Deut6v7 Mailing List

The Deut6v7 list exists to provide a forum for discussion and support for those engaged in, or considering, Christian home-schooling in the United Kingdom. This does not exclude discussion of Christian education in general, and does not exclude subscribers from outside the United Kingdom.

To join the list, do one of the following:

Send email to deut6v7-subscribe@yahoogroups.com with no subject or content. You will receive a confirmation message by email, to which you must reply to be subscribed.
Visit the Web page http://groups.yahoo.com/group/deut6v7 and click on "Join This Group".

Once you're on the list, you can post messages by sending mail to deut6v7@yahoogroups.com.

To leave the list, do one of the following:

Send email to deut6v7-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com, with no subject or content.
Visit the Web page http://groups.yahoo.com/group/deut6v7 and click on "Leave Group".

To temporarily stop receiving messages from the list, for example if you're on holiday, visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/deut6v7, click on "Edit My Membership" and set your Message Delivery to "No email" until you return.

To receive messages from the list as a single daily digest, visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/deut6v7, click on "Edit My Membership" and set your Message Delivery to "Daily digest".

If you have problems, please contact deut6v7-owner@yahoogroups.com.

Questions and Answers

Q. What is the list's charter?

A. Here are some "ground rules" for Deut6v7:

Deut6v7 is intended for Christian home-schoolers, but others with a broader interest in Christian education are by no means excluded. In addition, although the list is UK-based, those engaged in Christian education elsewhere in Europe are most welcome to join in.
Deut6v7 is normally moderated; the moderators will gently suggest that "off-topic" or personal exchanges be taken to private email as appropriate.
Deut6v7 presupposes evangelical Christian beliefs, such as the Trinity, the infallibility and authority of Scripture, six-day creation, original sin and justification by faith, as set forth in the historic creeds and confessions of the church. This is not intended to exclude those differing from such beliefs from subscribing, but does exclude promotion of teaching or practice incompatible with such beliefs.
Deut6v7 subscribers are invited to send a brief summary of their background and interests as they start to become involved in discussions, or on joining Deut6v7 if desired, so that we can get to know each other. Subscribers are also invited to upload this summary to the subscriber area at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/deut6v7/files/Subscribers/
Deut6v7 subscribers should conduct themselves with Christian courtesy. Mutual edification and forbearance is commended, vigorous discussion is permitted, but "ad hominem" attacks are unacceptable.
Doctrinal debate should not be pursued on the list unless it pertains *directly* to home education.

Q. What kind of things can we talk about?

A. Legitimate topics for discussion on Deut6v7 include (but are not limited to) the following:

the underlying principles of Christian education
how to work these principles out in the various fields of study
questions and comments on curriculum material
buying and selling second-hand curriculum material
practical matters related to day-to-day homeschooling
mutual support and encouragement

Off-topic discussions will be gently discouraged by the moderator, who will often suggest that they be continued privately or moved to the Deut6v7-ChitChat list. To join it, visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/deut6v7-chitchat or send blank email to deut6v7-chitchat-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Personal responses to messages should be sent only to the originator. Replies go by default to the whole list; to send a personal message, copy and paste the address from the original message into the To box.

Virus warnings should never be sent to the list; please send them to the list owner at deut6v7-owner@yahoogroups.com, who will forward them to the list if they are genuine.

Q. Who runs the list?

A. The moderators of the list are Andrew Haylett and Richard Barns. Andrew may be contacted at deut6v7-owner@yahoogroups.com. Richard may be contacted at r.barns@lse.ac.uk.

Q. How private is the list?

A. The list of subscribers is only available to the moderators, who will not disclose it to others. However, when you send mail to the list, your name and email address will normally be shown on your message. Messages to the list are not archived in a public place.

Q. How do I know my message has made it to the list?

A. When you send a message to the list, it is forwarded to all the list subscribers - including you! You should thus expect to receive an "echo" of your message within a day or so. If you don't, consider sending your message again, and if the problem persists, contact deut6v7-owner@yahoogroups.com.

Q. How can I deal with all the mail?

If you're finding it difficult to keep up with Deut6v7 messages, it can be helpful to automatically move them to their own folder as they arrive. Instructions for doing this with Outlook Express are below; other mail programs are lkely to have similar functions.

Select Tools..Message Rules..Mail...
Click on New..
Check the box for "When the To or CC line contains people".
Click on "contains people" in the bottom box.
Type in "deut6v7" into the top box.
Click on "Add".
Click on "OK".
Check the box for "Move it to the specified folder".
Click on "specified" in the bottom box.
Select a folder, or create a new one, and click on "OK".
Change the name of the rule to "Deut6v7" and click on "OK".
Single-click on the new rule, and click on "Apply Now".
Click on "Apply Now". This will move all deut6v7 messages already in your inbox to the new folder. This rule will be automatically applied to all new incoming messages.
Click on "OK".

Q. Where can I find out about homeschooling resources? How can I get help and support?

A. There are several organisations that can provide support:

Home Service, 48 Heaton Moor Road, Heaton Moor, Stockport SK4 4NX, UK.
Email: ruth@home-service.org
Web: http://www.home-service.org

Home Service provides support for Christian home-schoolers, including skills testing. Membership is £10 per year, which includes a subscription to Home Time (see above), a homeschool contact list, useful leaflets, and a card which entitles you to reduced rates at various museums. They provide free progress testing for 8-13 year olds on request, and organise conferences.

Education Otherwise, PO Box 7420, London N9 9SG, UK.
Tel: 0870 730 0074.
Email: enquiries@education-otherwise.org
Web: http://www.education-otherwise.org

Education Otherwise is not a specifically Christian organisation, but can provide useful help to home-schooling families.

Home Education Advisory Service, P.O. Box 98, Welwyn Garden City, Herts. AL8 6AN, UK.
Tel: 01707 371854.
Email: admin@heas.org.uk
Web: http://www.heas.org.uk

Home Education Advisory Service provides for its subscribers a quarterly bulletin, a registration card giving free or reduced rates of admission to certain museums and sites of interest, an Advice Line for curriculum advice, a regional list of subscribers and a loan library.

You may find the brief resource list at http://www.hayletts.net/hsres.html a useful starting point. Suggestions for improvements will be gratefully received!

Some online home-schooling resources may be found at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/deut6v7/files/Resources/ . Please send any submissions for this area to deut6v7-owner@yahoogroups.com.

Q. And finally...how can I liven up my messages?

A. Various notations have developed over the years in an attempt to make the plain-text medium of email more expressive. Only prolonged exposure will engender familiarity, but here is a brief list of the more common notations and abbreviation.

    *emphasis*  Surround text with *.....* to denote emphasis, boldface, etc.
    :-)         "smiley" - denotes humour.
    ;-)         "wink" - denotes sly humour or irony.
    <g>         "grin" - denotes humour.
    BFN         Bye For Now
    BTW         By The Way
    FAQ         Frequently Asked Questions
    FYI         For Your Information
    HTH         Hope This Helps
    IMHO        In My Humble Opinion
    IOW         In Other Words
    ROTFLOL     Rolling On The Floor Laughing Out Loud (or ROFL, ROTFL, etc.)
    TIA         Thanks In Advance