Clarification May Be in Order

On October 8th I was contacted by Rob Daniels of the Iowa City Press Citizen asking me about doing a profile story about the group. I took the question to the yahoo group and enough members were okay with meeting with him so I began working to set things up. In the interest of providing Mr. Daniels with some background about the group I sent this information back to him in an e-mail.

The IC Secular Homeschool group is composed of both independent hs’ing families and hs’ing families that are registered with the district homeschool assistance program (HSAP). So while the testing out at the center doesn’t impact all of our members, I think attendance may be low at activities this week and it would be better to try to connect next week, if that would work for you.

As a bit of history, the IC Secular group has been around for many years however in previous years it was known as ICHEN. The group changed its name and clarified its policies a couple of years ago. Our official tagline states, “This secular homeschool association welcomes all Iowa City and surrounding area families who are interested in creating community with homeschooling families of all backgrounds and lifestyles.” We have a blog, a facebook group and a yahoo group. The blog (which we don’t update as frequently as we should) address is http://iowacitysecularhomeschool.blogspot.com/

Mr. Daniels then turned that information along with personal interviews done on October 20th into an article which appeared in today's edition of the Press Citizen.

Suffice it to say that we feel that quotes were about as accurately relayed as the information from the e-mail and I have concerns that the article could create a great deal of confusion that we should try to clear up.

First of all, the IC Secular Homeschool group has nothing to do with organizing testing. In fact, not all of our members choose to test. I have no idea where that came from. The only time the testing was mentioned was in the context above. It never came up in the interview.

Secondly, as to our groups association with the ICHSAP; I don't think Mr. Daniels quite grasped the distinction between the two groups. I don't know how I could have made it much clearer than I did in the e-mail. So I guess that is why the HSAP figured so prominently in the article, because it wasn't something we talked about a good deal.

I thought I did a good job of pointing out that we were a different group than the HSAP. I mentioned our group is able to extend support to families who might live in outlying districts or who might not be interested in joining an HSAP. I also think I mentioned that I hosted a coffee for members of our group to meet Jan back in the days when the HSAP was just getting started. I do know that I said, "We were here first." in a very affected, petulant manner so there shouldn't have been any confusion unless Mr. Daniels just wasn't listening to us at all.

Sarah's comment about the HSAP was made when we were discussing curriculum choices and homeschooling methods and my understanding was that she made the comment referencing the fact that the ICHSAP was hands off in terms of those decisions.

To be clear, those members of this group who also belong to the ICHSAP see it as fantastic source of help and support. Dan and Kathryn work very hard to create educational programming and to provide learning opportunities and those of us who do participate appreciate their hard work very much.

But I would also like to make it clear that we are a distinct and separate group. We are creating a community of homeschoolers which welcomes ALL families and offers friendship and support. I am not sure that article made that clear.