Sharing Your Knowledge and Passions

One of the biggest ways parents can pitch in at Wildflower is to share their knowledge and passions with the group. We encourage this by asking parents to serve on a rotation that consists of leading short-term elective courses for our age groups.

Every parent who joins us brings with them a unique background and experience culturally, educationally, and professionally. Every parent has different interests, hobbies, skills and passions.

This year alone we have parents who:

  • collect vintage timepieces

  • know how all about entrepreneurship and starting a business

  • manage Halal organic farms

  • work and study in mental health

  • used to be amateur boxers

  • are hafidhs and teachers of Qur'an

  • play basketball

  • are passionate about herbal remedies and Prophetic medicine

  • sew, crochet, embroider, knit, and weave

  • sing qasidas and play the duff

  • create with calligraphy

  • know all about gardening

  • are nutritionists

  • write code

  • are poets and artists

  • enjoy woodworking

  • are fascinated by fixing old cars

  • practice law

  • are passionate about the seerah

  • know gymnastics

  • speak multiple languages

  • hail from many different countries and cultural backgrounds

  • are passionate about science

  • love to build financial literacy skills

  • like to deep dive into history, civics, and politics

  • love getting lost in good books

  • cook, bake, decorate, and more!

When you bring your interests, passions, and skills to the table, you help awaken the children's appetite for learning with a wide range of new experiences and opportunities. When you hold a passionate presence at co-op, you model for the children how to do the same in their own learning.

"But, I'm not a teacher!"

Many parents get nervous about leading elective options for the co-op. They think that because they are not professional teachers themselves that they don't know how to teach or guide others. This simply isn't true.

Many homeschool parents are not teachers by trade, yet they effectively teach their children, their children's friends, and other children in their homeschool community every single day.

At its essence, teaching is passing down your knowledge and sharing your passions and expertise with others. Parents do this every single day in little ways and big ones, in formal ways and informal ones.

If you can share what you love and care about, if you can model how to use a tool or resource effectively, if you can tell a story, play a game, encourage curiosity, and collaborate with others, you can lead a short-term elective course.

And the Wildflower team is always available to help bounce ideas around and get your plans together.

Melissa Barretohomeschool, homeschooling, passion, electives, cooperatives