the network for radical unschooling families

Largest populations of unschoolers in the USA?

Hi, I'm new here. :-)

I'm wondering if anyone has ever done research, trying to find out what areas of the USA are the most populated with unschoolers.

Our daughter is 14 years old and we want to move to a location where she can meet other unschooling teens. We're looking for a place where there's already a strong unschooling/homeschooling community that's interested in natural living.

We'd love to find a location where we'd be able to grow our own produce for many (if not all!) of the months of the year, where there's an appreciation for the arts, and most of all where the people are friendly and loving.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks!

Love,

Wendi

Tags: climate, community, population, unschool, warm

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Monica Manzano on July 18, 2009 at 11:43am: Unschooling and Austin, Texas...hm, in the same sentence. Most everyone I've met have been "school at homer's", heavy on the Christian focus. A long time ago there was a seperate unschool group, but it was way up north in Round Rock. I think the moderator moved away.

I can't even think of one other 'teen' and 'unschooling' family that frequented our most recent activities. We frequented homeschool activities club, sotr, south of the river, and south austin bowling. Pretty much everyone that I've met in the past 4 years have been some form of 'school at home'.

As for growing things in Austin, there too, I've heard it said Texas has 3 seasons. I may know a handfull of people that keep animals. One of my newer friends just got some chickens.

Also, Austin is like an island of liberalness. If you leave this island you venture into another ballgame. Idk if you prefer liberal thinking to conservative. It would not be comfortable for me and mine to live in an uber-conservative town. MM; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Idzie on July 18, 2009 at 1:34pm: From all that I've heard, Portland, Oregon, is currently unschooling central! It's also an area that seems to be very big into green living.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Wendi Dee on July 19, 2009 at 8:47am: Thanks for the comments. :-) It's really important for me to find an area where my daughter can meet others who are living outside the box. It can be a little tough at her age to be different on so many levels.

I saw another thread here where someone else was asking a similar question. Corvallis, OR is looking kind of nice--as is Albuquerque, NM. Does anyone here live in Ashland, OR, Corvallis, or Albuquerque? If so, I'd love to hear what kind of community there is for unschoolers.

Thanks, again.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by carelia on July 19, 2009 at 2:51pm: There are bunches of us in Corvallis (and a few teens), but daVinci Days are this weekend (so you may have to wait a day or two for locals to be online more and see your post). ;) http://www.davinci-days.org/ Definitely art appreciation going on there! :)

There is a homeschool group that meets weekly (summers in the park, winters at the Boys and Girls Club) and it's pretty large but mostly younger kids, and it's a variety of homeschool styles. The unschool gatherings are pretty informal and fun and just happen, for the most part. :)

This group (on this forum) is based out of Corvallis:
http://familyrun.ning.com/group/osuu

And a bunch if us here:
http://familyrun.ning.com/group/pnwunschoolers

And not related to unschooling per se, but the people here are some of the nicest I've ever met anywhere (not just the unschoolers, but the general population), it's a small liberal college town, it's easy to homeschool "under the radar", and green/natural living seem almost like a mandate here. ;)

Hope that answers your questions. I'll go poke the other locals and get them to chime in. ;)

~ C.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by diana (hahamommy) on July 19, 2009 at 3:07pm: I think you just described Corvallis, OR :D
We've got a pretty strong group of unschoolers here, there are 4 -5 families that get together pretty regularly for parties and plenty of opportunities in between ;) I don't much pay attention to the ages of our kids, they all blend together, it's not much different if the age span is 4-20 or 4-12, it's just as much fun!
There is a group of teens that meet at the Girls and Boys Club, separate from the rest of us, though I don't know whom are specifically unschooled ;)
Our community, as a whole, is interested in natural living, it seems to come as part of the Welcome to Oregon package ;)
I'm such a city girl, I'm still dipping my toes in... I figgerin 20 years I'll be just as oregonian as the natives!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by diana (hahamommy) on July 19, 2009 at 3:09pm: I spent some time today blogging, so if you visit either/any of my blogs :::bg::: you'll find pix of us gathering and fun making!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by zenmomma on July 19, 2009 at 3:15pm: I don't know about the largest population numbers, but I also think Corvallis is a pretty cool place to live for all the reasons that have been stated already. We love it here! Plus I have a 15 year old daughter who would love another unschooled teen in town.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Wendi Dee on July 19, 2009 at 6:56pm: Wow! Thanks for all the response already. :-)

I look forward to hearing as much as everyone feels like sharing. Corvallis is looking like a great fit, but I'd love to hear about as many places as possible. In about two months my daughter and I will be visiting different locations, hoping to feel at home in one of them. Then, we'll proceed from there. For now, we are completley open to any place that fits out primary list of wants/needs.

Thanks, again! I'm pretty sure we'll be visiting Corvallis during our trip, so I look forward to meeting some of you!

Lots of love to you,

Wendi
XOXOXO; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Joyce Fetteroll on July 20, 2009 at 4:08am: There was a thread last year: Looking to move near a tribe that had lots of discussion on this topic.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Wendi Dee on July 20, 2009 at 11:49am: Oh, no. :-( I assumed there was a lot of sunshine in Corvallis because there's a long growing season. My daughter and I were LOVING the location, reading all about it on the Net. We were falling in love with it until we showed it to my husband. He said it sounds ideal, but he was pretty sure there wasn't a lot of sunshine in that part of Oregon. I insisted he must be mistaken, since there's a long growing season. Well, turns out he was right. :-(

I'm deficient in Vitamin D and feel that it's important to find a location with a lot of sunshine for us. Sure wish Corvallis had the sunshine...it would have been perfect. :-(

So, the search continues. For anyone who doesn't need a lot of sunshine, Corvallis seems like an ideal place to live!

====
Thanks, Joyce. I'm going to read over that thread.

Love,

Wendi
XOXOXO; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Gwen on July 20, 2009 at 1:31pm: You should look at Albuquerque. No worries about not getting enough sun in Albuquerque, lol.
There is a fantastic unschooling group there also. Sylvia posts here, but I think she's on vacation right now. It is a group of amazing families.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AlbuquerqueUnschoolers/ is the yahoo group.

I moved back to Portland from Albuquerque just over a year ago (I'm an native Oregonian and lived in Albuquerque for three years).

We've made friends, but haven't formed the community I was looking for (that's my fault. We've had a year of sickness and growth spurts and random hibernating). But I'm hopeful and not in a hurry. :-)

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PortlandRadicalUnschooling/; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mesa Burdick on July 20, 2009 at 11:25pm: =====
I'm deficient in Vitamin D and feel that it's important to find a location with a lot of sunshine for us.
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It may be worthwhile looking into California. The San Francisco bay area has a very active unschooling group (SFBUN).; ▶ Reply to This