Summerly

Summerly Homeschool has been a local and online resource focusing on secular homeschooling in and around metro Atlanta and beyond for over seven years. Our philosophy hinges on the freedom of homeschooling and on experiential learning through books, games, outdoor exploration, hands-on experiences, art, music, and creating/making.

When the pandemic started, I decided to take a break from Summerly to focus on other projects and family. The Summerly website and Google group were closed, as I figured out how to relaunch in a way that would best fit our home-life (which has been adapted to this new pandemic-era world) and still be useful to the community.

So, I’m starting fresh here with a page on my professional site and will also share homeschool-related posts on the blog. There’s a Summerly Homeschool Instagram page. And I’m organizing a monthly social club for tweens/teens (ages 12–17) and may offer private, small group classes and tutoring as well.

Below you’ll find more information about all of that and more. But if you have any questions that aren’t answered here, feel free to reach out to summerlyhomeschool@gmail.com.

Summerly Homeschool Rules

In addition to offering online information about homeschooling in and around metro Atlanta, Summerly is also a casual, secular inclusive group for homeschooled tweens/teens (and their parents) who’d like to meet monthly for park days, field trips, activities, and more. Some meetups will take place in the Peachtree Corners/Norcross area, though we’re also open to outings in other neighborhoods around town.

Our meetups and outings are for “members” only. There’s no fee for membership, though! Just a few rules:

• All participants must be currently homeschooling or just beginning their homeschool journey.
• Bullying, intolerance, and rude behavior — online or in person — is not allowed. 
• We are a secular group of families, which means that we’re not a religion-based group — though members may have their own personal religious or spiritual beliefs. No proselytizing is allowed.
• We do not discriminate against anyone based on race, nationality, age, gender, sexual orientation, religious or personal beliefs, homeschooling style/philosophy or anything else.

• COVID mitigations are strongly encouraged: masking when indoors or in large groups and staying home from in-person meet ups when you are sick, testing positive, have been exposed to COVID, or when case numbers and hospitalizations are high.

Fall 2024 Offerings

This fall, I am considering offering online, private small-group High School English and Teen Creative Writing classes.* Each class would meet for 10 weeks with assignments given to be completed on your own schedule between classes. Students may also opt to participate by doing the assignments and emailing them in each week without logging in for the online class meeting. Grades will be available to families who want them, and I can also provide a letter at the end of the semester for your transcripts.

*Class descriptions and rates will be added in July. Classes will start in September.

Instructor Bio: I’m a professional writer, editor, and author, and have been a homeschooling mom and active in our homeschooling community for over 20 years. My oldest (now-adult son) homeschooled all the way through, spent a year in college, and then left to start working. Our youngest (teen) son is currently homeschooling and also plans to do so all the way through.

Over the years, I’ve organized homeschool book clubs, worked as class and membership coordinator for LEAD Homeshool, ran homeschool summer camps, and taught many (many!) classes to homeschoolers, including:

Online tutoring slots for Middle School and High School English, Literature Study, and Creative Writing are also available. Tutoring is 100% personalized to the student and family, focused on areas within each subject that they’d like help with. Tutoring sessions can be 40 minutes to 60 minutes, based on your needs.

Rates are: $40 for the shorter sessions and $50 for the hour-long sessions. If you purchase a five-session package, the discounted rate is $175 for 40-mins and $225 for 60-mins.

Tween & Teen Social Club

Starting in August 2024, I will be organizing monthly meet-up opportunities for homeschoolers ages 12–17. Some activities will be outdoors (mini-golf, park meetups, TreeTops Quest, etc.) others may be indoors (bowling, meeting up at Kinokuniya or local comic shops, etc.).

For safety reasons, these won’t be announced publicly. Families who want to participate can email me with basic info (names, kids ages and some of their interests, how long you’ve been homeschooling, and why you’d like to join), and you’ll get a group email (with details) when a new outing has been planned. Families can choose to participate in as many or as few meet-ups as they like, and will be responsible for any fees associated with activities they participate in. We will try to balance activities that cost money with activities that are free so that more people will have the opportunity to participate.

To be added to the list, please email summerlyhomeschool@gmail.com.