The clock is ticking towards the last day to complete the TN Promise scholarship application for students entering college in the fall of 2020. November 1 at 11:59 p.m. are the date and time deadlines. Has your graduating high school senior completed the application? If not, get it done!

The TN Promise scholarship (last-dollar scholarship) provides students with free tuition to attend more than 40 community and technical colleges, and some four-year institutions that offer associates degrees in Tennessee. Thousands of students have taken advantage of this opportunity of “free college” since the scholarship was introduced for the fall class of 2015.

My Child Isn’t Going to College!

If you have a child with plans other than college, still complete the application. Applying does not obligate a student to attend college, but does ensure they do not miss the opportunity for free tuition if they later change their mind and want to attend. College is expensive. Don’t leave money on the table.

Eligibility requirements to apply for the scholarship are the following:

• TN resident
• A student graduating from an eligible homeschool, high school or has earned a GED/HISET (prior to their 19th birthday).
• Complete the TN Promise application by Friday, November 1, 2019.

Eligibility requirements to receive the scholarship are the following:

• Attend mandatory team meetings (usually two).
• Complete and report eight community service hours by Wednesday, July 1, 2020.
• Complete the FAFSA application by Saturday, February 1, 2020.

Apply now for the TN Promise.

Do You Need Help?

Online: Live Chat
Telephone: Call (800) 342-1663
E-mail: write now

College Campus Tours

If college or attending a trade school is a plan for your high school student, join Homeschool Roster on one of its Discovering Your Destiny college campus tours. There are tours planned to several schools in West Tennessee that include Christian Brothers University, Freed-Hardeman University, Jackson State Community College, Lane College, Rhodes College, Southwest Tennessee Community College, TCAT-Jackson and the University of Memphis.

Join the Homeschool Roster – Get Out of the House group for college campus tour updates and to learn about other field trips and events for homeschoolers.

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©2019 Homeschool Roster. Article by Jennifer Smeltser. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the publisher https://www.homeschoolroster.com/.

On Tuesday, September 24, Jeff Rubin and his wife, Norma, will celebrate National Punctuation Day (NPD), which is an event they created more than 10 years ago. You may wonder why they would create such an event, and the logical explanation is because “Punctuation counts. A misplaced comma can alter the meaning of a message.”

As homeschoolers, we do understand the importance of punctuation and it’s proper use. There is nothing worse than reading a sentence with punctuation gone haywire.

How many of you just cringed while reading the previous paragraph? Believe me; it was just as difficult for me to write as it was for you to read.

Let us try that again.

As homeschoolers, we do understand the importance of punctuation and its proper use. Is that better?


The Rubins, also known as Mr. and Mrs. Punctuation, have gone all out for this event by even creating an official dish, Punctuation Meat Loaf. To further highlight the importance of punctuation, Mr. and Mrs. Punctuation take the fun to schools making guest appearances in classrooms and assemblies sharing through their program Punctuation Playtime. The 45-minute program is geared toward children in first through sixth grades and makes an otherwise boring subject fun and entertaining, and has been a great way to promote literacy in children.

I must admit I never realized brackets [ ] or { } were punctuation marks. I just never thought about it, because I do not use them often unless I am using them for personal work to make notes. They are neat looking symbols on my keyboard that I thought I should use for something. Instead of using them, I have been using the dash – when I should have been using brackets and using a comma , when I should have been using a dash – . Oh my goodness! What did they teach me in that school?

Along with the correct usage for brackets, the Rubins include an explanation of the proper use of 13 of the 14 commonly used punctuation marks. In fact, all of the symbols have a specific purpose. Are you using them correctly?

What are you teaching your children in school about punctuation? Jeff has quite a few valuable resources that may be helpful with teaching punctuation to your children as well as offering a quick refresher for you. If you need a refresher before the annual day of celebration, visit the National Punctuation Day website and brush up on a few punctuation marks, write a few sentences and make the teacher in you proud.

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©2019 Homeschool Roster. Article by Jennifer Smeltser. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the publisher https://www.homeschoolroster.com/.

There is something to be said about a new beginning. It is a chance to start from the beginning and do it better than you ever did it before. Of course there will be failures, but there will also be successes. That is pretty much how your homeschool year is going to happen. So realize it, stay encouraged, even when you feel like you are drowning, and push through. August 1 is one of those type of days. It is a new beginning with many exciting opportunities happening for homeschoolers.

Homeschool Roster

We have a lot of cool happenings at Homeschool Roster. You may read about the changes being made, which will make this one of our best field trip seasons. We now have a Homeschool Roster field trip and event website. Join and become a member, so you may see all of the field trips we already have scheduled and make plans to attend. Registration for some of our upcoming field trips are already open. Although August 1 is our first official day of the season, we have already enjoyed three Back-to-Homeschool Splashes this month. We have three more scheduled in August. After that, we continue with a full calendar in August all the way through to May.

Don’t Miss Out!

Catch the news at the Homeschool Roster website, a free online resource for homeschool families, bringing news and information that is of interest to homeschoolers. Although our focus is West Tennessee, we also share homeschool news that has been helpful to all homeschoolers.

Homeschool Registration

For many homeschool families, August 1 is the first day of school. If you have not already registered to homeschool with your local school board or an umbrella school, submit that application. If going the school board route, you must register with your local school board by the first day of school in your county. If going the umbrella school route, be sure to register by July 31. Most umbrella schools increase their fees on or after August 1. Register early, so you do not get penalized with late fees.

Public School Sports

If your child plans to play sports at your local public school, the letter of intent to homeschool is due by August 1. You may e-mail, fax or hand deliver the paperwork to the school board. I suggest you hand deliver and send an e-mail, because you will not be given a “receipt”. The next step is to notify the school principal and coach of the team for which your child would like to play, by August 15. A try out does not guarantee your child will be accepted onto the team, but they do have the right to try out, even as a homeschooler. If you are with an umbrella school, you may also maintain that coverage.

TN Promise

The Tennessee Promise application opens on August 1. What is that you ask? Well, if you have a graduating high school senior, they may apply for the Tennessee Promise scholarship, which provides seniors two years of free tuition at Tennessee community colleges, technical schools and some four-year instituions. Over the two years, students may earn an associate’s degree and, if desired, continue to a four-year institution to further their education. If your senior is graduating this school year, be sure they apply for the TN Promise. Even if they have already decided they will not attend a TN Promise technical school or college, they may change their minds. Believe me, it happens too often and the scholarship opportunity is no longer available to them. With the TN Promise, you do not have to use it, but once the deadline has passed to apply, there is no second chance. Students have only one opportunity to apply for this scholarship, which is during their graduating senior year. The application closes on Friday, November 1, and they ain’t playin’!

FAFSA

Does your child need money for college? Check out FAFSA! The FAFSA application opens for the 2020/2021 school year on October 1, but go ahead and create an account, so you are ready to apply. If you have a child who will be entering college next fall or one who will be returning, be sure to get that FAFSA application completed. The financial aid is granted on a first-come, first-serve basis, so get started on completing those applications and do not wait until the last minute. The submission deadline is February 1

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Don’t miss a thing! Subscribe to the Homeschool Roster blog and get our articles in your inbox! Sign up for the Homeschool Roster newsletter.

©2019 Homeschool Roster. Article by Jennifer Smeltser. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the publisher https://www.homeschoolroster.com/.