umbrella schools

[laura bowman]

hey, i was just wondering if anyone has decided to use an umbrella school instead of registering with your county. we had thought about going underground because of testing and the fact that scotty and i have no college degrees. but when silas one day expressed an interest in school, i had to rethink that idea...just in case. i don't think he'll ever really pursue it but i need to have my ducks in order.

so after a lot of consideration we chose to go with homelife academy. has anyone else ever used them. they seem really unschool friendly.

just thought it would be an interesting subject for discussion in this group.

[Heather]

I see you've been practicing getting your ducks in order on your bathroom counter ;)

I'm going to check out Homelife to give me more options. I was leaning towards The Farm-- the principal sounds really really unschooly on the google group. I could probably register with the county for awhile but I dunno... I think I might need more protection with ex-in-laws and such.

[Barb Jeffress]

We're registered with The Farm, since January (when I finally got my act together and registered after we moved). I have been pleased so far. They are definitely totally open to unschooling - my "learning plans" are always pretty vague and open ended and they seem fine with that. They're very cool with individual differences and parents knowing their child best.
But I have heard that Homelife is cheaper and less paperwork. The Farm just seemed to fit better philosophically with my reasons for homeschooling.

[Heather]

That's good to hear, Barb. I hadn't met a real life person who used them yet, so I'm glad there's not some terrible dark side that I hadn't been aware of. They definitely seem to fit our reasons too. I hope to visit someday.

As a really really hippy teenager, I was absolutely *obsessed* with The Farm! And now as an adult I find that they're offering arguably the best umbrella program for homeschoolers in TN. I was very pleased.

[Cass]

I've been registering with HomeLife Academy for years; I love their "hands off" approach. They're very supportive of unschooling. Since my kids have hit highschool, they've been invaluable. While they are a Christian organization, they don't require any statement of faith.
(edited to add: I just echoed Kass's reply! And I agree that the price is reasonable, especially for anyone with a large family- they have a cap on fees.)

[Katherine]

I don't like to rain on a parade. Just in case someone would appreciate knowing this though, I thought I would bravely post on.

I looked into The Farm for having a baby (which didn't happen). While I was researching it at first I was drawn to the place, then I realized I didn't like quite so much oversight of my process as they were advocating for a birth.

That, added to the fact that I don't love paperwork (not very dutiful that way at all), I decided I didn't want to deal with them.

My crappy 2 cents. Some people rave over them. So take my *not* rave with a grain of salt. I guess nobody can please everybody.

I think their website is very groovy though. Really nice graphics.

[Stephanie]

I know this is an old thread but we have been off the radar since moving here in 2006. We have decided it's time to be legal for various reasons. Now the cost of the Farm seems outrageous to me, we have 4 kids and Homelife has that cap on families. My concern is if Homelife will give me grief because I have no records or prior registration.

So I sill haven't done anything and it's September 5....OY!

[laura bowman]

when we registered, i don't think they asked for anything because we had always been unschooling. i don't think i even had to notify the county or have the county send them anything. it's pretty easy to register with them. and it's perfectly fine to say "no" to the question "do you meet regularly with a religious group" (or something like that). the farm's registration made my head spin so i was really happy to go with homelife. i can send you a bunch of stuff that i've sent other people. like the "book list" i've used as well as grades, etc.

Stephanie said:

I know this is an old thread but we have been off the radar since moving here in 2006. We have decided it's time to be legal for various reasons. Now the cost of the Farm seems outrageous to me, we have 4 kids and Homelife has that cap on families. My concern is if Homelife will give me grief because I have no records or prior registration.

So I sill haven't done anything and it's September 5....OY!

[Jess]

Hello all!

 

We are seriously considering a move to middle TN and was curious to know more about the legalities of Unschooling in this state...

I am from MI... its the easiest state to homeschool/unschool.

Do I have to register with an umbrella school? Or is that just one way to do it? My husband has a BS degree. Any info you might have to help us get this info would be great!! I love The Farm BTW and had no idea they had an association for homeschoolers!! And the Homelife Academy sounds good too! Thanks

[laura bowman]

it's really quite easy to register in TN.  the law used to require a college degree once you started into the high school years but they no longer have that requirement.  basically, you file your intent to homeschool with the county you live in and then send in a paper at the end of the year checking off all the dates you had school (180 days).  they do testing in grades 5, 7, and 9-12.  We haven't used the county in a long time so I'm not sure if it's still the same, but parents choose the year their children are in.  several people we know, including ourselves, would have a child in the 4th for 2 years and then register them as 6th, doing this until the child is 16 and no longer has to be registered.  We started using an umbrella school when samuel was in the 8th grade because neither of us had a degree at the time.  We have been using one ever since and I like it enough that even though the laws have changed we're staying with homelife.

[Meredith]

We're in middle TN, ourselves. It's lovely here (and land is cheap!). Currently we register with the school district with Mo - which is also free, btw. With Ray, we used The Farm as our umbrella school and found them easy to work with and happy to amend their policies to cover our quirky situation - unmarried dad and step-mom, dad a high-school drop out, not something the Christian umbrella schools want to deal with.