"Umbrella" School or Not? That is the Question!

When my kids were still homeschooling we had the option to use a private "umbrella" school or sign up through the county. We actually did the private school thing for the first year then decided that they were just not for us. What I would have liked was a nice secular private school with a wide range of ages but also with a nice group of teens. At the time, I could not find what I was looking for. We went through the county. There really is NO problem just flying solo with homeschooling until your kids reach those high school years. Here is my list of reasons why we SHOULD have used a private "umbrella" school.

1. Math classes. I have a degree in English and did not need a math class, back in the 70's, to get it! Enough said!

2. Companionship. While my kids had friends who were not homeschooled and kept up a fairly busy social life, they really could have used a nice group of college-bound kids who were also homeschooled. My son had always said that his public schooled friends just never "got" the homeschooling thing.

3. Advising, both parental and student. I had to do all the legwork to figure out things such as how to get students signed up for SAT tests, how to apply for scholarships, how to make an ok-looking transcript and how to (and when to) apply to colleges.

4. Bright Futures Scholarship (Florida specific). A homeschooled child in Florida who is not in a private school must score higher on the SAT or ACT tests to receive the SAME scholarship as a public or private school child. Yes, how unfair! My son missed the 75% tuition Bright Futures Scholarship by ONE POINT on the ACT. He refused to retake the test. (you can lead a kid to the ACT but you can't make him take it!) He is a stubborn kid (young man) and is now literally paying for his stubbornness. He knows it. We don't talk about it. He has student loans out the ***. Had he been in a private school, he would have received the 75% tuition scholarship.

5. Diploma and professional-looking transcripts. I know, a diploma is not necessary. My kids don't have one for high school although I have the pretty diploma paper for the computer and never used it! Their transcripts are OK but certainly don't have the credibility of a school transcript. Has this hurt them? Not really. Would it have been a nice touch? Hell yes!

6. Never having to say Home Schooled to a college admissions officer. Oh yes. Try going to the college admissions office during your college seeking trips and telling him your child is homeschooled. Watch the glazed look come into his eyes. "Home schooled?" Yeah, as though they have never ever had a home educated kid at the university before. Sigh. We got the runaround while looking into colleges for our daughter. Our son went to the community college for his AA first and I worked there. No problem.

Had I known all of this before I would have started my own secular private school for homeschoolers earlier!