Homeschool World Forum

[OWhatAThrill]

My daughter, who is about to finish her first semester in her junior year, and I have decided to take her to home school at the end of this semester. Why wipe away all the work she's done on her four classes, Spanish II, Geometry, Psychology and Chemistry but just in recent weeks I have found out that home schooler's in TN have to have been home schooled for two consecutive years before they are eligible for our new TN lottery Hope scholarship.

So then I call today and ask, can I yank her out now, and can she redo what she's done this semester and if that is shown as being home schooled will that qualify? So far the answer is no, so that means she will redo last semester, next semester, and then do two semesters for her senior year but then will be a half year off and it will actually delay her graduating by 6 months.

She, of course, is blowing off the Hope Scholarship..."psssht, I don't need it", and I'm not well versed enough to know what we'd be pissing off, maybe $1K a semester, maybe $4K.

So I'm trying to compare the being behind 6 months or losing any hope of that scholarship. Doesn't matter what you make on your ACT, you toss the chance for the scholarship for the entire 4 years of college. It's not like they are penalized one year and a grade check is done and they can get it later, it's gone for the whole 4 years.

If she fulfills the requirement of being home schooled for 2 years, and she gets a Hope scholarship, it can start on a January semester, which would be the January AFTER she normally would have started college in September.

She is SO excited about home school and with her migraines, it would be a godsend for me as opposed to fighting the school board on her absences all the time. I WANT her home schooled...sheesh, why didn't I do this in August when her friend did???? We wouldn't be in this quandry.

She has two more weeks in this semester and when she found out she will retake the classes to qualify for the two years, and I'm leaning toward the Alpha Omega Packs, she wants to get out NOW before exams so they won't show on her transcripts. I would also expect better grades if she's retaking what she's already sat through. These classes would be psychology, spanish II, chemistry and geometry. She's a wiz at chemistry but it's hurting her missing so many days due to her migraines.

I'm also looking seriously into Aaron Academy.

Does anyone know of a way she can do the independent study and NOT lose a semester's worth of work?

We were looking at Ashworth University home based study but after talking with several moms who do home school, I think going under the umbrella of AA and using the AO packs is the way to go and much cheaper.

Any comments appreciated.

[OWhatAThrill]

Still feverishly reading everything I can, would putting her in a program that was considered a "private school" not be considered "home schooled".

And I do have a Bachelor's degree if that matters...and would have my Master's by now if my son hadn't deployed to Iraq in '04-'05, a grandson on the way in '06 and now in '07, grandson's mom is back in Iraq. Just didn't want to add to the stress...

[Theodore]

From the PDF linked at the top of the page:
http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp?State=TN

Option II: Home School Statute—Associate With a Church-Related School. § 49-6-3050(a)(2)(A). “Home schools who teach grades K-12, whose parents are associated with an organization that conducts church-related schools as defined by § 49-50-801 ... shall be exempt” from the home school requirements above. However, children in grades 9-12 must be registered with the local school district. § 49-6-3050(a)(2)(C)(i).

Option III: Alternative Statute—Operate as a Satellite Campus of a Church-Related School. § 49-50-801. Parents may have their children attend a church-related school where the home is a satellite or extension of the church-related school. Unlike Option II, students in a satellite campus program are not considered home schoolers and need not register with the school district for grades 9-12. Furthermore, parents need not comply with the notice, registration, teacher qualifications, and standardized test requirements for home schools. The Tennessee Department of Education recognized this option in a memorandum from the Commissioner of Education to superintendents and directors of schools dated February 18, 1999.

As you can see, option II is counted as homeschooling, while option III is not.

Tennessee Hope Scholarship info:
http://www.collegepaystn.com/mon_college/hope_scholar.htm

One other option might be graduating both as a homschooler and as a GED graduate. The GED should negate the need for two consecutive years of homeschooling, but homeschooling (plus test scores and portfolio) will probably impress colleges more than a GED alone.
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The Farming Game - Software Edition for PC, Mac, Linux
The board game has sold over 350,000 copies worldwide, garnered many awards, is used by over 2,000 schools, and is used extensively by homeschoolers.

[tiffeny]

Ok, I'm applying to grad school in New York. I've heard that I need to apply to FAFSA to get any sort of loan from private institutions as well. I've done some research and it appears that some loans are only good for studying in the United States and that there are specific loans for students who are going abroad. Is this generally the rule? Also, are there international loans through FAFSA? Thank you so much.
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application free government grant

[Theodore]

"The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is used by US citizens and permanent residents to apply for financial aid from the US federal and state governments." So there is no FAFSA student aid for studying abroad. However, there are quite a few programs for student exchange and studying abroad:

http://www.nafsa.org/students.sec/financial_aid_for_study
http://www.finaid.org/otheraid/exchange.phtml
_________________
The Farming Game - Software Edition for PC, Mac, Linux
The board game has sold over 350,000 copies worldwide, garnered many awards, is used by over 2,000 schools, and is used extensively by homeschoolers.