Greater Rochester LEAH is a Christian support group for homeschooling families. We are one of over 135 Loving Education at Home chapters in New York State. Our statement of faith is basically the same as that of New York State LEAH, and our members receive the New York State LEAH newsletter, but we are a self-governing chapter.
Membership in Greater Rochester LEAH is open to all families who are homeschooling, considering homeschooling, or interested in promoting homeschooling in the Greater Rochester area. LEAH is not a church and should in no way replace your involvement in a local church. However, you do need to understand our statement of faith because it affects the way we operate. All applications are subject to approval by the Board and we reserve the right to dismiss members who harm the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Greater Rochester LEAH group. We believe:
     A. The Bible to be the infallible Word of God, the supreme and final authority for all faith
     and life.
     B. That there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy
     Spirit.
     C. In the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, His sinless life, His miracles, His
     vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood on the cross, His bodily resurrection,
     His ascension, and His imminent bodily return in power and glory.
     D. That man was created in the image of God, but fell into sin and is therefore lost, and
     only those who put their faith in Jesus Christ alone, not trusting in any personal works
     whatsoever, can be saved.
     E. That salvation is the free gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal
     faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, whose substitutionary death on the cross paid the
     penalty for man's sin.
     F. That the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to convict men, indwell, guide, instruct, and
     empower the believer for godly living and service.
     G.  In the spiritual unity of believers through common faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and
     that doctrinal differences which may exist, outside of the aforementioned (A-F), should
     not hinder the unity of Christian home educators.
     H. We believe that God created man and woman after His own image and that God has
     ordained marriage, consisting of one man and one woman, to be the foundation of the
     family and to be the only legitimate and godly expression of sexuality.

     As a support group, our purpose is to help you in your God-given responsibility of training your children through home education. We offer a variety of programs and activities; we encourage you to choose the ones that will most benefit your family. We offer evening programs, with some being geared toward helping you as homeschooling parents, and some being geared toward the whole family. For example, adult programs may feature nationally known speakers in the homeschooling movement, or may involve locally run workshops in topics such as creative ways to teach your child a certain subject, evaluation alternatives, spiritual headship of the father, meeting the regulations, preparing a child for college. etc. Other programs include activities such as Used Curriculum sales, a Science/History/Geography Fair, a LEAH Fair, Christmas/Thanksgiving programs, a National Geography "School Level" Bee, spelling bees, drama productions, a Talents Night. etc. Activities vary from year to year based on the desires of our members and the availability of resources.
     We also offer group lessons designed to enrich your child's education. We generally try to offer classes that either require special training, or would be something more difficult to offer at home. For example, it's hard to have a soccer team with just your own children, and not all parents are equipped to provide a chemistry lab! We generally have three five-week sessions  per year of group lessons; two in the fall and one in the spring. At times we arrange other physical education activities, such as ice skating, in various facilities from January through April, so that much of your physical education requirement may be met by involvement in the LEAH programs if you so desire. We also have a competitive boys basketball team. There are additional charges for group lessons, over and above your membership fee. Our teachers, as independent contractors, set their own fees to cover the cost of materials and their services. We also have an expense fee for all who participate in group lessons to cover paper supplies at the churches we use, non-consumable materials such as soccer nets, and the cost of the facilities. Group lessons in the past have included various sports and gym classes, Spanish, drama, music, crafts, creative writing, science labs, sign language, public speaking, literature discussions, etc.  Most of the group lessons are taught by our members, so the classes offered vary from time to time based on the specialized skills available within our group.
     We schedule approximately two field trips per month, one geared toward all ages and one geared toward a specialized group, such as teens. Some of these trips are outside the Rochester area, such as to the Aquarium in Niagara Falls and Misty Meadow Hog Farm in Romulus. Most field trips are in the Rochester area and have included facilities such as the fire stations, post offices, grocery stores, TV stations, nature walks, and museums.  The advantages to scheduling these as a group are that we can frequently get special tours and school-group prices, whereas you as a family, cannot. Also, they do provide socialization experiences for your children with other homeschoolers Again, the field trips vary from year to year. If something is offered one year that your children are not quite old enough to attend, chances are good that it will be offered again a few years later. We also offer special programs at times, dealing with topics such as fire prevention, bicycle safety, or first aid for pets.
     Other advantages of belonging to our local support group include access to a library of books and tapes, updates on legal concerns within the state and nation related to homeschooling, group achievement testing, access to a peer-group review panel, a discount on HSLDA membership, and, of course, emotional support and advice for you as homeschooling parents. Though our members belong to many different churches, we all share unique responsibilities, strains, and joys often not experienced in the same ways by non ­homeschooling families.
     In order to avoid causing an offense to others, we ask our members to please remember these guidelines related to dress and standards at LEAH activities: no tight or form-fitting shorts or pants; no tight, form-fitting or low-neck lined tops and dresses; no halter tops, bare midriffs, or mini-skirts; no clothing with worldly slogans or groups. Instead, wear long shorts, culottes, knee-length or longer skirts or dresses, modest necklines arid loose-fitting tops. No cursing or inappropriate language. Avoid the most current fads, such as piercing body parts. (If you have a pierced body part, or a young man has a pierced ear, we ask that you remove the jewelry for LEAH activities.)  Avoid extremes which draw excessive attention to a person. What you do in your own home is your business, but we ask that you follow these guidelines when we are together as a group!
     Our membership fee is currently $42 a year, plus involvement in some area of service within our group.  We have a points system whereby each member family must earn a specified number of points per year by serving in some way. (There is a "buy-out option" of $.50 per point if you choose not to serve.) New families must earn ten points in the first year and renewing families must earn 50 points per year. For example. you may teach in a group lesson session, serve refreshments at an evening program, or take calls from people signing up for a field trip. Most of the service areas do not involve a great number of hours because we are all extremely busy in our own home schools, local churches, etc.  However, programs cannot be offered unless members are willing to work. The Board will oversee the various programs, but it is not their responsibility to run them all. Board members are homeschooling parents too!
     Hopefully, this has answered your basic questions regarding involvement in Greater Rochester LEAH. Whether or not you decide to join our LEAH chapter, we pray- that God will richly bless you in your homeschooling ministry!

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