On Sunday, April 14, the Homeschoolers of Holly Springs celebrated their third anniversary with a picnic at Crowder Park. In the three years since it began, the Homeschoolers of Holly Springs’ membership has grown to more than 130 families.
The families involved in the organization share information and experiences, build friendships and support each other through their homeschool journeys.
Janne LoFaro, founder of the organization, started the group when she began homeschooling her daughter.
“I started homeschooling my daughter and wanted to connect with other homeschoolers in the area and there wasn’t a group in Holly Springs,” LoFaro said.
LoFaro never thought she would homeschool her daughter before that, but homeschooling was the best option for her family.
“My husband and I love to travel, as does our daughter now, so we thought having the flexibility of not being tied to a traditional school schedule would give us the freedom to travel when we wanted. I ‘homeschooled’ our daughter since she was a baby so it just blossomed from there. The more we learned about it, the more people we met, we decided this was the right decision for us.”
LoFaro said the group is not associated with a religious organization. She also said the group meets almost every single day, but members do not have to attend all of the events.
“Members can choose which events they’d like to attend,” LoFaro said. “They are required to attend one event per month to keep their membership active and remain in the group. Participation is very important for the success of the group. We have very active members.”
LoFaro said she the group is involved in a large amount of activities.
“We visit local businesses and have tours, we attend classes such as science, art, Spanish and kickboxing provided by local businesses; we go on outings to farms, the zoo, and some Homeschool Moms even teach classes,” LoFaro said. “I believe in giving back and being involved in the community so I work with local businesses to support them and they are kind enough to offer us classes during the day. We also have a moms’ book club and moms’ night out activities. Homeschool moms don’t get a lot of ‘me’ time.”
LoFaro said the homeschool group also provides a lot of resources to others who homeschool.
“Most people don’t realize that there are so many resources available for them to homeschool. Some of the homeschool moms have been homeschooling for many years and have lots of info to share. We all help each other through our journeys,” she said. “I never worried about the ‘socialization’ of homeschooling. That is usually the first question people ask us. Actually, homeschooled children have lots of socialization. There are groups like this, classes, organizations where they can meet other children but also, our children are with us all day long; they meet whomever we meet. They get to be around a very diverse group of people and learn from all our interactions.”
To learn more about this homeschool group visit www.meetup.com/Holly-Springs-Homeschoolers/.




















