Q&A at Royal Hollow Academy

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 An umbrella school, also called a cover school, "600" school, or a church school, is a term used to describe a private school for families choosing to educate their children at home. A homeschooling family enrolls in an umbrella school instead of establishing a home education program with their district school. In other words, the homeschooling family provides their children's educational information to the umbrella school (e.g., attendance records), not the public school (e.g., annual evaluations).  When students are enrolled in an umbrella school, they are considered private schooled students, not homeschooled students, even though they are still being educated at home.

Many umbrella schools exist solely to help you comply with your state's compulsory school attendance laws. There is no actual school building and it is up to you to decide on the curriculum used and how and when your children are taught. All umbrella schools are required by law to maintain certain records, which will vary depending on your state, so be prepared that you will have to provide certain personal information. 

 Una "umbrella school" o escuela de cobertura, también llamadas escuelas "600" es un termino usado para descibir escuelas privadas para familias que han decidido educar en casa. La familia homeschooler se inscribe a la umbrella school en lugar de establecer un programa o convenio con la escuela pública de su comunidad. En otras palabras, la familia que educa en el hogar proveé información de los resultados académicos de sus hijos a la escuela de cobertura no a la escuela pública. When Cuando los estudiantes están inscritos en una escuela de cobertura, son considerados estudiantes de escuela privada, no homeschoolers, aún cuando están siendo educados en casa.

Muchas escuelas de cobertura existen con el único propósito de ayuar a cumplir con los requerimientos legales del estado o el país donde se encuentra la familia. No hay un edificio escolar y depende de cada familia el curriculo que se usará y como y cuando los niños son educados. Todas las escuelas de cobertura están obligadas por ley a mantener y almacenar ciertos registros, los cuales dependen del estado en el que se encuentre. Por lo tanto debe estar preparado para proveer cierta información personal. 

 Network on Facebook, homeschooling email lists, or through your state homeschool organization to find other homeschoolers. Ask your librarian where the homeschoolers are. Look for a Not Back To School event in your area, and if there isn’t one, organize one yourself and invite others. Keep in mind that not every homeschool group fits every homeschooler. You may have to visit several groups before you find people you are comfortable with, or you may have to visit the same group multiple times. Homeschoolers are notorious for being unable to attend all the things they’d like to — so your child’s new best friend (or yours) might be coming to the next park day. 

If you talk to different homeschool parents, you will learn about as many different ways to homeschool as there are people doing it. Some are structured, some unstructured, and many are anywhere in between those 2 extremes.

One of the many joys of homeschooling is that we have the freedom to “do school” the way we feel is right for our family, and at a time that fits into our lives. Most homeschoolers find that there isn’t a need for the long school hours you see in group settings, as we can cover a lot more ground in a much shorter time because we are working one-on-one, for the most part, with our children.