Parent Support Groups

BRIDGES

Sharing ideas

BRIDGES-Maple Valley is a support group open to parents and caregivers raising children in the Maple Valley area with health, learning and/or developmental differences.  The meetings are a supportive and confidential place to share ideas for coping with the ongoing struggles of raising and educating our children.  Topics include: writing better IEPs (Individual Education Plans) and 504s (Accommodation plans), special education law, managing behavior, finding resources, etc.  We sometimes have guest speakers, but most often simply share our hard-won knowledge and experience with each other.   Meetings are held monthly on the second Monday of each month during the school year.

Though we are not connected to the Tahoma School district, the TSD Special Services Department contains valuable information about the district and its programs, the Special Education Parent Advisory Committee (SEPAC), and links to State and County resources.

Home School Support

Maple Valley Homeschoolers

Are you considering homeschooling?  Does your child continue to struggle at school?  Is your little one just not ready to deal with crowds of children in a public school situation? Perhaps your family situation or business would allow you to travel often, and you want everyone to enjoy the opportunity. Have you heard so many wonderful things about homeschooling that you just want to see what it’s all about? Families decide to homeschool for all sorts of reasons, and then often continue homeschooling simply because of the freedom and they like the affect it's had on their children and family life.

How does homeschooling work? Homeschooling is different for every family. At one end of the spectrum, there are families who take a child's curiosity and interest in a topic and in a relaxed way help the child explore the topic. Some families use a variety of resources outside their home including co-ops and on-line learning. There are also families who buy all of the books and follow the state curriculum just like a normal school would. The material is simply taught at home in a smaller setting. Each family is free to choose what works best for them.  A review of our state's homeschool law at Washington State Homeschool Organization (WHO) is helpful. It specifies how parents are qualified, what annual requirements the state has for homeschoolers, removing children from school, de-schooling, etc. 

What are the benefits of homeschooling? Benefits of homeschooling include the freedom to make your own choices about what and how your children learn; being able to go out into the world together to see and learn from fascinating historical places and museums; freedom to allow your child to learn in-depth; not having to set a project or a book aside because a bell rang; going at your child’s own pace because the goal is learning, not keeping-up; and providing positive and appropriate socialization with peers and adults and has a positive effect on relationships with siblings.

Where do I start? Your local homeschool support group, Maple Valley Homeschoolers, meets the 2nd Tuesday of each month at the Maple Valley Community Center. Contact Cathy Hilde at 425-413-1609 for information.

Resources

• Homeschool Support  Association (HSA)
• Washington State Homeschool Organization (WHO) - Important information for new homeschoolers, including information on the law for homeschooling, annual convention information, and links to parent groups.
• Russell Ridge Center - Tahoma School District’s parent partner program
• But what about socialization? - Great articles about homeschooling and socialization
• Beginning to homeschool - Articles about homeschooling and socialization

FunQuest

Activities for special needs children

Our goal at Maple Valley Community Center is to provide a fun and wholesome activity time for special needs children ages 5 to 10. We hope to fill a need in the community by providing a 3 hour time on Saturday once a month where the ConQuest boys will organize games and build friendships with local special needs children. When parents meet our club youth and feel comfortable, they are welcome to utilize this time as a respite. We will always have at least two adults working with the youth and supervising.

ConQuest Catholic Boys Club meets every week in Maple Valley and consists of about 30 youth with adult mentors representing multiple parishes in south King County. ConQuest is based on Catholic principles of spiritual development and provides this club for ages 10 to 16. Its programs are designed to instill virtue, develop character and encourage spiritual growth, while offering its participants challenging physical, intellectual and spiritual activities within an atmosphere of adventure. Please visit Conquest Clubs for more information. The Down Syndrome Community website has the link for Yahoo Groups of families with down syndrome children.

Fostering Together

Learn about foster care

Come and learn about becoming a foster parent and helping our community's most vulnerable children. Meet with local foster parents. Local licensors for our area will be here to answer any licensing questions.

For additional information about this community information night, please contact Ellen at 206-437-2488.

Visit Fostering Together for more foster care resources.