AHEM in the News
For those of you who may have missed it, Advocates for Home Education in Massachusetts (AHEM) was highlighted as a support group in Home Education Magazine's June Support Group News. Read the interview below.

=======================================
HEM SUPPORT GROUP NEWS - June 2004
In the June 2004 issue:
~June's Highlighted Support Group:
- Advocates for Home Education in Massachusetts
~May's question answered by Ann Larhson-Fisher
~June's Question of the Month
~Issues to Watch - Subsidized Homeschooling
~Web Updates
~HEM Resources

===========================================

JUNE'S HIGHLIGHTED SUPPORT GROUP
This month it was my pleasure to speak to Milva McDonald,
one of the founders and coordinators of Advocates for Home
Education in Massachusetts (AHEM). AHEM has grown and
served many home-educators in MA in their first year,
including having just hosted their first conference! Many
thanks for taking the time to share with us Milva!

The interview:

--Why did you start a group?
Two other homeschooling parents and I had been thinking about starting a state group for awhile. We had a vision of an advocacy organization that would support grassroots homeschooling and the right to homeschool independently. We see building relationships with legislators and watchdogging the state house as important ways to protect our homeschooling freedoms, and this is something that had fallen by the wayside in Massachusetts.

-- How did you set the group up?
The three of us talked about our initial goals, and set up an open house to introduce the group about a year ago. We came up with three branches to cover areas that other homeschooling groups in the state weren't addressing. Our three major goals were connecting with legislators and keeping an eye on legislative issues, creating a database about homeschooling policy and practice in our state, and offering phone support for dealing with school systems. Of course, a major focus has been to build our numbers. We've done pretty well, making it well into the hundreds in our first year, but we plan to increase that number significantly. (Click here to help.)

--What do you feel is the most valuable information you share with new folks? With veterans?
On the state level, our thrust has been to educate homeschoolers about existing state law, help them understand it, and offer support in dealing with school officials. I think sharing information about how the law works here is pretty important for both new and established folks. It's not black and white, since we don't have a statute. Homeschooling oversight is based on case law and regulation is at the local rather than state level, so there are a lot of gray areas. Different towns can and do operate differently. It's vital that homeschoolers understand the law and make informed decisions about dealing with the schools, because overcompliance can lead to problems for all of us. As far as veteran homeschoolers, we share information about legislative issues and challenges, as well as inform them of national issues such as We Stand for Homeschooling. www.westandforhomeschooling.org

We just celebrated our first year in existence with an event attended by about 150 people. Andy Migner, a well-known and well-loved veteran homeschooling parent, gave a talk, which was followed by a screening of Peter Kowalke's "Grown Without Schooling."
http://www.grownwithoutschooling.com

The movie generates quite a variety of responses. It felt really good to gather with a bunch of homeschoolers and discuss the issues raised in the film. And it felt really good to look back on our first year and take stock of our accomplishments. We've visited the State House with groups of homeschoolers three times, tracked and reported on a number of bills with the potential to affect homeschooling families, compiled a good amount of information for our database, and offered phone support to homeschoolers in need. We also publish a newsletter, which has been really fun. All our writing about state and national issues is archived on our website (Archives). We also have some other fun stuff there, including a section of links to websites created by homeschoolers. So check it out!

===================================

Be sure to bookmark Home Education Magazine's Support Group Listings web page, which can be accessed at:
http://www.home-ed-magazine.com/wlcm_groups.html

As well as the national and international support group listings, are you aware that HEM offers other free resources that may be of help to your support group?

If you ever need your listing updated or your group would like to be added, email me at groups@home-ed-magazine.com and our web master will add the information in a timely manner.

Have a wonderful month!

Mary Nix
HEM's Support Group Liaison
Groups@home-ed-magazine.com
http://www.home-ed-magazine.com/wlcm_groups.html

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

HEM Support Group News is a monthly report for Home
Education Support Groups.

Each monthly newsletter will highlight a different support
group, look at Issues that may impact homeschooling, list web
updates, resources and more. Your comments and feedback are
always welcome.

This service is available free. The latest newsletter can be
viewed at:
http://www.homeedmag.com/groups/groupnews.html

=======================================

Back to Archives.

The information on this website does not constitute legal advice; it is provided for informational purposes only.