Guidelines

Guidelines for SOCCO Events, Classes & Group Activities

In keeping with SOCCO’s purpose as stated above of supporting families as they homeschool and recognizing that some collective principles in a group setting are necessary we provide the following guidelines for our group.

Parental Responsibility Guidelines

At least one parent is required to be with their children at every SOCCO event. Parents are responsible for their children at all times and are expected to keep their children in sight at all times. Parents are responsible for supervising and correcting their children’s behavior and for their child’s safety upon arrival and for the duration of the event. If a parent cannot directly supervise each of their children at an event, they are expected to ask another adult to assist them in supervising their child. Responsible mature high school students may be allowed to attend classes and events without their parent present with permission of the teacher or event coordinator. We desire to foster an environment where each of us has an attitude of consideration of others, humility, and cooperation in how we choose to behave.

Membership Requirements

Members are required to read through this handbook each year and will be asked to sign documents stating they have read and agree to follow the membership guidelines. Members are required to privately home educate all of their school age children. If your family has an extenuating circumstance, please contact SOCCO leadership prior to completing the membership application.

Group Activity Guidelines

Members who have agreed to and signed the statement form are allowed to lead, coordinate, or host a SOCCO sponsored event or group activity. SOCCO sponsored events (including but not limited to field trips, park days, classes and group activities) are ones that are reserved exclusively for its members. Grandparents, relatives, & out-of-town friends are welcome at SOCCO events as long as they are included in the head count as appropriate. The behavior and safety of any guest who accompanies a SOCCO member are the sole responsibility of that member. Members who invite any guests to a SOCCO event should inform them of the guidelines in advance.

One of the benefits of our group events is the wonderful face to face interactions we get to have with one another away from usual distractions. Many families prefer SOCCO to be an entirely ‘phone free’ experience and we want to support that. As parents are always in attendance, we leave the ultimate decision to each parent and therefore the responsibility of the use of phones on each parent. With that in mind, we strongly encourage parents to keep their children from using or having devices visible while at all SOCCO events except for emergencies or as needed in a class at the teacher’s request or when assistive technology is part of the student’s educational requirements. We also ask that for the safety of younger children who might be inclined to view someone’s screen, that any use of a screened device, apart from in a class, be used away from all others in the group.

Members are expected to respect the facilities we use for our group event. All equipment (i.e. playground, tables, etc) should be used properly and all litter should be properly disposed of before leaving the facility. Members will be asked to assist in the clean-up of the location at every event. Members are asked to be thoughtful of other groups who are sharing the use of a facility such as a public park. Older kids should be cautious when they are playing on a playground near younger children. Members are asked to remind their kids of the importance of respectful conversation in group situations.

Any event posted by a SOCCO member that is open to non-members must be posted as such on the community website. Any event that is not SOCCO exclusive is the liability of the person coordinating, posting, and/or hosting it.

Dress Code Guidelines

We desire to offer a gracious environment that encourages dress that is respectful and suitable for those at the group event. Please choose dress that encourages an atmosphere for learning and discourages unnecessary distractions.

We encourage student and parent responsibility for maintaining an appearance that supports a group environment from a Biblical worldview as ultimately parents are responsible for a child’s dress at group events.

In addition to SOCCO’s dress code guidelines, members are expected to abide by any additional guidelines provided by a facility we are using including a member’s church or private residence.

Class Guidelines

Members may register their students for classes through SOCCO. Class payments are given directly to the teacher and SOCCO does not collect class payments. Please be respectful of the teacher’s time and energy. Please notify the teacher as soon as you can if you know your student will not be in attendance for a particular week. Parents and students are expected to be respectful of the household rules when we are meeting at another member’s home for classes.

Anyone who is not a member of SOCCO will be asked to read and sign a teacher’s application available from the SOCCO board. Teachers are responsible for collecting class payments.

Health Guidelines

If you or your child is ill, please refrain from attending any SOCCO event, class, or field trip. Do not attend if you or your child has a fever, or another contagious symptom. Refrain from attending until your family has been fever free for at least 24 hours without fever reducing medicine and free from any diarrhea for at least 24 hours. Please use your best judgment and consider that others may have compromised health.

To protect families who have food allergies, please do not offer food directly to a child without the parent’s permission. For potlucks, please be prepared to share the ingredients in your dish.

Field Trip & Event Guidelines

All field trip and event reservations will be filled on a first-pay, first space available basis. Payment is due on or before the designated deadline and secures the reservation. Members are not allowed to just show up at an event that requires an RSVP. Failure to attend an event or field trip (a “no-show”) will forfeit that member’s payment. All field trip or group activity attendees should be punctual and strive to arrive early. A family that arrives more than 9 minutes after the stated time risks losing entrance into the event and the group may proceed without them. Upon arrival, members should proceed immediately to the event or field trip coordinator in order to sign in. Members should not assume the coordinator knows they are there. Attendees are to let the event coordinator know ASAP of the need to cancel a reservation so that someone on the waiting list can be informed. If the event coordinators know far enough in advance, payment may be able to be refunded upon the cancellation (assuming the coordinator and SOCCO will not be charged for the reservation).

Parents and their children will follow the directives of the docent or authority in charge of an event. If the event coordinators, SOCCO host (ess), or event authority asks a member to change behavior, they will do so graciously. If anyone is asked a second time, the request would be for that family to leave the event and to graciously comply.

As a group of Christians interacting with the community, SOCCO is a witness of our Lord Jesus Christ. Members behavior, obedience, order, and respect for others and property should be exemplary.

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6