It’s great that you want to be in a home school association! I agree with your decision 100% and urge you to invest in this kind of support. You are not alone.
I suggest that you first search online for an already-existing association in your area, as there may already be one right by you that you don’t know about. If you already know a few homeschool families that want to be part of a local homeschool association, you could create one with them first. Create your own mission statement, style, guidelines, etc. Then, merge with another group in your area, the bigger the better in my opinion.
If you just can’t seem to find a group that already exists in your area, don’t give up on this idea! You can definitely create one successfully(where there’s a will, there’s a way.) Make a website - it doesn’t have to be anything fancy - explaining what you want to start in your area. Be sure to include details about what it would be like(share books, socialize), information about yourself and your family so people can get to know you and trust you before they decide to talk with you about it, plus your contact information so if someone IS interested in starting this with you, they can let you know right away and get brainstorming. The benefit of having your own website is being able to be sought out and found by others. Most website hosts will let you tag your homepage with keywords. You could tag your site with “Plano,” “Texas,” “home school,” “create,” “group,” “association,” the name of your county and neighboring counties to you, etc. Once you’ve done this, people in Plano, Texas looking for a homeschool group that you may not have been connected with before can now search the internet for this cause and be directed right to you! These people will probably be your board members who help start the group by providing time, information, resources and funds to your group. Some board members will also specialize in certain areas; for example: you may want to direct a teen group because you have a teenager, and your co-creator may have a 7-year-old and choose to direct activities and academic gatherings for younger kids.
Also, remember this useful tip: churches are good places to go for homeschool support. Most churches believe in homeschooling core ideas. They also have classrooms and a nursery/playground that are vacant a few days a week that they are willing to lend to homeschoolers holding co-op classes. My homeschool association has a few different programs that hold academic and extracurricular classes one day a week at a church. Each program has a different type of curriculum and holds classes in a different sub-area for convenience. Classes are taught by homeschool moms in their area of expertise or paid professional instructors. This creates and awesome environment where homeschooled kids can go to make friends and have fun with other homeschooled kids their age, ones that you can trust. Plus, parents get together and share ideas, have curriculum sales, and things like that. It also gives your homeschool student a chance to learn in a class environment in moderation(one day a week as opposed to five.)
Also, local public schools are sometimes happy to hold homeschool programs. This year my homeschool association is teaming up with a local public school who will merge students to create sports teams, plus this public school is holding an exclusive weekly homeschool P.E. course throughout the year. And don’t forget that as long as you pay school tax, you are allowed to use the school’s textbooks and your child can try out for sports teams just like if they were going to that school. The school may act like they don’t want to let you, and if they do, you may have to present to them a copy of your state’s laws on the matter to get permission to use course material and extracurricular activities. I don’t do this, but it seems like it may be helpful to your situation.
Churches and public schools are just a few places to go for added support and activity, plus credibility for your association.
Check out. This is a site that exclusively hosts websites of homeschool associations by their leaders. is a website hosted by. This is the group I am in.
It just takes time for a homeschool group, like any group, to grow and even get started in the first place. There are probably lots of homeschoolers in your area that you don’t even know exist…YET. Reach out to them, because they’re probably all thinking what you are. If you really care about and work at giving your family this social and academic support during your homeschooling adventure, you will succeed somehow. You are already creating your life by homeschooling your daughter, why stop now? I believe there is unlimited potential where there are big and important ideas like yours - take advantage of it. People have already been creating these groups, and you can just as they have. I wish you the best of luck!!