Protecting Freedom...
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
-- Proverbs 22:6
Paul & Gena Suarez, founders of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, believe that homeschooling is less about education and more about discipleship. Who do you want discipling your children?
Families on the Frontlines!
Preserving and protecting homeschool freedoms has always been a big part of HOME's mission. The loss of any basic human right or freedom puts all other rights in grave danger at the same time. There is a fundamental sense within all of us that it is right for individuals to have freedom and choice over their own body, health, associations, work, religion, speech, and the unalienable right of parents to make educational and medical decisions for their children.
The family has been the foundation of every civilized society and at the forefront of preserving freedom since the beginning of time. It is in families that we first learn about the origins and constructs of freedom. Within the confines of the family unit, individuals are molded and formed in the values that embody freedom. In every free society, there is a ruling body whose members were first formed in those values, which then serves to protect the freedoms of its fellow citizens.
Continue reading to find out how you and your family can be a part of today's fight for freedom, in small ways and in big ways, in your local community, in your state and across the nation.
STAY TUNED to this page to view the latest "Your Voice Matters" presentations, featuring locally and nationally known speakers and community leaders, as well as homeschool families!
Learning Opportunities for Families...
Your Voice Matters!
VIDEO LESSONS
In this ongoing series of vidoes, well known speakers share their thoughts on the state of our freedoms today, give us a message for hope, and provide simple ways that average folks can protect their freedoms and live courageously during these difficult times.
View all "Your Voice Matters" recordings, plus MORE educational videos for your family!
STUDENT VOICES
Your student can join HOME's Protecting Freedom project, too! We would love to get original submissions (art, music, writing) from homeschool families to share on our website, in our newsletter and/or over social media. Find out how to participate!
FAMILIES HELPING FAMILIES
It's not often that we have an opportunity to do something tangible to help protect homeschool freedom for families in our state. However, in 2023 Maine homeschool families can play a major role in that effort! HOME is partnering with BJU Testing and Evaluation and the National Home Education Research Institute in an exciting research project involving standardized testing! If you are considering testing in 2023, consider the option that will help protect homeschool freedom!
YOUR VOICE
We'd love to hear your thoughts, too! Chat with HOME using the chat feature in the bottom right corner of this page. Let us know what's on your mind!
Dig Deeper with Your Students Using our FREE Resources!
1. FREE Constitution Alive Class with Patriot Academy, Coming in September 2023
Join David Barton and Rick Green, Constitutional experts and advocates for the original intent of our founding documents, in this one-of-a-kind course on the meaning and purpose of the Constitution! You'll go article-by-article through the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and learn about executive orders, recess appointments, the Electoral College, the powers of Congress and the President, freedom of religion, and much more. Shot on location in the amazing WallBuilders library of original documents and in Independence Hall, celebrating the 225th anniversary of the Constitution!
Class will meet once a week for eight weeks!
Find out more at Patriot Academy.
2. Teach your students the value of true freedom using the FREE resources below!
* Start with HOME's new, interactive Family and Freedom unit study. Click on the link, create an account and get started today, or download the .pdf version below.
In this study, your students will begin to explore the foundations of freedom, what it means to be truly free, and what they can do to ensure freedom for future generations.
3. Follow up with HOME's in-depth literature study: Dangers of Totalitarianism.
* Follow the animals of George Orwell's Animal Farm and experience the dangers of communism as "absolute power corrupts absolutely," mirroring the atrocities of the Russian Revolution.
* Join twelve-year-old Ji-Li Jiang in Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution, a true story of what it was like to grow up in China under Chairman Mao during this terrifying time in history.
* Wrestle with Winston as he struggles to hold on to the truth, the past, and his soul in a frightening, dystopian future with uncanny parallels to our own present in George Orwell's most powerful and prophetic novel 1984.
* Make connections with The Truman Show, "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, "The Hollow Men" by T.S. Elliot, and more.
Discussion questions, activities, historical background, and more will help you and your students to navigate your thinking about the dangers of authoritarianism and the importance of maintaining individual freedoms!
Stay Tuned In...
Preparing for Challenging Times
Incorporate homesteading and preparedness into your homeschool curriculum!
READ MORE about this important topic. Find out how you can become self-sufficient and prepare your family for difficult times.
Use HOME unit studies to teach important self-sufficiency skills. The Wilderness Adventure, Maine Agriculture and Natural History Collections are three HOME unit study bundles that will provide endless opportunities to teach self-sufficiency!
Teach your students to value civic duty and public service with HOME's Government and Public Service Collection!
Freedom Watch News
NEWS AND CURRENT EVENTS SOURCES for the whole family!
NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Is the right to choose homeschooling for your child secure?
Some child's rights advocates, like Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Bartholet, believe that homeschoolers are a threat to the rights that state governments (not parents) have in order to ensure a child's right to an education and to personal well-being.
Participants at the 2021 Harvard Homeschool Conference in June debated the need for further regulation of homeschooling, and whether or not parents are fit to teach their own. Watch the sessions.
Homeschool leaders presented clear facts during the debate that support the role of parents in the education and upbringing of children. Read HSLDA's detailed report on the event.
Thank You to Our Sponsors!
Please remember to thank our Page Sponsors by visiting their websites!
"Liberty is the God-given, unalienable, priceless yet ever-at-risk heritage of our forefathers and is sadly largely unknown to present generations, whose widespread neglect of Scriptural principles has led to increasing national judgment. Every man and woman should be free to thrive without the tyranny of overreaching laws, cumbersome regulations, multi-level governmental or bureaucratic micromanagement, and burdensome taxation—fully able to employ the talents and resources God has given them in the service of the only King and in the pursuit of true happiness according to the dictates of Conscience." (The Beal Family)
Home School Legal Defense Association
As the world's largest homeschool association, we advocate for parents' freedom to educate their children so they can thrive. Our mission is to make homeschooling possible for everyone everywhere! Join us!
Institute for Excellence in Writing
Freedomship, a term coined by Andrew Pudewa, is defined as the act or process of imparting, acquiring, or developing the character, knowledge, and skills necessary for being or remaining free. Check back at IEW.com from July 1-10 for free shipping during IEW's annual Freedomship promotion!
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected and handed on for them to do the same."
-- Ronald Reagan
We as a nation have been given much, so of us much will be required at the hand of God. As Christians and as Citizens I believe we have a moral obligation to defend our freedoms, to choose to live as free men and women, and to be willing even to sacrifice and humbly suffer for the cause of righteousness, justice, truth, and liberty within the laws and institutions of Almighty God.
* For sponsorship details, please contact HOME's advertising coordinator, Katie Beaudoin, at katiehomeadv@gmail.com or 207.610.9309.