Our Mission
The Rochester Area Homeschoolers Association is a welcoming community of homeschooling families dedicated to supporting one another in our common commitment to learning without schooling.
Our Vision
Life-long learning with the freedom to foster our children’s growth through child-led learning that is centered in the home and reaches out to explore the world around us.
Our Core Values
Diversity: We are an inclusive community that gathers together for philosophical rather than religious reasons, therefore we welcome families of all backgrounds who share our vision.
Child-led learning: We are deeply devoted to our children and empower them to discover and explore their uniqueness. We encourage children and parents alike to choose curiosity, wonder, and choice as a basis for learning. We choose not to conform to strict curricula with rigid timetables and excessive standardized testing. We encourage the interests of our children beyond arbitrary limitations such as grade levels and age appropriateness, understanding that children themselves lead their own best course of personal development supported by their families.
Community as resource: We provide the space for our membership to share observations, experiences, expertise, and opinions. Our community creates additional resources through member-developed learning opportunities such as demonstrations, campouts, potlucks, workshops, planned tours, performances, community service, etc.
Securing the Future: We believe that over-regulation disempowers unschooling families. In order to ensure our freedom to learn without schooling, we advocate, lobby, and network to support our members.