I have started negotiating with the CC in the West End to see if there would be 
a possibility to organize activities for homeschoolers one day a week, most 
likely a Thursday starting  October 2010. The WECC is located on Denman Street at 
the corner of Haro Street. 

So far, we are talking about having a slot of time for sports (most likely this 
would be time on the ice rink - skating or playing hockey), time for playing 
board games, and a time for lunch between the activities. I am looking for 
activities with little supervision so that the kids can mainly take charge of 
that time and for activities that cost nearly nothing. This would be more about 
having fun and developing friendships. Although we all know learning happens 
all the time! 

With time, we could add other activities like art classes, nature walks, Lego 
clubs.... We can add to the day or add a day.

As soon as we plan to hire a coach, the costs go up considerably because there 
is now a cost for the program, the instructor and the material if needed. So, 
my first choice would be to try to do this on our own. I know that within our 
community there are members (or members amongst their families or friends) that 
may be interested in leading activities. It could be just one session or a 
few. For example, someone may want to teach one session on origami. Someone 
else may want to lead 4 sessions on felting. It does not have to be art. A 
session on how to tie knots might turn out to be very interesting and useful! 
Anyone wants to lead something about orienteering? Maybe some of our older 
homeschoolers would like to take the lead. We can put those together to make a 
season. Other ideas would be for example to go for nature walks in Stanley Park, 
identify plants, birds, mammals and insects and make a nature journal.

Some parents may chose to stay with their kids to enjoy skating and playing a 
board game, or simply read a book knowing they are accessible if their kid needs 
them. The centre has not yet decided, but it is likely that those who have 
older kids may chose to just drop them off or let them take the transit. 
Something sure, we will need to have some of the parents assure supervision 
during lunch and the board game session, so some volunteering would be needed. 
At this point, we are thinking of a WECC member fee (3$) and a drop-in fee for 
the program ($1.50?) In addition, the Loonie/twoonie skate would be per person 
skating (so participating parents would need to pay) . Depending on the 
activities we pick, we may also do a Homeshool member fee, to raise funds for 
printing or other fees. 

I am writing today to see if there would be interest for such a project. Please 
write to me -off the list- and let me know if you have potential participants 
(name and age) and if you or someone you know would be interested in presenting 
or supervising.