Category Archives: Homeschooling

The Federal Scholarship Program, also called the Education Freedom Tax Credit, is scheduled to begin on January 1, 2027. For homeschooling families, the main point is simple but not automatic: the federal law creates a new scholarship pathway, yet access will depend on state participation, Scholarship Granting Organizations, income rules, and how each state treats homeschool education under its own laws.

The program was created by the One … Read the rest

Homeschool participation trends matter because they show more than a change in enrollment. They point to families making deliberate choices about instruction, time, values, safety, academic fit, and community life. For parents who teach at home, the numbers can be encouraging, but they also call for steady planning: stronger co-ops, better library partnerships, clearer local communication, and learning plans that help children build knowledge across subjects.

During the 2024-2025 school … Read the rest

The Federal Scholarship Tax Credit is drawing attention from private school and homeschooling families because it may affect how scholarships are funded for elementary and secondary education expenses beginning on January 1, 2027. As of October 12, 2026, it was not yet available for taxpayers to claim, so families should treat it as a planning topic rather than a benefit they can use right now.

For homeschool parents, the key … Read the rest

Supporting Head Start Parents works best when programs treat families as partners in learning, not as visitors to a school building. Community engagement gives parents practical pathways to share what they know about their children, connect with local services, and take part in decisions that affect the program. For homeschooling families and families building strong learning routines at home, the same idea applies: young children benefit when adults coordinate expectations, … Read the rest

Federal literacy support can give struggling schools a clearer path for choosing reading instruction, training teachers, and using evidence rather than guesswork. For homeschool families, the value is often indirect but still useful: federal reading priorities can signal which practices state agencies, districts, and public programs may emphasize in the years ahead.

On September 9, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education launched Building Strong Readers and described a national reading … Read the rest

AI literacy courses became a clear priority for New York City high schools after the city announced on September 2, 2026, that high school students would receive required instruction twice per year while younger students faced tighter limits on student-facing generative AI. For homeschool families, the news is more than a public-school policy update. It is a useful signal that families need to teach children how artificial intelligence works, where … Read the rest

Recent New York regulations on literacy teacher preparation deserve attention from homeschool families, even though the rules are aimed at educator preparation programs rather than parent-led home instruction. For parents building reading, writing, history, and civics lessons around the kitchen table, the policy shift is useful because it names several practices worth studying: evidence-based reading instruction, assessment during real teaching, support for students with reading difficulties, and stronger preparation across … Read the rest

Homeschooling Growth Data has drawn renewed attention because one recent estimate placed the weighted mean of homeschooled school-age children at about 4.18% in 2024-25 across 23 state reporting systems. That figure is useful, but it should be read with care. It does not mean every national count agrees on the same number. It does show that home-based education remained a significant part of U.S. schooling after the sharp changes families … Read the rest

Homeschool legal protections moved forward in 2026 through a mix of federal recognition efforts and state-level rule changes. For parents, the practical question is not only whether a bill sounds friendly to homeschooling. The real question is how a law affects graduation records, college aid forms, withdrawal procedures, privacy, and the daily confidence families need to educate children at home.

As a homeschooling advocate, I see these developments as a … Read the rest