Big Changes to HSChat on Twitter for 2011-12

I want to extend my thanks and gratitude for all of the folks who have been showing up on the 3rd Wednesday of every month for our homeschool chat. I think we’ve created a fantastic, welcoming space for homeschoolers of all stripes. I think we’ve had interesting discussions and I think I can safely say that we’ve all learned a great deal in the last nine months. As we’ve gotten our feet under us now, I think it’s time to make a few changes that, hopefully, most people are going to be happy with.

First, we’ve added one more host. Cara from Peanuts Are Evil aka @nolamom76 has agreed to join the hosting team and we’re looking forward to her contributions to this group as we move forward. Our other hosts are: Eryn Hearth to Heart aka @leighbra. She’s the one who manages the email reminders, so head over to her blog to sign up for those; Bobbi from My Little Soapbox aka @mylittlesoapbox who is our boy and gardening person, Kim It’s A Beautiful Wreck aka @beautifulwreck2 who is our outdoorsy veteran (if this group can be said to have a veteran homeschooler in it), and me, Beth, aka @adjunctmom, homeschooler by day and English professor by night . . . or something like that.

Second, we are changing the day that we have our Twitter chat. By popular request we are moving to Thursdays. Yes, Thursdays. Hopefully, this will make it easier for more of us to make the chats, which brings me to point number three.

Third, we are increasing the frequency of the chat. We will now be meeting every other week rather than once a month. We are all excited about this change and hope that y’all will enjoy more frequent support and discussion about topics of interest to homeschoolers.

Fourth, we are shortening the chat slightly. Instead of a two hour deal, we’ll now be running from 9p to 10:30p ET. We’ve found that there tends to be a great deal of attrition in the last half an hour and thought everyone might appreciate more frequent meet-ups of slightly less duration.

Fifth, I’m setting up some new features on my blog specifically focused on the chat. You’ll be able to find a schedule of upcoming topics, Links We Love posts following the chats so that we’re not all losing our minds trying to keep up with all the great information that gets thrown out during these chats. I will not be posting full archives of the chats, but will hopefully have the links to resources, products, etc., that are discussed. All of these elements will be linked by the hschat category. So if you click on the category, you’ll find all the relevant posts for the chat.

Finally, I want to make clear that this is an unaffiliated chat. We are not sponsored by anyone. If you’ve been attending, you’ve probably noticed we’re pretty free form. We’re just a group of homeschooling moms who badly needed a source of connection and found it through Twitter.

So, next HSChat on Twitter:

September 8, 2011
9p to 10:30p ET
Topic: Multi-Age Homeschool

We look forward to seeing you there and happy not back to school week!