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I thought it would be nice to have a listing here on the NM blog of at least SOME of our wonderful homeschooling support groups.  I hope you find one in or near your area of the state.  These are terrific folks who are ready to help you get started with your homeschooling or give encouragement during your time of need.  Check them out!~~ I realize that I have not listed all of our NM support groups.  If you know of another, please send me a message or leave a comment to let us know about another great state or local homeschooling support group.

Lea County Home School Association
P.O. Box 1473, Hobbs, NM, 88241 http://www.leacountyhomeschool.com

Christian Association of Parent Educators - New Mexico (CAPE-NM)
P.O. Box 25046, Albuquerque, NM 87125
Phone: (505) 898-8548
Email: info@cape-nm.org
http://www.cape-nm.org

Homeschooling PACT - Parents and Children Together
Box 961, Portales, NM 88130-0961
Phone: (505) 359-1618
Email: Homeschooling-PACT@rocketmail.com
http://members.tripod.com/~HomeschoolingPACT/index.html

New Mexico Family Educators (NMFE)
P.O. Box 92276, Albuquerque, NM 87199-2276
Contact: Darla McLeod, President
Phone: (505) 275-7053
Publishes newsletter 10 times per year, The Connection. Membership $20 per year, fee includes subscription.

Sandoval County Homeschoolers
Based in Rio Rancho, New Mexico
Contact: Michelle
Phone: (505) 994-2524
Email: rrteachersstore@aol.com
One field trip per month, two park days per month, library program at the Rio Rancho Public library, and a newsletter.

Santa Fe Community School Home Study Program (SFCS HSP)
P.O. Box 289, Torreon, NM 87061
Phone: (866) 703-9375
Email:educate@sfcs-homestudy.org

Providing a way since 1974 for homeschooling families to maintain comprehensive records and educate their children. Based on those records we issue credits, diplomas and transcripts.

Santa Fe, NM, June 18, 2007

Writers ages 14-19 in New Mexico are invited

to enter the Young Authors Competition sponsored by the Santa Fe Short Story

Festival. To attract the most diverse talent, the competition is open to all

New Mexicans who are 14-19 years-old as of August 3, 2007, even if they are

not enrolled in high school. Original short stories on any subject of up to

2000 words in length will be considered. Entries must be postmarked by

August 3, 2007.

The finalists will compete for the four cash prizes to be awarded: $500 to

the winner, $250 for the runner up, and $125 for the two honorable mentions.

The four prize-winning stories will be read at the 2007 Santa Fe Short Story

Festival by professional actors. Finalists (the four authors whose work is

selected for a prize) may request a travel allowance if they live 100 miles

or more from Santa Fe.

?One thing is clear?the world needs to hear the voices of young

writers,? asserts David Olson, Artistic Director of the Santa Fe Short

Story Festival. ?One amazing way to reach out into the world with a strong

voice is in the form of the short story.?

For more complete contest rules, the required submission form, and other

information, interested individuals should visit www.SantaFeShortStory.org.

ABOUT THE SANTA FE SHORT STORY FESTIVAL

The mission of the Santa Fe Short Story Festival is to create a compelling

literary event by attracting world-renowned writers and actors; to host

educational opportunities through lectures, films and panel discussions; and

to provide a forum for New Mexico writers to publicly read their works.

The Santa Fe Short Story Festival is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization

which began in 2005, and was founded by Tony Branch and Marsha Mason. As the

only festival of its kind in New Mexico, the organization provides exposure

and focus on the short story, an art form that has been ignored, but is

seeing a resurgence in the literary world today. Through performance and

reading aloud, whether by the authors themselves or by professional actors,

the short story comes alive for audience members of all ages combining an

element of entertainment with education.  Some works may have never been

read or heard before, especially certain unpublished works by new authors.

The 2007 Festival will take place on the campus of the

New Mexico School for

the Deaf on October 4, 5 and 6 under the Artistic Direction of David Olson.

Media Contact:

Nancy Fay

505.466.3440

http://www.santafeshortstory.org

April 1 is arriving soon!  The Public Education Department has updated its website for online homeschool notifications for the 2007-2008 school year.  If you intend to home school during the 2007-2008 school year, you are required by state law to notify the state before April 1, and the on-line notification is the preferred method.  Remember to keep a record of the confirmation of your notification.

http://www.nmhomeschools.org/application.html

HEADLINES

1.  Please keep praying and calling/emailing: HB 15 to be heard today!

(3/2/07 at 2:30 pm in SPAC*)

2.  Convention Early Bird Registration deadline March 10th

DETAILS

1.  Please keep praying and calling/emailing: HB 15 (DOMESTIC PARTNER HEALTH CARE COVERAGE) to be heard today!

(3/2/07 at 2:30 pm)

Attached are two emails from a home school family with a passion to protect the family and take a stand for God’s design for the family.

One gives details about HB 15 and the other is a sample email for you to consider.  Both emails include links to phone numbers and email addresses.

§    Generally, especially at this last minute, it’s busy, busy, moms who will end up making these calls, so we want to make it as fast and easy as possible for you.

§    A staffer will most likely answer the phone, keeping track of those for or against.  All you have to say is, “My family would like to ask the senator to vote against HB 15 when it’s heard in committee.”

§    It is only one chance in a million that they will ask you why!  Just so you feel prepared, here’s the short answer.  “Insurance benefits are already available.   The legislation is unnecessary except to try to re-define the family, and we believe that any attempt to re-define the family is a bad idea.”

* SPAC is Senate Public Affairs Committee

For your consideration: 

What does this have to do with us?

A biblical understanding of the definition of marriage and family motivates many of us. 

But there is one reason why all home school families need to be concerned.

In America, home school freedom depends on parental rights.

Parental rights are recognized as constitutional even though they are not specifically outlined in the Constitution, because of "western civilization concepts of the family."

Here is what the Supreme Court said in 2000 in the case of Troxel v. Granville:

"Our jurisprudence historically has reflected Western civilization concepts of the family as a unit with broad parental authority over minor children. Our cases have consistently followed that course."

Think about it.  Redefining the family undermines parental rights, ultimately undermining the home school movement.

2.  Convention Early Bird Registration deadline March 10th

See our online registration here.  Remember, the Early Bird saves the most money!

The CAPE Action Board of Directors

----------------------------------------------------------------------
CAPE Action

P. O. Box  3203

Moriarty, NM 87035
info@cape-nm.org

August 24, 2006

New Mexico--Distance Education Academy Bad Deal for Homeschoolers

Dear HSLDA members and friends:

New Mexico homeschoolers were surprised to receive an announcement
from "IDEA of New Mexico," (www.idea-nm.org). IDEA-NM offers a "fresh
approach of mutual trust among parents and schools in New Mexico"
along with a computer, Internet access, free testing, online
curriculum, and up a $1,000 to be used on "non-doctrinal" educational
materials. HSLDA recommends against enrolling your children in this
program for the following reasons:

1. If you enroll in this program, you will no longer be considered a
private homeschooler, and you will not be eligible for membership in
the Home School Legal Defense Association. Our goal at HSLDA is to
protect the right of parents to privately homeschool free from
government controls and restrictions. Online charter schools are
tax-funded, government programs with legitimate government controls
and limitations.

2. IDEA-NM is a public school. If you enroll your children in IDEA-NM
to receive your free curriculum and computer, your children will no
longer be considered private homeschool students, but rather public
school students. This means you waive certain parental rights and
agree to homeschool according to the public school's rules. In other
states with similar "virtual" charter school programs, HSLDA has
observed that more and more regulations are gradually placed on the
enrolled homeschooling family each year. If the family does not comply
with the regulations, the "virtual" school will demand return of the
computer, curriculum, etc. Some families who have dis-enrolled have
even been turned into the local child welfare agency. Homeschoolers
who become dependent on the "free" government equipment and funds find
that their freedom is gradually exchanged for these "freebies."

3. HSLDA is opposed to IDEA-NM (and similar "virtual charter schools"
appearing around the country) because when parents who enroll in such
programs they waive the rights that many people in the state, in this
case including CAPE-NM and Home School Legal Defense Association, have
fought hard to preserve. The government does not offer "free goodies"
without obligation. A look at the IDEA-NM website proves this point.
Participants trade in homeschool freedom for state and national
curriculum standards, certified teachers, standardized testing, etc.

4. Despite the rhetoric, IDEA-NM is a secular program under the
"exclusive control of the state." The New Mexico Constitution says,
"The schools, colleges, universities and other educational
institutions provided for by this constitution shall forever remain
under the exclusive control of the state...." N.M. Const. art. XII,
sec. 3. IDEA-NM lists hundreds of vendors on their website, but we
only recognize six that carry any religious materials.

IDEA-NM enrollment is not the free, private homeschooling that has
been so successful for many years. It is simply an attempt by the
government to create small public schools in our homes.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES ON CHARTER SCHOOLS

For more information on similar programs, please read the articles on
charter schools that have appeared in HSLDA's Home School Court Report
and on our website, including "Charter Schools: The Price is Too High"
by Christopher J. Klicka at
http://www.hslda.org/courtreport/V18N1/V18N101.asp .

We encourage all HSLDA members to preserve the blessings of liberty,
not trade it in for limited secular benefits under the exclusive
control of the State.

Sincerely,

Scott W. Somerville
HSLDA Staff Attorney

This is the e-mail information from CAPE-NM

about the new government home school program.

Very Urgent Information and Action Alert

Government Home School Program (oxymoron alert!)

to be introduced in New Mexico THIS WEEK –

Serious threat to home school freedom!

Please review the following information

carefully AND PRAYERFULLY!

Details

An apparently innocuous series of meetings is scheduled in Socorro,

Las Cruces, Alamogordo, Artesia, Roswell, Clovis, Santa Fe, and

Albuquerque, presenting IDEA-NM to home schooling families. 

(Many state support groups have already been contacted by this government

agency.  We have NO IDEA how they collected your group’s information. 

IT ABSOLUTELY WASN’T FROM CAPE!! 

We strongly suggest that you look into it.)

CAPE is familiar with this particular program, and we have seen its

devastating effect on the Christian home school community in other

states, particularly in Alaska and Idaho.   Briefly…

At inception, the freebies, computer and curriculum stipend, were completely

free from government oversight.  Single income home schooling families found

the program nearly irresistible.

THEN…AFTER the families got used to the computers and the stipend, they

began eliminating Christian textbook suppliers.  Then they refused to reimburse

families for any Christian curriculum material.  But by then, it was too late. 

The state with the best home school law in the nation lost the momentum to protect, defend, and preserve the true freedom of home education.

Christian home education is defined as:

      Christ Centered

       Parent Directed

       Home Based                 

       Family Funded

IDEA-NM or Government School at Home

      Home Based    

SO, WHAT EXACTLY IS IDEA-NM? 

(Quoting directly from their website www.idea-nm.org, bold and italics are added

by CAPE for emphasis.)               

THEY SAY:

“IDEA of New Mexico brings a fresh approach of mutual trust among parents

and schools in New Mexico, by honoring parental choice in curricular

materials and instructional methodology, yet providing support and accountability based upon the needs of each and every individual child.”

WE SUGGEST:

“They can only honor parental choice that rejects the Lordship of Jesus Christ.”

THEY SAY:

“The mission of the Independent Distance Education Academy (IDEA) of New Mexico

program is to provide resources and support to parents who have elected to educate their

children in their home or in another alternative setting. Our objective is to build and foster a community of learners which views education as not confined to the traditional four walls of a classroom, but a free-flowing exchange of knowledge and ideas worldwide through technology.”

WE SUGGEST:

Their mission is to draw home schooled students into the Christless culture of government education and transfer control of home education to the public school system.

THEY SAY:

Program Benefits

There are many benefits for families enrolling in IDEA of New Mexico,

including but not limited to:

· Be treated with the respect you deserve as your children's primary teacher!

(WE SAY:  You’re choice is respected only as long as you agree with their program)

·  Certified teaching staff assistance as needed

(WE SAY:  If certified teachers are all that more effective, why is the public school system a shambles?)

·   Computer provided for home use

(WE SAY:  If Jesus is Lord of your home school, will you sell the soul of your home school for a free computer?)

·  Curriculum standards (meets or exceeds state and national standards) and assessment for grades K-12

(WE SAY:  Why would we lower home school standards to meet state standards?)

·    Required standardized testing provided

(WE SAY:  What if we don’t like your tests?  “Required” doesn’t say much for parental choice.)

·   Be able to use your choice of curricular materials, provided they match the student's Individual Learning Plan (ILP).

(WE SAY:  In other words, use whatever you choose, as long as it’s what we choose for you.  And how will they know without evaluating your child?  In your home or their school?  Either option is intrusive and unacceptable.)

·  Access to allotment ($1,000 per student) from which the school district will purchase non-doctrinal educational materials for students, including texts, art supplies, science kits, software, educational games, and more! Allotments amounts are reduced after the official start of school and eliminated after December 15 for the current school year.

(WE SAY:  If you won’t sell the soul of your home school for a free computer, perhaps $1000 in curricula is the incentive you need.  But don’t think about it or pray about it too long.  Decide now or lose out!

Do you remember how hard we fought to separate ourselves from the authority of the local school district?

Conclusion: 

If you want a man-centered, government-directed, home-based, taxpayer-funded education for your children, this may be the right program for you, but you won’t be home schooling.  Your student will be enrolled in a government-controlled home-based school.

HOWEVER!  If you value Christ-centered, parent-directed, home-based, family-funded Christian home education, this could never be the right program for you! 

Many home school families are crystal clear about their goals, and won’t even think twice about this new, improved, gold-plated government carrot.  But many of our fellow home schooling families will be tempted by it.  They need to know the truth! 

Please, please forward this email to as many home school families and friends of home education as possible.

And please pray that eyes will be open, ears will hear, and that no one will be deceived into thinking they can serve two masters…

“ …choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served…or the gods…in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15

The CAPE Action Board of Directors

----------------------------------------------------------------------
CAPE Action

P.O. Box  3203

Moriarty, NM 87035
info@cape-nm.org

With Election Day just around the corner (November 7), now is a great time to start a study of politics and political platforms.  Check out these web sites about political platforms.

Platforms since 1840

New Mexico Constitution Party
Democratic Party of New Mexico
Green Party of New Mexico
Libertarian Party of New Mexico
Republican Party of New Mexico