Blount Home Education Association
• Sep. 22, 2006 - BHEA New Members' Brunch
If you are new to BHEA this year or joined during the year last year, please try to join us next Thursday, Sept. 28, for our annual New Member's Brunch. We have been doing this for several years now and it is just a nice chance to get to know each other. We don't have any planned agenda, speakers, or any program...just some good food and conversation. As I am sure you know, it is not often that we can sit over a cup of coffee and just talk! Don't miss this fun
morning!
If you can join us, please email me at mtnhomeschool@aol.com and let me know how many will be attending so we are sure to have enough food.
This year's brunch is 10 a.m. at Broadway United Methodist Church - downtown Maryville across from the main Citizen's Bank. Come in the door at the back of the church - near the playground and head to the right - we'll be in the fellowship hall. We usually stay and visit until close to noon - but feel free to come and leave when you can.
I would love to have some "experienced" homeschoolers join us to help answer questions and welcome our new members. If you can join us, please email me.
We would also love to have some of our teenagers join us to help entertain any children that attend with their moms. We can just set a table up at the end of the room and try to keep the kids in the same room but still give the moms a chance to visit. If you can help with this, please let me know
Thanks for your help!
Mary Reed
mtnhomeschool@aol.com
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• Jun. 21, 2006 - Homeschooling Laws in Tennessee
There are three options to homeschool legally in Tennessee.
Option 1) sign up with your LEA (local education agency)
That's the school district in which you live: (Alcoa, Maryville, Blount County, Knox County, Sevier, etc.). All you have to do is fill out a short form (about 2 pages) as an independent homeschooler. Information includes what you plan to teach. This is very general (math, language arts, etc.) They don't want to know what curriculum you are using. You must do this by August 1. At the end of the year, you simply turn in an attendance sheet that shows you've schooled for 180 days, 4-hours/day. You must test with the school system at 5th, 7th, and 9th grades. You must have a bachelor's degree to homeschool during the high school years.
Option 2) sign up with a CRS (church related school) umbrella school. Each CRS has its own requirements.
* Many BHEA members use Maryville Christian School. The second deadline (with a late fee) is July 15. Forms, policies, and fees can be accessed at the website. Contact Info: K-8th, Cynthia Fagan, :tnfgans@aol.com
or Independent Study, Brennan LeQuire, lequirep@bellsouth.net.
* Another common choice is Berean Christian School (K-12) 482-3261
* Other choices include (but are not limited to):
--Christian Academy of Knoxville (K-12) 690-4721ext.151 http://www.christianacadknox.org/
--Paideia Academy - 599-7798 - http://paideiaknoxville.org/index.html/
--Kings Academy (K-12) 573-8321 http://www.thekingsacademy.net/
Option 3) sign up with a CRS that considers your home a satellite campus of their school. You're considered a " private schooler." (Technically, this isn't homeschooling according to the Jeter Memorandum but enrollment in "private school." But since it's done at home by the parents--most of us call it homeschooling.) Again, each Option 3 place has its own requirements. Here are the three most common Option 3s:
* Family Christian Academy: http://www.familychristianacademy.com/
* HomeLife Academy: http://www.homelifeacademy.com/index.php
* Gateway Christian Schools: http://www.gatewaychristianschools.com
A great place to go to read more about homeschooling law is TN Home Ed . There is a mucn more extensive listing of CRS and Jeter memo options there. You might also check out HSLDA for more information.
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• Jun. 15, 2006 - Homes Needed for Japanese Students
Hello Homeschool Families,
I am Micki Pruitt, long-time homeschool mom. I also work with Maryville College with their English as a Second Language program. We have need of home stay families several times a year. We have a program coming up in August that requires home stay families. The students are all from Japan and
are usually between the ages of 16-35. We pay $135.00 per week and currently need homes for 4 weeks. The students all have their own health insurance.
We have a few requirements:
* The family needs to live 15 mins.away and no further.
* The family must take their student to school every day at 9 for class and pick them up at designated time, usually 5 or 6.
* The family will provide a private room and bath (the bath can be shared with 1 other person).
* Access to laundry facilities.
* The family will provide all meals except M-F lunch.
Families will fill out an application and I will conduct an in home visit. Please contact me at the e-mail address below if you are interested. I will send you an application and answer any questions you have.
Thank you!
Micki Pruitt
Center for English Language Learning
Maryville College
Maryville, TN 37804
Micki.pruitt@maryvillecollege.edu
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• Jun. 3, 2006 - Tennessee's First Sales Tax Holiday
In August of this year, Tennessee will hold its first annual sales tax holiday, giving shoppers the opportunity to purchase certain school supplies, computers and clothing tax-free for a specific period of time, beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 4 and ending at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 6. Items exempt from tax during the three-day holiday include the following:
School Supplies ($100 or less per item)
Binders
Backpacks
Book Bags
Blackboard Chalk
Calculators
Cellophane Tape
Compasses
Composition Books
Crayons
Erasers
Folders
Glue, Paste, and Glue Sticks
Highlighters
Index Cards
Index Card Boxes
Legal Pads
Lunch Boxes
Markers
Notebooks
Paper
Pencil & School Supply Boxes
Pencils
Pencil Sharpeners
Pens
Protractors
Rulers
Scissors
Writing Tablets
Clothing ($100 or less per item)
Boots
Coats/Jackets
Dresses
Ear Muffs
Gloves/Mittens
Gym Suits/Uniforms
Hats
Jeans/Pants
Neckties
Nightgowns
Pajamas
Ponchos
Raincoats
Robes
School Uniforms
Shawls
Shirts
Shoes/Socks
Undergarments
Computers ($1,500 or less)
Computer CPU
Monitor
Keyboard
Mouse
Connecting Cables
Notebook computers
Laptop computers
Preloaded software
School supplies are defined as items used by a student in a course of study. Specifically excluded are items such as art supplies and instructional material, including reference books and school computer supplies (compact discs, printers, and printer ink).
Exempt clothing is defined as human wearing apparel for general use. It excludes accessories such as jewelry or bags, protective equipment, and sports and recreational equipment such as baseball gloves.
Computers with preloaded software and components purchased with the computer are also exempt. Computers and their components must be purchased as a system. Individual computer parts and accessories, and software that is not preloaded on the computer, do not qualify for the exemption. PDAs and MP3 players also do not qualify for exemption. Additionally, exemptions do not apply to items used in a trade or business, or to items that are rented.
Layaway sales qualify for the exemption if final payment is made and the property is given to the purchaser during the holiday or if the layaway order is made during the holiday even if delivery is made after the holiday ends.
More information from the Department of Revenue is available from the following sources:
?Web site: www.Tennessee.gov/revenue
E-mail: salestax.holiday@state.tn.us
Telephone: (800) 342-1003 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., CST, Monday through Friday
Special telephone hours for Sales Tax Holiday:
Saturday, Aug. 5: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., CST
Sunday, Aug. 6: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., CST
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• Jun. 2, 2006 - Spring Business Meeting Notes
The following notes are from the BHEA Business meeting held at Broadway United Methodist Church, Monday, May 30th, 6 pm.
As always, if you have any questions, or concerns, please contact one of the coordinators.
Submitted by Lori Wade
Attended: Lori Wade, Mary Reed, Sarah Small, Tammy Freeny, Amy Brown, Becky and David vanderVeen, Sarah Kerr.
The meeting was opened with prayer by Lori Wade.
Tammy Freeny gave out a copy of the financial statement.
• The churches we often frequent (Broadway, First Christian and Memorial) will be given a love offering.
• The Enrichment Class fees may be lowered by $5.00 next year.
• We will be purchasing several deep purple T-Shirts to be used by volunteers at the book sale, field day, kick off, etc. These shirts will belong to BHEA and will only be "borrowed" for an event.
• We discussed accepting checks for the UCF in order to make it easier for people to make purchases. This has not been finalized and will be discussed at a later date.
• Next year, field day will be under Enrichment Classes. There may be a slight fee to participate for those who aren't part of Enrichment Classes.
• We will be purchasing a few homeschool books for the BHEA library. Donations are always welcome.
Sarah Small handed out a copy of the Enrichment Class Schedule. Everything is filled up except for a few spaces at 2 pm.
• Our Kick-off will be July 29th. Place TBA. The only early registrations will be for people helping with Kick-off or teaching next year.
• We talked about having extra T-shirts available at MF to be handed out to anyone who is not dressed appropriately for classes.
We have accumulated qute a bit of BHEA "stuff." We need a small space to keep all of our library books, banners, paper goods, etc. in. We could possibly use a little bit of someone's office space and offer to pay a small amount.
Mary Reed reminded us that we need to take out the phone line that is currently hooked up at Dawn Maynor's home. All coordinators are easily accessible via e-mail, the website, the directory, etc. This will take the pressure off of one person getting most of the phone calls, and will also give us a little more money to put towards finding a space for the BHEA materials.
Sarah Kerr brought up concerns about the e-loop. Many messages are being misguided and sent to the BHEA group instead of to the individual person. An updated version of the e-mail guidelines and proper etequite will be available very soon.
• The teens need to start using the teen loop and we also need a moderator for this loop.
Park day was discussed. It is curently held the 2nd Friday of the month. We talked about having additional park days over the summer, but nothing definite was decided. It is a great opportunity to just get together and meet other homeschooling famiies. A coordinator should be at each park day activity.
Sarah Small and Amy Brown discussed getting a homeschool blog going for BHEA members. This would contain files with very valuable information for homeschoolers.
Now that things have slowed down, we would like to see curriculum and book reviews posted on the e-mail group.
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