The Alberta Home Education Association (AHEA) began as the response to problems that had begun to plague home educators in the province of Alberta. Home education had, for many years, been the domain of families who had poor access to regular educational facilities, due to distance and other factors. In the seventies, a movement began that would change the face of education in Alberta. More parents were becoming concerned about the secularization of education in the province, and as a result, alternative education methods began to spring up.
Included in the movement was a growing body of parents who decided that educating their children at home was the preferred method. For some, the school authorities were supportive, but for many more, the authorities were hostile. Because of the small numbers in this environment, school authorities found it easy to intimidate parents, and methods of appeal were limited. As a result, a small, but knowledgeable group of parents decided to develop a provincial organization, and in 1986, registered the AHEA under the Societies Act of Alberta
Our Purpose
AHEA exists to serve the Home Education Community.
The purpose of the society, initially, was to support parents, to create a forum for better interaction between educating families and to develop better interaction between school authorities and parents. From the very small beginnings, the organization has grown to continue those initial thrusts through one of the largest conference and curriculum fairs in Canada, special speaker seminars, information sharing to both new and experienced home educators and responding to political and bureaucratic challenges. AHEA continues to serve parents as needs arise, to support local groups of parents and individuals, and to interact with various levels of government to protect the responsibilities of parents.
Our Values
- AHEA values the supremacy of God
- AHEA values parents as having the God-given right and responsibility to direct the education of their children
- AHEA values the traditional family unit defined as one husband, one wife and children, if any. We hold this model to be normative and the basis for a strong and stable society.
- AHEA values children and recognizes their need for discipling within the family context.
- AHEA values government as being instituted by God. We hold that government exists to serve the people, and that it must exercise its compelling interest in the education of children in the least intrusive manner.
- AHEA values education as the life-long formation of the individual and is not restricted to the acquisition of knowledge.