It has been a busy year for AHEA. AHEA tries very hard to communicate with home educators via the AHEA website, Support Groups and Facebook.
Patty Marler and I spent an afternoon together in early March where we went through the website, page by page. We asked our Webmaster to move and update pages – to make items easier to find and to update the Website. Please take some time to check the AHEA website out and watch for new content.
The Support Groups List on the website has been updated in 2016, as well.
As the moderator of the AHEA Page on Facebook, I try really hard to keep it a positive, encouraging page for Home Educators. Part of AHEA’s purpose is to support and encourage Home Schooler’s in Alberta. The Facebook Page is about two years old and has close to 1500 members.
If you want to join (or know of someone) our Facebook Page, please watch for a private message from me. I check out every potential member before approving them. This is because in the past politicians, salesmen, reporters AND spammers have tried to join. AHEA wants their Facebook Page to be a safe and encouraging place for Home Educators.
After joining, I encourage everyone to read the Page Description (on the upper right hand side of the page) so that they are familiar with the Page Rules. The basic page rules are:
- To post respectfully and thoughtfully
- No Sale Posts. These will be removed without warning. These work better on the Support Group email lists or Facebook Pages for individual areas.
- No advertising of events for specific areas as well. If everyone was to post for sale or advertising events, it would be hard for anyone to see the other posts. AHEA’s Facebook Page is a Provincial Page, with home educators from all over the Province. Posts need to reflect that fact.
The Page Description also has a reminder that AHEA supports Parent Directed Home Schooling in Alberta. Not every discussion about funding or home schooling in Alberta belongs on the AHEA page.
There is also a reminder that all links are not endorsed by the AHEA Board. There are many links that are Christian in nature, but there are also links that are secular. Click on the links that you wish to read.
At the very bottom of the Page Description, there is a link to the AHEA Pinterest Boards. Many of the links shared will end up on these Pinterest Boards, to help clean up the Facebook Page and to make it easier for home educators to find the links that have been shared. *The AHEA Pinterest Boards are NEW for 2016.
I do appreciate every Home Educator who post and comment positively and make this community a better place for everyone. Facebook was a new venture for AHEA two years ago, but has proven to be a great tool in getting political information out to Home Educators in Alberta, as well as encouraging and supporting Home Schooling parents.