For Homeschool Hall, this week’s main focus has been on the Directory, and it’s progressing really well. The functionality is SO CLOSE!!! We’re hoping to make it super easy to find homeschooling co-ops, sports teams, tutors, curriculum stores, clubs, and more! Here’s a sneak peek of the progress so far:
We initially thought we’d do a map-based directory, but there was some difficulty getting the map to behave. Since a number of listings won’t have a specific street address so much as an area they serve, we switched from a map to using a filterable list instead. Gotta adapt where it makes sense.
The Work Begins to Get Listings
To make the Homeschool Directory useful, we need listings, and if it were easy to get them, we wouldn’t need to build this in the first place, lol. So there’s a challenge, but we’re up for it. Would you want to be listed? You can fill out the form here by clicking the “Create My Free Listing Button”.
While we’re so new, we’re trying to get folks familiar with Homeschool Hall and how we’re trying to help bring a much-needed resource for the homeschool community, so we’ll be upping our efforts on social media and building up the blog, as well. It’s a lot to do—especially when you are not taking on investors—but God is faithful, and this is a worthy effort. I often work on the platform until 3am or later, and it keeps me motivated to remember how much better the homeschooling experience will be for so many people with a tool like Homeschool Hall.
A lot of the effort in trying to get listings so far has meant I’m also on the phone with sports teams, co-ops/communities, tutors, etc. to explain what we’re building and ask if they’d like to be listed. So far the response has been great, but it all does take some time.
I’m hopeful that by mid- to late-April, we’ll have 30-50 listings for the Springfield, MO area. And we’ll expand from there to surrounding areas to eventually become a nationwide resource for finding all things homeschool-related.
Would You Like to Help?
If you are interested in helping in any capacity, we’d appreciate it! Right now our primary needs are:
- Help spread the word! If you’re a homeschooler, chances are you know other homeschoolers (Facebook groups, from your communities, etc.), and we would so appreciate sharing a link to our website to help get the word out.
- We need to fill the Homeschool Directory. We’ve got a head-start from some lists out there (special thank you to Families for Home Education!), but we know these are nowhere near comprehensive. We want the tool to be useful, so if you run a group, team, co-op, club, etc., please fill out the form on our website to get listed. Also, if you have a business or do freelance work that has a significant focus around serving homeschoolers, we want you listed as well!
Bonus: Sometimes You Have to Take a Step Back!
It’s been a busy week, for sure. Kristina and I are gearing up for a trip up to St. Charles, MO for The Great Homeschool Convention, and I’m still running a full-time web agency while building Homeschool Hall.
We’re very excited, and we’ve needed a getaway as a couple for a while, so it’ll be lovely to spend some time together out of our routine and also get a head start on our planning for next school year.
Isn’t it easy to not realize how busy you’ve become? This past week was one in which I had to make some hard decisions and close a few doors that were simply taking up too much of my time. I had to make a hard call to let one of my clients go that was taking up a lot of my focus, which I thought would feel difficult but ended up immediately lifting a huge burden!
Sometimes it really pays off to take a step back and ask yourself, “Am I too busy? What can I cut out of my schedule that’s providing very little benefit and causing a lot of stress?”
Making this big change means I now have about 20 hours/week of additional time to devote to Homeschool Hall, so I’m stoked for that!
My desire is to build something that relieves a lot of stress and that feeling of being lost and confused (esp. for newer homeschoolers), and it’s worth the effort. I’m hoping you find it useful, as well, and I’m really looking forward to continuing to chug away and get an initial release with the Directory very soon!
Thank you for reading, and I’ll make another update next week.
