By Randall Hauk
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

The Family Learning Program, a West Seattle organization dedicated to providing “classes, clubs, and community for homeschooling families,” marked the end of its fourth academic year with its annual “Summer Send-Off” Friday at Southwest Teen Life Center in Westwood.

In addition to the program’s usual course schedule, program participants were invited to participate in a potluck luncheon and “fun zone” activities, including a variety of field-game races. Additionally, the FLP steering committee used the occasion to conduct the program’s inaugural scholarship fundraiser, raising $1,600 through a silent auction.

When the program launched in 2011 at what was then the Southwest Community Center, with which it partners in presenting the program, 25 families were participating, mostly from the West Seattle community it was created to serve. Of the nearly 80 families in the recently concluded session, some traveled from as far as Shoreline and Tacoma.

“When we founded this, there was no community for a diverse variety of homeschooling philosophies in West Seattle,” says Kathleen Lonergan, one of the program’s founders. “That is what we wanted to be.“

In its spring session, the FLP provided 30 different classes, catering to children of all ages, touching on a variety of subjects and disciplines. The academic subjects you would expect in any school environment – such as math, writing, and computer programming – are all covered, as are more hands-on area such as carpentry and gardening.

“We started with the idea of ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful if, to have an alternative to driving all around to go to lots of homeschooling activities?’, which is what most people in the region who are not part of a religious organization do,” says another of the group’s founders, Erica Forrest. “For people who wanted to find their own homeschooling things for just their family and who weren’t doing it for religious reasons, there wasn’t really anything for that in the region.”

Ever since inviting prospective students to participate in the original brainstorming sessions that led to the program’s foundation, the curriculum has continued to be guided by both the interests of the children, as well as the resources of the community. Current program steering committee member Frannie Crook says the diversity of their participating families have brought college professors, professional teachers, published authors, and experienced engineers into their classrooms to share their experiences with a younger generation.

(Current steering committee: Moiya Callahan, Chessa Hickox, Tera Schreiber, Frannie Crook)

“The steering committee goes out and finds teachers for the various subjects and different age ranges,” says Forrest. “They put together a plan based on what they know the community is seeking and go out to find all these great teachers.”

Back in fall of 2011, the city’s change in plans for the building – which transformed it into SWTLC – had the FLP in doubt about its future there, but the program and the city worked things out and the relationship is going strong.

Operating under a primary principle of “Anyone is welcome!”, families interested in learning more about the Family Learning Program can find out more on its website (including information on fall registration) or contact them via email – familylearningprogram1@gmail.com.