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Are you thinking of starting to home school OR know someone who is thinking of home schooling?
No matter what time of the year it is, there is always someone thinking of bringing their children home. Sometimes in fear and trepidation, sometimes with excitement or longing to have your children at home.
Here are two links you can read, or share with others:
5 Things You Should Never Tell A New Home Schooling Mom
10 Tips for Starting to Home School Your Children
Yes, Home Educating your children is hard work. Yes, it is sometimes frustrating and will challenge you more than anything else you have ever done. BUT home schooling your children is worth it. Worth every moment of preparation and prayer. Worth every busy day and busy hour. Take the next few months, do some research and planning, notify with a friendly Home School Board AND then take the plunge. If you want, you can even start a few weeks early in August. It doesn't matter. This is *your* home school and your children. Enjoy the journey together!{jcomments off}
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AHEA 2012 Convention Survey
If you missed an opportunity to fill out a survey at the convention, you can now fill it out online, and be added to the Convention Pass Draw.
To fill out the survey, click here!
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New Education Minister and Spring Session of the Legislature, 2012
New Education Minister
Premier Redford announced her new Cabinet on May 8, 2012. The new Education Minister is Jeff Johnson, MLA for Athabasca-Redwater. Mr. Johnson was elected to the Alberta Legislature in 2008. On October 12, 2011, during his first term as MLA, Mr. Johnson was sworn in as Minister of Infrastructure. He also served as Political Minister-Northern
Alberta and was Vice-Chair of the Treasury board.
Related to education, Mr. Johnson co-chaired the Steering Committee on Inspiring Education, the government’s venue of consultation and input in developing the Proposed Education Act.
Mr. Johnson, along with his wife and their 3 children live in Athabasca.
Please pray for Mr. Johnson as this Ministry is a great responsibility. AHEA looks forward to working alongside Mr. Johnson.
Spring Legislative Session: No Legislation to be Debated
In a press conference held on May 2, 2012, Premier Redford announced a spring session. Premier Redford stated that there will be no legislation on the table during this session. She stated that Bill 2: Education Act will not be debated during the spring session ( http://soundcloud.com/your-alberta/premier-redford-may-2-2012 at 10:00)
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April 27, 2012 AHEA alert
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April 27, 2012
A new government has been formed, and with it comes returning and new
members of the legislative assembly.
We had an intense time of lobbying efforts prior to the writ being dropped
and the election being called. Many letters, phone calls and e-mails were
sent to our elected representatives bringing issues related to the Education Act
to light and urging MLAs to action. However, the real faces of home education
- you and your children - may still be unknown to many MLAs.
AHEA is recommending that home educating families take time now to meet on
a more informal basis with their new or returning MLA. Meet with them
casually, congratulate them on being elected to their position, and allow
MLAs to get to know homeschool families. It is very important that your
elected representative comes to know you, so they may put faces to home education.
Even if you had face-to-face contact with your MLA before the election,
please take this time to have a courteous meeting to build relationships.
Take this opportunity to be the face behind the name, the family behind
the efforts.
AHEA urges all homeschool families to meet the government representatives
who will be representing them in the legislature.
We also want you to know that AHEA is continuing to advocate for the rights and freedoms of home educators and all parents, and so we will be sending a letter to the Premier and to all MLAs. (Please go to our Political
Updates page to see that letter).
Continue your diligent home education and recording practices. As
always, AHEA recommends homeschoolers become members of HSLDA in order to
have legal advice available as needed and to stay abreast of the issues.
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Letter to Premier and MLAs, April 27, 2012
Alberta Home Education Association (AHEA)
The Honourable Alison Redford
Premier of Alberta
10800-97 Avenue
Edmonton, AB
T5K 2B6
An Open Letter to the Premier of Alberta, Alison Redford, and to all of our newly-elected MLAs:
At this time, the Alberta Home Education Association congratulates the Progressive Conservative party on its election victory and we look forward, as always, to working together with the government to improve education in our great province.
Before the election, we had worked for several years with two Education Ministers – Dave Hancock and then Thomas Lukaszuk – and our efforts focused on improving education for all children through the recognition of the role of parents in that education.
To that end, we welcome the introduction and the passing of a new Education Act.
The goal of AHEA, before the election and still today, is to work with the government and all concerned parties to create an Education Act wherein the role of parents – and, indeed, the role of teachers and the Ministry of Education – continues to be respected and made clear.
The education of every child will be improved the more the parents of that child are involved in his or her education – including when that child attends a school – and so the role of parents must be recognized in any Education Act as paramount.
This is the goal of AHEA: to protect parental rights.
In order to do that, AHEA continues to ask that there be no reference to the Alberta Human Rights Act in any Education Act.
(AHEA would request several other things be made clear in the Act and we would welcome the opportunity to present those concerns at a meeting with the Premier and a meeting with the Minister of Education once that person is chosen).
The reason for requesting exclusion of the AHRA comes, in fact, from our deep concern for human rights: the AHRA is a narrowly-defined act intended to correct prejudice and inequality in the areas of employment, tenancy and public notices but not education (or, for that matter, many other areas of everyday life in Alberta).
To ask the AHRA to cover education – and, in effect, asking Human Rights commissioners to rule over education – is stretching the legislation beyond its capabilities and usefulness and would also make it the role of HR commissioners to determine the suitability of any education program.
AHEA recognizes that the government has an interest in education – not the paramount right, which lies with parents, but a ‘compelling interest’ as defined by the Supreme Court.
So AHEA does not want the Minister of Education to be removed from the supervision of education by relinquishing that supervision to commissioners.
Parents and teachers cannot negotiate with a Human Rights tribunal and so no parent – and no teacher in any school (public, Catholic, private, charter, home school, etc.) – wants to be under the microscope of such a commission, especially since commissioners are not educators.
Putting the Human Rights Act into the Education Act actually puts the Minister of Education under that same microscope too.
Currently, home educators in Alberta are respected in their role and Alberta parents enjoy freedom of choice in education, and AHEA fully expects that respect and freedom to continue.
We have worked with the government for many years to build this strong foundation and we look forward to working together again on the future review of the Home Education Regulation.
AHEA thanks the government for its consistency in the past which has led to this stability, and we look forward to collaborating in the future to make education in Alberta even better.
Thank you and best wishes for the future,
The Board of Directors of AHEA
Ted Tederoff – President, Chris Rogers - Vice-President
Paul van den Bosch - AHEA Spokesperson Patty Marler - Government Liaison
Terry Yaceyko Richard Yaceyko
Shannon Tederoff Juanita Rogers
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Stay Tuned! An AHEA update is coming shortly!
The election has happened and a few days has passed. I know we continue to pray (as a family) in our home for Alberta, Albertans, Home Schooling families and our Provincial government. Please join us. It's good to be a people of faith and to trust God each day!
There will be an update from the AHEA Board shortly - keep checking back often.
As well, I'm going to start blogging again with home school encouragement, tips, and more for Home Educators. If you need encouragement or ideas, please check the AHEA Home Page http://www.aheaonline.com/ or the Blog http://www.aheaonline.com/index.php/blog often, too!
Happy Home Schooling!
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Alberta’s Political Leaders Say if they will Remove Section 16 from the Education Act
The Alberta Catholic School Trustees’ Association has asked 3 direct questions of the Alberta Provincial Leaders. Two of these questions relate directly to Bill 2, and apply to home educators. The two home education related questions asked of each Alberta Political leader are:
“If your party forms the next government will you reintroduce Bill 2 in its most current amended form...?”
“If Bill 2 is reintroduced, will your party remove section 16, pertaining to the Human Rights Code from the Bill?
In their responses, The Progressive Conservative Party, Alberta Party, and The New Democratic Party have all stated they would reintroduce Bill 2 and would keep section 16 in tact as
is. The Liberal Party has not responded.
The Wildrose Party states that section 16 will definitely not be part of a Wildrose Education Act.
YOU now have the opportunity to vote in the way we were calling MLA’s to vote. A vote for a party in this election is a clear vote for or against including section 16 in the Education Act.
Have your say. On Monday, April 23 you may vote for or against including section 16 in the Education Act.
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AHEA's President's comments on Negative and Postive Laws
At the AHEA AGM, President Ted Tederoff shared a quote clarifying the difference between negative law (as we see in the old Section 16 – eg. shall not promote. . .) and positive law (shall promote. . .as seen in the recently proposed Section 16 of Bill 2). A portion of Ted's president report follows:
Much has been done to ensure parental freedoms in our province, starting with the fact Bill 2, the proposed Education Act, was not passed prior to the election call. We must stay on guard, though. The following quote appears on page 95 in R.J. Rushdoony’s 1973 “The Institutes of Biblical Law”: “The Irish Protestant jurist, John Philpot Curran (1750-1817, said, in 1790, in a speech on ‘The Right of Election,’ ‘It is common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition, if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt.’”
One item to be vigilant about is wording of government bills and act that deal with home educational and parental freedom. This ties in with the current Section16 wording which has a negative concept of law versus the proposed Section 16 wording which has a positive concept of law. Again quoting Rushdoony from page 101:
A negative concept of law confers a double benefit: first, it is practical, in that a negative concept of law deals realistically with a particular evil. It states, “Thou shalt not steal,” or, “Thou shalt not bear false witness.” A negative statement thus deals with a particular evil directly and plainly: it prohibits it, makes it unlawful. The law thus has a modest function; the law is limited, and therefore the State is limited. The State, as the enforcing agency, is limited to dealing with evil, not controlling all men.
Second, a negative concept of law ensures liberty. If the commandment says, “Thou shalt not steal,” it means that the law can only govern theft: it cannot govern or control honestly acquired property. When the law prohibits blasphemy and false witness, it guarantees that all other forms of speech have their liberty. The negativity of the law is the preservation of the positive life and freedom of man.
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Redford Confirms: AHRA will Deny Freedom of Conscience Choices
In the past month, AHEA has strongly objected to the Alberta Human Rights Act being included in a new Education Act because it would deny all parents freedom of conscience in teaching their children. In case any of our members doubts that, please read on....
On the campaign trail on April 4,2012, PC Premier Alison Redford, confirmed that the Alberta Human Rights Legislation will be used to deny individuals the right to make service decisions based on their conscience.
If you vote for a PC Government:
There will no longer be the opportunity for people to deny providing services they are morally or religiously opposed to under a PC Redford government... they WILL have to perform them.
If you vote for a NDP Government:
If you vote for a Wildrose Government:
The Wildrose Party has Alberta Human Rights Act reform as part of their policy. The Wildrose Party states it will make changes to the Alberta Human Rights Act which take the evaluation of complaints out of the hands of appointed individuals, and put them into the realm of the courts where the legal process and protective services are considered. http://www.wildrose.ca/policy/justice-policing-human-rights/
If you vote for a Liberal Government:
http://www.albertaliberal.com/news.php?n=106 Statement by Raj Sherman on Conscience Rights. “The Alberta Liberals are firmly opposed to the Wildrose Party’s suggestion that there is a place for such a repugnant and antiquated notion in contemporary Alberta as conscience rights – simply a clever phrasing of support and consent to systemic discrimation against gays and lesbians or other minorities.”
(For more information on problems with the Alberta Human Rights Act, see Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms (www.jccf.ca). According to the March 2011study conducted by John Carpay and Carol Crosson, From Bad to Worse - Examining Restrictions on Speech and Procedural Fairness in Human Rights Legislation in Fourteen Canadian Jurisdictions ( http://www.jccf.ca/images/From%20Bad%20to%20Worse%20-%20Executive%20Summary.pdf ), Canadian human rights legislation has, at best, a ‘bad’ rating for procedural fairness. Alberta’s human rights legislation is described as among the worst in Canada as a result of its lack of procedural fairness and its violation of free speech rights.)
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Mr. Lukaszuk Responds to Home Educators... With the Same Message
In response to the flood of letters and emails received by the Minister of Education, his office is now issuing letters thanking Albertans for contacting the office and restating the government's position on a new Education Act.
After reviewing these letters from the Minister, it should be clear to all AHEA members that the letters contain nothing new and that the PC party is still committed to identical legislation should their party win a majority in the upcoming election.
AHEA once again asks all home educators and all parents to carefully consider which party to vote for.
Information outlining the concerns with Bill 2:
Not simply a home education issue:
Please read the AHEA E-Alert from March 29th (below).
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Successful
Lobbying Efforts Thus Far...But We’re Not Done Yet
The lobbying efforts of home educators have had an incredible impact, and
Bill 2 did not pass before an election call! The government refused to pass
two amendments: one to Section 16 which would have protected a parent’s
freedom of speech and religion, and one to the preamble which would have
recognized a parent’s paramount role in the education of their children. As a
result of the election call, Bill 2 died on the table.
This was no small feat. I was told by one MLA that there was no way the PC
majority government would not be able to pass this bill. Your lobbying efforts
have been effective and God has moved mountains!
A New Education
Act Will Be Back
We know that a new Education Act will be introduced after the election.
The contents will vary greatly, depending upon who forms this next
government.
It is critical for you and others to know what was said and what went on
in the Legislature during the past weeks. It is our opinion that many
politicians revealed their stance on parental rights more by what they said
and did in the Legislature than by what they may be saying now, in order to
sway voters. Political posturing often occurs during an election, and we urge
people to look at the words spoken and the actions taken in the legislature before
the election call and compare those to the words spoken by the candidates while
they are campaigning.
What to Do Now
May we suggest taking two weeks to do an intensive unit study on
government, democracy and the political process? Read the below quotes from
the Alberta Hansard (a transcript of the debates in the Legislative Assembly)
and choose which party you would like to support. After you have chosen the
party you will support, volunteer for your local candidate and have your
children assist. I have been told that one person helping a candidate is
worth 200 votes. Share the conviction you have and multiply votes!!
A sample of quotes from the Hansard is provided, with links to the
corresponding party website.
Wildrose Rob Anderson pg 707:
"When it comes to competing rights, parents have the paramount
right and responsibility over deciding what education they will have their
children given and taught. That is something that we felt passionate about,
and we brought in amendments on that."
Wildrose Mr. Hinman Pg 714:
"The minister says: 'Oh, I’m not going to go into their homes.
I’m not going to intrude.' Well, he won’t need to. He’s handing it over to
the Human Rights Commission. They are the ones that are proactive, and there
are community activists who have an agenda, that want to force that on other
Albertans. Albertans have paid a high price for that. They’ve lost their
freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of congregation because the
human rights activists, the community activists, who don’t agree and who have
zero tolerance, though they preach tolerance, have abused the system. It’s a
kangaroo court at kindest."
Progressive Conservative Mr. Lukaszuk Pg 712:
"It should be mentioned, Mr. Chairman, that bills 18 and 2 are
one and the same. It’s the same bill reintroduced. The only reason that the
number changed, as you well know, is that every time we reintroduce a bill,
it loses its placement order, and it just simply receives a different number.
It’s the same bill with a different number on the cover."
Progressive Conservative Mr. Hancock pg 717:
"Now, I don’t particularly like the word “tolerance.” I think
tolerance means putting up with people, and I think we should be embracing
people. We should be embracing the differences that we have in this province
and the fact that it’s a very cosmopolitan place. So we shouldn’t be trying
to scare people about the Human Rights Commission."
To find your local Progressive Conservative Candidate go here : www.votepc.ca
NDP Ms Notley: pg 526:
"I mean, there are very, very interesting issues that are brought
up in this when we talk about sort of the paramountcy of parental rights. I
wonder if it’s black and white. You know, I don’t know that the answer is
always black and white . . . ."
Liberal Ms Blakeman pg 515 pg 531:
"In other words, I would say that when it comes to public
education, the citizenry as a group makes the decision about what’s in the
best interest of the child so that we have a consistent standard . . . "
Liberal Mr. Hehr, from his own website:
“. . . these exemptions are far too broad and could turn home
schooling into a breeding ground for intolerance and scientific ignorance.”
“. . . Furthermore, parents who choose homeschooling have to
differentiate between when they’re following the curriculum and when they’re
teaching their own beliefs. They can’t be merged.”
April 23, 2012 is
the day to make your vote count.
Finally continue to pray. The work of our God has moved mountains.
May we continue to follow God’s lead and move in the direction He lays
out for us.
Patty Marler,
Government Liaison for the Alberta Home Education Association
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