Governor Declares Home Education Week

May 7 - 13, 2006

by Dick and Dorothy Karman

Governor Kulongoski declared May 7 - 13 Home Education Week in Oregon. This provides a great opportunity for Oregon home educators to spread the good news about home education to their friends, neighbors and community. This is the fourteenth year Oregon governors declared Home Education Week in Oregon at OCEANetwork's request. In the non-legislative years such as this one, families celebrate in their own communities.

Your freedom to homeschool in Oregon depends on the attitude of the Legislature which reflects the attitude of the public. Take advantage of the Home Education Week proclamation to positively impact others' attitudes regarding home education. Don't feel like you have to use all the ideas in this article. Use some of the ideas in this article as a spring board for your own ideas. Let your friends, neighbors and legislators know that "Home Education Freedom Works!"

Make Home Education Week a learning experience

Plan a civics class for students during Home Education Week. Study how a bill becomes law in Oregon. (Check out www.leg.state.or.us/index.html for information.) Invite your state legislator (or candidate for state office) to come talk to your group. Find out why he or she decided to run for office, what running for office is like and what he or she hopes to accomplish while in office. Share information about homeschooling with your legislator. Let him or her ask your students questions about homeschooling. The class provides a great opportunity to introduce your legislator to home education.

Display homeschool projects

You can ask to set up a homeschool display in your local library, county courthouse or senior center. This can be done by a support group or a family. Here are some ideas for the display: Show off some of your children's projects. Make a pile of all the books they have read on their own this year. Include a few of their textbooks and awards they may have earned. Make a photo collage of field trips you have taken. You want the display to demonstrate that homeschool children learn many things and some of them in very interesting ways. If your support group is constructing the display, you may want to include contact information for your group. If the display is at the library, you could pull some homeschool books from the shelves to include in the display or have the library print a list of homeschool books they have available.

Conduct a service project

Celebrate Home Education Week by serving others. Set up a music performance at a nursing home or senior center. Have your homeschool students read to or do a project with the younger children in a day care center. Do a community beautification project such as setting out plantings in the park. Also, let the local newspaper know how you are celebrating and invite them to cover the story.

Hold an informational meeting

Hold a homeschool open house and post flyers around the city. Invite people to come find out about homeschooling. Be prepared to answer questions about the law and where to find curriculum, as well as “How do you get it all done?” Bring some of your favorite homeschool materials to display. Include your children and let them answer questions about their experience. You may enjoy yourself so much that you decide to hold these meetings several times a year.

Get a local proclamation

Ask your city or county government to proclaim Home Education Week in your community. Ask if you and your children can see the proclamation signed. Notify your local paper of any events you plan. Invite them to come take pictures. What a thrill for your homeschool students to have their pictures in the local paper.

Share with your neighbors

Bake bread, cookies or pies to share with your neighbors in celebration of Home Education Week. Let them know that the Governor declared May 7 - 13, 2006, Home Education Week in Oregon and you are celebrating by sharing with them. Invite them over for a presentation evening. Have your children prepare a written report, display or oral presentation on something they've learned in their studies. Don't condemn your neighbors' educational choices, but do have fun celebrating yours.

OCEANetwork has resources

OCEANetwork publishes a flyer for Home Education Week which gives general information about home education and lists several sources for interested parties to find more information. You can use the flyer at library displays, for open houses, or to give to government officials and media personnel. Order the flyers in groups of 10 from OCEANetwork, 15805 S. Abiqua Rd., Silverton, OR 97381. Send $1.50 for every 10 brochures ordered.