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DOWAGIAC — Local parents interested in learning more about homeschooling options will soon have an opportunity.

A group of Dowagiac area homeschool parents will be hosting a homeschool community information night from 6 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 8 at the Dowagiac District Library Community Room. Parents will be able to ask questions to a variety of speakers, including Rachel Sollman, a homeschool mom of 25 years, Sharon Haynes with the Berrien Springs Parent Partnership, Dr. Michael Dunn with Dowagiac Union Schools, and a representative from Southwestern Michigan College. 

“We’re trying to cover a lot in one hour,” said Dowagiac business owner and homeschool parent Mandy Wallace. “There seems to be a desire for this information. Homeschool rates are increasing and people want to know what their options are… There are a lot of parents who feel they can’t homeschool one way or another. It may be that homeschool is a good fit for them and that they just don’t have all of the information that they need.”

A Dowagiac Union graduate, Wallace and her family decided that their children would start off homeschooled following the COVID pandemic and hopes the informational meeting will help address preconceived notions regarding homeschooled students.

“When I was in school, homeschoolers were thought of as students who did not know how to socialize,” she said. “That dynamic has started to shift. What statistics are showing is that homeschoolers do great in the real world. It’s not just academically but also socially, emotionally and psychologically.”

Wallace believes that one of the reasons homeschoolers are finding success is because students tend to be involved in the community.

“They are connecting with groups of other homeschoolers, they’re going on field trips, they’re playing sports, they’re in 4 H clubs,” she said. “They’re becoming active and integrated members of our community at a very young age.”

Wallace is now part of a growing homeschool community in Dowagiac and belongs to a Facebook group “Dowagiac Homeschool Families” that numbers more than 100. The group was created as a means to bring homeschool families together.

“There were many groups in the Michiana area but not Dowagiac and Cass County,” Wallace said.

The Dowagiac Homeschool Families group has allowed families to connect and organize in-person events for their children to experience, including monthly field trips to local museums and businesses as well as weekly trips to area parks.

“We have a homeschool community that networks with each other,” she said. “It’s nothing formal, just like-minded families finding communities.”

Wallace hopes to see a strong turnout at the event where parents can have their questions answered.

“I hope to see good conversations happening,” she said. “The speakers are very knowledgeable in their respective areas. There are so many options available to homeschool families. If we can get more information into parents’ hands and give them the confidence to make the decisions best for their children, that helps everybody.”