The last full week of August is when the planning stops and the actual school year starts. This week brought a free September holiday that homeschoolers are perfectly placed to take advantage of, two national park changes that will catch families out if nobody tells them, and a hard funding deadline about two weeks away. There is also a difficult story out of Florida that a lot of families are living through right now.

Constitution Day is September 17, and almost everything for it is free

Constitution Day falls on Thursday, September 17, and it is one of the best value days on the homeschool calendar because nearly every resource for it costs nothing.

The National Park Service waives entrance fees at every park that charges them on that day. On top of that, the Bill of Rights Institute publishes free videos, quizzes and ready to use materials, the National Constitution Center runs free virtual programming for every age group, and iCivics has standards aligned lessons and games. The federal courts offer a discussion activity built around real judges and lawyers.

If you want something physical in your student’s hands, the 917 Society mails free pocket constitutions. Order early, they go out on a first come basis and homeschool groups qualify.

Put together, that is a full unit study on the Constitution, a free field trip, and something to keep, for the cost of printer ink.

Two national park changes worth knowing before you plan a fall trip

Two things changed about fee free days in 2026, and both are the kind of change families find out about at the entrance gate.

National Public Lands Day is no longer free. The fourth Saturday in September used to be a fee free day and it is not one in 2026. If that was your plan, Constitution Day on September 17 is the September date that still works.

Fee free days now apply to United States residents only. Non residents pay standard entrance fees plus any applicable non resident fee. The Park Service has posted the details on its non resident fees page.

Worth remembering either way that fee free days only cover entrance. Camping, tours, boat launches and parking are run by concessionaires and those charges still apply.

A new national survey shows where parents actually stand on school choice

EdChoice released the 2026 edition of its Schooling in America survey, the fourteenth annual look at how parents and the general public see school satisfaction, education funding and school choice.

The headline finding is that education savings accounts are the most popular school choice policy measured, supported by 78 percent of the general public and 84 percent of school parents. That is a wide margin, and it is a useful number to have in your pocket the next time someone at a family gathering suggests these programs are fringe.

Florida: some homeschool families are being denied PEP scholarships

This is the hardest story of the week, and if you are in Florida you may already be living it.

Through late July and early August, Florida families began reporting that their Personalized Education Program applications were denied with no explanation they could understand. PEP is the state backed program that reimburses homeschool families an average of around 8,000 dollars a year for curriculum, supplies and private lessons.

The reason, as reported on August 13, is that demand outran the money. State law allows up to 140,000 students in PEP, but the program is funded mainly by private corporate donations made in exchange for a state tax credit, and those contributions did not stretch to cover more than 100,000 interested applicants. Step Up For Students renewed existing students first, then began issuing awards by household income, starting with families under 185 percent of the federal poverty level.

So a denial is not a judgment about your family or your paperwork. It is a funding shortfall meeting an income based priority order. If you were denied, it is worth confirming your household income information is correctly recorded, and worth watching for later funding rounds, because the balance available has moved during the year before.

It is also a reminder that a tax credit funded program and a state appropriated program are not the same animal. One is capped by what companies choose to donate.

Indiana: the ESA application closes September 1

Indiana’s Education Scholarship Account closes for the 2026-2027 year on September 1, which is about two weeks out.

This one is worth being precise about, because Indiana has more than one program and they get confused constantly. The ESA is for students with disabilities and their siblings, not a universal program. A student with a qualifying disability may receive up to 20,000 dollars a year, and a sibling up to 8,000. Details and the application are at the INESA site.

One administrative change to know about: as of July 1 the program moved from the Treasurer of State to the Indiana Department of Education. If you are searching for guidance and landing on older pages, that is why.

Iowa’s September 30 deadline is not the one you think

Iowa’s Education Savings Account has a September 30 deadline circulating in homeschool groups, and we want to save some people the disappointment.

The Iowa ESA requires full time enrollment in an accredited nonpublic school. Independent homeschool families are not eligible, so that deadline does not apply to you no matter how many times it gets shared. Iowa families homeschooling independently are looking at the state’s other options, not this one.

Missouri raises MOScholars funding

Missouri’s MOScholars program received a 60 million dollar appropriation, an increase of 10 million over the previous year.

MOScholars money reaches families through nonprofit Educational Assistance Organizations, and homeschool families use the Family Paced Education designation. More money in the pot generally means more students funded, though the timing of deposits still varies by organization rather than following one statewide schedule.

Louisiana’s GATOR expansion stalls in the Senate

Louisiana’s LA GATOR program will not be doubling this year. The House approved a proposal to raise the appropriation to 87.5 million dollars, but the Senate Finance Committee stripped the new funding back out.

For families already in the program, nothing changes immediately. For families waiting on a seat, it means the queue does not get shorter as quickly as it looked like it might. Current program information stays at the Louisiana Department of Education.

Around the country

Utah. No movement on the constitutional challenge to Utah Fits All this week, and no oral argument date has been announced. The program continues to operate while the case is reviewed.

A general note on deadlines. Several programs run application windows where the amount you receive depends on when you apply, with the award stepping down the later you file. If your state does that, applying early is worth real money, not just peace of mind.

Upcoming Homeschool Events

• National Book Festival, Saturday August 22. Today, in fact. The Library of Congress runs its 26th annual festival at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington DC from 9am to 8pm, free and open to the public, with hands on activities, trivia and historical handwriting to decipher. Details at the Library of Congress.
• Constitution Day, Thursday September 17. Free entry at national parks that charge fees, plus the free resources listed at the top of this roundup.
• Fall homeschool days at zoos and museums. Many are booking now for September and October, and they usually sell out. Search your nearest zoo, science center or living history museum for “homeschool day” before the calendar fills.

Homeschool Facts and Tips for This Week

Did you know? Education savings accounts are now the most popular school choice policy in national polling, backed by 78 percent of the general public and 84 percent of school parents in the 2026 Schooling in America survey. Whatever you think of the programs, they are no longer a fringe position.

Myth to bust. You do not have to decide now and commit for all twelve years. Plenty of families homeschool for a season, a single hard year, or through one particular stage and then change course. Choosing this August does not obligate you to anything except this year.

Planning tip. Put your state’s reporting or testing deadline in your phone this week with a reminder set two weeks before it, not the week it is due. Nearly every panicked homeschool phone call in spring traces back to a date nobody wrote down in September.

Cost tip. Find out now what happens to unspent funds in your program at the end of the year. Some roll over, some do not, and the families who lose money are almost always the ones who assumed rather than checked. It changes whether you should be spending steadily or saving for something larger.

Social tip. Constitution Day is a good excuse to invite one other family over. A shared project with two or three kids working on it beats the same project done alone, and it is a low pressure way to start a rhythm with people you would like to see more of this year.

Until next week

If you are in Florida and staring at a denial, you are not alone and it is not something you did. If you are in Indiana, get the application in before September 1. And everybody else, mark September 17 down, because a free day at a national park with a pocket constitution in hand is about as good as a Thursday gets.

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