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An umbrella school is basically a private school, faith-based or secular, which oversees homeschoolers for the purpose of fulfilling educational requirements set up by the government. Although many states do not require homeschoolers to use an umbrella school, more and more home educators these days are choosing to do so. Legal protection may be the primary reason for these schools but there are other advantages also.
Fifteen or twenty years ago many parents who desired to homeschool were hesitant when faced with the tremendous responsibility of being accountable for their children's education. As homeschooling has increased in popularity over the past ten years, more and more options have become available to aid parents who want to educate their children at home but maybe don't want to do it completely alone. One of these alternatives is the umbrella school.
Umbrellas schools vary in the types of services they offer and cost. Typically umbrella schools provide materials and/or curriculum advice, testing services, record keeping, report cards and accredited diplomas. Some even offer field trips and other activities, giving the students opportunities to meet other homeschoolers. Some umbrella schools are local and some are national. With all these options available most people can usually find a school that meets the family's needs.
For the parent who wants a lot of help with homeschooling there are umbrella schools that actually have online or even satellite video classes available, complete with a teacher who gives lectures and is available online or via telephone to help with any problems the student might have.
Other umbrella schools are set up as correspondence courses and often just provide the curriculum without assistance. The student may be asked to send in selected assignments and tests to be graded. These schools may or may not provide feedback.
For the parent who prefers more control, there are schools that require the parent to teach, grade, keep all the records and then send these records to the school. The school supplies a transcript and a diploma when all the requirements are met. There are even a couple of unique umbrellas schools that support "unschooling" and not only give credit to students for life experience but allow for lots of flexibility when it comes to the basic academic subjects.
Choosing to use an umbrella school is a personal decision for homeschoolers. This decision can be made more easier by carefully researching your state laws, deciding how much you can afford and what you want an umbrella school to do for you.
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