Please update your bookmark for this page to http://www.illinoishouse.org/house-is-does.htm
What Is HOUSE? What does
HOUSE do?
(Answers to those Frequently Asked Questions)
Why should I join a HOUSE group?
What happens to my $2 state HOUSE dues?
What activities does HOUSE offer?
My family is moving to Illinois in the near future. Can I find out about a local HOUSE group now?
What does HOUSE offer in the way of curriculum?
How will [John Doe] know what homeschoolers value in a candidate?
I sell homeschooling supplies. Can I have a mailing list of HOUSE members?
Where can I drop my child off to be homeschooled by HOUSE?
I'm a single parent. Is there anyone in HOUSE who can teach my child while I'm at work?
Many people find it helpful to talk with living, breathing people about the nuts and bolts of homeschooling. There are support groups that center around certain styles of learning and certain religious views. Then there are groups that are not based on these things and are designed to bring all homeschoolers together. HOUSE groups are nonsectarian (not religious based) and inclusive for all. That means that you will find people of all different lifestyles, educational styles, religious beliefs and unbelief's. This mix of folks can be stimulating for some, and might not be for others. If you like learning about how all different kinds of people think, live and homeschool, a HOUSE group could be for you. Membership in HOUSE offers a certain amount of assurance to homeschoolers regarding legal issues. HOUSE holds a position on the board of the Ad Hoc Committee for Illinois Homeschool Legal and Legislative Issues, a group that very carefully monitors legal and legislative activity that can potentially have an effect on homeschools. Consulting and working together with other organizations on Ad Hoc, HOUSE is able to supply reliable and timely information to its members regarding legal issues. By supporting HOUSE and Ad Hoc with their annual $2 dues per family, HOUSE members by extension play an active role shaping and protecting homeschool policy in Illinois. Twice a year, each HOUSE group sends a representative to meet with other HOUSE representatives from across the state to discuss various issues affecting homeschoolers in Illinois. Decisions are voted on using consensus. Group contacts also communicate through an online forum, apprising each other of the latest developments on Illinois homeschooling issues. This extended contact enhances continuity and has proven effective in staying current on issues large and small.
Most of us don't want to part with $2 for just 'any old reason'. Here's a list of what your $2 a year state HOUSE dues support:
You might ask why you, as a veteran homeschooler, should have to support these things. Isn't this mostly for "newbies"?
The obvious fact is that once upon a time we were all newcomers to homeschooling. It would be very sad for a family not to pursue homeschooling (or to start, struggle and fail) because they lacked support and information.
The really big problems start when an unsupported family plunges into homeschooling and makes uninformed choices regarding school authorities or truant officers. Not only have they made decisions that will make their own homeschooling journey difficult, but they may have inadvertently called attention to every homeschooler in their county, state, and possibly the country.
This is not "worst case scenario" thinking. Misinformation and ignorance on the part of homeschoolers and of the public have been responsible for most of the problems homeschoolers encounter with outside authorities, as homeschool veterans can attest. Your two dollars go to ensure that both homeschool families and governing bodies are sufficiently educated about our rights and responsibilities as homeschoolers in Illinois.
That is certainly two dollars well spent.
Each group establishes the activities in which they hope to
engage at the beginning (or before) of each new school year, sometimes
adjusting those expectations as the school year proceeds.
Since the composition of any given group changes every year, and
the interests of the member families will vary from year to year,
there is no one answer. Some of our groups have "school
papers"; some have science clubs; some have foreign language
lessons through a hired instructor. It all depends on what
folks want to do. The best way to have input into what the
local group will do is to be an involved, active member.
In other words, if you have a particular
idea about something you want to see happen within the group,
the best way for that to happen is for you to help it happen.
Each spring, the Home
Educators Conference Fund produces a conference. Many
HOUSE member families, as well as families from other like-minded
support groups, cooperate in this activity by helping with the
registration, giving workshops, helping with the playrooms, and
a variety of other ways. Volunteer work at the conference
is not a requirement of HOUSE membership, but it is the mutual
sharing of practical experience that makes the conference so valuable.
An admission fee covers the production costs, but scholarships
are available.
Every fall, Illinois HOUSE organizes a camp-out for member families.
This activity is not publicized on the web site. Site and scheduling
information is only circulated within HOUSE groups.
Absolutely, as soon as you know where in Illinois you will be, particularly if you are moving into the Chicago metropolitan area, where we have more than 10 groups or contact people. The more specific you can be about the town in which you will be living, the better referral we can provide.
HOUSE offers you the resources to find out who sells what - we do not have a HOUSE curriculum. Each family chooses its own curriculum, if any! Among HOUSE members, you'll find plenty of different opinions about what works and what doesn't. Even within a family, there might be one child who responds well to the structure of a boxed curriculum, while another child thrives on free-flowing independent study into which the parent(s) must weave the state-required educational disciplines, while yet a third child may find that the local library has plenty of things from which s/he can learn. The best way to find out about the alternatives and hear how we use different curricula is to attend the meetings of a local group.
Many families within HOUSE also assist with the Annual Home Educators Conference, where you can explore every aspect of homeschooling. The Home Educators Conference is held in March, and information will be on the Home Educators Conference web site by mid-January.
Absolutely NOT. HOUSE is "inclusive," meaning we don't have any requirements about religion/creed at all. You are welcome regardless of your faith or philosophy. What we do ask is that the issue of religion not become an issue within the group. We have seen groups split over this issue, and it is not what we want to see happening. We all do better when we approach each other with mutual respect and consideration.
No. Our network has members of varying political persuasions,
and it is our goal to remain united around the issue of homeschooling,
regardless of political, religious, philosophical, or other differences.
Illinois HOUSE, as a result, does not distribute or assist in
the distribution of political tracts or announcements. This decision
was made as a consensus position of the Illinois HOUSE Council.
If you want to meet with local homeschoolers to discuss issues,
watch the local newspapers for press releases announcing meetings
and contact people or contact the local board of education office,
whose staff members usually know how to contact specific local
people within the homeschool community. Check with the local librarian
to see who the local homeschool contact folks are.
Homeschoolers are not a homogenous group. There is no single voice that speaks for all homeschoolers, though there are pretenders who think they do. This does not, however, mean that we don't have core issues around which we can unite, such as the liberty to educate our children in the way that we, as individual families, deem best. The best possible resource is the Illinois Advisory Committee on Non-Public Schools, which represents a wide range of political opinion within the non-public education community and very carefully monitors educational liberty issues.
No. No single list exists. Each local group sets its own policies for handling of their membership lists. Most groups prohibit commercial uses of their directories.
No, but we will review the company's information for inclusion
in our list of vendors/providers.
Because so many people are involved in this type of enterprise,
we do not want to be in the middle of territorial issues, nor
do we wish to be perceived as giving advantage to one representative
over another within the same company.
However, if your home-based business carries materials from a
variety of companies and/or your own product line, we will be
happy to consider adding your information to our resource book
and web site. This does not guarantee your addition to the resource
listing, but it does guarantee our careful consideration.
Please note that we do not knowingly list any kind of institutional
or day school for private group education, since the goal of Illinois
HOUSE is to help people who wish to teach their own children.
HOUSE is not a school. We are a loosely associated network of local groups of families who teach their own children. As such, there is not a place where you can drop off your child with HOUSE.
HOUSE provides encouragement and networking for families who educate their own children. Although some HOUSE group activities are cooperative, we do not advise member families one way or the other with regard to teaching people outside their families. Thus, we have no information on whether or not any of our members do this.
See question 1. Although HOUSE cannot help you in this specific way, we encourage you to contact us. We have several member families that were or are headed by a single parent who successfully homeschool. Their advice and encouragement may help you make the right educational decisions for your child(ren).
First, we would recommend that you communicate with your parent(s) about your desire to work out your education at home. Then show them the HOUSE web site, and go through the information with them. Home education is a family commitment, not an isolated/isolating activity, and so it will impact everyone within your family. You need the cooperation of your parent(s) if this type of education is to succeed. Home education, like any other education, will only give you what you are willing to put into it. In fact, with home education, this is even more the case than in a standard school.
Illinois HOUSE does not have a centralized database of names
of member families, nor do we have a number of how many families
are members of HOUSE. HOUSE does not "enroll"
families. We do not have statistics on how many families homeschool
in Illinois. If you are doing a newspaper article and send
us an e-mail
with the name and locale of your newspaper and your deadline
date, our e-mail contact will forward your request, if possible,
to a group contact in your area. That contact person, if
available, will decide whether or not to respond. Under
no circumstances will the e-mail contact rep release any
name or other identifying information of any member family of
HOUSE.
Research sources can be found on other web sites. A particularly
valuable source of research information is A
to Z Home's Cool Homeschooling Research page.
Please feel free to contact us with your questions, and we will do our best to get an answer for you.
Copyright © 2001-2007 H.O.U.S.E. May be
reproduced for personal use as long as this notice is included
in its entirety.
| Previous page | Home | Next page |