National Home Education Network

Changing the Way the World Sees Homeschooling

So True. Along with many other private and public entities and interests.

I'd not written anything about this here because....I guess because I hadn't been able to coherently pull together all my thoughts about NHEN. I still haven't, and these are only some of my thoughts and recollections.

About 3 years ago, Bully Boy Regional Supt Dennison went at homeschoolers in his 3 counties with police and truancy officers. It was an ugly situation. As I read about it in the Illinois Leader and elsewhere, I became outraged. Outraged enough that I had something to say on the NHEN forums about it along with many questions. Two different threads about the situation in Illinois with Dennison and the ensuing legislative mess that came out of it from other organizations. HSLDA's representative who monitors and responds on the NHEN forum was Scott Somerville and since HSLDA was involved with this issue; it seemed to be an appropriate forum to ask my questions. It was and as I have stated publicly and privately; it was a real eye opener and I was very grateful for the forum provided at NHEN. Illinois homeschoolers used NHEN's forums, among others, to see what was what. I directed folks there.

Now my name or responses to my original questions or statements are only quoted as I removed all of my posts from the forum. (Also note that both threads were (Moved by Moderator) with no option to edit or get access to individual posts.)

I thought long and hard about removing my information from there. Bottom line for me was that NHEN no longer represented advocating for homeschooling freedoms but rather advocating for all educational options. Who's opposed to that? I'm not as long as my tax money is being spent wisely. But public education being promoted consistently on the National Homeschool Education Network as homeschooling advocates are shouted out of a thread called Protecting Homeschool Freedoms & Clarity, of all things, along with their posts deleted doesn't work for me. I didn't want to be associated with it.

I was just learning about homeschool advocacy when NHEN was in its beginning stages. I watched as the group grew from the concern of many homeschoolers being represented in government and the public eyes by a legalistic entity that had other axes to grind besides homeschooling freedoms. There was much hope and much thought put into these efforts. And as the local homeschooling advocacy scene was a top down sort of scenario, the nat'l organizations appealed to me. And NHEN's gift to homeschoolers in Illinois with the information provided in 2002/2003 is recognized. So I can be mad and have been and I can be sad and am; that links aren't updated and correct information is given from the hope of that NHEN dream over a decade ago. And I'll send some current information to the Powers that Be at NHEN regarding Illinois as I know people (new homeschoolers, et al) do look there.

And I'll still be hopeful, I guess; from a distance.