ONLINE HOME SCHOOL GROUP UNITES CHRONICALLY ILL MOMS

MARCH 2002 / Home-schooling one's own children can be a daunting task, but one that most home-schooling moms feel called to, even when their own health is fragile. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 38.4% of parents home school for religious reasons. [1

More than one in three people in the United States live with a chronic condition, resulting in the amount of those home-schooling and living with illness overlapping a great deal. [2

Rest Ministries, a Christian organization that serves people who live with chronic illness or pain, recently announced an online community for home-schooling moms with chronic illness.

Rest Ministries receives over 500,000 hits per month to their web site and over 75 women currently participate in the homeschooling program. "Invisible illness can cause many to misunderstand our chosen lifestyles," shares Cindy Elliott, 43, from Texas. "Our group at Rest Ministries, Beyond Surviving Homeschooling, has an unspoken understanding of faith and grace. We recognize the very real limitations and frustrations which come with chronic illness, and the additional challenge these add to home-schooling. At the same time, we recognize that both the health challenges and home-schooling draw us closer to and more dependant on our Lord and Savior, Jesus. We have an unspoken language of three areas that each of us are intimately familiar with: our faith, our family and our illness... it makes all the difference."

Elliott, is joined by co-coordinator, Trish Chmelik, of Wisconsin who lives with fibromyalgia. Trish is a wife of seventeen years, and a home-schooling mother of three boys; ages 16, 14, & 8. Although home-schooling three active boys is not easy, she feels it is a calling from God for this season of her life. "God has given me the ministry of raising three Godly men, and He gives me the strength necessary to do the job," she shares. "I wish to encourage other home-schooling moms living with chronic illness to persevere in their calling. I want them to know that they are not alone."

To gain supportive friends, curriculum plans that take illness into consideration and spiritual sustenance, join Beyond Surviving Homeschooling at Rest Ministries.
http://www.restministries.org/life-homeschool.htm

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[1 U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education 1 Statistics, Parent Survey of the National Household Education Surveys Program, 1999 (Parent-NHES:1999).
[2 Chronic Care in America: A 21st Century Challenge, a study of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.)
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HOMESCHOOLING STATISTIC
According to the National Home Education Research Institute, home-schooling is growing at the rate of 7-15% per year; between 1.5 and 1.9 million children (grades K-12) were home-educated during 2000-2001.

TESTIMONIES OF PARTICIPANTS
They are available for comment.

The Beyond Surviving Homeschooling group has been a wonderful blessing to me. I have learned practical things about home-schooling, about living with a chronic illness, and about doing these two things at the same time! It is wonderful to have a support system that truly understands how I feel, what I am dealing with, and that will pray, encourage, and point me to our Lord. I have been a part of many home-schooling e-groups, as well as quite a few e-groups about my illness, but this is the first where I have felt the touch of God in my life and heart in all that we do. I thank God for bringing this group of wonderful friends into my life.

Joan Holder, Chatsworth, CA
Illness: fibromyalgia
Home-schools 4 children, 1 son, age 11, triplet daughters, age 9. 5 years home-schooling.
email: JHx6@sbcglobal.net

"This past year my 14-year-old son was failing school and losing all self-esteem. After much prayer, my husband and I felt led to try home-schooling. Shortly after this decision, Rest-Ministries introduced a new forum, Beyond Surviving Homeschooling, for those who suffer with chronic pain. It was as though this site was designed with just me in mind. I have found a connection with other home-school educators that are also suffering from illness, and I am understood and blessed. The bond we have established is truly a work of God. I feel as though I can count on these 'dear-ones' to lift me up in prayer. They are there to encourage and support me as I face the daily challenges of educating my child."

Debbie Farmer, Bunn, NC
Illnesses include: fibromyalgia, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Chrohn's disease, chronic kidney infections
Home-schools 1 boy, 14
email: debbifarmer@yahoo.com

Co-Coordinators
Trish Chmelik, Thorp, WI
Illness: fibromyalgia
Home-schools 3 boys, ages 8, 14, & 16
email: pachmel@discover-net.net

Cindy Elliott, Bay City, TX
Illnesses include: MCS, candida, environmental allergies, chronic sinusitis, migraines
Home-schools 1 daughter, 12
email: keciro@wcnet.net




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