Butterflies and Beginnings: Our First Homeschool Herd Gathering

Starting something new is always a little scary.

Is this an offering others are interested in?

Will families find value in it?

Life is crazy right now—could this bring a moment of calm and joy to someone’s day?

We’ve built Farm Camp into something we’re incredibly proud of, and it’s been so successful, but would that translate to a new program?

So many questions. So much doubt.

Then we launched Homeschool Herd, and the response was amazing!

So many of our Farm Camp families who homeschool signed up and encouraged friends from their homeschool communities to join them. Others happened to see a post on social media and, I guess, thought, “These people look legit.”

We were so excited to see the registrations coming in. Some familiar names. So many new ones. Families who already knew us and families who were trusting us for the very first time.

And then came Thursday morning of our first gathering.

Homeschool Herd is just a 90 minute offering, Farm Camp runs for four days, four hours each day, but I swear I went through our plan for Herd and supplies list at least 20 times to make sure we hadn’t forgotten anything. As our two staff members arrived, all three of us admitted that we had some butterflies. One part of our brains told us this was silly. We’ve welcomed plenty of children to the farm! We know how to do this! And yet, here we were - Beginning something new, hoping it would be what these families were looking for.

Then the cars started pulling in.

Some kiddos ran over for hugs with a familiar “Hey, Farmer Sarah!” Others approached the check-in table a little more cautiously, not quite sure what their parents had signed them up for.

Our plan for the morning was simple: introduce ourselves, get to know one another, tour the farm, and meet the animals. Afterward, we invited our herd to create story rocks, painting the story of their own farm onto their rocks. Some chose to paint. Others chose to play in the sensory bin. And that freedom to choose was part of what we had hoped to offer.

Homeschool Herd has such a different feel from Farm Camp, which is exactly what we wanted. We’re still here on the farm, surrounded by animals and opportunities to learn, but we’ve intentionally made room for more child-led exploration and open-ended activities. There are invitations to participate, with space for children to follow their interests. We have a plan for our time together, with room for curiosity and choice.

Honestly, it’s the kind of opportunity we look for as a homeschool family ourselves. A place to explore, learn, and connect with others, where there’s room to meet children where they are that day. It was beautiful to see that feeling resonate with other families, too.

One of my favorite parts of the morning happened at the end, as parents stood chatting with one another. We had spent so much time thinking about what we hoped to offer the children, but seeing those conversations was a beautiful reminder that the community being built here can be for their parents as well. The grown-ups need connection too, a chance to talk, share, and get to know the people walking a similar path.

Once everyone had left, our two staff members and I sat down together, and we seriously couldn’t stop smiling.

It. Was. Amazing!

All those questions and all that preparation had brought us to a morning we were so thankful to have shared. We got to welcome familiar faces, begin getting to know new families, and see this idea become something real.

Looking back, I’m grateful for the butterflies. I’m thankful for the nerves that come before something new. I really do think they help me slow down, think things through, and make sure I’m ready.

And as I go over our plan for our second gathering next week, I’m still checking the supplies list multiple times, still thinking through every minute of the time we’ll have together, only this time, alongside those butterflies, there’s an eager excitement to welcome our herd back to the farm. To every family who joined us, shared our information, encouraged a friend, or trusted us with something new: thank you. We’re so glad you’re here, and we can’t wait to keep learning and growing together.