DUE TO THE COVID PANDEMIC,

WE WILL BE CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

School of the Minds, located in Irmo, S.C., is a leading homeschool support group committed to quality high-level secular education and to developing a dedicated inclusive homeschool community. Team Competitions, Project Fairs, Free Range Park Days, local and overnight Field Trips, and a Facebook Group Page encourage camaraderie among our homeschool families.

Our FREE homeschool co-op focuses on gifted kids and we welcome families from all different racial, religious, social, economic, and political backgrounds. We are a fearless and committed bunch: not afraid of having friends with different views and not afraid of difficult topics. We are dedicated and we are up for a challenge. We like to keep it small and have had a growing wait list.

This past school year, we continued to spread our student ideas through our project fairs and to provide the opportunity for our students to work in higher level tasks as a team. We competed in the following events: Odyssey of the Minds, SC Regional Science Olympiad, and TEAMS. We also re-focused on regular free-range park days, adult only socials, and around-the-world feasts for our families to bond better with each other. In the Fall, we had our own private nature walk with Rudy Mancke, donated bread as a group to Meals on Wheels, performed Christmas songs at retirement homes, and our local TEDEd Clubs students gave their final talks on stage. In the Spring, we concentrated on local quality private field trips for our co-op. We celebrate the end of the school year with a camping trip and two private ranger-led classes. In the past, we have built and donated two Little Free Libraries to a local park and market, some of our student speakers have been featured on TEDEd Clubs' playlists, and our teams have been awarded for various events at the Regional SC Science Olympiad.

We have discovered that our children’s projects flourish when they take the lead in pursuing their own passions. Not only do they find joy, self-motivation, and collaboration in their work, but their confidence also grows in sharing their knowledge with their friends and community. Today, School of the Minds distinguishes itself from other co-ops in the area in that it is less an “instructional” co-op but more an “interest” based homeschool center. Not only do our children discuss ideas with their peers, but we allow them access to converse with the community in which they live, and even with others worldwide.

Interested in School of the Minds? We are a FREE group, but require that our homeschool families maintain a high level of responsibility, diligence, devotion, and involvement in their education and our community. Our politically and religiously diverse families also vary in homeschool styles from unschoolers to very structured homeschoolers, but our camaraderie is unparalleled. Our children are a mix of asynchronous/ accelerated/ independent learners who enjoy delving deeply into their interests. Project based learning, unlike instructional learning, requires a different approach to education. There is much less explicit teaching coming from homeschool teachers in this co-op, but more exploration inspired directly from the children themselves. This project based learning makes learning at School of the Minds more meaningful to the children because we provide them with a space to share their interests with their peers and with a larger community. Unlike instructional based co-ops where learning ends at break time, you will find many of our students continue with their “work” even in discussions at home. If you think this is the right fit for you and your family, check out our schedule and join us!