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!