Hi minniemarx,
I am new here myself and just want to say welcome. I have found this group of like-minded people wonderful and hope you do too.
As for the HSing ... I myself am not into the process but am not an extremist on the other end, just know it is not for us. As for your comment:
The great majority of the families are radical unschoolers (which is perfectly fine, if that works for them), but some are radical to such an extent that the moms don't want their kids playing with kids who use (gasp) textbooks.
I have heard this many times and I can understand some of where they are coming from ... all books have some point of view even if the author is trying not to... but textbooks are 10 times worse and with the push to leave no child behind (at least here in USA) the standardization of textbooks has become worse in a lot of people's minds. So for those parents that have extreme views in politics tend to not want the kiddos taught from textbooks written under the mainstream government upon which they balk at. There is a problem with this attitude ... most seek out primary source material which is very one sided. I really do not know why I wanted to go done this road, but having a master's in history it is just up my alley and I hope I explained somewhat why they go to that extreme, but I hear you. It still makes it very frustrating and depending on how many radicals you have in your area can be very lonely.
