I may be wrong but there is an awful lot of complaining about Homeschoolers and Core Curriculum. We belong to an Umbrella school and live in Florida. If your state offers and allows it wouldn't we be better off under an Umbrella School Program? Then it just comes down to a matter of Curriculum which you would have 100% say in. I believe most Umbrella Schools allow you to use whatever method of schooling you prefer as long as you provide attendance and grades when required. Any thoughts on this or am I way off?
My limited understanding of Common Core is that it will severely restrict what is considered "acceptable curriculum." Only independent homeschoolers (those with zero oversight) would be free from the restrictions. Though, the fear is that eventually all homeschoolers would have to prove they are meeting Common Core standards.
Not all states have the same laws and options. In GA, we don't have the option of an umbrella school. We all home interdependently. You can of course join a co-op if you wish. But homeschool co-ops face no regulation or standards. You can also do cyber public schooling. But by doing so, your child is a public school student, and to my understanding, you have no choice in curriculum and also no choice in schedule, you must follow the PS calendar. One of the main reasons we homeschool is so I can choose my educational method and curriculum. We unschooled the first 2 years. Last year we did a CM/unschool mix. Neither of which would be government approved by any means. The fact is our schools are failing our children. All the NCLB and RTTT are just government trying to save it and it's failing miserably, in fact many laws, standards and regulations only make the education system worse. Politicians and the federal government should just keep their noses out of education, it's the only way it's ever going to improve. Some states offer a tax break or voucher for curriculum to homeschool families. But there is usually a restriction that it can't be spent on religious based curriculum. Personally, most of what we use is religious based. So my stance is, I want no government oversight in my homeschool. If I wanted the government's opinion about my children's education I'd send them to government schools. I can raise my children just fine without the government telling me what to teach them, when to teach them, how to teach them and what to use to teach them. I don't know why our society thinks that once our children turn 4 or 5 years old we are no longer fit to teach our children what they need to learn! And, if there is one thing I know, it's if you give the government an inch they will take a mile and try to control everything. If we as homeschoolers have to meet common core standards soon it will be a very short step to parents are fit to teach common core standards then homeschooling will be illegal. The fact is, most parents can teach their children better than PS. The proof is in the pudding. Homeschoolers test better, despite not teaching to the test like PS does. They do better in college. Lead happier lives as adults. Are more involved in their communities as adults. And homeschoolers in states that have more regulation do no better than homeschoolers in states that have less regulation.
In CA we can use an umbrella program as one of our homeschooling options, but it no longer allows us to operate privately. A PSP is filed for us as a group. I file my own PSA as a private homeschooler. All umbrella's are different. I was part of an umbrella when I first started homeschooling. They required yearly testing, attendance, mandatory meetings, recording of daily activities, a list of curriculum, a rough plan for the year, report quarterly grades, and it cost about $40-$45 a month (I can't remember anymore ), with an additional $25 if the meetings were missed. We also were required to complete 180 school days a year. Once I started privately homeschooling, I never looked back. As long as I am told what to do, and when to do it, then I am not operating the way I think we should operate. I still complete more days than the umbrella required, I have to keep attendance by law, and I record our daily lessons.
Patty, Exactly!!! Luckily my umbrella school allows me the freedom to teach my kids what I wish to teach them. We too report to 180 days and ALWAYS go over. Thanks for the feedback ladies!!
Wait, I'm confused here. I would think you would have more freedom on your own without an umbrella. They are just one more person putting their nose into your business as a homeschooler. As far as common core, so far it has not hit any states homeschoolers who homeschool independently. I am in one of the highest regulated states (the only one I know that rivals ours in requirements in NY), and so far we are not required to worry about common core standards. By the way, we do not have an umbrella option here, which is fine with me, no need for anyone else to expect me to prove my self or my children's education.
I personally want to distance ourselves as far as possible from anyone else's idea of what children "should" or "should not" learn and when. I don't want anything do do with the common core limitations either. We are much better off without any outside supervision or restrictions. As long as I can exercise our right of educational freedom, I will. I'm confused as to how an umbrella school would be better for anything other than ease of records in less free states.
That is just my point. With the umbrella option I have the freedom to teach anything I want and do not need the state or government telling me what I can and can not do. I ONLY have to report grades and attendance.
I think it varies by state. In NY we are told what subjects to cover but not what material we can use. We do have to tell them what we are using but they cannot reject it. Besides us sending in reports and test scores the districts do not really have any input into our hs'ing. An umbrella school for us would just be an added step. I am perfectly capable to send in our quarterly to the district I do not need someone else to do that for me.
