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Welcome!

Planning and Executing Low-Stress, High-Quality Home School Enrichment

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Cheddar

Me! (Dakota Vaughn)

Work stuff

    • Background in journalism
    • Started career in public housing
    • Landed at the library in 2023
      • STEM
      • SRC
      • Kids & Tweens
      • Writers & Poets
      • Everything in between

Fun stuff

The Goodworms

Pop

Ryder <3

Rainbow Rowell

Mhairi McFarlane

Katherine Center

“The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry” by John Mark Comer

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2024 Research from National Center for Education Statistics

Home School on the Rise

From Maryland Homeschool Association

“During the first quarter of the 2020-21 academic year, Maryland saw an unprecedented increase in the number of families who filed the Notice of Intent form to homeschool. Between June and November 2020, more than 13,000 children transitioned from pandemic school-at-home to officially homeschool...[The] total number of Maryland homeschool children now exceeds 40,000...”

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Published March 23, 2021

“According to parents whose children were homeschooled, the reason most frequently rated as “important” to homeschool was a concern about environment of other schools (83 percent).”

From the Pew Research Center (22-23 School Year)

    • In 2023, 4.7% of all K-12 age students were home schooled
    • Two MD counties that saw the highest increase in home schooling during the 2020-2021 academic year were Garrett and Harford Counties.

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Our Home School Program

    • 2x per month
    • 2nd and 4th Monday
    • 2nd Monday: Book Club
    • 4th Monday: Outside Educator
    • Grades 1 through 8

Collaborative Art Project

Microscope Mystery

Day in the Life of a Civil War Soldier

Robotics Team Demon-stration

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Where Does My Trash Go?

Wonderfully Wild Animals (Home School Mom!)

Owl Pellet Dissection

Service Dog Education

Strawberry DNA Extraction

Animal Track Scavenger Hunt

“Travel to Costa Rica” End of School Year Party

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Digital

In Library

Analog

Simple Tools to Make Life Easier

    • Nametags
    • Attendance stickers
    • Entry/exit tickets
    • Paper surveys
    • Participate in programs (ex. Writers & Poets contest)
    • Library scavenger hunts

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Relationship Building

With Students

With Educators

With Parents

    • Nametags help put names to faces
    • Remember things they say
    • Speak to them before their parents
    • Do activities with them
    • Connect outside of home school program
    • Newsletter with upcoming events relevant to home schoolers
    • Asking for volunteers for certain events
    • Welcome packet for new families
    • Value and use their expertise
    • Closet Cleanout!!
    • Keep up contact
    • Share photos and newsletters (when relevant)
    • Invite them back when possible

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Nonprofits

Educators

Businesses/Industries

Community Partnerships

    • DNR - Education Trunks
    • Civil Air Patrol
    • YOUR LIBRARY!
    • Museums
    • National Parks and Battlefields
    • 4H Extension Office
    • High school robotics teams
    • Dance studios
    • Karate/Martial arts studios
    • Planetarium/Astronomers
    • Retired professors

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    • Landfill/Recycling Dept.
    • Bakery/restaurants
    • Candle making shop

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Intentional Inclusion

Recognizing The Diversity of Home Schoolers

Diversity of Thought and Programming

Sensory Adaptations

    • Breaking activities into smaller groups
    • Breaking classes into multiple sessions
    • Keeping food programs to a minimum, making sure they are allergy friendly
    • Families from all backgrounds choose to home school
    • Families choose to home school for many reasons
    • Choosing book club books with diverse characters and experiences
    • Staying away from topics that require more care and depth than a one hour session
    • Asking for feedback on what families want to see

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Addressing Challenges

Scheduling issues and loss of momentum

Changing interests

Budgetary concerns

Parent participation

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Organizations

Tools/Resources

Other Ideas

Brainstorm Sesh

Here are all the great things you came up with during the conference!

Battlefields

Parks & Rec

MD Parks

DNR

Civil War Medicine Museum

County Health Department

Citizen Science

Farms

Concord Lighthouse

Historical Societies

Apiaries

SPCA

Ag. Trailer/Extension

Local universities

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

PBS Kids

Canva

Newsletters

Sphero

Branch specific calendars

Little Chef/Teen Cuisine

Home school “kits” to borrow

Revamp marketing

Musical programs (karaoke, instrument “petting zoo”)

Movement/exercise

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Research Sources

Alessa. “Maryland Homeschool Statistics.” Maryland Homeschool Association, 23 Mar. 2021, mdhsa.com/about/maryland-homeschool-statistics/.

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Pula, Isabelle. “A Look at Homeschooling in the U.S.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 20 Feb. 2025, www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/02/20/a-look-at-homeschooling-in-the-us/.

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Sempeles, E., and Cui, J. (2024). Parent and Family Involvement in Education: 2023 (NCES 2024-113), National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC. Retrieved [date] from http://nces.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2024113.

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Thanks for listening!

Email me any time!

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dvaughn@washcolibrary.org