Welcome!
Homeschooler Link
Homeschooler Link is a rapidly growing homeschool community in the St. Charles County and surrounding areas. We are a diverse group of families with various social, economic, political, religious, racial and ethnic backgrounds. We come together to help enrich our children's education and to provide social support for our families. We provide field trips, holiday parties, park days, mom night's out, dances, classes, age group hangouts and more.
We have classes for all ages at our Enrichment Thursday co-op. HSL provides Choir, Spanish, P.E., Literature, Sign Language, Drama, Bible, Science, History, Engineering, Computer Programming, Art, and more. There is a tab in the menu bar above "Co-op FAQ" that can help answer questions you may have.
We would love for everyone to take part in this group and help to make this a great tool for our families. So, jump in and find something of interest for your family.
There is a link above to our Facebook chat group. This is a great place to help answer questions you may have about homeschooling or get more information about our group.
To join our group click the Request Membership button on the right. There is an annual member fee of $20 to cover insurance and website fees. This fee must be paid before you will receive approval for membership. After applying for membership you will be sent to a screen for payment instructions.
Renewals of membership will be open each year beginning May1st. All memberships will be parked each year on August 1st, if you have not renewed.
VERY IMPORTANT! Please add lifeline@homeschool-life.com to your contacts so that you will receive all of your emails! You don't want to miss class information or important items.
FAQs
HSL & Enrichment Thursdays
Where are the classes located? Our classes are held at Highland View Baptist Church (3220 Droste Rd, St. Charles, M0 63301)
Do I have to enroll my child for classes all day? No. You can pick and choose which hours and which classes you would like to attend.
How much does co-op cost? We have a $25 fee per semester for each family to cover our building rent. Then, each class is approximately $20. Some classes will have an additional supplies fee or book fee if the teacher is providing extra materials for the students like art or science experiments. Our teachers are mostly volunteer moms who have a passion for teaching and helping. We do have a couple of teachers that do not have children in the co-op and charge a slightly higher fee for their classes to bring us specialty classes like choir or band.
Do I have to stay and help? Yes and No. If your child is 5th grade or higher, you do not have to stay, but the family has to still do "helper" jobs. Each family is required to help the co-op run by doing 1 job for every hour your family is enrolled for up to 3 hours. So if you only come for 1 hour, you do 1 job. If you are there for 4 hours, you only do 3 jobs.
What kind of jobs do I have to do? We have a large variety of jobs. You can teach a class, be a teachers aid, be a helper in a class, or do various other jobs like putting away lunch tables and chairs, help with set up, recess monitor, or rescue helper. A teacher receives a $20 credit on tuition and a teachers aid recieves a $10 credit. We have descriptions of the duties online.
Are the classes Christian based? We ask teachers to put religious information in their class description so that people know when they sign up if there will be a Christian base to the class. We also cannot have teachings in the church that would go against the churches beliefs.
How do I get my kids from class to class? The first day is always the craziest. Older kids are allowed to move about from class themselves. The younger children usually end up going in groups to the next class. Most frequently, the teacher, or an available parent usually shows up each day and helps take all of the children that go to the same class. Most of our classes are in a circle of rooms, so this is not much of a problem. The teachers will not let the younger ones go without an adult. Just remember that the teachers also have children of their own to shuffle about. A system always developes in the first week or two.
Do I have to teach? No. There are plenty of other jobs to sign up for like set up and clean up. A rescue helper is just available to fill in if we need another adult in the class because the TA is teaching or the another adult is absent. Being a helper in a class does not require teaching either.
How do I know if I am a teachers aid (TA) or a helper? A teachers aid may be required to teach if the teacher is absent and receives a $10 discount. A helper does not. A helper is only assigned to classes for PreK-K and 1st-2nd grades. We feel these lower grades can use 3 adults per room. So, when you sign up to help, if you are the second adult (first being the teacher) then you are the TA. If you are the 3rd person to sign up then you are the helper. Sorry I can't make this any easier. If you are a Rescue Helper in general, then you never have to teach and are only called upon to help in a class if one of the adults are absent.
What if there is not a class for my child to take one hour? You do not have to be in a class every hour. We do have a study room available. Parents can work with their children in the study room if they wish. Older students can study by themselves in the study room.
What do I do with my little ones while I am helping or teaching? We provide a tot room free of charge for anyone who is helping or teaching in a class. You are also welcome to take little ones to classes with you as long as they don't create too much of a disturbance for the class. Our new tot room policy requires families with tots to help at least 2 of their 3 hours in the tot room, unless they are teaching.
Where do the mom's go if they do not have a job or are a rescue helper? Our main Multipurpose room is open for moms to hang out, do some paperwork, knit, read, talk, or relax.
What kind of security measures do you have in place? We do a background check on every adult that helps or teaches in a classroom. We also require at least 2 adults in a classroom. Each family also signs in at the front desk when they arrive and sign out if they leave before the last class.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact a board member.
Coming Up
Used Curriculum Buy/Sell
Used Curriculum
Need to sell or buy some curriculum? Homeschooler Link has a Facebook Buy/Sell site to help you out! HSL Facebook Curriculum Buy/Sell