Our Group Norms and Sources of Inspiration

Follow this link to find us on Facebook.  
https://www.facebook.com/groups/homeschoolingamigosbilingueslongbeach/


As stated in our group description, one of Homeschooling Amigos Bilingües' main intentions is to serve as a mutual support group to address the specific challenges, issues and needs affecting our homeschooling-unschooling population.
If you decide we are a good fit for you and your family, we ask for your sensitivity to, and support of, our special needs as we strive to achieve social justice for ourselves through this enriching homeschooling experience we share.

One of our main goals is fostering opportunities for children and their families to form strong friendships through consistent in-person interaction. This group was not solely created as an online support group or resource platform. If your interest lies in such online spaces, we invite you to visit our document tab for a list of culturally relevant links which may fulfill that need.

For effective community building, we believe honoring the following norms for our mutual benefit, as we strive to engage with one another in a positive, growth-focused environment.

These norms are occasionally subject to change as approved by our founders and steering committee (composed of regular attendees), whenever our mission and vision evolves, according to the community’s needs:

1. To effortlessly ease our community building undertaking, we recommend participating in group activities a minimum of once per week. This practice is based on the belief that establishing solid relationships in the homeschooling-unscholing world is less linear than in the more predictable environment of traditional learning settings. Presence and persistence are key. As friendship building requires continuous efforts to bond on a regular basis-for extended periods of time, in order to allow personal connections to flourish.
We have monthly calendar planning meetings. As a group member, we welcome your attendance and active participation in them. We hope you will contribute ideas, resources and encourage you to organize, lead or host a specific activity.
If you are unable to attend a planning meeting, you are welcome to request a copy of the calendar from one of the admins or agents of this group. (Refer to job distribution list for the appropriate contact person.)
Remember, building friendships and making community takes time. It takes an ongoing effort to connect with the same families on a regular basis and begin to form meaningful relationships. Unlike the type of "institutional community" that one finds in a typical school environment where the community is ready-made, making community within the homeschooling sphere can be a slower, more organic and less straight forward process. Yet, in can be infinitely more rewarding and beneficial for the whole family.
For more information about our inspiration and approach to community building see here.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/201307/beyond-attachment-parents-children-need-community

2. We ask for your support in protecting the general safety and privacy of group members. In order to help us preserve the integrity of our community, please take the time to explain our expectations and needs to any prospective group member you might invite into our community. It is essential that you allow the rest of the group some time to get to know your guest before including them in activities that take place in more intimate settings, such as our homes.
This is a closed Facebook group. Members have the general expectation that personally authored posts, files and photos are to be shared solely with the members of this particular online community, unless permission to do so has been granted by the author of the post. Free sharing of individual resource and information links with others outside this group is acceptable, as long as any other comments or personal statements attached to it and shared only with this group are not included. Please feel free to ask for permission from the individual author of a post or comment before cross posting it, copying it in any way or sharing it outside of this group.

We consider this a safe space (online and off) to proactively express needs, concerns, victories, failures, resources and information regarding peaceful-attachment parenting, homeschooling-unschooling, bilingualism and for many other racial, cultural and socioeconomic challenges we face as homeschoolers-unschoolers of color and those integrating into our community.

For more information about how an online safe space works, you might refer to this article.

http://everydayfeminism.com/2014/08/we-need-safe-spaces/

3. Members of Homeschooling Amigos Bilingües Long Beach generally take pictures at all our events not only for the pleasure of memory preservation and sharing, but also to document our homeschooling journey as a special needs group.
We believe thru photography and record keeping, we have an opportunity to make the experience and journey of Latino, Chicano and Indigenous homeschoolers-unschoolers and our multicultural allies more visible. With the goal of having it become part of the general homeschooling-unschooling narrative.
We encourage all to participate and take pictures as well, as a way to tell your own individual story as a member of our community.
The work of Maria Honojosa (see attached article) has inspired us to document our journey so that other members of the Latino, Chicano and Indigenous community know it is possible to homeschool-unschool and can see its full potential. We hope to inspire others and most importantly to become visible.
All pictures can be shared on our Facebook Group, they are categorized in albums to make it easier to find, please add photos to appropriate albums to help us remain organized. Before sharing any photos outside the Homeschooling Amigos Bilingües Long Beach Facebook Group, please get consent from the particular photographer. Thanks in advance.

http://latinousa.org/2015/07/30/from-invisible-to-visible-2/

4. We practice positive parenting and encourage free and creative play among our children. Any structured activities offered to the children are optional.
An important part of our group culture centers around offering opportunities for free outdoor play. We try to foster opportunities for free exploration, climbing and structure building with natural materials, while encouraging the children to respect their environment, keeping surroundings free of litter and coexisting with nature. For further reading on the basis of these interactions and parenting approach, we recommend the following articles.

http://www.amazon.com/Share-Renegade-Raising-Competent-Compassionate/dp/1585429368

http://www.positiveparentingsolutions.com/parenting/its-ok-not-to-share

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/heather-shumaker/renegade-rules-for-parents_b_1728234.html

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/05/kid_play_zones_in_parks_leave_no_trace_inhibits_fun_and_bonding_with_nature.2.html

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/aug/16/childre-nature-outside-play-health

http://www.childrenandnature.org/2015/08/27/send-children-outside-nature-is-the-best-training-ground-for-stem-careers/

5. Central to our group is the importance of sharing and preserving cultural values, heritage and languages, with a majority of our members focused on preserving the use of Spanish language in our familial and friendship communities.
At times, we also offer activities related to the preservation of indigenous languages.
We incorporate many of these values into our calendar planning. All of the activities listed in it are for ALL our group members.
However, we do ask that activities planned under the heading of “Pequeños Naturalistas-Young Nature Explorers” be reserved for those who practice Spanish on a daily basis and those adults who are willing to commit to speaking only in Spanish during such outings. This is so, in order for all members of our community to have the option and benefit of a Spanish immersion activity at least once per week.
As a natural group practice, we freely speak Spanish at our discretion and, at times, might switch back and forth between languages during conversation. We invite all our members to embrace basic Spanish and to share any other mother tongue language with the rest of the community.  We strive to encourage all our children to incorporate languages into their world so we may all reap the benefits of full engagement with all the members of our community. Not only will this help us integrate more fully in group activities, but it is our belief it will facilitate our children's expanding worldview as they grow in their appreciation and understanding of cultural similarities and differences. The following article might be helpful in understanding our group’s approach when it comes to passing on bilingual skills.

http://multiculturalkidblogs.com/2014/09/08/why-your-child-is-passive-bilingual/

6. As part of our group culture, we all commit to actively participating during planned activities. We do so by sharing the workload, which includes cooking, clean-up/set-up, teaching, supervision of each other's children during outings, preparation of materials, honoring commitments to carry out specific tasks, bringing something to share if the occasion calls for it, etc.
Culturally, our way of building friendship and community typically includes reciprocally sharing offerings of kindness and communal support, such as childcare, food, and similar types of assistance.
Please be mindful of such offerings and reciprocate in an equitable manner.

7. The group organizers assume no liability; participate in all activities at your own risk. By being a member of this group, you hereby agree to assume all risks and liability related to or resulting from any and all group functions. You agree that neither you nor any third party will hold any of the group's leaders, officers, members or representatives liable for any injury, loss, or damage to your own person or any members of your family, friends, acquaintances, children, pets, or property, arising directly or as a consequence from a group activity. You also agree that your membership of this group is based on an "at will" basis.