If you are like me, you probably have a love-hate relationship with social media. It is a great way to keep in touch with people you wouldn’t normally talk to on a regular basis. Social media can also be a good source of information (sometimes). It can also be a time suck. And full of drama. There are things I like about social media, but sometimes it feels like something that serves no purpose except to weigh me down.
The good news is social media isn’t all bad! As a homeschool mom, it is important to utilize the resources we have at our disposal. Social media for homeschool, if used in the right ways, is one of those resources. Here are five ways for homeschool moms to utilize social media, without letting it suck the life out of you.
Find Local Facebook Groups for Homeschoolers
Local Facebook groups are the best way to find out about homeschooling in your area. You can read every blog, watch every homeschool related YouTube channel and memorize the HSLDA website, but none of these tools will give you a realistic picture of what homeschool really looks like in your local area.
Local Facebook groups are also an excellent way to find homeschool co-ops, field trips, and homeschool days that are local to you.
Curriculum Reviews
If you prefer short and to the point homeschool reviews, then social media is a great place to find those. These reviews definitely won’t be as in depth as a blog post or YouTube review, but if you want quick information and lot’s of photos you can find plenty of homeschool reviews on Facebook and Instagram. Here are some hashtags you can search to find homeschool curriculum reviews.
#homeschool #homeschoolreviews #homeschoolhelps #homeschoolmom #hsreviews
While you’re on Instagram, you can keep up with me over at myhsview.
Curriculum Enrichment Ideas
Pinterest is FULL of ideas to enrich any curriculum. Need video ideas to go along side your history curriculum? Pinterest has them. Want some free printables for extra math or grammar practice? Those are on there too. Now I realize that Pinterest is more of a search engine, but they are a social media wanna-be platform. A lot of what I do as a homeschool blogger is figure out how to optimize these resources, and Pinterest really wants to be social, so I will include them here.
You can also checkout my Pinterest boards. Feel free to give me a follow while you’re there. It makes Pinterest happy when I become more social.
More About Facebook Groups
I mentioned local groups earlier, so now I need to mention larger more general groups. These groups are excellent for curriculum advice, homeschool inspiration, and just general homeschool conversations.
Just a little side note about these groups. The homeschool landscape has changed since 2020 and I’m finding that there’s more and more drama in these groups. Don’t be afraid to leave a group that is not serving what you need. You’re a busy homeschool mom, you don’t have time for that kind of drama in your life.
Introducing Homeschool Helps
I am starting a brand new Facebook Group called Homeschool Helps. I will do an official launch at some point, but if you want to get in as a founding member of this group (I just made that up, there are no membership levels) then join me over in Homeschool Helps. I am hoping to build a supportive community where you can ask questions, and answer others’ questions. I will be available in that group to share my experience and answer questions as well.
Follow Curriculum Companies
If you guys want to be the first to know about sales and new curriculum, follow homeschool publishers on social media. The best platforms to follow publishers are Facebook and Instagram. Sometimes they will even answer your specific curriculum questions. This is a fun way to find out about shiny new curriculum releases too.
Follow My Social Channels
Since this is a post about social media, I would be remiss if I didn’t give a shameless plug for all of my platforms. So, you can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. You can also see some videos on my work-in-progress YouTube channel.
How do you like to utilize social media as a homeschool mom? Leave me a comment below or on my social media posts.