About Us

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As a homeschool group, the Encounter Homeschoolers Co-op desires to come alongside students, helping them grow in mind, body, and spirit through relationships, caring and safe mentors, and fun activities and learning environments. The Homeschool Co-op is formed from principles found in the Christian faith, starting with a belief in Jesus. Regardless of your faith or non-faith background, we welcome students to participate because every child is important and deserves an environment that provides respect, safety, and value.

If you get a notification that a group is now waitlisted, please fill in the form for your child as we often get cancellations before the school year starts and sometimes within the first month as well.

There will be five age groupings for the 2025-2026 program year:

• Preschool-Kindergarten
• Grade 1-2
• Grade 3-4
• Grade 5-6
• Grade 7-12

Adjustments to these groups will be based on enrolment. 

The Encounter Homeschoolers Co-op seeks to provide a supportive and engaging community for homeschooling families, guided by principles found in the Christian faith. We aim to foster excellence, character development, and spiritual growth in a caring, welcoming, and safe environment.

Our mission is to empower homeschooling families by offering a wide range of resources, opportunities for a caring community, and opportunities for personal growth. Through collaboration and mentorship, we aim to equip kids with the knowledge, skills, and values necessary to thrive in a group and personally.

The Encounter Homeschoolers Co-op would operate in alignment with:

• Heartland’s vision and values (click here).
• Christian and Missionary Alliance statement of faith and core values (click here).

The co-op will meet weekly on Friday mornings from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm, starting in September 2025 and continuing until the end of May 2026.  Early drop off starts at 8:45am and class begins promptly at 9:00am.

Our program is designed for parents to be able to drop off their kids for the morning.  There are opportunities to be added to a parent volunteer rotation throughout the year, but this is not mandatory. Parent volunteers must complete the necessary training and Criminal Record Checks before being added to the volunteer rotation. We ask that other arrangements for care be made for small children on volunteer days.

The cost per child will be $350 for the year.

The cost will include:

• Supplies and materials needed for Friday morning co-op activities (i.e., pens, pencils, paper, photocopying, laminating, art and craft supplies, garden project, etc.). 
• Staff costs.
• Guest speaker honorarium and certificate programs 
• Group snacks.
• Events (i.e. Parent orientation, Christmas event, year-end, etc.).

The cost does not include:

• Larger items that might be required for some group activities, like instruments for a music activity.
• Field trips. Depending on the field trip, families who choose to attend might have to pay an additional fee to attend.

We use Team Snap for all of our payments.

It is setup for payments by credit card or etransfer.  The payments listed below are per child.

If you pay with a credit card there are 5 installments ($100 initial deposit and the remaining as equal monthly installments completed by the end of September) 

If you would like to pay by etransfer the money can be sent to register@encounterhomeschoolers.ca ($100 initial deposit on April 1, Payment #2: $150 by August 31, 2025 and Payment #3: $100 by September 30, 2025) 

At Encounter Homeschoolers, we understand that circumstances can change, and we aim to provide a fair refund policy while ensuring the sustainability of our program. Below is our refund policy for the 2025-2026 program year:

1. Full Refund Deadline:
   • If a participant withdraws from the program on or before June 30, 2025, a full refund of any payments made will be issued minus a $15 administration fee and Team Snap processing fees.

1. Partial Refund Deadlines:
   • If a participant withdraws after August 31, 2025 but before September 30, 2025, we will retain $100 of the program fee and refund the remaining balance.
   • If a participant withdraws after September 30, 2025 but prior to December 31, 2025, we will retain $200 of the program fee and refund $150.

1. No Refund Deadline:
   • If a participant withdraws after December 31, 2025, no refunds will be issued.

1. Payment Plan Adjustments:
   • For those on the installment payment plan, refunds will reflect the amounts paid to date, based on the above schedule. Any unpaid installments forfeit eligibility for refunds.

1. Processing Time:
   • Refunds will be processed within 30 days of receiving a formal withdrawal request.

If you have any questions about this policy or need to discuss your circumstances, please contact the Encounter Homeschoolers administration. We appreciate your understanding and support of our program.