|
|
|
Living Tribe Youth Group
FAQ's
Frequently Asked Questions:
Frequently Asked Questions:
|
1. What is Living Tribe?
Living Tribe is a program for homeschoolers and unschoolers run under our organisation, Start Homeschooling Australia. Our aim is to create a sense of community supportiveness among home educating families nationally. We are a family of social workers who homeschool/ unschool and work hard to build a community for our children, and yours. No matter how you home educate, or where, you are welcome here. |
|
2. What is Living Tribe Homeschool Youth Group about?
Living Tribe Youth group is primarily about fun and friendship, but it is also about building important support networks around our children and young people at a crucial point in their lives. In term 3 of 2016 (July) we are starting our 2nd youth group in the Gold Coast, and are working to include parts of the national curriculum in to our group activities, from 5 years to 17 years. We work in a way that is fun and inclusive, with a heavy focus on games, friendship and support activities, but also including elements of; learning a second language, arts, english, geography, anthropology, sports, sociology and many other 'subjects' that contribute to their overall education.
|
3. Why does it matter that you are social workers/ youth workers?
Living Tribe Youth Group was started by 2 home educating parents who were also professional helpers, and saw a need in the wider Australian home educating community, for increased support, and an area where our young people needed help in building self confidence, healing from school-based trauma's and also to form meaningful friendships. Previous experience of the parents (and leaders) who run Living Tribe Homeschool Youth Groups include; teaching social work at university, working with refugees and refugee children, running domestic violence and family support groups, counselling young people in crisis, and working in youth shelter programs. All leaders of Living Tribe Homeschool Youth Groups have extensive experience in working to overcome adversity, advocating for the needs of others, working with young people to build self confidence, and facilitating young people to find their voice. We are also home educating parents (and one grandparent) and are personally invested in helping home educating families. |
|
4. What are the aims of the youth groups?
- building confidence
- forming a purposeful support network
- helping young people to overcome previous experiences of bullying and the anxiety that comes with that, by creating opportunities where they can meaningfully contribute and be supported by their peers
- encouraging and facilitating meaningful friendships
- Working with young people to develop conflict resolution skills
- Encouraging and facilitating leadership skills
- Helping our young people to set goals and to reach them
- Facilitating young people to find their voice, share their skills and be involved in different experiences
- building general communication skills
- learning Italian through fun games and play
|
5. My child just wants to play and make friends - is that all that they will be doing? Yes - and no! Yes, to your child or young person, it may feel like they are coming to group and just playing and making friends. This is a valuable thing! and something that we see positively. The other things, such as leadership and confidence-building, developing conflict resolution skills and forming support networks, are in the method of their interactions. Your young person will always be implicitly respected. They always have the right to decline to participate in activities, and the opportunity to create rules and contribute to the group. Your young person will always be asked their opinion and invited to give their feedback. Your children will be encouraged to voice concerns, share their skills, and communicate in ways that they feel most comfortable. |
|
6. My young person is really scared to go to groups and has not had good experiences in groups before - what can they expect?
Our older group in particular, is perfect for children and young people who feel that they do not fit in anywhere else.
This is because older children are more likely to have come out of the school system and need additional emotional support due to the complex issues around that.
We ask that you fill in a children's information form before coming along, and tell us as much as you can about the needs of your child. If they have experienced trauma or bullying before, please include relevant information about this and we will do our best to make them feel comfortable.
Our older group in particular, is perfect for children and young people who feel that they do not fit in anywhere else.
This is because older children are more likely to have come out of the school system and need additional emotional support due to the complex issues around that.
We ask that you fill in a children's information form before coming along, and tell us as much as you can about the needs of your child. If they have experienced trauma or bullying before, please include relevant information about this and we will do our best to make them feel comfortable.
|
Your young person (particularly in the older group) is always given the option to decline participation in activities - this is a very powerful way to build self-confidence and self-esteem, as children are given the power to choose their level of involvement, and by week 3 we have found that they will almost always choose to participate, all by themselves! Through gentle encouragement, and 'group rules' that ensure that all young people engage positively with each other in the group, young people recover from their nervousness, usually by week 2 or 3. Hang in there - we have an almost 100% success rate with very nervous children who can just hang in until week 3!
|
Our junior group is run by Miss Maria, a very experienced former TAFE teacher and community worker, with experience working with children and young people with diverse needs, in addition to refugees. Miss Maria is loved by our junior group and we find that our younger children very quickly feel at home in this group.
|
|
7. What kind of activities do you do?
In line with encouraging leadership skills and positive communication with our children, our children are involved in determining the activities from term to term. Our recent terms have included: - Learning Italian through play, songs, games and other activities (junior group) - Creating vision boards - Singing, playing guitar - Art classes - Basketball - Group games - Debates (participation completely optional - but lots of fun) - writing songs - making gratitude jars - Ditto Protective Behaviours show (junior group) - Healthy relationships workshop (senior group) |
|
8. How often is youth group? Mondays and Fridays!
Every week for 2.5 hours - but we are about to open our second homeschool youth group in the Gold Coast in the next month or so. So it will be twice weekly!
9. How much does it cost?
We try to keep the cost as low as possible, and with the support of volunatary helpers, we are able to keep it at $15 per session :-)
10. What day is it?
We are on a Friday morning at the moment, running over lunch time. We will also have a second group on a Monday morning.
11. Where is Living Tribe Homeschool Youth Group held?
We are held in a community centre in the Gold Coast - just email us for exact details!
Every week for 2.5 hours - but we are about to open our second homeschool youth group in the Gold Coast in the next month or so. So it will be twice weekly!
9. How much does it cost?
We try to keep the cost as low as possible, and with the support of volunatary helpers, we are able to keep it at $15 per session :-)
10. What day is it?
We are on a Friday morning at the moment, running over lunch time. We will also have a second group on a Monday morning.
11. Where is Living Tribe Homeschool Youth Group held?
We are held in a community centre in the Gold Coast - just email us for exact details!
|
12. Do we need to bring anything?
Yes! Food for lunch, a hat and drink bottle. Our older group often bring a pencil case with pencils, pens, glue and scissors (not essential - but good to have!). If you have any questions, please feel free to ask before joining us! |