umbrella school vs district...

[mamamoogs]

we are trying to decide which would work for us.
could you tell us the pros and cons of each?

which is mostly used.

i have read that if you go with your district all you have to do is send a letter of intent to homeschool written by the parent 30 days before the beginning of the school year, no hour reporting is required and they do an evaluation at the end of the school year. no recording work, no portfolio required either correct? Also no yearly medical exam or vaccine info required either.... correct?


with an umbrella school there is a tutition, need to keep records of what is being taught, need to record school hours and need all the formal documents yearly health exam vaccine info etc.

please correct if i am wrong, i have been doing so much reading it is all starting to run together in my head, we are leaning towards district reporting... i would love to hear from others on why they came up with the choices also. thanks!

[Holiztic]

[skueppers]

This is one of those things that varies enormously from state to state.

Here in Maryland, I know people who do it both ways. Most of the people I know who use an umbrella school use a very liberal one that's geared to unschoolers, so the big advantage for them is that the umbrella school is easier to deal with than the county reviewers.

Again, in the case of Maryland, using an umbrella school doesn't mean you wind up having to deal with immunization requirements, health exams, recording of school hours, etc. So here, what you're basically paying for with an umbrella school (at the most basic level, some umbrella schools obviously offer and/or demand more) is less hassle.

As for which is mostly used -- I don't have any statistics, but among people I know, it's about 50-50 between the county review process and an umbrella school. The least expensive umbrella school here costs under $200 a year.

But Florida is going to be totally different from Maryland, so I really have no idea what the pros and cons are there.

[Holiztic]

Skueppers: Can you tell me the name of the umbrella group you mentioned, as well as how to join them (in time, DS is only 3)? I want as little hassle as possible! I don't so much mind doing work as I do feeling like I am answering to someone--that's one of the main reasons we are going to homeschool-- so we can answer to ourselves!!!!

Thanks!

[skueppers]

Originally Posted by Holiztic

Skueppers: Can you tell me the name of the umbrella group you mentioned, as well as how to join them (in time, DS is only 3)? I want as little hassle as possible! I don't so much mind doing work as I do feeling like I am answering to someone--that's one of the main reasons we are going to homeschool-- so we can answer to ourselves!!!!

It's Many Paths of Natural Learning:

http://mpnl.org/