Welcome back to our weekly roundup of what is happening in homeschooling across the country. This week there is a rule change worth understanding, a free field trip window closing, fresh national numbers, and award offers landing in inboxes right now. Here is what matters.

Colorado tightens the rules on homeschool enrichment programs

Colorado has issued stricter rules for state-funded homeschool enrichment programs, and they take effect with the 2026 school year. Public money can no longer go toward things like ski passes, club sports fees, martial arts lessons, horseback riding, or sports camps. Private schools are also barred from carving out part of their day, calling it homeschool enrichment, and drawing public funding for it.

Co-ops can no longer run programs outside their member districts either. That provision is aimed squarely at one Monument-based cooperative that had authorized more than 50 enrichment programs across the state. Existing out-of-boundary programs could begin applying for approval on June 15, and the state says it will decide within 30 days. If your family uses an enrichment program in Colorado, ask the program directly whether it has been approved under the new rules before you plan your fall around it. Chalkbeat has the details.

Worth watching even if you are not in Colorado. When one state writes rules about what enrichment money can buy, other states tend to borrow the language.

Military families: free museum admission runs through Labor Day

Blue Star Museums is running again this year, and it is one of the better deals in the homeschool calendar. Active duty military, National Guard and Reserve members, and their families get free admission to participating museums nationwide from Armed Forces Day through Labor Day, Monday September 7.

That gives you about six weeks left. It is a partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts and Blue Star Families, and the participating museum list is searchable by state. If you are a military homeschool family, this is a full unit study worth of field trips that costs you nothing but gas. Find participating museums here.

New national numbers show where homeschooling is actually growing

The National Home Education Research Institute released updated figures for the 2024-2025 school year, and the state-level spread is the interesting part. Across the 23 states with usable registration data, the weighted average sat at 4.18 percent of school-age children. North Carolina came in highest at 9.47 percent. Massachusetts came in lowest at 1.21 percent.

For scale, homeschooling now enrolls roughly double the number of students in Catholic schools and is approaching the size of the public charter sector. If you have ever felt like the odd one out at a family gathering, the numbers say otherwise, and in some states quite dramatically so. See the full breakdown.

Fall sports signups are opening, so check your state’s access rules now

August is when public school athletic departments set rosters, and homeschool access varies enormously by state. Some states guarantee homeschooled students the right to try out at their resident district on the same terms as enrolled students. Others require part-time enrollment in a certain number of courses. A few still do not allow it at all, usually because of an athletic association rule rather than state law.

The practical piece: physicals, paperwork, and tryout dates are usually set weeks before the season, and athletic directors are not always current on homeschool eligibility in their own state. Ask early, get the answer in writing, and check your own state’s rules rather than relying on the front office. HSLDA keeps a state-by-state legal summary.

North Carolina: ESA+ award offers are going out this week

If you are in North Carolina, watch your email. NCSEAA began extending 2026-2027 ESA+ award offers the week of July 27, and notifications are going out by email and through MyPortal. Families have three weeks to accept or decline once an offer arrives. (remember to look for us in the ClassWallet Marketplace!)

There is more good news behind that. The state budget signed on July 7 authorized additional funding for families who submitted an eligible ESA+ application during the February priority window but were not selected the first time around. If that was you, do not assume the door closed. Check your portal.

Texas: the first funds have landed

Texas deposited the first round of funding into nearly 73,000 education savings accounts. On top of that, 5,499 families who had been sitting on the waitlist received funding after other students opted out or chose a different path.

For scale, the Texas program now has close to 96,000 students enrolled, which makes it one of the largest school choice programs in the history of the country. If you are a Texas family with funds sitting in your account, this is the week to start planning how to use them rather than letting the school year get ahead of you. (A to Z for Moms Like Me is in the Odyssey marketplace!)

Arizona crosses 100,000 students

Arizona has become the first state to pass 100,000 students participating in a universal ESA program. Whatever your view on the politics, that is a genuinely significant number and it tells you where this is all heading. Arizona families, your funding window is open into early August, so do not leave money sitting unspent. (Look for us in the ClassWallet marketplace!)

West Virginia opens the door wider

West Virginia expanded eligibility for the Hope Scholarship for the 2026-2027 school year, which means more existing homeschool families can now apply. If you looked at Hope in a previous year and did not qualify, it is worth looking again. (We’re an approved vendor)

New Hampshire: caps may be coming off

New Hampshire is considering S.B. 581, which would remove enrollment caps and priority guidelines from the Education Freedom Account program and open it to full universal, unlimited participation. New Hampshire families should keep an eye on this one.

Florida families, check your award amounts

Florida award amounts for 2026-2027 publish in July, and the program cap rose to 140,000 students. Applications for both new and renewing students closed April 30, so this is a check-your-account week rather than an apply week.

Upcoming Homeschool Events

Homeschool Yo Kids Expo, Nevada. Saturday August 8, East Las Vegas Community Center, Las Vegas. A family-friendly expo with vendors, workshops, and activities for the kids. Details and tickets.

Homeschool Yo Kids Expo, Arizona. Saturday August 15, Desert West Community Center, Phoenix. Same series, one week later, and well timed for Arizona families planning the new year while ESA funds are available. Details and tickets.

Blue Star Museums, through September 7. Not a single event, but worth putting on the calendar as a standing August option for military families before it ends on Labor Day.

Homeschool Facts and Tips for This Week

Did you know? Homeschooling rates vary more by state than most families realize. North Carolina sits near 9.5 percent of school-age children while Massachusetts is closer to 1.2 percent. Your experience of how normal homeschooling feels depends enormously on your zip code, and it says nothing at all about whether it is working for your family.

Myth to bust. That you have to teach every subject yourself. You do not. Co-ops, online classes, tutors, dual enrollment, and outsourced labs exist precisely because no parent is equally strong in phonics, chemistry, and Latin. Handing off the subject you dread is a strategy, not a surrender.

Resource tip. Your fastest source of local information is other local homeschoolers. Co-ops and area homeschool groups turn up field trips, used curriculum, carpools to co-op, and the name of the one athletic director who actually knows the eligibility rules. If you are new to a town, join the group before you buy the curriculum.

Planning tip. Do not start all your subjects on the same day. Add one or two a week over the first month. It takes far less out of everyone, it shows you quickly which subject is the friction point, and a routine that builds gradually is the one still standing in November.

Keep going. Hard days are normal and do not mean you are failing. Every homeschool parent has them, including the ones whose highlight reel you are watching online. A rough week is data, not a verdict.

Until next week

The through line this week is timing. Rules are changing in Colorado, offers are going out in North Carolina, funds have landed in Texas, and sports rosters are being set everywhere. The families who get the most out of all of this are rarely the ones with the biggest budget. They are the ones who read the email and ask the question early.

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