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Ann Collins's avatar

I got to be part of a wildly creative scenius of several dozen families who homeschooled our kids back in the 90s and 2010s in a town in NC that had a great public school system. The reason this group of folks decided to homeschool was just simply because we wanted to spend more time with our kids as they grew up. And we all homeschooled in different ways, different philosophies (unschooling was common). Thursdays we would meet at a rotating local park all day. There was absolutely no agenda. The kids would play while we parents hung out together in a big circle of lawn chairs. A lot of the parents were writers and artists. We just hung out and sketched or talked or knitted. It was very relaxed and sort of tribal. The only requirement to be part of the group: Kindness. In fact, the group couldn’t even define itself-- we called ourselves “a fluid possibility.” The ideas that came from that scenius were endlessly creative. One 10 year old girl organized a big group of other kids to put on full Shakespeare plays every summer. Bands formed and still exist. When kind, creative people get together, something great it’s bound to happen. It’s inevitable like a virus or a snowflake, things just start sticking together.

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tania's avatar

tbh i have had a challenging time finding my scenius, finding any scenius - i live in hamilton ontario canada and there is the "cool kids" art group who have a thin outer shell of welcome hiding a concrete bunker of you can't play with us and a bunch of lone spirits (of which i am one) that occasionally bump off each other randomly but are yet to congeal into a mass (woo boy this is a mess of words but i hope someone will understand) - i crave a scenius and before anyone suggests i start a group i have tried that and honestly i need help and cannot manage this alone :(

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