302: Learning Circles
Part book group, part girls’-night-out--every mom needs a Learning Circle! We help you set up your group and provide excellent articles, discussion questions, and assignments to help you enjoy powerful and fun monthly conversations.
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Product Description
According to a recent study, "joining a meaningful group that meets just once a month produces the same happiness gain as doubling your income" (New York Times, David Brooks, March 29, 2010).
You can get lifetime access to all the materials you need to start and run your own amazing Learning Circle for just $37.
What is a Power of Moms Learning Circle?
- part girls' night out (with a meaningful purpose - in addition to having a great time)
- part book group (with a lot less pages to read...yep, you can complete the reading for each month in about 30 minutes)
- part support group (we all need more opportunities to learn from, encourage, and even sometimes commiserate with other moms)
- part motherhood course (because you deserve a monthly class to help you grow yourself, build your fellow mothers, and shape the future that starts right in your own home)
A Learning Circle involves 4-10 mothers who who gather every month to discuss their monthly reading assignment (a short but powerful article we provide) and support each other as they learn and grow together as moms and as women.
Your Lifetime Learning Circle Membership provides you with:
- step-by-step instructions to start up and run a very fun and effective group
- 36 thought-provoking articles to cover Learning Circle gatherings for THREE YEARS (then you can repeat!)
- great discussion questions and simple assignments to go with each month's reading assignment
Topics
While we offer many wonderful articles to all website visitors, the Learning Circle articles are reserved only for Learning Circle Members. These articles are a little longer and more in-depth than our regular daily posts and offer great examples, stories, practical ideas, discussion questions, and group assignments.
Following is the list of topics--including one sample article. Click on the June article to an example of the reading assignments, discussion questions and assignments we provide for each month.
January: The Power of Acceptance
February: The Power of Love
March: The Power of Patience
April: The Power of Individuality
May: The Power of Intention
June: The Power of Progress - Underneath the thousands of things you have to do or should do are the things that you were meant to do. This powerful meeting will help you stop underestimating your own power and enable you to really move towards your dreams in your personal and family life.
Click here to receive your sample Learning Circle article, "Defying Gravity", complete with discussion questions and take-home assignments!
July: The Power of Balance
August: The Power of Priorities
September: The Power of Organization
October: The Power of Fun
November: The Power of Optimism (and Gratitude)
December: The Power of Moments
The incredible Learning Circle program, available only through Power of Moms, will offer you the support, ideas and fun you need in your life as a mom.
If you'd like to hear one mom's experience, click here to listen to a conversation between April Perry and Learning Circle Leader, Danielle Monson.
To learn about another mom's experience as featured on the KSL TV show, Studio 5, click the image below, and you'll be taken to a video player page (just close that browser window when you're done, so you can come back here):
We'd love to have you join us as a Learning Circle Leader or Member! Read through the following information for more details--or if you're ready to get started, you can scroll to the top or bottom of this page to pay your lifetime Learning Circle membership fee and get things rolling.
How do I pay my dues to join an existing Learning Circle I've been invited to attend?
Simply scroll to the top of this page and add a Learning Circles membership to your cart. Once your purchase is complete, you will receive an activation link that will enable you to access all of your member materials online at Power of Moms.
How do I start up and run my own Learning Circle?
1. Purchase Your Learning Circle Membership
Once you've made your payment in this shopping cart, you'll receive an activation link by email that will enable you to have immediate, lifetime access to all our Power of Moms Learning Circle Materials. These include the following:
- The Learning Circle Start-Up Kit: Detailed information, guidelines, and tips on how to set up and run a very successful, fun group. Also includes samples/templates for invitations, member organization, and e-mail reminders.
- The Learning Circle Year I, Year II, and Year III Online Manuals: Three years' worth of excellent, thought-provoking articles that each member of the group reads prior to your monthly meeting, as well as discussion questions, and simple take-home assignments to go with each article. (For a sneak peek at one of our Learning Circle articles complete with discussion questions and guidelines, click here.)
You'll simply start with the material for the month when you start your group and then proceed with the rest of Year I followed by Year II and Year III. Then you can start again with Year I and read the articles you read three years ago with a different set of eyes when you're in a new phase of mothering! (You may choose to skip around, but the topics are generally assigned to match the times of year and holidays quite nicely.)
2. Start up your group.
- With help from the guidelines in the Start-up Kit, create a list of mothers who you think would really enjoy this monthly gathering and support. Use the email template provided to easily invite them to be part of your Learning Circle.
Using our guidelines and the email template in the Learning Circle Start-Up Kit, set up a regular time to get together (i.e. third Tuesday of the month at 9pm when all the kids are in bed!)
- Have each participant come to this page to purchase her lifetime membership fee. Once members are registered, they'll have access to all the articles they need. Membership fees enable us to run this program and help ensure that participants will be committed.
3. Hold your Monthly Circle Gatherings.
Rotate holding your monthly meetings at different Circle members’ homes, meet in your home each time if you want, or hold your meetings at a restaurant or other public place. Many groups enjoy cooking for each other and making each month’s meeting into a dinner party. Others enjoy rotating who brings some tasty dessert each time. Food always helps!
4. Keep things rolling with email reminders.
About a week in advance of your meeting, you'll want to remind everyone of the time and place and specify which article they should be reading to prepare for your discussion (using email templates provided or a Facebook group you set up for your Circle).
5. Connect, support, learn, and have fun.
Laugh, eat, relax, and enjoy learning from other mothers who will become dear friends. This will be a monthly "shot in the arm" that will make a huge difference in your life!
What are Learning Circle members saying about their experience?
Here are some quotes we've received about Learning Circles (plus a few photos sent in by Learning Circle Leaders):
"Our first Learning Circle gathering last night was amazing beyond description. I am still in a state of shock at how incredibly wonderful our experience was. We had 13 women who returned home as changed individuals, able to more effectively love their children and embrace their role as mothers."
"The Learning Circle Start-Up Manual made it SO easy to set up my group. I think you've done a really great job at thoroughly explaining everything in great detail so that anyone could read the kit and go from there. It seems you have covered every possible question a Learning Circle Leader would have."
"In the Start-Up Kit, I love that you spelled out some 'ground rules' for our group to use so that they didn't have to just come from me - when the rules come from another source, it's just easier. It's so nice to have all these 'tried and true' instructions put together for us."
"We've only been doing our Learning Circle for a couple months but already, I can see that I've made lifelong friends."
In an email to her Learning Circle group: "I want to thank you all for a great discussion last night. I felt renewed by the ideas you shared, grounded in truth - and I came home with some hopeful inspiration. Thank you for being a safe place that filled me up last night. Our Learning Circle has become one of the great joys in my life."
"The topics and articles offered by Learning Circles have been so perfect for all of the women in our group - even though we're all very different and have children at slightly different stages. I love how you've created topics that ALL moms need."
"I loved having a specific place and time to discuss the issues that are most important to me as a mom. My world is so full of 'baby talk' and 'small talk,' but this Learning Circle gave me the chance to really connect with other moms and learn that I am not alone!"
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How would I find moms to be in my Learning Circle?
A: It really only takes a few mothers to create a wonderful Learning Circle. You invite a couple of moms, and they can each think of a couple of other moms--and you're all set! Our Learning Circle Start-Up Kit has suggestions for how to find moms who would be interested in your Learning Circle. Chances are that even if you don't currently have a group of "mom friends," there are many mothers around you who are looking for just this sort of thing.
Q: Do I need any kind of special experience to be a successful Learning Circle Leader?
A: No. While it is certainly helpful to have some experience teaching, training, or leading other groups, we've put together detailed instructions and ideas that can help any mother create a successful Learning Circle. The most important qualifications for Learning Circle leaders are:
- desire to help herself and her peers become the mothers they are meant to be
- decent organizational skills (need to be able to remember to send out articles and reminders to all Circle members in a timely manner)
- the ability to seek out and gather together other mothers who would be interested (using the guidelines in the Start Up Kit)
Q: What if a mother in my group moves away after paying her dues?
A: She retains access to all the Learning Circle materials and can use those materials on her own in her new location or set up a new group in her area. If she does opt to start a new group, she can use the Learning Circle materials to get her group going and she'll want to ensure that everyone in her group joins Learning Circles and gets their own access to the Learning Circle materials.
Q: What if I buy the materials and get a group together but people don't want to continue with the program?
A: If you get a group together, hold your first meeting, and people don't want to pay their dues and continue with the group, we'll refund your money.
Q: What do I do when someone new wants to join my group after we've been running our Circle for a while?
A: Each new member should pay her one-time membership fee upon joining (you can email her a link to this page where she can pay her dues). You'll want to take time to introduce the new member at your next meeting and encourage her to catch up on the last couple of articles you've discussed.
Ready to get going?
Then add Learning Circles to your cart, and after you pay, you'll receive an activation link by email. That will enable you to have instant, ongoing, lifetime access to the Start-Up Kit and the Year I, II and III Manuals of Monthly Learning Circle Materials online.
We're excited to have you with us!
Please read our Terms and Conditions for Learning Circles before making your purchase:
In signing up as a Learning Circle Leader, you agree to these terms:
1. Power of Moms Learning Circles have been put together for the purpose of strengthening mothers everywhere. A Learning Circle, though supported by our organization, does not represent or speak for Power of Moms. All opinions and ideas shared by group members or Learning Circle Leaders are the sole responsibility of that specific group.
2. Power of Moms is not responsible for any accidents, arguments, or indigestion that might take place at Learning Circle Meetings. Let's try not to get too wild and crazy out there, ladies....
3. In order to remain true to the purpose and function of the Learning Circles created by Power of Moms, each Learning Circle leader will establish her group by following the guidelines explained in the Learning Circle Start-up Kit.
4. The Learning Circle Leader will do all she can reasonably do to ensure that each person who attends the Learning Circle pays her one-time Learning Circle membership fee.
5. The Learning Circle Leader will support the program by responding to occasional emails sent by Saren and April or our Learning Circles Director requesting information about how the Learning Circle is doing and will help ensure that her Learning Circle members receive information regarding Learning Circles sent out by Power of Moms.
6. The Leader will not pass on materials to others wanting to start a Learning Circle but will rather encourage any interested parties to sign up and receive the Start-Up Kit directly from this website.
7. If there are problems with the program or materials or challenges in abiding by the above Terms and Conditions, the Learning Circle Leader will immediately notify Power of Moms.
Final Details:
* When you complete your payment, look for an email with your activation link and instructions. Once you activate that link, you will have instant, ongoing access to your program.
** Power of Moms offers a 100% 30-day money-back guarantee if you're not satisfied for any reason.
*** We are committed to helping every mother have access to all the resources on our site that she needs. If you are in a difficult financial situation, please review our payment philosophy and submit a quick and easy request. We'll be more than happy to help.