Am I crazy and do I need an umbrella

[Unregistered]

9th grade daughter has been begging to be homeschooled for a few years now because of bullying in school. I am scared out of my mind to take on this responsibility even though I do have a degree in education. Just signed up with T4L and already feel totally overwhelmed. How do brake all this down into chunks so that I don't feel like I am drowning and do feel like daughter is getting everything she needs.
Also, found an umbrella group- but what does that really mean. Do I need to take any courses with them or just meet with them and then use their information on the form that Montgomery county has you fill out.
Do most of you work through an umbrella group?

[Unregistered]

You have 1000x more commitment to help your child discover what she needs than staff who have no connection to her after 180 days. How much can she learn in a psychologically oppressive setting where she is afraid?

I have advanced degree in education, and like you, was terrified I might somehow shortchange our child's education, but we had no other option. Most parents seem to go through this terror at the beginning. However, according to many statistics and studies, homeschooled kids exceed public and even private schooled peers, often by years.

We joined the Many Paths of Learning Umbrella to have an independent, objective buffer against potential prejudice from prior legal challenges with public school system. However, the experience of so many other homeschool families, the resources, encouragement, answers to questions, networking and field trip opportunities with other students, discounts and recommendations to tried and tested curriculums and guidance on how to comply with end of year reporting and simple reviews/feedback was tremendously helpful.

You do not require an umbrella if you're prepared to meet the MD reporting requirements independently. Even though we were capable of meeting them, the reassurance, resources, encouragement along the path to success and confidence that we were not going to short change our child, seeing other families who homeschooled sending their kids successfully off to college and their reassurances were worth every penny. In our second year of homeschooling (we do homeschool all year round), our special needs child is ahead of grade level in several subjects, her self esteem is intact, she's become an extremely independent learner and loves to learn for fun- the key to open whatever doors she chooses in her future, right?

You will not fail your child. The older homeschool kids I've met express enormous gratitude to their parents for the sacrifices they've made and enjoyed homeschooling; many even go to college early. As you focus on your daughter's needs, you will find the ways to meet them and probably incredibly strengthen your relationship as you share the learning journeys together. Find ways to have fun with the adventure and reinforce her love of learning.