Local & State Groups
Support groups offer a way for those interested in homeschooling or new to home education to get information and support. They also offer opportunities for social activities, group learning, and networking. Find a support group near you in Iowa.
Resources
Not Back to School Camp

Not Back to School Camp is a non-denominational, non-religious homeschool camp. The camp offers workshops, spontaneous events, and special evening gatherings, bringing together campers who are excited about life and willing to be themselves and to reach out and connect with the others. 

Local & State Support Groups
Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators
The Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators (NICHE) is a Christian organization promoting home education in the state of Iowa. Their mission is to provide Christ-centered events, communication, and resources to better equip, inform, and encourage Iowa home educators to the glory of God.
Homeschool Iowa Foundation
The Homeschool Iowa Foundation was created in December 2012 as a supporting organization of the Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators (NICHE). Their mission is to build a legacy of funding and leadership for the advancement of Christian homeschooling and discipleship in Iowa.
Iowa Licensed Teachers Serving Home Educators and Homeschooling Parents Utilizing Iowa Licensed Teacher Services
NICHE has a variety of resources to assist Iowa licensed teachers serving as supervisors or portfolio evaluators and to assist Iowa families seeking the services of an Iowa licensed teacher. Supervision of an Iowa licensed teacher and portfolio evaluation by an Iowa licensed teacher are two of the methods that the Iowa law offers to homeschooling parents to ensure that home educated children are making educational progress.
Home Educators Network (HEN) - Nebraska Homeschool
The Home Educators Network is a Christian directed service organization designed to provide practical help, support and encouragement for homeschoolers throughout Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa. HEN provides a bi-monthly new homeschooler orientation meeting, a summer conference, a used curriculum sale and an email tree, as well as a monthly newsletter complete with timely articles and information about groups, activities and opportunities of interest to area homeschool families.
LEARN Home Education Network
An all-inclusive, secular, home education support network based in the metro Kansas City area, L.E.A.R.N., was born in 1994 when a handful of families gathered to share friendship, activities and homeschooling resources. Currently L.E.A.R.N. supports 200 families with a wide variety of ideologies regarding home education. These families reside in Kansas, Missouri and Iowa, and belong to L.E.A.R.N. as part of their home education support network.
Iowa Homeschool Support Groups
This referral service will connect you with local support groups near you. NICHE maintains a list of over 120 support group contacts throughout Iowa. This service is for individuals who are either currently homeschooling or about to start homeschooling.
Local & State Online Groups
CMDallasTX
This group is for Christian folks in and around the Dallas, Texas, area who seek to follow the Charlotte Mason method of home education.
Unschooling in the Midwest
This group is for unschoolers in the midwest to offer support to other life learning families and to organize activities.
Homeschool Iowa Kids
Penpal and discussion group for homeschooled kids in Iowa.
Iowa Single Homeschool
This is for single homeschooling parents in Iowa.
Homes With Heart And CM
Central Iowa Homeschooling families encouraging one another and supporting each other through monthly meetings, and who use Charlotte Mason methods in their homeschooling.
Iowa Inclusive Homeschoolers
This is a friendly, casual email loop for all who homeschool, or are interested in homeschooling, in the state of Iowa.
Iowahomeschool
This is a mailing list for people who home school or are thinking of homeschooling in Iowa, kids and parents alike. Here you can exchange ideas, support each other, and share resources and information.
Home-Schooling the Only Child
Homeschooling an only child can be quite challenging at times. This group is open to anyone for support, enrouragement and ideas for those who choose the home-schooling road for you and your child. Although they are based in NC, anyone can join for support. They have a database that you can access to see who is in your state to get together with.
Iowans Dedicated to Educational Alternatives (IDEA)
"IDEA" is a non-profit, non-sectarian organization dedicated to providing information, support and encouragement to pursue life-long learning outside the school environment. This group recognizes that Learning is an internal process that thrives when people are free to explore life on their own terms, this philosophy is often called unschooling. Realizing that families come for support from various backgrounds and levels of homeschooloing, IDEA has no official political or religious orientation and does not endorse any one resource.
homeschool-Iowa
YahooGroup email list for homeschoolers in Iowa.
Iowa City Homeschoolers
Support and information to get started and connect with other Iowa City area homeschoolers.
National Forums
Single Parent Homeschoolers Forum at vegsource.com
This is a message forum at vegsource.com especially for single parents who are home educating their children.
Unschooling Forum at vegsource.com
Unschoolers meet to talk and share ideas at this vegsource.com message board.
Military Homeschoolers Forum at vegsource.com
Connect with other military homeschooling families at this vegsource.com message board.
Encouragement Forum at vegsource.com
If you are feeling burned out or need encouragement, this forum is for you. Share your struggles and get help, ideas, and support from those who have walked in your shoes.
Special Needs Homeschooling Forum at vegsource.com
A message board for parents who are homeschooling special needs children.
Religious Homeschooling Forum at vegsource.com
A vegsource.com message forum for homeschoolers who have religious reasons to homeschool.
Single Christian Homeschool Parent Message Board
Single Christian Homeschool Parent Message Board offers discussion with other parents, widowed, divorced, or legally separated, who are homeschooling solo.
Adoptive Homeschooling Parents Forum at vegsource.com
This forum at vegsource.com focuses on parents with adopted children who choose to home educate.
Community Homeschooling Forum at vegsource.com
This is a general message forum at vegsource.com designed to discuss all general homeschooling topics.
Charlotte Mason Forum at vegsource.com
Discuss Charlotte Mason's ideas and find new way to implement those ideas at the forum sponsored by vegsource.com.
National Online Groups
Homeschool Helper
Homeschool Helper is an email group that focuses on specific curriculum questions, needs, and concerns.
HS1Mom
This is a list for single moms who homeschool their children. This is open to all single moms, no matter what type of curriculum they choose to use. It is predominantly a Christian list -- though others are welcome, also.
Live Free Learn Free Email Group
This group is an announcement list for the print magazine Live Free Learn Free, a forum for unschoolers and relaxed homeschoolers in which to share ideas and experiences.
Large Family Moms
This list is for moms only that are part of a large family consisting of four or more children. Large families are wonderful, exciting, and very challenging. Here you will find time and money saving tips, advice and support.
Expatriots Homeschool Email Group (expat-homeschool)
This list is for expatriates who homeschool their child or children.
CM for One
CM for One (CMfor1) is a message board for families home educating an only child and using the Charlotte Mason Method.
Homeschooling Boys
Boys... whether you have one, two, three or more---this is the spot to discuss their special needs. This is a group of mostly homeschool Moms who are devoted to their sons and are on a constant search for resources and wisdom for raising young men with character, integrity, preparing them for life.
Classical Ed Books
This is a free email loop for those educating their children with classical materials. Anyone may post want to buy (WTB) or for sale (FS) ads on this list.
Blind Homeschoolers
This email group is for families who are homeschooling/parenting a blind child. Teachers of the Visually Impaired who would like to share tips and suggestions are also welcome.
Homeschooling Catholic Montessori
Here is a place for home schoolers, using Montessori Method in their home education, to share and learn.
Classical~Charlotte Mason Material Swap
The Classical Charlotte Mason Swap list is for home schooling families to exchange living books and curricula that are used with the classical (Trivium) method or the Charlotte Mason method. This list does not support one particular way of implementing classical education, but rather is open to methods and materials as recommended in the many books and websites on the subject. Curricula, books, manipulatives, videos, and audios may be posted.
Mater Amabilis Teacher Training Forum
Mater Amabilis is a free online homeschool curriculum, which takes the methods of Charlotte Mason and applies them for the 21st century Catholic family. Offering a detailed and flexible syllabus for each age level, Mater Amabilis can be used as a complete curriculum or simply as a springboard for learning. This online teacher training forum provides support in implementing the methods of Charlotte Mason and tips for adapting these methods to today's family.
Always Learning
Discussion for homeschooling fans of John Holt, whose books Learning All the Time, Never Too Late, and Teach your Own have made unschooling an option for thousands of families.
Families of Color Utilizing Home Schooling (FOCUHS)
This list is for Christian families of color who've opted to home educate their children. They exist to offer support, fellowship and to share resources with other African American and bi-racial Christian homeschooling families.
Single Parents and Homeschooling
A single mom started this email group to provide a means of sharing the unique problems and solutions a single, working parent faces in their homeschooling pursuits.
Classically Eclectic
This loop was created for homeschoolers interested in presenting school materials, real books, and/or purchased curriculum in a manner consistent with Classical Education philosophy. Specifically, Classical Education refers to educational models (such as the Trivium) described by Laura Berquist, the Bluedorns, Dorothy Sayers, Doug Wilson, Jessie Wise, Susan Wise Bauer, and others, in which material is presented to children according to their stage of development (i.e., Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric stages). The purpose of this loop is practical in nature: to share resource suggestions, reviews, schedules, ideas, and encouragement, in order to help one another provide Classical Education within the homeschool environment.
Sonlight Curriculum-Charlotte Mason
This is a list for homeschooling moms using Sonlight curriculum, whether just parts of it or the full curriculum, and incorporating the educational methods and ideas of Charlotte Mason into their homes.
Unschooling Families
This list is a friendly place for all to chat about anything you wish to explore. Parenting issues, schooling issues, political issues . . . as unschoolers, we know that nothing is off topic.
Unschooling Discussion
Large traffic email list whose stated purpose is to move out of comfort zones and critically examine beliefs, ideas, and viewpoints about learning, and seek a deeper understanding of unschooling and more respectful relationships with one's children.
Pregnant Again
This is a list for all who are pregnant for the third or more time and are having a large family by choice. Discussions include the difficulties of having several at home when dealing with sickness and fatigue, homeschooling, and more. This is a supportive list where people believe that large families are wonderful.
Blind Alternative Parenting
This group is primarily for blind parents who are interested in alternative parenting styles and issues. This includes atachment parenting, family bed, baby-wearing, gentle disipline, loving guidance, breastfeeding, healthy eating and living, health prevention, nonviolence, nonspanking, unschooling or homeschooling, spirituality, and more.
Single Parent Homeschoolers
This is a list for single parents homeschooling their children. The purpose of this list is to support single parents.
Unschooling Basics
A list designed for those new to the philosophy of unschooling. Ask experienced unschoolers all those niggling questions, and find out how unschooling works in real families. If you're familiar with John Holt's work, but unsure of how to begin or what an unschooling day really looks like, this is a place for you to discuss, question, ponder, and become deeply familiar with natural learning and how it affects our entire lives. From parenting issues to learning from the whole wide world and beyond, come explore the issues that unschooling families have dealt with in the past and how to get beyond "school-think" to a joyful unschooling lifestyle.!
HEM-Networking
This list is sponsored by Home Education Magazine (HEM) for networking and communication within the online homeschooling community.
Unschoolers Coffee Talk
A place for unschoolers to come together to discuss our adventures and experiences,share resources and information.
Catholic Homemaking and Homeschooling
This discussion group/email list is focused on the rich Catholic heritage and how to incorporate the Liturgical year into your daily life as a homeschooling family.
Catholic Charlotte Mason
Online support group for Catholics interested in the Charlotte Mason method.
Literature Alive
Literature Alive! is an email group list for the literary website of the same name. This list seeks to encourage and support parents who have a love for literature and a desire to share good wholesome books with their children. Its purpose is to develop the art and excitment of using great living literature in a learning lifestyle. This group will share information on how to turn a living book into a cherished book within the home. Different literature study methods enhanced by Charlotte Mason's writing will be discussed: lapbooks, notebooks, journals, book clubs, reading settings, etc.
Eclectic Home Educators
This is an online support group for families who are pursuing an eclectic style of homeschooling. Although many members of the group are religious-minded, the list itself is secular.
Charlotte Mason Cottage
You are invited to spend a year in the home of a homeschooling mother who uses the Charlotte Mason method of education, combining this "gentle art of learning" with Montessori centers, living literature studies, and observation of the Roman Catholic liturgical year within the framework of real life learning. This list will serves only as a journal in the life of a family who uses the CM method. It is not a discussion medium.
Christian Solo - Parent Homeschools
A place for Christian single-parent homeschoolers to find encouragement and support.
K12 Large Families
This group is for large families using the K-12 curriculum created by Dr. William Bennett. Both homeschooling families and Virtual School families are welcome. It is particularly intended for families with more than 3 children in K-12 as well as additional teens, toddlers and babies. Discussions include both the curriculum and the challenges of implementing it in a large family.
Tons of Kids
This mailing list is set up for parents of large families. Large for this list is defined as having five or more kids. They welcome everybody who has at least that many of any religion, or even no religion.
CM for Moms of Many
An email group for homeschooling moms using Charlotte Mason's methods. Focuses on homeschooling larger families.
HomeSchooling Singletons
Homeschooling families with singletons have issues that are very unique. Join in to offer support and encouragement to other single child homeschooling families.
Christian Classical Charlotte Mason
This is a loop for Christians who are combining classical education methods with Charlotte Mason ideas in their homeschools.
Large Families Home School
This list is to encourage and support those who homeschool many children. How many? To some 3 is a lot! If you have a large family (whether natural, adopted, foster or blended) and homeschool, you know that there are a lot of unique challenges ranging from orchestrating family harmony, dealing with multiple ages, trying to homeschool in a sometimes chaotic environment, keeping up with the never-ending laundry, transportation, cooking, chores, and more. This is a Christian list.
CM4earlyyears
Email list designed to discuss the Charlotte Mason method of homeschooling for children, ages birth through 6 years. While this list is not primarily religious in nature, there are often discussions of Christian topics.
TheHomeSchoolMom In The Kitchen
TheHomeSchoolMom In The Kitchen is an e-mail group designed to provide economical, balanced meal ideas that are quick and easy for busy moms. Provides dinner tips, recipes, and resources that help take "piranha hour" and turn it into calmer and more peaceful time.
Homeschooling Your One And Only
This group is for parents who are currently (or are considering) homeschooling their only child.
Featured Resources

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For the Children's Sake: Foundations of Education for Home and School
Shows parents and teachers how children's learning experiences can be extended to every aspect of life, giving them a new richness, stability, and joy for living. Every parent and teacher wants to give his or her children the best education possible. We hope that the education we provide is a joyful adventure, a celebration of life, and preparation for living. But sadly, most education today falls short of this goal. For the Children's Sake is a book about what education can be, based on a Chris...
Basic Montessori: Learning Activities for Under-Fives
For the first time, Basic Montessori opens the celebrated philosophy and method to a more general public. David Gettman has devised a clear and modern explanation of Montessori's revolutionary ideas about early intellectual development, and provides a step-by-step guide to the Montessori learning activities most commonly used with under-fives. These include activities for introducing reading and writing, counting and decimal concepts, science, and geography, as well as activities that help dev...
Learning Adventures
Each book in the Learning Adventures series covers skills and concepts for grades 4-8, with a history-based approach. Each contains a year's worth of lesson plans in a daily format. All subjects except math are covered.
Kingdom of Children : Culture and Controversy in the Homeschooling Movement (Princeton Studies in Cultural Sociology)
More than one million American children are schooled by their parents. As their ranks grow, home schoolers are making headlines by winning national spelling bees and excelling at elite universities. The few studies conducted suggest that homeschooled children are academically successful and remarkably well socialized. Yet we still know little about this alternative to one of society's most fundamental institutions. Beyond a vague notion of children reading around the kitchen table, we don't know...
America's National Parks for Dummies, Second Edition
What makes a trip to a national park so wonderful? For starters, America's national park system is more diverse than any park system in the world. You can stroll the seashore at Olympic National Park in Washington or Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts, climb craggy mountains in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, or go underground into the world's largest cave system at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. You can marvel at the largest canyon on Earth (Grand Canyon National Park), ...