Phylis Wiebe and her daughter Keira are part of a small homeschool group comprised of teen girls and their moms, and call themselves the Wild Willows.
Wiebe says the girls give the parents input into what they would like to do together, and they as moms make it happen.
Wiebe explains they have two simple goals for their group.
“One is to raise up our daughters to be godly young women. And the second goal is to offer them fun and unique and practical experiences that will support them in their adult lives as wives or mothers or professionals in the workplace.”
The group gets together once a week on Thursday afternoons.
She shares their most recent activity was building garden scarecrows.
Wiebe shares where the inspiration came from.
“The idea of making scarecrows came to me last year when our family traveled to Tennessee on a road trip in October. We visited the town called Gatlinburg during their Harvest Festival, and there were just charming scarecrows absolutely everywhere. So I took lots of pictures and I tucked that idea away until this fall, and so we just decided to make it happen.”
She says one of the moms supplied the wood for the frames and the straw, and Wiebe found some DIY websites, and the group went from there.
“Everyone brought their own clothes and their own accessories, and we just had fun building, it was so much fun.”
Wiebe says the parents want to give their girls a broad range of life experiences.
“So some of the girls hadn’t used hammers and nails before, my own daughter, I don’t think she’s ever held a hammer, so that was a new skill for some.”
She says a lot of the activities they do improve their skills, and require critical thinking, problem solving, and teamwork.
But what Wiebe and her daughter like most is the social aspect.
“It doesn’t even matter so much what the activity is, we’re content to have low-key events like playing board games or hanging out at the library, but we also enjoy fancier things like decorating pretty cookies at the bakery or dressing up and going to the ballet.”
The moms also enjoy each other’s company and have occasional moms’ nights.
“One of the expectations of our group is just regular attendance and commitment to the group because we believe that’s how you develop those close friendship bonds. And we almost always have a snack time together, so we like just eating a snack and chatting and laughing.”
Wiebe says kids that attend public school and private school see their friends every day and eat together with their friends.
“And so we’re kind of making that happen in our way.”
The group had their kickoff event a few weeks ago.
“We did a hike and a bonfire at the Friendship Trail in St. Adolphe, we thought it was aptly named for our group because we’re a group of friends.”
They recently had a brainstorming night where everyone could share what they want to do this year.
“Coming up we have country line dancing, making apple pies, a couple of our moms are really expert bakers, so they’re going to teach that. We want to go swimming and bowling, we want to visit some museums, do a sewing project.”
They also want to teach the girls how to use the City bus in Winnipeg, visit the Discovery Nature Sanctuary in Winkler, and plan a visit to Ted Falk’s office to discuss government and politics.
“So our ideas are endless, we keep on thinking of more things.”
Wiebe adds that sometimes home education can be misunderstood in our society.
“I myself am a certified, experienced classroom teacher with many years of experience in the public school system, and my daughter has experienced lots of education styles also in public, private, and home education.”
She says even as a teacher, she always affirmed that parents are always their child’s first and best teacher, and there are times when home education is necessary.
“But people have suggested that maybe home educated students are unsocialized and unable to acquire the necessary skills and academia, but that’s a misconception. So I just wanted to set that straight, children can rise in the home learning environment, and parents can work with their child to foster their individual gifts and support their interests.”
She adds that there are groups that offer opportunities of every kind available if parents are willing to search them out or connect with other home educators.
“And that includes sports and band, art, apprenticeships, and everything in between. And like I always say to parents, which is what my motto is, if you can’t find the group or activity you want, you have to make it happen, so that’s what we do as well.”
With files from Carly Koop
