Why "Hackschooling?"
"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete." Bucky Fuller
Hackschooling
Hackschooling is a term coined by the homeschooling family of 13 year old Logan LaPlante and explained in Logan’s speech (see video) at a TEDx event in February 2013 . The concept is that education, like everything else, is open to being hacked or improved, not just by working within the current system, but by going outside the educational establishment to find better ways to accomplish the same goals. The most innovative entrepreneurs are people who are able to hack the status quo and create something completely new. The concept is summarized in this quote by Buckminster Fuller, "You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete."
Educational Reform
Public Education is in a constant state of reform. From the ‘whole language approach’ of the 60s, ‘new math’ of the 70s, focus on cultural literacy of the 80s, the outcome based education of the 90s, ‘No Child Left Behind’ in the 2000s, to the latest incarnation of educational reform known as The Common Core State Standards Initiative, we see constant change but little improvement. Most homeschooling families have decided for one reason or another that the public school classroom is not the best way to meet the educational needs of their children. We are the innovators who want to find a better way to educate.
The Hybrid Model
Our lives are full of hybrids. We drive hybrid cars, eat hybrid tomatoes, and hopefully take time to smell the hybrid roses. Even our vocabulary is littered with hybrids. Who doesn’t enjoy a staycation or a catpanion? As homeschoolers, our education consists of gleaning the best of a variety of educational models to create a customized model that works for our family and our children. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel. We just take the best of classroom instruction, individualized instruction, classical, Charlotte Mason, unschooling, traditional, etc. and we create a hybrid that hopefully provides the ultimate learning experience for our children. That is what hackschooling is all about and the Natomas Homeschool Alliance wants to come alongside families to provide some of the components of your perfect hybrid.
Our History
The roots of the Natomas Homeschool Alliance can be found in the Natomas Park Day Group (NPDG) which started in 2007. The goal of the NPDG was always to form an inclusive homeschooling community. Sacramento has many opportunities for private homeschoolers and many opportunities for charter homeschoolers but very few opportunities for the two to come together. The availability of charter funds tends to drive up the price of many classes forcing private families out of the market, and the private organizations intentionally exclude charter families as a means of self-preservation. Natomas has traditionally hosted very few private opportunities due to the large charter program based here. During the 5 years I homeschooled independently, I found myself driving all over the city to take advantage of the affordable private classes available, and it was taking valuable time away from our learning. Eventually, I felt I had little choice but to join the local charter if I wanted to provide the best educational experience for my children.
The Natomas Homeschool Alliance wants to bring real choice to Natomas. We want independent families to be able to access classes affordably (see "Grant" tab) and charter families to have opportunities to build their own best hybrid model and not be limited to what their charter provides.
The Natomas Park Day Group added classes in the fall of 2013 and became Natomas Homeschool Alliance. We started with 20 students and have grown to more than 400.
We would love for you to join us.
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Tiffany Millen, Director
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