Update: this meetup is CANCELLED – not enough families could make it this time. We’ll look for a better date later in the year.
Date: Monday 11 February 2019.
May be postponed if weather forecast changes too far in the direction of rainy!
Time: 1.30pm to 3.30pm, and probably some will stay on longer, depending on weather & what everyone’s doing 🙂
(Please note, that’s a slightly later meetup time than the previous one.)
Venue: a Nottingham park. We’re not announcing the meetup point in public, so please get onto one of the lists or groups where local home ed families plan things, or email (see below).
Price: Free.
Age range: Primarily 12 to 17, not minding if a few 11-year-olds or 18+ wanted to join in too.
If some families bring younger siblings along too, that’s fine – it’s just that the focus will be on the older ones, and the younger ones will be expected to not get too much in the way of that.
Parents at the “considering and finding out about home ed” stage are welcome to visit with or without their children, and take the opportunity to chat to the other parents.
Booking: No need to book. However, there will probably be some discussion on email & Facebook of who’s planning to come.
For young people who’d specially like to meet others of similar age!
We did a few of these meetups before. Typically there might be a dozen or so local home edders in the teens-ish age range, as well as maybe a few younger siblings.
New families are very welcome. There will probably be a mix of people who have met before and people who haven’t. There are usually a few autistic teens (though we can’t guarantee that). We’ll try to be extra friendly if you don’t know anyone!
As people arrive, we encourage everyone to wear a name label unless they specially don’t want to, as it helps with learning names and not having to worry about remembering them.
Some of the teens-ish people might go off for a walk together while the parents stay back at base and have a chat. Or this time, as it’s chillier weather, perhaps we’ll all go off for the walk.
One time, we played a parachute game where we called out things like “anyone wearing black” or “anyone who likes Harry Potter” or “anyone who owns more than 3 computer games”, and everyone who fit the category would run underneath the parachute and swap places. This helped people to get past feeling shy.
On past occasions, some of us ended up not leaving till about 5pm, though some had to go earlier.
Things you might want to bring: warm clothes, snacks, water, maybe a hot drink in a thermos, and a way to write down other people’s contact details. Also, waterproof things to sit on, and/or an old towel to wipe any rain off damp benches – though at the time of writing, the weather forecast is fine.
Access: If you or your child has limited mobility/energy, social/sensory limitations or anything else that would affect your access to the event, feel free to give us a heads-up so we can take your needs into account when planning. Either mention it on the lists/groups where the event’s being discussed, or email privately on teensishmeetup at non-school-nottingham dot org dot uk.