Our Mission:
LEARN provides respectful and inclusive secular support, activities, and resources for homeschooling families in the Greater Kansas City region.
LEARN’s Values:
LEARN is a secular (non religious) homeschool community whose unifying purpose is to support and encourage each other on our homeschool journey.
We value the diverse identities of our members and families.
We are committed to creating and nurturing an inclusive, diverse, and affirming homeschool community for every student and family, regardless of nation of origin, race, immigration status, religious affiliation (all faith/non-faith belief systems), disability status, or LGBTQIA+ identity.
We value community, connection, and belonging.
We encourage our community through affirming actions, language and service.
We value service to community.
We consider service the foundation of our LEARN community. Each member’s volunteer contributions are essential to build our community.
We strive to be anti-racist.
We acknowledge that racism can be unconscious or unintentional, and that identifying racism as an issue does not automatically mean those involved in the act are racist or intend the negative impact. As an anti-racism organization we vow to purposefully identify, discuss, and challenge issues of racism and their impacts on our organization, its systems, and its people.
We hold the expectation that all participants in LEARN will fully affirm the gender and sexual identities of our LGBTQIA+ members.
We strive to be anti-homo/bi/transphobic and to use affirming language around gender identity, such as always using persons’ preferred pronouns. We know mistakes might be made unintentionally, but we will purposefully call in opportunities for education.
We value accountability to self and to community.
We challenge ourselves and each other to understand and correct any inequities we may discover and gain a better understanding of ourselves during this purposeful process. Should a member experience inequity that cannot be resolved through discussion, we encourage reporting to the LEARN board or to a LEARN Community Ambassador.
History
1995 January – LEARN Homeschool Support Group was formed when Kriss Miller, Kelly Wilson, Seneca Gilbreath, and members of the now defunct Midtown Homeschool Group organized a group for families seeking to educate their children at home for non-religious reasons. The group served approximately 10 families at its inception. Although Seneca’s family’s needs changed, Kelly and Kriss continued to oversee the growth and expansion of LEARN, eventually growing to serve over 250 families.
Many activities were offered but a favorite was unProm, an annual theme-based family masquerade ball.*
*2003 Once UnProm A Time – Storybook Theme
2004 Wild, Wild, West – Western Theme
2009 The Power of Myth – Mythology Theme
2010 2010: a Reel Odyssey – Movie Theme
2011 It’s About Time – Time Theme
2012 The Game of Life – Game Theme
2004, over Memorial Day weekend – LEARN produced LEARNapalooza, a regional homeschool conference for secular homeschooling families, at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in downtown Kansas City.
2007 Kriss Miller, Jessica Mattingly, and Cheryl Westra reformed the group as LEARN Home Education Network with an active teen group co-coordinated by Carolyn Pajor.
2008 KC-CIRCLE began as a group of families practicing attachment parenting principles offering organized activities for each other.
2014 August – under the KC-CIRCLE leadership of Mandy O’Brien and Dionna Ford, KC-CIRCLE officially became part of LEARN Home Education Network.
LEARN continues to expand to meet the needs of the secular homeschooling community by providing a variety of activities, including group classes at two locations and virtually, Teen Dances, Class co-ops, holiday parties, an annual picnic/reunion and much more.
We appreciate the vision and dedication of the founders and volunteers who created and sustained LEARN in the past. Volunteer Board Members now manage the day to day business of the group.
Nondiscrimination Policy
LEARN does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, irreligion/religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability, marital status, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. These activities include, but are not limited to, selection of volunteers and vendors and provision of services. We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all participants in LEARN.
L.E.A.R.N. 