The Alternative Learning Center (TALC) is a homeschooling community and cooperative based in Columbia County, New York. Our mission is to provide a forum in which people of all ages can share educational resources and knowledge; to organize and coordinate activities which further such sharing; to operate a program of activities for children and youth, using the resources of the community; and to encourage learning in its broadest sense.
Our membership includes approximately 30 families from Columbia, Berkshire, Greene, Ulster, Rensselaer, and surrounding counties. We meet twice a week at our facility, which has a gym, classrooms, a kitchen, playing fields, tennis courts, a playroom for toddlers, and an outdoor playground. The facility is wheelchair accessible. Our schedule is comprised of an autumn term and a spring term, each running approximately 12 weeks; we break for vacations and holidays according to the local public school calendar.
For More Information
If, after reading through the information on this website, you have any questions, please contact the Membership Coordinator at . (If you do not receive a response within a day or two, you can also contact ).
If you think you may be interested in joining TALC and would like to arrange a visit, please also contact the Membership Coordinator, as above.
If you are ready to sign up, please fill out the TALC Enrollment Form [.doc] and email it to the Membership Coordinator. We will then send you a current schedule and registration form to fill out. When you register, we will also sign you up to the TALC yahoo group email listserve (open to members only). At the yahoo group website, you will be able to access the registration materials, and other relevant files.
For information on the history of TALC, we recommend the book by founder Katharine Houk, Creating a Cooperative Learning Center: An Idea-Book for Homeschooling.
TALC is currently accepting new members.
This website was last updated January, 2009.