Answering your Questions on Transitioning to DICE
It’s a very busy time with lots of planning going on. Myself and our board members have been very busy working on fall classes, field trips, and events. I’m continuing to make small changes to the website. There are lots of questions being asked and we’re doing our best to keep up the answers.
New Website
I don’t know about you, but I am terrible with names and faces. I love being able to scroll through the member directory and easily see who is who in hopes it will stick when we meet in real life! I encourage new members to check out the Groups and Forums and feel free to start your own group or discussion. I started a discussion on Unit Studies asking for advice. Do you have favorite links, or any input that would be helpful? The forums are organized and searchable so we will have a catalog of collective knowledge. If anyone has questions or technical issues regarding the website please reach out to me so that I can assist (ssmith@dicemichigan.org)
Emailed Newsletter
Starting today, 8/30/22, members should be receiving a daily email at 5:00 pm with all recent posts (like this article). This does not include general activity on the members-only private social network, but all major news and announcements will be sent to you in a summary email at 5:00 daily. If you aren’t receiving emails from DICE (you should get one notifying you of this blog post), please check your junk folder. If you are consistently getting DICE emails delivered to your junk folder, please let me know (ssmith@dicemichigan.org) so that I can work with you and see if we can find a solution. There are so many email services and rules these days, it’s hard to make sure everything works right for everybody.
Are you on the Lansing Homeschoolers Facebook Group? You are welcome to join our group there, but it isn’t going to be the best place to get information about our group in the future. There’s always been a bit of confusion around our group because we didn’t have a separate in-person group name, we were just the Lansing Homeschoolers Facebook group and we welcomed everyone. While I have tried to give some history on our About page, I want to give some additional history because we have so many new families that have joined since 2020.
The Lansing Homeschoolers was created as a Yahoo Group by Ann Merrifield many years ago to provide an inclusive homeschool group to the Lansing area. When Facebook became popular, Ann created a Facebook Group for that group. When I organized DICE, it was because the leadership (and admins) on the Lansing Homeschoolers Facebook group no longer homeschooled because their children aged out or they moved away, as is common with homeschool leadership. It was never my intent to replace leadership as a person, but rather create a sustainable organization that could survive any future ups and downs like Covid threw us. I consulted with past leaders, and I gathered people, and I organized and now we have a pretty incredible organization in a short amount of time. If I moved away tomorrow, DICE would still be here, and that was my goal when I started. I wanted to extend what Ann had done such a beautiful job creating and make sure it was there for the remaining years that I homeschool and hope that it has the incredibly positive impact on other families as it did for myself.
To clarify any current confusion, The Facebook Group is moderated by DICE, however, it will continue to be a place where all homeschool opportunities that are inclusive to everyone regardless of educational philosophies and styles, religious or political preferences, ethnicity & race, marital status & family structure, physical development & mental health challenges, gender identity & expression, or sexual orientation can be shared. Facebook Group members are welcome to create their own events, plan their own field trips and share with the larger community regardless of their membership status with DICE.
Membership
Why membership? The last year has been complicated getting everything organized, but I want to keep it simple. This is a common topic that I am asked about. Last summer we did not know if the City of Lansing was going to let us run classes again, it was a big question mark with no answers. We looked into other venues but could not find a space to rent because of lack of insurance. Luckily for us, the City of Lansing was also going through their own transitions in the Parks and Rec Dept and we were eventually able to get the program set up with them. I had already started exploring the idea of a nonprofit, because who knows when the City of Lansing decides they’re going to use the space for something else? We don’t have control over that. Remember, my goal was a sustainable group that can last even when things change. Getting Foster classes up and running and managing the week to week is a lot of work. There were some things that I could make easier if we were a nonprofit and could do things a little differently, so I began the process. I gathered parents and teachers who had showed up and put in their time week after week teaching and we created a board.
As an organization we now have some fixed expenses, mostly in the form of liability insurance. We based our membership fee by determining how many families participated last year in classes and dividing our budget per family. We know that our membership will change and we know we are continuing to add programming so we felt it was safe to also offer a financial waiver for membership for families that it would create a financial burden for. Any funds that we receive beyond our expenses will go to give our organization a financial foundation and assist families through scholarships who may not be able to otherwise participate in paid offerings. We are a nonprofit, which means none of our board members our compensated beyond their roles as teachers and most board members will be waiving any compensation to teach to help further the cause of the organization. We are happy to answer any questions about Organization Finances and anyone is allowed to attend our Board Meetings.
While Foster Classes are very popular, I also want to clarify that membership is not just about Foster Classes. It’s about having access to our community where our members have been vetted as active local homeschoolers. The website will offer a layer of privacy to our group and most importantly make communication consistent and not up to Facebook to determine what it shows the audience. In that communication you will receive updates on all upcoming events, field trips, fairs, etc. The website allows us to create small groups and have forums so that information can be easily found for future members.
Membership may not guarantee that you will get a seat in a specific class at Foster. Some of our classes filled up last year and while we make every effort to accomodate and expand based on our population, it is a process and there will be times when we are limited by just not having enough space or enough teachers to accomodate every single participant every hour. When this happens, the free time in the community room or on the playground with other kids that aren’t in class can be just as valuable. We have a thriving community because we have amazing people in it.
Lastly, Membership will never be used to exclude people. If you are interested in membership please come to one of our upcoming events and meet us. We’re happy to answer any questions you might have. If you can’t make it to an event or you decide later in the year that you are interested, just let us know, we are happy to let you know when our next event/activity is and give you an opportunity to meet with us before deciding to join.
What’s Next? Upcoming Events!
Visit our Events Calendar for a full list of events.
8/30 is a Park Day at the Scenic Lake Neighborhood Park and Beach, RSVP is recommended as there is limited parking so we want to make sure we have alternative options for parking if the group size gets large.
9/6 is the Tuesday after Labor Day and there is currently no Park Day scheduled. If anyone is interested in hosting one that day we are happy to put it on the calendar, just email events@dicemichigan.org and let us know.
9/13 is the Not Back to School Carnival.
9/20 Fall Classes at Foster Community Center start.