Welcome back to our weekly roundup. This week leads with a new study that says more than half of homeschooling families also have a child in a regular school, a record homeschool count in Virginia, and Colorado’s plan to tighten its homeschool enrichment programs. Space Center Houston has also posted a full year of homeschool days.

On the funding side, Arkansas released its first big report on the universal EFA year, and homeschoolers posted the highest test scores of any group. We also have Oklahoma’s homeschool tax credit numbers, Missouri’s MOScholars count, a Florida deadline for families still stuck in PEP review, and New York’s decision on the federal scholarship tax credit. As always, every story below links its source so you can read the original yourself. We use the agency, the court or the program’s own page wherever one exists.

More than half of homeschooling families also have a child in a regular school

We tend to picture homeschooling as an all-or-nothing choice. A new study says that for most families, it is not.

Angela Watson, director of the Johns Hopkins Homeschool Research Lab, wrote up the study on October 5 with co-authors Matthew Lee of Kennesaw State University and Albert Cheng of The Ohio State University. They looked at what researchers call “sector mixing,” when parents choose one kind of school for one child and a different kind for another. Using nationally representative data on U.S. households from 2012, 2016 and 2019, they found that only 2.5% of all households with more than one school-aged child mix sectors. But among households that homeschool at least one child, 53% send another child to a conventional school at the same time.

Larger families are more likely to mix, Watson writes, “likely because children within the same household may have different educational needs.” A second study using 2024 data found it is still happening. With about 3 million homeschooled students in the country, she estimates that is almost 1.5 million homeschooling families who mix.

If you homeschool one child and not another, you are not doing it halfway. By this research, you are doing what most homeschool families do.

Source: EdChoice (Angela Watson, Johns Hopkins Homeschool Research Lab)

Virginia homeschooling hit a record 66,117 students

The Home Educators Association of Virginia says it needed four FOIA requests over two months to get the official 2025-2026 numbers, but it has them now. According to the Virginia Department of Education figures HEAV received, homeschooling grew 5.34% in one year, bringing the statewide total to 66,117 students.

Since the 2019-2020 school year, before the pandemic, homeschooling in Virginia has grown by 49.5%, and HEAV says that is the highest level ever recorded. HEAV is also inviting families to its Day at the Capitol on October 29 or 30.

Source: Home Educators Association of Virginia

Update: Colorado could cap its homeschool enrichment programs at 16 hours a week

An update on the Colorado story we have been following since September. Colorado’s publicly funded homeschool enrichment programs, the part-time programs for homeschool students, are getting permanent rules, and the State Board of Education took up two versions on Thursday, October 15, with a final vote expected later this fall.

Option A would allow only public entities, such as school districts or charter schools, to run the programs. Option B would allow public entities and private groups, but only nonprofit ones. Both versions would bar the programs from offering more than 16 hours of classes a week, and both would prohibit more than two field trips or field experiences per semester if they cost money to provide.

A separate set of rules could cut the funding rate. Programs currently get $6,000 per student per year on average for 90 hours of class a semester. Under the proposal, that would drop to about $3,000 for 90 hours. Over the summer, the state approved only 14 of the 54 programs that applied, and last year homeschool enrichment cost the state nearly $100 million. The board will vote on a final version later this fall.

If your family uses one of these programs, now is the time to ask the program what each option would mean for your schedule next year.

Source: Chalkbeat Colorado

Space Center Houston posted a full year of NASA homeschool days

Space Center Houston, home of the NASA Tram Tour of Johnson Space Center, has posted its Home School Day dates through May 2027. They run on Fridays: November 13, December 11, January 15, February 12, March 26, April 16 and May 28.

Every Home School Day starts at 8 a.m., an hour before the center opens to the public. Families can ride the NASA Tram Tour, see the Saturn V in Rocket Park, walk underneath a SpaceX Falcon 9, and catch the Astronaut Mission Memories presentations at 11:30 a.m. and 1:20 p.m.

Tickets bought in advance are $14.95, and members get in free. Ticket sales end one week before each date, so November 13 tickets have to be bought by November 6. The center notes the schedule is subject to change.

Source: Space Center Houston

Arkansas: homeschoolers posted the highest test scores in the first universal EFA year

The University of Arkansas released its 2025-26 annual report on the Education Freedom Accounts program on October 9, and it has good news for homeschool families.

Participation more than tripled, from 14,256 students in 2024-25 to 44,524 in 2025-26, the program’s first universal year. Of those, 16,541 students, or 37.15 percent, were homeschooled. On nationally normed tests, homeschool students scored at the 71st percentile in math and the 76th percentile in reading. Private school EFA students scored at the 60th and 63rd. The report also says that, in aggregate, homeschool students kept pace with the growth in public schools and performed as well as or better than their public school peers in both math and reading.

Homeschool families also stayed. The report puts the K-11 retention rate for homeschool students at 96.7 percent. More than 55,000 students have been approved for 2026-27, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s coverage of the report. (Be sure to look for us in the CW Marketplace!)

Sources: University of Arkansas (report page), full report, PDF, Camden News / Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Oklahoma: homeschool tax credit claims are already well ahead of last year

Oklahoma’s homeschool tax credit is a refundable credit of up to $1,000 per student, claimed on the Oklahoma income tax return for the year the expenses were paid, so keep your receipts.

The Oklahoma Tax Commission’s October 1 report shows 4,141 returns have claimed the credit for tax year 2025, for a total of $4,717,799. The commission’s February report showed 2,692 returns and $3,556,187 for tax year 2024, the credit’s first year. That is about 54 percent more returns so far.

Two notes from the report itself. The tax year 2025 numbers are not final until December 31, and one return may cover more than one homeschooled child. If you homeschool in Oklahoma and have not claimed it for 2025, it is worth a conversation with whoever prepares your taxes.

Sources: Oklahoma Tax Commission (October 1 report), Oklahoma Tax Commission (February 2 report)

Missouri: MOScholars funded 10,235 students this year

Missouri State Treasurer Vivek Malek announced that 10,235 students were funded through MOScholars, the Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program, for the 2026-2027 school year. The state awarded more than $68 million, and the program received more than 16,000 applications.

That is a big jump from 1,361 students in the program’s first year, 2022-2023. MOScholars funds students for private schools, homeschool education, interdistrict enrollment and more, and there are 385 approved schools and 350 family-paced education programs participating statewide. (Look for A to Z for Moms Like Me in the Odyssey Marketplace)

Source: KBIA / KOMU 8

Florida: families still in PEP review have until October 30 to switch

Florida families who applied for the Personalized Education Program, which Step Up describes as acting like an Education Savings Account for homeschoolers, and are still sitting in “Pending Review” have an option with a hard deadline.

Step Up For Students says that if your student is in Pending Review, you can decline the PEP application in EMA and then submit an application for the FES-UA (Unique Abilities) scholarship, also in EMA, by 5:00 p.m. ET on October 30, 2026. Step Up’s program switch window for all students runs from October 2 to October 30, 2026, ahead of Quarter 3. Students who were presented for Quarter 1 funding cannot switch until after Quarter 2.

FES-UA is for students with a qualifying disability or diagnosis, so check the Unique Abilities eligibility list before you decline anything. Step Up also notes that UA and PEP students do not need a private school enrollment in EMA.

Sources: Step Up For Students FAQ, Unique Abilities eligibility

Update: New York opted in to the federal scholarship tax credit

An update on the New York opt-in fight we have been watching. On October 9, Governor Kathy Hochul said New York will participate in the new federal scholarship tax credit. She is the second Democratic governor, after Colorado’s Jared Polis, to opt in voluntarily. “I’m not going to leave money on the table when it could help our kids,” Hochul said.

Starting January 1, individual taxpayers can donate up to $1,700 to a scholarship-granting organization and get a dollar-for-dollar federal credit. Families earning up to 300% of area median income qualify. According to an IRS tracker, 30 other states have opted in.

For homeschool families, the open question is the same one we covered last week: whether homeschool students can receive these scholarships depends on the federal rules still being written. Comments on those rules are due December 1.

Sources: Chalkbeat New York, Federal Register

Around the country

Utah. UHOPE, a Utah home education coalition, is looking for homeschool families in every county to help build connections before the next legislative interim meetings on October 20, with another interim date on November 18. With the election on November 3, it is encouraging families to ask candidates one question: “Do you support homeschoolers and protecting homeschool freedom in Utah?” (UHOPE)

Iowa. The half-year Students First ESA application window runs from 8:00 a.m. on October 15 through 11:59 p.m. on November 15, 2026. A half-year ESA is $4,074. Homeschooling itself is not funded, but a student who was homeschooled in 2025-26 can apply as long as the student is enrolled full time at an Iowa accredited nonpublic school. (Iowa Department of Education)

Wyoming. The Department of Education lists the second ESA disbursement of the year for early November 2026. The 2026-27 application period closed August 6. (Wyoming Department of Education)

New Hampshire. In case you missed it over the summer: HB 1817, now Chapter 183, took effect August 18. It adds Education Freedom Account students to the list of nonpublic, charter and home educated students who have access to curricular courses and cocurricular programs, including clubs and athletics, in the district where they live. A district’s policy for these students cannot be more restrictive than its policy for its own resident students. (bill text and status via NHLA)

Arizona. There will be no Empowerment Scholarship Account measure on the November 3 ballot. Two items were disallowed, one for insufficient petition signatures and one because the courts ruled it violated the single-subject rule, and another ESA petition campaign was called off before it turned in signatures. (Be sure to look for us in the CW Marketplace!) (KTAR)

Upcoming Homeschool Events

Homeschool Day at The Wild Center, Tupper Lake, New York, Friday October 23. 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Free for members. Non-members are $15 for adults 18 and up and $5 for youth 5 to 17, and children 4 and under are free. The day includes animal ambassadors and science and art activities in the Naturalist Cabinet.

Fall Homeschool Day at the Natural History Museum, Los Angeles, California, Wednesday October 28. 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Homeschoolers and their families receive free museum admission and special programming, and this one is La Brea Tar Pits themed. Registration opens two weeks before the event, which puts it around October 14.

Homeschool Day at Sauder Village, Archbold, Ohio, Thursday October 29. 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Homeschool families pay $15 per adult and $10 per student ages 4 to 17, and children 3 and under are free. No preregistration, just tell the admissions desk you are a homeschool family. It is the last of the village’s five homeschool dates this season.

Sources: The Wild Center, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Sauder Village

Homeschool Facts and Tips for This Week

Did you know? When Arkansas homeschool families spent their Education Freedom Account money last year, curriculum was the biggest single category: $17,270,898, or 22.34 percent of homeschool spending, ahead of educational supplies and technology. (University of Arkansas EFA report, Table 13)

Motivation. Mid-October is when the plan you made in August meets real life, and it rarely matches. Progress over perfection: a simple routine you actually keep will carry your kids further this year than an ambitious schedule you abandon by Thanksgiving. Cross off what is not working and keep what is.

Civics tip. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2026. It is a midterm year, so one-third of the U.S. Senate and all 435 House seats are on the ballot. Pull up your sample ballot with your kids, look up who represents you, and let them hold a family mock vote on a few of the questions. (USAGov, California Secretary of State)

Veterans Day tip. The American Battlefield Trust and Wreaths Across America’s TEACH Program are hosting a free webinar on Thursday, October 22 at 7:00 p.m. EDT with stories from the history of Veterans Day and a look at their free lesson plans. Registration is free, and it is a quick way to have a Veterans Day lesson ready before November 11. (American Battlefield Trust)

Social tip. Start with one post. In Las Vegas, the Sunrise Mountain Homeschool Co-Op began when its founder posted on Facebook looking for other parents to meet at a park. That first meetup grew from five families to more than 300, and when they outgrew the park they moved into a recreation center lobby “just because it was free.” Your local rec center or library may have the same kind of free space. (FOX5 Las Vegas)

Until next week

What we are watching: California’s October 23 response deadline in the curriculum case at the Supreme Court (docket), Colorado’s final vote on enrichment rules, Florida’s October 30 switch deadline, Iowa’s half-year ESA window, and Election Day on November 3.

New states in the roundup this week: Virginia, Colorado, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Florida, New York, Utah, Iowa, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Arizona, California, Nevada and Ohio.

Happy homeschooling, and we will see you next Saturday.

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