Below are the basic meeting minutes that were discussed at the New Mexico Homeschool Community Support night on July 31st at Title Wave Books. Please forward to members of the community who might be interested. This will be an annual meeting held every year in July.
1. Who we are, how we started and the future of New Mexico Home School Community:
Basic background and information on our community. In 2005 I started to see a need for more connection within the homeschooling community so that families could be aware of events and classes that might enhance their learning experiences as many of us use our community as a part of our classroom. I started by collecting email addresses and it has now grown to connect over 250 individuals and groups throughout the State of New Mexico as well as bordering states. Thus New Mexico Home School Community was born. This is a volunteer position and does not cost anything to the community.
I offer free monthly support meetings on various topics as well as free conferences which have grown to include curriculum , community resources and businesses. This enables the homeschoolers or those interested in homeschooling to come and see what it is all about and talk to families from many different groups which will be represented. The last event such as this drew approximately 350 people and we hope to just continue to grow. The next event will be held in August 2007 and again in May 2008 at the same location so plan ahead if you wish to get a table!
Just for information as to the numbers of homeschoolers in New Mexico, as of March 2007 there were 7,183 families registered with the State. That does not include the numbers of individual children just families as a whole. National statistics number homeschoolers in the millions.
The future of the New Mexico Home School Community will include a partnership with Learning Is For Everyone (LIFE). They are a not-for-profit organization out of Florida that "an education resource organization empowering families and learners with information and networking opportunities encompassing all aspects of education" and "is an education resource organization supporting family choice in learning through broad based information and networking services, both online and off" from their website http://www.learningis4everyone.org/ Basically, they believe in the freedom of choice in your family's education. We will still maintain our autonomy and while we will not able to be a not-for-profit under their umbrella we will be able to take advantage of a webpage all our own as well as the vast knowledge that they have amassed through their organization. All in all I think this can only benefit all of the families in our network by giving them more information to make the best choices for their family's educational needs.
Our future goals include:
A textbook warehouse space for donated materials that would be available to homechoolers year round.
A community center just for homeschoolers to use and maintain.
To become a not-for-profit to be able to take advantage of the many grants and programs that are available.
2. Immediate future events:
In regards to the Biopark policy towards homeschoolers (read more here http://nmhomeschoolcommunity.blogspot.com/2007/06/support-change-in-albuquerque-biopark.html ) Shannon Decker of the Albuquerque Home Learners and myself met with Mr. Michael Cadigan the City of Albuquerque's District 5 (Westside) Councilor to discuss the issues that have arisen over the years in regards to the City's treatment of homeschoolers in hopes that we can bring about a positive change for all homeschooling families. He showed us a draft Bill that will come before the City Council in August and we will be allowed to speak for the positive at that meeting. Since we might bring kids with us he will work to get us on the beginning part of the City Council meeting so that we will not be there late into the night. I will announce the dates for this as I get more information...I have attached the draft to this email (if you do not receive attachments please email me and I will send it to you).
The Albuquerque Thunderbirds http://www.nba.com/dleague/albuquerque/ will be hosting a Homeschool Night where we will be able to purchase discounted tickets to the game. The date and time are to be announced since their season starts in November. Their mascot Trey will be walking around the 'Not Back to School' Fair! They will also be hosting School Days where public, private and homeschool students can get discounted tickets for certain day time games. Duke City Fencing will be doing the half time show as well as a homeschooled student possibly singing the National Anthem.
The May 2008 Community Fair will be again held at Taylor Ranch Community Center and I will put a call out for vendors and families to swap/sell in February 2008.
3. Future monthly support meetings: Some months there will be both speakers and a topic being discussed, not necessarily along the same lines. Some months there will only be a topic under discussion. I am going to be asking for members of our community to volunteer to during our 'forms of education' series, more information is below.
August 28, 2007:
Speaker: Language Learning Strategies for Children by Tim Keller of Progressive Language, Inc.
Topic: No topic this month due to the fair being in the same month.
September 25, 2007:
Speaker: Amylee Udell of Sign2Speak:
Signing and Hearing Children’s Literacy
Recent research has shown that using signs and the manual alphabet with toddlers AND school aged children boosts their literacy skills! It’s great for all ability levels and mixed levels. Find out why literacy problems are virtually non-existent in children of deaf adults. Learn how to easily incorporate signs into your day and your lessons to help your children as they learn to read and as they improve their reading skills. With Amylee Udell of www.sign2speak.com.
Topic: Classical Education Methods
October 30, 2007:
Speaker: TBA
Topic: TBA
November 27, 2007:
Speaker: TBA
Topic: TBA
December 11, 2007:
Speaker: TBA
Topic: TBA
January 29, 2007:
Speaker: TBA
Topic: TBA
These topics from September - January will be discussing forms of education such as Classical, Montessori, Waldorf, Eclectic and Religious Curriculum. If you are a parent or guardian who would be willing to come and discuss your educating methods as well as bring samples of any curriculum and/or resources you use please send me an email at NMHomeschoolCommunityUpdates@gmail.com with your name, which topic you would like to speak under and when is the best month for you.
The first few people who respond will determine in which month the topics will show up. Just as examples we hope to have samples of and be able to discuss resources such as Clonlara, Sonlight, The Well-Trained Mind, Oak Meadow, Calvert, Tapestry of Grace, Five in a Row, A Full Year Notebook System and so much more!
Note: During the Religious Curriculum discussion we do not discriminate against and respect all forms of religion and while the materials available are predominantly Christian if there is someone who wants to come and discuss what they use that follows their faith they are welcome. This is a sensitive topic and while we will be discussing resources, curriculum and books that we use that follow our faith we will NOT be discussing faith and the discussion will remain respectful of all attending.
4. Volunteering positions:
Advertising
Contacting other groups and organizations around the state.
Assisting at the twice annual fairs. This includes helping at the entrance and reaching out to community resources to attend our events.
Contact that will collect events in and around the state and compile them into email format.
Website assistance, right now we have a blog but I hope to have an actual website hosted in the future.
Members in attendance expressed interest in some of the above and they will be contacted further this week. More volunteers of the homeschooling community are always welcome!
If you have any questions please email me below!
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You are receiving this announcement through a NM Homeschool Community Email mailing list. This list is private and will not be sold or shared. If you have any questions or changes to your email address please feel free to email me at NMHomeschoolCommunityUpdates@gmail.com
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