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WELCOME LETTER
for
SHF-L (Senior High Form+U+la List)
Here are the topics this letter will cover, for easy reference later on:
(As soon as I figure out how to do "A tag" coding, I will do
so. That way you'll be able to click on any of the following headings
and it'll take you right to that spot on this page! Until then,
you'll have to "rough it"!
Part of my purpose in writing this Welcome Letter is to help you understand the heart behind the book and my message; then the heart behind those operating this list, and also the heart behind why this list even exists in the first place.
If you
want to be able to get the most out of this list and help it be as
edifying and ministering to everyone on it as possible, the rest of this
letter will be of great interest to you. If you connect with what I say here in
(BTW,
each
of the pictures of Form+U+la on this page are links to reader
comments about it!)
Waaay back in 1996, three years after Form+U+la first came out, I came in contact with a few ladies who had the book and wanted fellowship with others who had it. So we set up a "loop" which was totally manually operated. That means that everyone on it had to manually add a new person's email address to their list of members every time someone wanted to join us, and then manually take names off their list every time someone left. I cannot even begin to explain to you what a PAIN in the neck this was!!! People were constantly frustrated that they weren't getting all the emails being referred to in conversations because not everyone had updated their list of new members, and ones who wanted to leave were frustrated that they were still getting emails from ones who hadn't removed them from their lists! One day Larry Wilson, who was on this "loop," approached me with the possibility of setting me up with a new "automated list." Being a chronic sufferer of overwhelmaphobia, the thought of this totally overwhelmed me at first. Automated? I'd NEVER be able to figure it out! (In reality it is as simple as you can get, and it's a hundred times easier and simpler than doing the manual loop!) Free? It sounded too good to be true! NO one would do something like this for someone for FREE! But Larry believed in my ministry and sincerely wanted to help! So, at his invitation and with his assistance (actually, it's more like Larry set it up with a bit of assistance from me!), this list was established.
As the list grew, and more and more people joined us, I realized that there was much more involved behind-the-scenes in managing a list than I had imagined. This was even in addition to what Larry did, which called "List Technician." It had more to do with the "heart 'n' soul" of the conversations, problems that arose and frustrations that occurred behind the scenes. About that time, Donna Heck came along and offered assistance in many areas ~ and without even being asked! She just stepped in ~ oftentimes apologizing to me for "intruding"! ~ and got things done, answered, ministered to, encouraged, and explained. I was SO grateful for her!!! Eventually I made it "official" and asked her to be my "List Shepherdess." And because her helpfulness extended beyond list boundaries and into other work I did, I asked her to also be my "Online Secretary." She did all this for no pay, though I blessed her with a few books on a monthly basis. After four years of faithful service, Donna graduated her youngest son and the Lord moved her on to other ministry work. But He brought me two other wonderful women who Donna graciously trained and "passed the torch" on to! He later brought Teresa our way, for which we are tremendously thankful! Then sometime later, He brought Lisa to us, originally with a heart to see prayer requests taken care of in a more specific and organized way, but she quickly became a part of the team in the running/managing of the list! And THEN He brought JulieBeth into the picture sometime after that! I (and YOU) have been SOOOO blessed with such wonderful and abundant help!!!!!!
It's
important that you understand that, without these gals carrying the
torch all these years, this
list would simply not exist.
There is much more to managing this list than meets the eye. If you
don't understand it, you'll just have to take my word for it.
This list is based on the book Senior High: A Home-Designed Form+U+la, written by myself, Barbara Edtl Shelton ~ more commonly known as "Barb Shelton." (The former is my "pen
Its purpose is to provide a place for those who already have my book and want further input on implementing the ideas therein. Many years ago God planted a seed in my heart which gave me an excitement for breaking chains and setting people free ~ but I had no idea how that would specifically come about. As I have been doing what I am now doing ~ writing books and teaching seminars ~ I have come to realize that setting people free is at the core of what our ministry is all about. Not a worldly kind of "free" that is merely for the sake of "being free," but freedom for the sake of walking the path God has set before us, as He would have us walk it!
This list is mostly about moms helping and encouraging each other in this process of implementing a Spirit-directed, individualized So this is a place for Moms (and Dads too if they're into this, which is awesome!) to roll up their sleeves and get into the nitty-gritty of planning high school together with this philosophy in mind and heart! You are free to ask for ideas, brainstorm, and hash through frustrations! Quick mentions of internet sites that are helpful for high school are great. Homeschooling through high school is a *process* ~ and the idea behind this list is to walk through it with others who are like-minded, without getting into in-depth discussions of particular curriculums or resources. Brief mentions are fine.
I'm sure this was one of your most burning
questions!
Our focus here is not on curriculum itself, like a discussion of "which curriculum do you use for this and that?" This is not because that's bad or because we don't "believe" in it! We use it too, though mostly "real books" (along with real life). Because I need to be careful about where I spend my time, where I feel called to spend it is has to relate to what I spoke of earlier: Freedom ~ from the world's ways, from bondage to curriculum. Nor is the focus on buying and selling of books among members. We had to make this rule only because not having it would result in way too much of that. However, because we created and maintain it, and it's based on my book and message, of course my list shepherdesses and I (and anyone else who wants to) are going to refer people to my resources! That's why we set it up in the first place ~ for those who have connected to my message and want more. And I (Barb) will occasionally announce new resources that either I've written or that I've found and that we're starting to sell.
Because we want to adhere to the above-explained focus, we will need to avoid such topics as home-making in general (though how to teach it to our children is fine), recipes,
politics* and political causes, theological views, and personal issues. Likewise, homeschooling issues of a more general nature, or those pertaining to younger children, would better be taken to one of the more general homeschooling lists or message boards, though I will occasionally give info on my resources for the younger years ~ just cuz I'm the author.
Just one more point about
politics... It is best that we keep biased political stuff off this list. And "biased" is not
necessarily a negative; we are all biased, including myself. But some
political stuff is, like jokes. I just don't feel that this is the platform for it; that's all.
It's only wisdom and fair to all on this list to not have this be a place for pointedly biased posts, from
either party's viewpoint.
...if I have one, is that it must serve our and God's purposes for our students' lives and
We touch on
curriculum some on this list, but unlike many other homeschool-related
lists, that is not one of our main focus. If curriculum
is what you are wanting to focus on, I will give more info at the end of this letter on another list you may want to join.
However, the more curriculum is a major focus for you, the greater is my
hope that you will stick with this list a while so that you will not find
yourself back here in a year or two, burned out. This has occasionally been a problem on this list, so I want to address it here... First, just for the record, we are not operating by the hard-nosed "letter of the law" here.
SO HOW CAN I SIGN UP FOR THIS OFF-TOPIC LIST? There are two ways; one by going to the website for the list, or by sending an email:
A) Go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shfhelp ... At the top right of the page is a yellow button that says "Join this group". You can click on that to join the list. You will still need to register. Just follow the instructions.
...or...
B) Send a blank email to: shfhelp-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Let's say you get on the list and realize you don't want to be on it after all... At the bottom of every post you will find directions for unsubbing! Or, since you're here (obviously), just send a blank email to: shfhelp-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com!
You are not
"required" to have Form+U+la to join this list, but I need to give you "fair warning" that if you
don't have the book, it will be frustrating at times, because (and I need to just be really honest here) I don't have time to re-write the book online.
Another list I was on put much of the book (that the list was focused on) online, "300 words at a
time," because that's the amount you can "legally" do. But far too many 300-word chunks went onto that list, negating the need for many to buy the book, or so they thought. In reality, they needed "the whole picture," presented in context, rather than in a piece-meal. As a result, not only did this author not receive compensation for her huge investment of time and money, but many people eventually abandoned the concept (which I believe is the "Cadillac of education") because of only partly or incompletely formed ideas that
they thought were "it"!
I hope you won't merely be a "designated lurker." You are certainly free to do so, but rather than *planning* on "lurking only" ~ as many have stated ~ and never contributing, I hope you'll feel free to join discussions!
I also hope you'll realize that your input only adds to the richness and
broadness of the responses, even (if not especially) if your
thoughts are different! Plus it will also make it more fun while we encourage and edify one another in Jesus, as
He encourages and edifies us!
Even if I am "absent" here and there, you really probably won't miss me anyway, as
*I* am not the focus of this list. Nor am I the "Shell-ton Answer (Wo)Man." Yes, of course, I'll have some answers, (you know me!),
but then, so will all of
you!
Here's
a checklist of several "methods of operating" that will make this list flow more smoothly:
{{Any ideas for a health class?}}............Yes! I found "Wisdom's 7 Pillars"...
This
just makes it more conversational, and easier to see the quoted material
and where my answer begins. You don't have to do this; it's just the way
I like to do it.
This is a Christian conference. Nonetheless, it is open to anyone who wants to participate. We do expect that all will respect the generally accepted values of Christian love, mutual respect, sanctity of life, home, and the worship of God. Any breech of these principles will be cause for reprimand, and, if necessary, removal from the list. If any one feels
she/he has been offended,
Always contact Teresa,
JulieBeth, and Lisa directly and privately with list problems! Do not send requests for digest settings, sub, unsub, or other list maintenance requests to the list!
This only delays your request and clutters the list.
To access the archives for the
SHFL Main Loop visit
https://freegroups.net/mimerdesk/group.html?ID=422464&auth=fe16f8d623d3c3f5f5db88d724a2d7b6 .
The first time you visit you will need
to register. When you press the Register
button it will prompt an e-mail for you to send. After you send it
you will receive an e-mail with your username and password. Keep
that e-mail because you will need to use those each time you login.
Choose SHFL from
the My Groups list on the left side of the
screen. On the SHFL Group page you will find
the Latest E-mail Messages list on the left
side of the screen. When you choose an e-mail it will open in another
page. If you would like to see older messages choose the
More... option and a calendar will open in another page
from which you can pick a month from which you want to read messages.
If you would like to search for a message
by subject or keyword you must go to the Current Tool
box at the top right of your your screen and choose the
Search option in the drop down box. This will open a
search engine in which you may select parameters to aid in the search.
To return to the SHFL home page choose the
Desktop option in the Current
Tool drop down box.
To access the archives for the
SHFL Help Off Topic Loop visit
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shfhelp/messages .
The first time you visit you will need to
Sign Up for a Yahoo account by choosing a
Yahoo ID and Password.
If you already have a yahoo e-mail account, calendar, or other
application you will not need to sign up, just use the same
Yahoo ID and Password
to Sign In.
If you are not directed to the
Messages page, choose the SHFHELP
group listed at the left of your screen, then choose
Messages at the top left of the screen. The most recent
messages will be listed or you use the Search
function to sort by subject or keyword.
So welcome to the SHFL list!
We hope you'll be encouraged and edified here during your stay!
Clicking on the book cover below will take you to the page the catalog write-up of this book is on. Form+U+la is the very first book described on that page.
can think of for now! It's probably way more than enough, right?!?
Please contact with any questions.
(You may contact me if your question is really for me.)
Barb, Teresa, Lisa, and JulieBeth
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Hello!
After reading it, you'll understand why. Rather than apologizing for this, I hope you understand my heart to make this place a restful oasis with "boundaries" in which all feel safe and aware of how to best facilitate the particular "Father's business" being done here. Otherwise it will end up being a chaotic free-for-all, frustrating for those wanting to avoid general chit-chat and get some specific help from this list.
Remember the "FIND" feature of Windows is really cool. You just
click "Control-F" and then in the box that pops up, type in a
word you want to find, and then click "OK.")
As I come up with new ideas, I like to share them here and get feedback from "listees" on them! One of the joys for me personally in participating in this list has been the opportunity to mix and "rub cyber-shoulders" with
real moms! I have already spent countless hours "talking" to you via the computer screen (it took 1-1/4 yrs. just to write Form+U+la!), and countless moms have told me "I feel like we are close friends!" ~ but it's not a two-way path until
*I* hear back from *YOU*!!!
preparation for "the future works God has prepared beforehand for them to walk in,"
rather than us serve the/our curriculum! I have
written a short article called "
or embarrassed ~ OR angry. 
Our intent is only to "re-focus"; not to chastise or embarrass! 
extremely limited, and we all have to decide how and where we will spend our time.
My list shepherdesses have to read every single post that comes through SHF-L.
They must have the freedom to determine what is off and on topic, or
they will max out and I will lose them. And then you will lose
this list. We have come close many times, and really want to avoid that, because we
really want to continue this list.
people. Nor is it appropriate for someone who has the book to type that part out for them. You are welcome to ask
Teresa, Lisa, JulieBeth or myself privately if a particular section would be alright to
post to the list; but please ask first; I just don't want my whole book given out on the list. I have, on several occasions, given permission to do so, and even
asked for volunteers to post something from the book; and I have also put quite a few nice bits-n-pieces from the book
(accessible at the 
It's up to each of you to take this to God
and see if He wants you involved in this
list, now that you've heard our heart 'n' soul on
everything. If the answer is yes, you don't need to let anyone know; just stay put and you'll continue to get emails.
If, at any point, you decide this list isn't for you, you can simply unsubscribe according to the (very quick and simple) directions given at the end of each post you receive from the list!
And no offense will be taken! I might cry a little, be depressed for a couple weeks,
but hey, I'll- I'll be alright!
