is HSLDA membership necessary?

Well, first off, even those who are homeschooling legally can end up with someone from child protective services (or whatever it might be called where you live) showing up at your door….all due to an unfounded complaint from perhaps a neighbor or relative who disagrees with homeschooling or simply dislikes how you have chosen to raise your children. If you subscribe to the HSLDA Weekly Update e-newsletter, which you can do even if you’re not a member, you’ll see reports of this happening in states across the country. You’ll also see how often the HSLDA attorneys are able to resolve the issue for their member families in a relatively timely manner.

Why not simply call a private attorney? Well, first, you would have to know for a fact that the private attorney thoroughly understands homeschooling laws in your state and is in agreement with your right to homeschool. When someone is standing at your door, demanding to come inside and/or speak with your children, you probably won’t have time to search the yellow pages and make calls to lawyers. However, a call to HSLDA will get you someone on the line who is adequately prepared to deal with the issue at hand. Their staff of attorneys has researched homeschool laws in all 50 states and has the information they need at their fingertips–it’s what they do, day in and day out.

I’m not as familiar with HLA, but if cost is an issue, their organization is probably just as willing and able to help at a lower membership cost. However, HSLDA offers a grant program to pay for membership fees of those who have a financial need and cannot afford the membership cost.

There are also other benefits HSLDA offers, such as webinars and articles on a variety of homeschooling topics, including homeschooling a special needs child (and there’s a special e-newsletter about Homeschooling Your Struggling Learner). If I were you, I would consider subscribing to their Weekly Update newsletter for awhile (easy to cancel and they won’t keep pestering you) and you can read brief articles about how they are helping homeschooling families around the country….even internationally.

I’m MARRIED to an attorney, and we are HSLDA members.  Sue is right–anything can happen, and these guys are the best–they are the experts.  They also have helpful perks and services, including a high school newsletter–I’ve found the two high school services moms to be very helpful.  AND it is a way of giving back to the homeschool community.  We are not personally in need of legal services often–all I usually have to do is say “I’ll have my husband the attorney call and explain it to you” and everyone backs off.  But there ARE homeschoolers who have problems.  I like to think that the dues, while sometimes tough for us to come up with, are helping other homeschoolers.  We pay monthly and feel we’ve been blessed for it. 

We are a military family and move rather frequently.  We are members of HSLDA for many reasons, but that was the motivating factor.  It’s been so nice to email or call about a new state and have an immediate answer.  Sometimes the emails will get sent back and forth for days, with new questions and concerns.  They’ve always been professional, prompt and make sure I understand what I need to do and give suggestions on how to do just a little more.

I am also able to get discounts at many stores and bookstores by flashing my Membership Card.  For example, Hastings (the only bookstore in town) gives me a 20% educators discount which is a tremendous blessing.  Most office supply stores also offer an educator/homeschool discount (with proof).

Speaking of HSLDA membership discounts, the group PEAH (Parents Educating At Home) offers a group number you can use to receive a 20% discount off HSLDA membership.  They also have a lot of links to in-store discounts at a variety of retailers. You can visit PEAH’s website here.

PEAH’s newsletter is free.

Sue, I couldn’t find any info on their website about the grand program you mentioned.  I used to be a member but dropped my membersihp because my husband lost his part-time job and his full-time hours were cut as well.   I see where they offer discounts to members of certain groups or if you are a minister, missionary or military.  Do you have a link to the info?

Yes, that’s it. You click on “Get Help” and then click on the link to the left that says “Members Helping Members.” I forgot that their scholarship program for membership fees was under the Homeschool Foundation.

Thank you Sara! I’ll take a look at it.