Getting Back to Homeschool

The buzz of giddy children filled Triunfo Community Park on Tuesday at 1 p.m. Elsewhere at that time, school was in session. But on the grassy field and jungle gym here in Westlake Village, the Conejo Valley Homeschoolers were making friends on their first park day of the new academic year.

The all-volunteer homeschool support group was created in 1997 by Sandra Katz, a Westlake Village mother of three, and is now in its 14th year. What started off with 30 families has grown into a community of about 104 families. Approximately 100 homeschoolers and between 50 and 60 parents from West Hills to Simi Valley attend any given Park Day, according to Katz.

Members have the opportunity to participate in field trips, enrichment classes and clubs—all "purely social," Katz said. Park day, which meets from 1 to 4 p.m. every Tuesday, is just one of the many events for homeschoolers of all ages to come together.