Jamie Lemon

Hi everyone,
I've been lurking for a few days, I think it is about time to introduce
myself so that I can "jump right in" on the coversations.

We (dh, ds 8yo, dd 11yo) have been HSing for almost 6 years. We started out
unschooling. A strange turn of events involving bitter family members and
social services made me lose my mind <g> and I began "school at home"
practices after only 1 year unschooling. I have flipped back and forth over
the years. We are back to unschooling now, to stay, forever. This time
feels different for us. For this and many other changes I thank all the
posters on this and other unschooly lists, message boards, and web page
articles. My family is happier now.

We currently live in central Indiana. I've lived in many places (Alaska,
Texas, North Carolina, Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska, Indiana) and attended
12 different public schools in my youth. (Yes, I am still recovering from
that) LOL

Well, that's all for now.... :-)

Warmly,
Zan

This message is cross-posted to other lists, sorry if you have to read it
twice :-(
________________________________________________________________
Zan Hawk
ICQ#: 811555

zenmomma *

>>A strange turn of events involving bitter family members and
social services made me lose my mind <g> and I began "school at home"
>practices after only 1 year unschooling. I have flipped back and forth
>over the years. We are back to unschooling now, to stay, forever.>>

Whew! Glad to hear you've come back to your senses. ;-) Welcome Zan.

Life is good.
~Mary


_________________________________________________________________
Join the world�s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail.
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Leslie Avery

Zan,

Welcome. How do you find Indiana as far as
homeschooling. we just relocated from Middlebury,
Indiana to California. The atmosphere in Indiana
(well in Middlebury) anyway was terribly unfriendly to
homeschoolers. I was so desparate for unschoolers I
thought I would die. But I didn't. Actually it was a
good learning experience because I really became
stronger in myself and my belief in unschooling.

Leslie

Leslie
--- zenmomma * <zenmomma@...> wrote:
>
> >>A strange turn of events involving bitter family
> members and
> social services made me lose my mind <g> and I began
> "school at home"
> >practices after only 1 year unschooling. I have
> flipped back and forth
> >over the years. We are back to unschooling now, to
> stay, forever.>>
>
> Whew! Glad to hear you've come back to your senses.
> ;-) Welcome Zan.
>
> Life is good.
> ~Mary
>
>
>
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Jamie Lemon

Hi Leslie
Thanks for the welcome!

Indiana is a mixed bag for me when it comes to HSing.
The laws are great. But when it comes to the general atmosphere I feel like
an outcast. I have yet to find an unschooler. (why did you leave, we could
have hung out?!?!?! LOL)

There is some difference in the regions of Indiana. We used to live in
southern IN, in a small town. The general concensus there was that I was
not permitted to HS because I am not christian. (I used to be southern
baptist, then pagan, then agnostic, now atheist) Anytime I declined to join
a HS group (which required a written statement of faith) I would lose
"friends" and I was "reported" to the local authorities. It was a scarey
time for us. But as you said, it made me stronger.

BTW, I do know that more than likely the laws for HSing here are so good
because of faith-based HSers and I am thankful to them for that. I just
don't want to be judged on my beliefs or lack there of. A little mutual
respect would have been nice. I don't expect anyone to agree with me, I just
wish they had not attacked me.

Here in Indianapolis, things are really different. People tend to stay out
of our business. We go to "park days" with a local all-inclusive group
about twice a year. The people are nice and the kids enjoy it alot. Also,
whenever I tell anyone that we homeschool the response is always positive.
However, I still feel alone.

I was just discussing this with DH last night. I told him I was so "on the
fringe" with many things in my life that I may never have any friends with
similar interests, that I can confide in. That is probably very
pessimistic, but I think (from the sound of your post) that you may
understand the frustration.
This could be just me... "once bitten, twice shy"

We are probably going to leave IN within the next few years, we are going to
try to head west. We vacationed in Las Vegas this spring and I fell in love
with the desert, I had never seen anything like it! I wouldn't want to live
near Vegas, but I was thinking possibly NM or AZ would be nice.

So, how is CA for you?

Zan


----- Original Message -----
From: "Leslie Avery" <ljbakavery@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, July 25, 2002 4:56 PM
Subject: Re: [Unschooling-dotcom] Jumping Right in...


> Zan,
>
> Welcome. How do you find Indiana as far as
> homeschooling. we just relocated from Middlebury,
> Indiana to California. The atmosphere in Indiana
> (well in Middlebury) anyway was terribly unfriendly to
> homeschoolers. I was so desparate for unschoolers I
> thought I would die. But I didn't. Actually it was a
> good learning experience because I really became
> stronger in myself and my belief in unschooling.
>
> Leslie

Leslie Avery

I had similar difficulties in Indiana. While I am a
christian I am very liberal and believe that whatever
belief works that is just fine. But the people were
very religious and unaccepting, which really surprised
me being the town was very Amish.

We tried to blend in with the neighbors but my kids
were verbally and physically abused. It was a
difficult time because we had moved from Atlanta where
people were very accepting. I did enjoy the lack of
homeschooling laws in Indiana though.

The kids and I because of our isolation really got to
know each other with outside influence and we learned
to enjoy the climate and the country, to the point
that we really miss it. I think I went to every state
park in northern Indiana, and had memberships to all
of the museums in Chicago.

California is much friendlier when it comes to
homeschooling I even belong to a support group. The
laws are a little stricter here than Indiana. The
kids and I still talk about our experience in Indiana
and it has made us a little guy shy about sharing with
people, but it has also helped us to really appreciate
the homeschooling friends we have made here.

I do understand your frustration and if ever you wish
to email me off the list that is fine. I often times
I wish I had had someone to bitch too!

Leslie
--- Jamie Lemon <zanhawk@...> wrote:
> Hi Leslie
> Thanks for the welcome!
>
> Indiana is a mixed bag for me when it comes to
> HSing.
> The laws are great. But when it comes to the
> general atmosphere I feel like
> an outcast. I have yet to find an unschooler. (why
> did you leave, we could
> have hung out?!?!?! LOL)
>
> There is some difference in the regions of Indiana.
> We used to live in
> southern IN, in a small town. The general concensus
> there was that I was
> not permitted to HS because I am not christian. (I
> used to be southern
> baptist, then pagan, then agnostic, now atheist)
> Anytime I declined to join
> a HS group (which required a written statement of
> faith) I would lose
> "friends" and I was "reported" to the local
> authorities. It was a scarey
> time for us. But as you said, it made me stronger.
>
> BTW, I do know that more than likely the laws for
> HSing here are so good
> because of faith-based HSers and I am thankful to
> them for that. I just
> don't want to be judged on my beliefs or lack there
> of. A little mutual
> respect would have been nice. I don't expect anyone
> to agree with me, I just
> wish they had not attacked me.
>
> Here in Indianapolis, things are really different.
> People tend to stay out
> of our business. We go to "park days" with a local
> all-inclusive group
> about twice a year. The people are nice and the kids
> enjoy it alot. Also,
> whenever I tell anyone that we homeschool the
> response is always positive.
> However, I still feel alone.
>
> I was just discussing this with DH last night. I
> told him I was so "on the
> fringe" with many things in my life that I may never
> have any friends with
> similar interests, that I can confide in. That is
> probably very
> pessimistic, but I think (from the sound of your
> post) that you may
> understand the frustration.
> This could be just me... "once bitten, twice shy"
>
> We are probably going to leave IN within the next
> few years, we are going to
> try to head west. We vacationed in Las Vegas this
> spring and I fell in love
> with the desert, I had never seen anything like it!
> I wouldn't want to live
> near Vegas, but I was thinking possibly NM or AZ
> would be nice.
>
> So, how is CA for you?
>
> Zan
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Leslie Avery" <ljbakavery@...>
> To: <[email protected]>
> Sent: Thursday, July 25, 2002 4:56 PM
> Subject: Re: [Unschooling-dotcom] Jumping Right
> in...
>
>
> > Zan,
> >
> > Welcome. How do you find Indiana as far as
> > homeschooling. we just relocated from Middlebury,
> > Indiana to California. The atmosphere in Indiana
> > (well in Middlebury) anyway was terribly
> unfriendly to
> > homeschoolers. I was so desparate for unschoolers
> I
> > thought I would die. But I didn't. Actually it
> was a
> > good learning experience because I really became
> > stronger in myself and my belief in unschooling.
> >
> > Leslie
>
>
>
>


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[email protected]

In a message dated 7/25/2002 10:00:45 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
ljbakavery@... writes:


> California is much friendlier when it comes to
> homeschooling I even belong to a support group. The
> laws are a little stricter here than Indiana.

Always interesting to me when someone thinks California laws are more strict
than somewhere else. Indiana has pretty much the same requirements -
attendance records, for example. No testing - no reporting - nobody to be
accountable to. Are you doing something more than that in California?

Also - you Indianans out there -- our NHEN website lists only one state-level
homeschooling group - a Christian organization that recommends HSLDA
membership just to be on the safe side. Is there any other organization or
website that we might refer people to for legal information in Indiana?

--pamS
National Home Education Network
http://www.NHEN.org
Changing the Way the World Sees Homeschooling!


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Jamie Lemon

Hi
The groups that I know of are all listed on the following web page
http://homeschooling.about.com/cs/insg/

The only group I know about that is not listed there is FLT Indy which is the one that I recommend. We attend their park days sometimes and alot of people on their mailing list come up with good group activities and field trips. There site is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FLT-Indy/

Zan

----- Original Message -----
From: PSoroosh@...
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, July 26, 2002 2:09 AM
Subject: Re: [Unschooling-dotcom] Jumping Right in...for Zan


In a message dated 7/25/2002 10:00:45 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
ljbakavery@... writes:


> California is much friendlier when it comes to
> homeschooling I even belong to a support group. The
> laws are a little stricter here than Indiana.

Always interesting to me when someone thinks California laws are more strict
than somewhere else. Indiana has pretty much the same requirements -
attendance records, for example. No testing - no reporting - nobody to be
accountable to. Are you doing something more than that in California?

Also - you Indianans out there -- our NHEN website lists only one state-level
homeschooling group - a Christian organization that recommends HSLDA
membership just to be on the safe side. Is there any other organization or
website that we might refer people to for legal information in Indiana?

--pamS
National Home Education Network
http://www.NHEN.org
Changing the Way the World Sees Homeschooling!


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]


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If you have questions, concerns or problems with this list, please email the Moderator, Joyce Fetteroll, at fetteroll@...

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