VISITORS TOURED the site for a proposed Homeschool Resource Center, a project of the organization Firmly Planted Family, in Battle Ground Village at an open house on July 29.
JANE LAMBERT, of Kansas City, shared a design for the Homeschool Resource Center proposed by non-profit Firmly Planted Family, which would be built in three vacant buildings in Battle Ground Village. Lambert is a board member of the organization and was in town for the event.
REFRESHMENTS WERE served by homeschool students (from left) Calvin Frakes, age 15, of Vancouver, Genna Sobottke, age 14, of Vancouver, and Ceara McKinley, age 15, of Ridgefield, at a July 29 open house for the proposed Homeschool Resource Center in Battle Ground Village.
AT A JULY 29 open house, Heidi St. John, of Battle Ground, explained the vision for a Homeschool Resource Center which she and her husband, Jay St. John, propose establishing in Battle Ground Village through their 501c3 organization Firmly Planted Family.
Battle Ground residents Jay and Heidi St. John have a vision for a vacant corner of Battle Ground Village as a bustling hub of activity for homeschooling families from around the region. On July 29, the St. Johns opened up the three vacant buildings where they hope to house their proposed homeschool resource center and share their dream.
Leaders and advocates for faith-based homeschooling families since 2000, the St. Johns see a need for a broad-based resource center to support families in educating their children. The center they envision would provide curricula, community, and classes for participants, through their 503c3 organization Firmly Planted Family.
Building a supportive community for homeschooling has been a job and a passion for the St. Johns for almost 20 years, since they began homeschooling their own seven children.
Schooling for their family now takes place at home, on the road, and in cooperative groups with other like-minded families. But it didn’t start out that way, Heidi said.
Their oldest daughter, Savannah, started out enrolled in a public school, right on schedule. Heidi knew some parents who schooled their children at home, but she didn’t think it was for her. “I didn’t think I could do it; I didn’t think I had the patience for it,” she said.
But when it was time for their second daughter to start school, they found she had missed the birth date cutoff for kindergarten and would have to wait another year.
Their daughter was so sad, Heidi said; she wanted to learn like she saw her older sister doing. So Heidi visited a homeschooling resource store in Oregon and bought a book called Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.
She spent 20 minutes each day helping her daughter with a reading lesson, and realized she was learning, and she was flourishing. Heidi saw that she could, indeed, teach her own child, she said.
Once their daughter had a good start on reading, she moved on to writing, and then math.
“I could teach her in one and a half hours what takes 7 hours in school,” said Heidi.
Soon after, Heidi and Jay withdrew their oldest daughter from public school and became a homeschooling family.
“Homeschooling wasn’t planned, but our family life is richer for it,” said St. John.
Now the St. Johns have a passion for encouraging other homeschooling families.
Heidi writes a blog at www.thebusymom.com, has written four books, and travels the country as a speaker. Jay spent most of his working life as a minister. In 2000 they formed First Class Homeschool Ministries, which helped over 50 homeschool co-ops begin in the United States, Canada, and Europe.
In early 2013 they changed the name to Firmly Planted Family and expanded their focus to faith-based support, retreats and conferences for families.
The proposed homeschool resource center is an outgrowth of Firmly Planted Family, said Heidi. Wanting to find a way to create resources for homeschooling that were more permanent and broader in scope than a cooperative, she started talking about her vision of a resource center.
A supporter pledged some initial seed money, and for her, Heidi said, that gave her faith to proceed with the vision which she had held for a long time.
LSW Architects has created a design for carving classrooms, a gathering space, a commercial kitchen, a bookstore for learning materials, an art room, and early learning classrooms from the spaces.
Heidi estimates the cost of acquiring and constructing spaces in the three buildings in Battle Ground Village at around $3 million. “We need people with deep pockets to help us make this a reality,” she said.
But she emphasizes the benefits of the center for not just the families served, but for the community. “It will revitalize Battle Ground Village,” she said. “It will bring hundreds of families to the center, 5 days a week.”
For more information, email info@firmlyplantedfamily.org, or call 360-687-5433.
