AAH Newcomers Guide update
The Austin Area Homeschoolers (AAH) support group began meeting in the summer of 1989. AAH was formed by people who were interested in homeschooling primarily for educational reasons. Our families represent the whole spectrum of homeschoolers. Our children vary in age from newborns to adults. We have families who started thinking about homeschooling when their children were born and others who didn't consider it until their children had been in school for several years. We use many different methods to educate and guide our children, including textbooks, purchased curricula, parent-designed curricula, and/or our children's interests. We come from many different lifestyles, religions or beliefs, educational backgrounds, economic groups, family sizes, and cultures. Suffice it to say, we are a varied group, and the threads that tie us all together are faith in our children and their abilities, and the desire to be consciously involved in their education. We enjoy our diversity, and we tolerate differences of opinion. We respect other parents' decisions, even when we disagree with them, and we acknowledge that there are many different ways to educate our children successfully.
    Our group does not have nonprofit status. There is no budget. We have no officers or directors-people jump in and do what is necessary or what interests them most. (See the Home Education Magazine article reprinted, which describes how our type of non-directed group works.) Following is a list of the services and activities currently offered by our volunteers. We would like to welcome you to AAH, and we encourage you to become involved in any of our activities.
    If you have any special interests, such as baby-sitting co-ops, clubs, special classes, etc., feel free to put a message in our newsletter to find others who share your interest. Sometimes you will get a great response, and other times you won't, but you won't know until you try.

The most up to date and complete information is in the AAH-Announce files area of the eMail list, because each subscriber can keep his own file current. 

AAH MONTHLY MEETING one Tuesday a month from 7:00 to 8:45 p.m. North Village Branch Library, 2505 Steck Ave. Austin, TX 78757.  Watch AAH Announce for information on the topic. No food or drinks, other than water. The librarians have asked our members to refrain from bringing unsupervised children into the library. If you have any doubts regarding your children's ability to behave or wait for your meeting to end, please do not bring them with you. Sometimes the topics covered in the meetings are sensitive and not appropriate for youngsters. 

Newcomer Information
First, read this Austin Area Homeschoolers' Newcomers' Guide. If you need more information beyond that offered in the guide, join the AAH email list, see info below.

Newsletter
AAH Newsletter is a free monthly electronic newsletter available to homeschooling families or families who are considering homeschooling, and who live in the Austin, Texas area. It contains a calendar of local homeschooling events, announcements, book reviews, website reviews, a message board, and articles of interest to homeschoolers. The newsletter is the glue that holds our support group together. The newsletter is For Personal Use Only! The information contained in it is not to be used in any way for solicitation of business or other endeavors, or for mass mailings and contacts. Because we have had some problems with spammers trying to subscribe to the newsletter, only families who are subscribed to AAH-Announce can receive the newsletter. Once you subscribe to AAH-Announce, look in the files area and it will tell you where you can make an in person request to be added to the newsletter.  Or simply visit homeschool soccer on Tuesday or Thursday mornings and speak to Betsy Orf to subscribe.

Web Site
The web page is managed by one of our parent volunteers. It is at http://AustinAreaHomeschoolers.com/

AAH Email List
Many AAH parents enjoy participating in the AAH email lists. We discuss homeschooling and we post announcements about upcoming events. Join the AAH email lists by following the instructions at http://main.org/aah/email-list.html, This is a highly recommended way to stay in touch with the group. Please take a moment to read the list rules.

Social Club for Older Homeschoolers
This is an informal group of homeschoolers ages 10 and up. Two or three varied social activities are scheduled each month. In the past, activities have included ice skating, movies, swimming, dances, etc. Each year, a student from the social club produces an AAH yearbook containing photos and information about social club members; the books are distributed at an "annual-signing" party in the fall. Social club events are extremely popular with our AAH teens. The Social Club calendar is accessed via the internet.  Once one child in the family is 10, than the whole family can join.  Send an email to aah-socialclub-subscribe@yahoogroups.com to be added to the egroup. 

Park Days See the AAH-announce list files.

Homeschool Soccer
AAH SOCCER ongoing for 14 years.  Every Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. for ages 4 up and parents are welcome to play also.  The soccer field adjacent to Lou Neff Point at Zilker Park.  If you are a subscriber to AAH-Announce you can go her for current info: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aah-announce/files/AAH_Activities/ and click on AAH Soccer. 

Everyone is welcome, regardless of ability. All ages play together, including interested parents. (Most players are age 8 and up, but younger children are welcome to play.) Soccer days are a social event for many AAH families; the games provide an excellent place for newcomers to meet other homeschoolers. This is the place for teens who don't yet know enough other homeschoolers. When the soccer fields are wet or unavailable, soccer players meet at one of our alternate locations in Zilker Park. See the map in Appendix A for directions.  Also ask Betsy Orf to be added to the AAH-newsletter.

AAH Chess Club
AAH CHESS CLUB meets almost every Wednesday from 11:45 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. during the traditional school year.  Kids ages 3 through adult play chess even at the most basic level. Siblings welcome.  Parent or responsible adult must attend.  http://www.aahchessclub.com/

Co-ops
Co-ops are groups of families that meet together for informal classes taught by parents. One parent might teach a foreign language, while another might teach art or cooking. The subjects vary depending on the expertise of the parents who are participating, and the ages of the co-op children. These groups are organized by various AAH families.

The AAH Friday Co-op is an inclusive once-a-week cooperative, made up of families with a common goal: to provide their children with a socially and academically enriching education in a diverse, supportive, and respectful environment. The co-op offers a variety of classes for the students, from science, history and culture, and arts and crafts, all the way to cooking and fun and games ... whatever the students want to learn and the parents want to teach. The co-op operates as a true cooperative; each parent participates through teaching, assisting, or handling administrative tasks. For more information, visit http://sites.google.com/site/aahfridaycoopinfo/ or email fridaycoop@gmail.com.  Fees are charged.

Bastrop County Homeschoolers:  For Bastrop/Elgin/Smithville area. It is an inclusive group.  They have parkdays on Tuesdays around 11 to 1 p.m. at Fishermans Park.  Join their email list to contact them:  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Bastropcountyhomeschoolers/

Learning Without Limits is an inclusive secular homeschooling community in Williamson County & far North Travis Co. Monthly Mother's Night Out, Park Days, and other activities. For more information email: LearningWithoutLimits-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Red Poppy Co-op, with most members in Georgetown, but open to all. Email Carrie Barker at ckbarker@ev1.net for information.

San Marcos Co-op. Call Kathy (392-2512).

North Hill Country Co-op. For Georgetown/Leander and surrounding areas. Everyone welcome!! For info, please contact Susan 259-1825 (nonetfarm@aol.com) or Ann Maria (512) 869-0664 (umholtzent@earthlink.net)

Starcatchers Co-op. Waldorf oriented co-op that meets in Spicewood. For information contact Richard or Gracie at (512) 847-0234, or e-mail rlindley@arczip.com.

Austin Homeschool Sports Coop. Ages 6 up. Meets on Fridays for a variety of sports activities, appropriate for children age 6 and up. Contact Leslie Van Buren Lvanburen@austin.rr.com or call at 266-9773 between 3-5 p.m. only. 

If there is no co-op in your area, or if the co-ops you investigate have a waiting list, consider starting a new one! Experienced homeschoolers will be glad to share information about how to start a new co-op. You need only a handful of families and a meeting location.

Field Trips
From time to time, field trips are announced in AAH News or on our email list. When we are going on field trips, we ask that all members use courtesy and good manners and discuss these with their children. Please arrive on time, because we may not be able to wait for you. Most field trips have a limit on the number of people who can attend. Please be prompt in signing up for field trips you especially wish to attend, and realize that we cannot all go to all events. If you cannot go; please call and cancel, so that someone else may go in your place.
    Anyone can organize a field trip, so if you don't see one that interests you, plan one yourself! In your announcement, it's a good idea to ask interested parents to call you (rather than just publishing the time and place for the trip), so that you will be able to predict the number of adults and children who will show up.

Annual Not-Back-to-School Party
Join other homeschoolers for our annual swim party and picnic on the first day of public school. See the August edition of AAH News for details, or join the AAH-Announce email list.

Cub Scouts
Pack 1 is Austin's first and only Cub Scout Pack for homeschooled boys. Pack 1 meets at First Presbyterian Church, 8001 Mesa Drive. For more information contact Cindy Tarsi, jactar@austin.rr.com

Den 10 is homeschoolers' den is a mixed-age den for boys from 1st through 5th grade. Contact Shannon Black durb@austin.rr.com

Campfire Club
Campfire is an excellent scouting program for homeschoolers. Campfire is for all age levels, and both boys and girls participate. Cost is $30 per family per year. Contact Mina Loomis (454-1237), mkloomis@austin.rr.com, or if you are in Burnet County or the surrounding area contact Melissa Tolliver (512-756-2982), tolliver@tstar.net

Scholastic Book Club Book Sales
Scholastic offers lots of wonderful books at reasonable prices. We get the same flyers that public schools distribute to their students. There are five different age/grade levels. See the most recent newsletter for the names of contact persons for these book orders. 

Drama, Fencing, Art, Music, Spanish, and Other Classes
Several times a year, AAH families arrange classes on a variety of topics. AAH parents teach some of the classes, while others are taught by community experts. Announcements about such classes will appear in AAH News or on the AAH Announcement list.

Math and Science Clubs
MATH AND SCIENCE TEAMS:
High school math and science bowl:
Jo Lindberg burrberg@austin.rr.com

Middle school math:
Brook Randal brook@austin.rr.com

Elgin middle school math: 
Patricia Grifno patriciagrifno@yahoo.com 512-856-0216 

Middle school science bowl: 
Keith Neuendorff keithn66@yahoo.com 

AAH BUSINESS DIRECTORY If you're a local homeschooler who is a subscriber to the Austin Area Homeschoolers Announcement list and you have a business, please add it to the database on the AAH-announce list, so homeschoolers can support other homeschoolers.  Go to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aah-announce/database.  
Click the "AAH Business Directory" link.  Click "add record" link. Input data.  Click the "Add Record" button.

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