Tag: state of illinois

Mark your calendar for Legislative Days!

ICHE Legislative Days March 19 – 21, 2013

Capitol Day on Wednesday March 20
Come be a part of making homeschool faith and freedom history in Illinois!

A Call to Faith and Freedom

Come to Springfield and learn how your state government works AND meet your local representatives. “Legislative Days” is a great opportunity to show government officials the many beautiful faces behind homeschooling. We’re the only group that comes to Springfield and ASKS FOR NOTHING except to be left alone! Plan to come and make your homeschooling presence known!!!!!

Wednesday, March 20, will be “Capitol Day” with singing and prayer IN the Capitol building Rotunda at NOON. Bring cherry pies which will be delivered in the afternoon to senators and representatives. This year, homeschool families will have the opportunity to have display boards for the day in the Capitol Building. The theme is “Faith and Freedom,” what homeschooling does to strengthen families, communities, and the state of Illinois.

On Tuesday and Thursday, March 19 and 21, there will be workshops in the Capitol and tours of the highpoints of Springfield. This will be a great learning field trip with plenty of time for fellowship. Come one, two, or all three days!

More details coming soon!

www.iche.org

info@iche.org

(847) 603-1259

Speech and Debate Tournament

I LOVED speech and debate when I was in high school. I think the critical thinking skills and the necessity to respond in the moment are life skills that are difficult to learn elsewhere. If you would like this type of opportunity for your student, here is an opportunity to build their enthusiasm and get an inside look at a speech and debate tournament.

From Lisa Lueken the NCFCA Illinois State Representative:

Speech and Debate Tournament – University of St. Francis


On March 4-6, 2013 several hundred homeschool students will gather at the University of St. Francis, Joliet, Illinois, for a three day speech and debate tournament.  We need several hundred judges! Our students love to have homeschool parents as judges because you give excellent feedback!  It’s a 2 1/2 to 3-hour time commitment which includes a brief orientation, the speech or debate round and refreshments in our hospitality room.

To register go to www.ncfca.org and click on “Judges” in the upper right hand corner.  You should see a link for “Best of the Mid-West” after clicking on the state of Illinois. If you have any questions please contact Mary Vilim at mjvilim@gmail.com or (630) 466-0117.  Also, please feel free to invite a friend!  No experience is necessary.  We are training our students to talk to people of all walks of life.

If you are a homeschooler who is considering having your student participate in speech and debate at some time in the future, we encourage you to come judge at our tournament and see what we’re about.  Children who are old enough to sit still for 1 1/2 hours are welcome to come and observe.

Looks like a fantastic opportunity to jump right into this effective skill building experience.

Homeschool speaker in Harwood Heights

Illinois Family Institute

Please join HOPE as they welcome Ralph Rivera, Lobbyist for the Illinois Family Institute. He will  share the state of homeschooling in the state of Illinois as well as other pertinent legislation affecting the family.

Ralph has been a lobbyist for over 30 years for Pro-life, Homeschooling and Family issues. He and his wife Cindy have successfully home educated five sons and are on their last son in high school.
This is open to all those interested in family issues in our state. There is no childcare available, but those children who are studying or interest in Civics are encouraged to attend. Please forward to those you feel would be interested or  benefit.

When:  Saturday Sept 24th at 9:30-11:30am

Where:
Bethany Baptist Church
6700 W. Gunnison
Harwood Heights 60706

Exciting week

As many of you know this has been a busy week politically for homeschoolers in Illinois. I have been posting much more on Facebook this week on the fan page, so if you are on Facebook and not already a fan, please jump on over to our page and become one. There is some discussion that takes place and at times I will post little tidbits there that don’t deserve a whole post here.

To sum things up . . . Senator Maloney tried to propose legislation that would require homeschoolers in the state of Illinois to register. Initially the bill mentioned all non-public school students, but then he decided, “Why beat around the bush?” He really just wanted to target homeschoolers, so he said he wanted to change the wording to make that clear. We are his target.

Obviously, this all stinks of attacking our precious freedom to love our children the best way possible, and homeschoolers would not take that sitting down, well, at least not without a telephone or computer handy. Calls, emails, letters, and visits poured into congressman across our state. I doubt any of them knew just how many homeschoolers and homeschool-sympathetic voters were in their districts before this bill crossed their desks.

Tuesday a crowd some 4000 strong descended on Springfield. Braving the cold, packing the rooms, making their presence respectfully known, and singing the songs that remind us of the great country we live in. The hearing showed the frivolity of such a bill, but also showed homeschoolers that we must remain ever vigilant. It was clear from some of the testimony that there are those in this state that are seeking more than just registration of homeschoolers.

More calls, more emails, more blogs, but hardly any news coverage . . . The good news came through mid-day today that the bill was tabled.

Is that the end of the story? Not really.

Here’s what he has to say today on a pod cast that a reader posted on our facebook page.

Be sure to keep an eye on this issue. And, if you reside in his district maybe you will consider to running for office. 😉