Christian Home Educators Association of Greater Durham (CHEAGD) is a Christian homeschool support group serving the Greater Durham area of North Carolina. (By "Greater Durham" we mean that if you're willing to drive from where you live to where we are, you are welcome to apply for membership.)

CHEAGD is an ethnically diverse group that is open to all homeschool families, regardless of religion, who agree to honor the Christian principles in the Statement of Faith.

Some History

Today, many home schoolers in North Carolina take for granted their legal right to teach their own children, but back in 1979 home schooling proponents got their first chance to make home schooling legal. That's when a bill was passed to remove nonpublic schools from the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Instruction, placing nonpublic schools under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Governor's Division of Non-Public Education (DNPE). This opened the door for home schooling. Home schoolers claimed they fell under the fourth option of the definition of a nonpublic school: "receives no funding from the State of North Carolina." This angered opponents and nine years of legal battles ensued.

North Carolinians for Home Education (NCHE), the statewide home school organization, was formed in January of 1984 and first met officially in May of 1984. Home schoolers knew they needed to lobby effectively, even if this meant being identified as home schoolers and possibly facing prosecution. NCHE kept home schoolers informed of legislative action, educated home schoolers in the process of effective lobbying, and helped to draft proposals for home school legislation. Finally, in 1988, the current legislation passed to make home schooling legal in North Carolina.

The legislators were still batting around the bill that would make home schooling legal when nine families met on a mid-April evening in 1988 at the Wilson's North Durham home to discuss forming a support group for Durham home schoolers. This group of families set goals to share ideas and resources, plan field trips and other activities, and provide support and encouragement to each other. They published a regular newsletter filled with field trips, activities, legislative and NCHE news, and inspirations like the following:

"My Mother Was There ..." "And I think as the years go on, as I go around as a Christian activist, increasingly my list gets shorter in terms of priorities of what you should do. And more than ever the number one priority is: What are you doing with your own kids? I realize that everything I'm doing now is based on the fact that I was not thrown in day care centres, and that my mother was there, and so was my father when I needed him." --From a radio interview with Franky Schaeffer

This group quickly grew to 35 families, established by-laws, and picked a name (Christian Home Educators Association of Greater Durham). As the group grew, changes were made. This included splitting the group into North and South groups at one point. (CHEAGD eventually went back to being one big group.) Current membership is over 100 families.

CHEAGD's focus has remained the same - to honor Jesus Christ, provide encouragement and support to home schooling families, provide communication and fellowship through meetings and newsletters, provide educational experiences through field trips and activities, and promote home schooling in our community.