meeting spaces and traveling to sites to learn through field trips, hands-on projects, and volunteering. 

  • Learning from community Elders, local teachers, scientists, and others who have extensive knowledge and information to share. 

  • We are all teachers and have individual interests, experiences, and skill sets to share. This is a collaborative approach to learning.

    - If you know how to bake: open your house to a small pod to practice baking.

    - If you know mushrooms: lead a small pod to forage, nature journal, and learn together.

    - If you sew: host a workshop at Remade for adults and kids to learn together. This is an opportunity for adults and children to learn together. 

  • Homeschoolers have a unique opportunity to learn through real-world projects. We do not have to wait until we are 18 to do the things we want to do. Learn the things that we want to learn. This is about giving ourselves and children the opportunities, structure and gentle guidance so that we can self-organize, lead, create and learn together. 

    To do this we plan to explore a lot of different places and things to find out what sticks. What opportunities open up to us and what relationships develop within the community so that we can do this together.

  • Learning is enriched when we can create spaces that involve different ages, abilities, perspectives, and skill-sets. Pods have a unilateral approach to teaching and mentoring that yields amazing learning experiences for all.

    We have been exploring mentorship, where each ‘Big’ gets teamed up with a ‘Little’ who then becomes Buddies. Throughout the year when Seedling School members meet-up, Bigs help Littles with projects.

    They also have the responsibility of planning, setting up, and leading, creating rites of passage traditions that follow the child as they grow older in the community.

    Example: being a fire keeper during our seasonal lantern walk is a role that older children are given as they learn to make fire and maintain it safely. These added responsibility build a senes of ownership, leadership and belonging to something communitive. Littles, look to the day when they are old enough to be the fire tenders and are given the special honor.

We’ve been searching for an example of a homeschooling pod/cooperative that models these elements but have not found one yet. So we are co-creating our own version.

For the 2024/2025, we would love to gather a group of families in the summer to plan the upcoming year together. Coordinating schedules if possible to maximize learning and social time. Example: If you are interested in pottery lessons, we can coordinate a time and teacher to teach the pod instead of the common way of each family finding the teacher on their own.

If you’d like to participate. We are looking specifically for:

Those who can consistently commit to attending a pod one or two days a week throughout the homeschooling semester. This is imperative for the life of a pod and the growth of relationships and learning. We understand that there will be weeks when you are unable to attend but we are looking for families who can add this to their lifestyle and make meeting a priority. 

Adults who are self-initiators and great communicators. This means responding to pod communication, being an advocate for cool things, scheduling field trips, offering to host an activity, etc. We believe that participation unlocks amazing things for yourself, children and community. 

Adults who believe in empathy, kindness, gratitude, giving to others, and strong communication in a non-religious setting. We understand that everyone comes from a different experience and background and we are here to learn and grow together. Modeling this to our children is important and is an important foundation to the Seedling School culture.