YMCA Camp Kanata Homeschool Hub

Find us
13524 Camp Kanata Rd, Wake Forest
NC 27587

The YMCA of the Triangle Homeschool Hub has expanded from our long‑standing, highly successful home at Northwest Cary YMCA to a brand‑new location at Camp Kanata in Wake Forest.

For more than five years, homeschool families have trusted the Y to provide high‑quality, engaging, and community‑centered programming.

Bringing the Homeschool Hub to Camp Kanata allows us to pair proven curriculum and experienced staff with the unparalleled benefits of a camp setting. Surrounded by nature, students will enjoy hands‑on learning, outdoor exploration, and plenty of space to move, play, and connect, enhancing both learning and social development in ways that only a camp environment can offer.

Register

Registration is now open.

Ages, Classes & Schedule

Information about the ages we serve and the daily schedule.

Classes

Each class meets for seven weeks, once a week at Camp Kanata.  Class period one is from 9 - 10:55 a.m., and class period two is from noon - 1:55 p.m. Students can attend either period or both. 

Age Cohorts

Classes are multi-age and divided into three groups. 
Pathfinders: Ages 6 - 9
Trailblazers: Ages 9 - 13
Navigators: Ages 13 - 17

School Year

Fall Session 1: Tues., Aug. 25 - Wed., Oct. 7

Fall Break: Oct. 12 - 14

Fall Session 2: Tues., Oct. 20 - Wed., Dec. 7

Course Catalog

Our full class catalog is below. 

Homeschool FAQs

Our program is designed to offer students and families the best parts of school (collaborative learning, expert teachers, community) without removing each family’s autonomy to decide what is best for their child’s education. All families remain in the role of “Homeschool Administrator” for their personal Homeschool. Our classes are supplemental and will not sufficiently provide for a child’s full educational experience. You can find more information about opening a homeschool at the NC Department of Administration website.

The mission of the Y is “To put Christian principles into practice through programs that build a healthy spirit, mind and body for all”, and we take the “for all” very seriously. Our Mission compels us to embrace, reflect and celebrate the richness of diversity within each other and the many communities we serve. In that Christian principles are caring and inclusive, we are respectful of various expressions of faith and serve families and individuals from all traditions, backgrounds and perspectives. Together, we work to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential with dignity at our YMCA. 

All Homeschool Hub classes utilize secular curriculum and activities to ensure all students feel like they belong.

Students must enroll for half-day blocks of classes. On Tuesdays or Thursdays, students may sign up for just one class in either the morning or afternoon. Because our Monday/Wednesday classes are only 1 hour long, students must sign up for two or four classes on these days to meet the half-day requirement. This policy is to reduce the number of transitions in and out of the building each day to protect the safety of our students.

For the safety of our students and staff, we do not allow any adults to be in our program spaces unless they are a Y employee or officially registered as a Y volunteer. In general, we do not allow parents to participate in classes with their children or observe during class time. Parents are welcome to use the public lobby of the Northwest Cary Y while their children attend classes, and Y members may use any membership area while they wait. 

We occasionally need volunteers for specific projects/activities.

Our program is designed to be flexible and to meet the needs of as many different types of learners as possible. While our program is not a “special education” program, we serve students with many different strengths and challenges.

Students in our program must be able to remain with their class, communicate with their teachers, and cannot exhibit behaviors that are dangerous to themselves or others. Students should be enrolled in classes that are a good fit for their developmental age. This might mean that an older student enrolls in a class for younger ages. It also might mean that a younger child who is chronologically old enough to join our program may not yet be developmentally ready. 

Our teachers are chosen based on their love of the subjects they teach and sharing that love of learning with students. Many have experience in public or private school settings, and all have experience teaching students in a group setting. All teachers are trained in supporting the needs of all students, including those with a variety of neurodivergencies.

Students who enroll in a full day participate in a supervised Lunch/Recess break between 11 a.m. and noon.

Students will be with the same teachers and group of students each day, and these groups are determined based mostly on student age to ensure that students are interacting with developmentally similar peers during this time. 

We do have some limited space available for half-day students to join our Lunch/Recess hour for a small additional fee. 

We do not have the facilities available to provide lunch to students.

The goal of our classes is student engagement and a love of learning, and we therefore do not use grades or required assignments. Families are responsible for assigning grades to their own students if they determine this is necessary in their own homeschool. Teachers will share weekly what students are working on in class, and parents are always welcome to ask their child’s teachers about their learning in class.

We want our classrooms to be a good fit for everyone, so we offer a two-week drop/add window at the beginning of each semester. Until this date, students can withdraw or transfer to other classes that have openings. These changes will result in a loss of the $25 administrative fee/deposit paid for the original class.

Because our classes are intended to be semester-long and knowledge is built from class to class, we do not accept additional registrations after this two-week window. To protect the financial sustainability of the program, we are therefore not able to offer refunds after this time and families are responsible for the full class tuition for the remainder of the semester, even if their payments are set up as a monthly draft.