Village Home Education Resource Center

This will be our second year at VH and what a wonderful resource it has been. Our child is taking classes she is interested in and learning from people who are passionate and committed. There are loads of field trips, events, as well as teams and clubs to become involved with. You will find engaging classes for younger learners, teens, and everyone else in between. They have created a positive environment where children can be lifted up and feel confident in who they are and who they aspire to be. After trying charter school, schooling on our own, we will look no further. Village Home has become our home.

Our children took VH classes in both locations – they vary widely in academic intensity, some really seem like little more than babysitting, and this is even in classes geared for Middle School aged kids (for example, in some classes there was no syllabus, homework, etc. and everyone – teacher included – just turned up to blather for an hour). In contrast other teachers, like Schmidt for Life Science, were rigorous and engaging. The VH focus is more on creating community rather than consistently offering academic instruction that develops crucial skills in communication, critical thinking, numeracy, etc. Nothing terribly wrong with that as long as you’re mindful that is what you are paying for and that you work to challenge your child academically in other ways.

We have been a VH family for a year now and all I can say is that it is a fantastic resource for families. Families may use it however they choose, just dropping in for one class, or taking as many classes as they’d like, showing up for field trips, discussion groups, or just to meet other people who are homeschooling. It is an inclusive and friendly place. I was petrified pulling my child out of school, but VH helped me through the process and was there in case I really needed anything. We are very big fans!

We’ve been Village Home members for 8 years now, and we cannot imagine our lives with it. My kids have all of their friends there, and so do I, as their mother. I have taught classes, and I’ve held board positions, and the yearly camp trips and other events are great highlights we always look forward to. We love Village Home and will be sticking around until the kids move on to college.

Village is great for families just getting started with homeschooling, for younger children like pre-​middle school age, and for unschoolers. But as your child gets older and wants/​needs more academic challenges, you won’t find that there for the most part. In their attempts to meet everyone’s homeschool philosophy, especially for older kids, you are left with the same mediocrity, weird policy, and annoying bureaucracy, though with a different face, than what you are trying to avoid with public school. But you are paying for it out of you pocket. In conclusion, it met our needs well when the kids were younger but has been mostly a waste of money since they’ve gotten older except for a couple classes that they do just for fun.

Village Home is a fantastic resource for home-​school families, or families that want supplemental education for their kids. The community is inclusive and friendly, and has a HUGE variety of families who are involved. Classes are flexible and very interest-​driven, in that they play really specifically to what the students’ are passionate about. There are specialists outside of the teaching staff [which includes a ton of parents] that are involved in the building as well… who can help meet the needs of children that might need some extra help [behaviorally, etc]. I have been involved in classes as well as field trips through Village Home, and have had a great experience overall. I would highly recommend that you check them out if you are interested in home-​schooling or additional classes for your child!

Between 3 children, I’ve experienced it all: private, public, & charter schools-​& not really «home schooling» but family directed schooling/​learning. All of my kids have required different educational needs, especially one particular out of the box kid that needed very engaging, high level, hands-​on learning in a small environment w/​small classes. Village Home provides that and much more. It is the most welcoming, inclusive feeling environment that I have ever experienced in my 40 plus years. The staff and members are accomplished, exceptional, contributing citizens to the Portland area community. IMO, the classes are similar to Saturday Academy, OMSI, & professional art studio and theatre classes… fun, exciting, hands-​on, and educational. The clubs & field trips are amazing and enriching too. It’s like a community college for
Pre-​K through 12^th… plus, parents can take classes too, such as cooking, parenting and takwondo!