Why BCHE?
BCHE has been in the area for over 25 years providing support, enrichment oppurtunities, and networking for Big Country area home school families. Over the years, the look and activities have varied, and changed with the local climate of the home school community.
You do not have to be a member of BCHE to educate your child at home. There are resources available to non-members. One of which is the Abilene Area Homeschool Forum on facebook. Their goal is to have an open forum for home school families to share, and find answers to questions. While we do have a deep appreciation for this group, and even enjoy being part of it, it is not the same as BCHE membership.
BCHE collects dues and raises funds, and uses the funds we take in to provide oppurtunities for local home school families. We have many events such as our upcoming Fall Extravaganza, Back to School, The private viewing of "Courageous", and other events throughout the year that are exclusively for our members. BCHE sponsors events your home school child would otherwise be unable to participate in such as academic fairs and competitions. We also are working on increasing oppurtunities for community involvement. We are a 501c4 non-profit organization. This means we are accountable to our members and the IRS for what we do with the dues we take in. We are all unpaid vollunteers!
BCHE membership can save you a lot of money! Many area stores and on-line software and curriculum providers have educational entity discounts which are extended to home school families, but they require a member card. BCHE membership will get you a $15.00 discount on a THSC membership. THSC is one of the main reasons we celebrate the freedoms we have in Texas. If a member feels they do not get their money's worth from their membership, they are missing out and should contact us. The financial benefits go on and on.
BCHE provides help. Regardless of the reason you chose to home school, it is unlikely that you started of on this adventure hoping to do it all by yourself. If you did, it is even less likely that you had a good experience with that original goal in mind. The need for walking with others who have common ideals is important to reach any goal in life. Home Education is no exception. It is more the epitomy of this fact. That is why BCHE strives to offer many oppurtunities for our members to work with others and find resources that will help them on their journey. These options include, but are not limited to mentoring, and our newly revamped resource center. These resources are FREE to all members, and are under-utilized. Also to be noted is our newly launched family friendly BCHE only social networking site - BCHEHombebook.com. On this site, any bche family member over age eight can participate in a safe online place. This site is moderated, maintained and operated by BCHE board members.
Being a BCHE member also offers some clout. Many area private schools reach out to BCHE to include our members in their events. Many home educators will at one time or another need to show evidence of home education. This could be necessary to appease some over-zealous beuraucrat or a nervous grandparent. We provide that evidence. We provide answers to every question we can, or we point people to where they can find the answers they need. When home school organizations in surrounding towns look for events in which they want to include Abilene or the Big Country, they will call us. Many out of towners attend our Back to School event.
If you are a member of BCHE, we are very thankful for having you. If you are on the outside looking in, we would love to have you walk with us.