Welcome back to our weekly roundup. The Senate is back in session, the fall field-trip calendar is filling up, and this week the lead story is about one state that took its hands off homeschooling three years ago and what happened next.

There is also a viral chart making the rounds that we would like you to stop sharing, a national parks correction, and three funding programs that are now big enough to be fighting over money in court and in the budget.

Ohio took away most of its homeschool rules in 2023. Homeschooling there just passed 60,000 students

Ohio’s homeschool population reached roughly 60,000 students in 2024-25, up from about 53,000 the year before. The Fordham Institute’s new “Ohio Education by the Numbers 2026” counts more than 60,000 homeschoolers alongside about 165,000 students on EdChoice vouchers and nearly 180,000 in nonpublic schools.

What changed is House Bill 33, the 2023 budget bill that rewrote Ohio’s homeschool law. It removed the minimum instructional hours, the annual assessment and progress report, and the requirement that the teaching parent hold a high school diploma, and it cut the required subject list from nine to six.

What did not change: parents still notify the district superintendent, and for continuing families that notice is due by August 30 each year, with the superintendent required to acknowledge it. The state’s 2025-26 count is expected out this month, and Cincinnati Public Radio spent a segment on September 10 asking whether the looser rules are the reason for the growth.

We think the more interesting question is the one nobody in that segment asked: three years in, is there any evidence the removed rules were doing anything? So far nobody has produced it.

Sources: Fordham Institute, Ohio Education by the Numbers 2026, Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, Hoodline, WVXU Cincinnati Edition

That “20 million homeschoolers by 2030” chart is not real, and the people who track this want you to know

You have probably seen it: a clean line chart claiming the homeschool population will hit 20 million students, about 30 percent of all school-age children, by 2030.

On September 12 the National Home Education Research Institute traced it back. The chart comes from a 2024 article with no documented method, no dataset, and no validation. NHERI ran the math: getting from today’s roughly 3.4 million homeschoolers to 20 million in six years would take about 34 percent growth every single year, compounded, a nearly sixfold jump.

Homeschooling is growing. It does not need help from a made-up graph, and when one of us shares it, it hands critics an easy way to dismiss the real numbers. NHERI’s write-up is worth a read before the next time it shows up in your feed.

Source: NHERI

The homeschool diploma bill is one Senate vote from the president’s desk

The Home School Graduation Recognition Act (H.R. 6392 in the House, S. 3747 in the Senate) passed the House unanimously and has cleared the Senate education committee. The only step left is a floor vote in the full Senate, and the Senate came back into session this week.

The bill is small and specific. It changes a heading in the Higher Education Act from “Who Are Not High School Graduates” to “From Non-Traditional Settings,” so a homeschool diploma is treated the same as a public or private one for federal student aid. Families have run into that wording for years.

A second bill, the COMPASS Act (H.R. 9351 and S. 4783), would protect military homeschool families through moves. It is introduced in both chambers but not yet attached to the defense authorization bill. HSLDA is asking families to contact their senators on both.

Source: HSLDA

Three states expanded homeschool freedom this year, and one went the other way

HSLDA’s September 1 legislative review is a good one-page summary of 2026. New Hampshire’s HB 1268, which we covered last week, is the headline. Two others got less attention.

Tennessee’s HB 1729, signed in May, lets families use any nationally normed test or the Classic Learning Test for required assessments and removes the penalties that forced students back into public school. Idaho’s SB 1285, signed in March, bars licensing boards in at least ten professions from discriminating against homeschool graduates.

Connecticut is the exception. A new law there adds restrictions, and HSLDA has a federal privacy complaint pending against it. If you live in Connecticut, the review lays out what takes effect when.

Source: HSLDA

NASA Goddard is running free homeschool sessions in October, and registration opens Tuesday

NASA’s Goddard Visitor Center in Greenbelt, Maryland has two free in-person homeschool programs this fall. “Living and Working in Space” is for ages 5 to 10 on October 22 at 11 a.m. or October 23 at 1 p.m. “Engineering Satellites” is for ages 11 to 14 on October 28 at 11 a.m. or October 30 at 1 p.m.

Sessions run about 45 minutes, a parent stays on site, and NASA sends activities to do before and after. Registration opens Tuesday, September 22 at 9 a.m. Eastern on Eventbrite, and these fill fast. The same page lists a free “Grow with Goddard” program for ages 3 to 5 on October 15 and the first-Saturday model rocket launches.

If you are not within driving distance of Maryland, this is still worth a look for the pre-session activities, which are free to anyone.

Source: NASA Goddard Visitor Center

National Public Lands Day is September 26, and this year it is not a free day at the parks

A correction to what many family blogs still list. The National Park Service page for National Public Lands Day gives the date as Saturday, September 26, with the theme “Caring for Our Shared America” for the 250th anniversary. What the page does not list is a blanket entrance-fee waiver.

Instead it says to contact the park where you plan to volunteer and ask whether they have a coupon to waive the fee. So the free entry is tied to volunteering this year, not to the date. If you have a fourth grader, the Every Kid Outdoors pass still covers your whole vehicle any day of the year, and that is the better plan.

Source: National Park Service

North Carolina’s homeschool count dropped by 6,690, but not because families quit

North Carolina reports 95,190 registered homeschools for 2025-26, down from 101,880 the year before and well off the pandemic peak of 112,614. Before anyone reads that as a trend, EdNC’s September 3 data piece explains the reason: the Division of Non-Public Education cleaned up its records this year and removed homeschools that had gone inactive without ever formally closing.

North Carolina only estimates homeschool enrollment, unlike its verified public and private counts, so the cleanup mostly corrected an old overcount. The state still has one of the largest homeschool populations in the country. (Be sure to look for us in the CW Marketplace!)

Source: EdNC

Colorado is rewriting the rules for homeschool enrichment programs, with a hearing October 14

Last week we reported Colorado’s largest enrichment program closing. Now the State Board of Education has started the rulemaking that will decide what these programs look like from 2027-28 on.

At its September 9 meeting the board looked at two options from the department. Option A lets only public entities (districts, charters, BOCES) run programs, with private contractors limited to specific classes. Option B lets nonprofit private groups run them too, but bars those groups from offering art, music, or PE. Staff also proposed requiring 180 instructional hours per semester, double the current roughly 90, to earn half-time per-pupil funding of about $6,000 a year. Of 54 programs that applied this summer, 5 were approved or partially approved and 11 are still pending.

Board member Karla Esser said she is leaning “very heavily” toward stricter rules, ones “that can be verified, rather than just trust.” The public hearing is expected at the board’s October 14 to 15 meeting, and final rules are due by December 31. If your family uses one of these programs, October 14 is the date to show up.

Sources: Colorado Department of Education, September Update, Chalkbeat Colorado, Colorado Springs Gazette

Arizona: free State Fair field trip days, but you have to register by October 1

Arizona’s fall homeschool calendar is stacked. The Arizona State Fair is offering free Field Trip Days on October 15, 16, and 22 for registered students and their adult chaperones, with early admission and the agriculture exhibits and livestock barns. Registration closes October 1.

LEGOLAND Discovery Center in Tempe runs Homeschool Week September 21 to 25 at $12 per person with proof of homeschooling. The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson holds Homeschool Day on Wednesday, October 21, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., $8 per child and $12 per adult, no advance tickets. And the Phoenix Zoo’s Homeschool Day is October 28 from 9 a.m. to noon, $25 general or $12 for members, with full zoo admission for the rest of the day. (Be sure to look for us in the CW Marketplace!)

Sources: Raising Arizona Kids, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Phoenix Zoo

Texas: the Comptroller wants to double the education savings account program to more than $2 billion

Comptroller Don Huffines has asked the Legislature for an additional $1 billion in the next budget, which would take Texas Education Freedom Accounts to more than $2 billion for 2028-29, up from the $1 billion that funded the first two years.

The request is based on current participants plus the waitlist. Roughly 110,000 students are funded now and more than 106,000 are still waiting. The program received more than 270,000 applications in its first year and found 248,000 eligible. The Comptroller’s office told KERA the program needs another $980 million to clear the waitlist and $82 million for newly eligible siblings. The Tribune notes that funding everyone on the waitlist would push the total to about $4 billion over two years.

For homeschool families the award is still up to $2,000 a year, against about $10,500 for private school. Nothing changes this year. The Legislature does not take up the budget until it convenes in January 2027, and that is where this gets decided. (Look for A to Z for Moms Like Me in the Odyssey Marketplace)

Sources: Texas Tribune, KERA News

West Virginia: parents sue to block the Hope Scholarship’s universal expansion, and the Treasurer says he will fight it

This is a different case from the special education dispute we covered two weeks ago. On Friday, September 4, ten parents of fifteen students in Mingo County Public Schools filed suit in Kanawha County Circuit Court against Treasurer Larry Pack and State Superintendent Michele Blatt. They argue the 2026-27 universal expansion violates the state constitution’s guarantee of “a thorough and efficient system of free schools,” pointing to the planned closure of Dingess Elementary.

The relief they want matters for homeschoolers: they ask the court to stop payments to first-time applicants who became eligible only through universal expansion. That group includes existing homeschool families, who were not eligible before this year. Program cost has grown from about $13 million to $155 million, and the per-student award rose from $4,300 to $5,435.62.

Pack’s September 8 statement called the program “a political football” and said his office “will aggressively oppose any attempt to reverse the universal expansion approved by the Legislature and signed by the Governor.” No hearing date had been set as of that statement.

Two more Hope notes. On September 14 the Treasurer released the 2025-26 parent survey: nearly 900 households responded, 98 percent reported overall satisfaction, and four out of five had no trouble with the application. Curriculum was the most-selected top expense, ahead of tuition. And the second quarterly deposit is scheduled for October 15, with the compliance check on October 1.

Sources: West Virginia Treasurer, West Virginia Public Broadcasting, LEDE News, survey results, Treasurer, quarterly schedule

Wyoming: 3,359 scholarships approved and paying out, with a court ruling due within 60 days

As of September 9 the Wyoming Department of Education had approved 3,359 applications for the $7,000 Steamboat Legacy Scholarship, with 583 more on hold for documentation and 325 waiting on a September 15 deadline. The program has 4,200 funded spots. Nearly 1,000 vendors and 123 schools are registered on the marketplace, and payments have started going out.

The Wyoming Education Association lawsuit is still pending in Laramie County District Court. Judge Peter Froelicher said at a recent hearing he would rule within 60 days, which puts a decision around mid-October. The Wyoming Supreme Court already reversed last year’s injunction in May.

WyoFile talked to a Lander homeschool mother of ten who plans to use the funds for math camps. Her quote sums up the mood: “Nobody is really expecting it to last.” Spend it on what your kids need now, and keep your receipts. (Look for A to Z for Moms Like Me in the Odyssey Marketplace)

Sources: Wyoming Department of Education, WyoFile

Arkansas: auditors found $58,751 in misspent EFA funds, and none of it was homeschool families

Arkansas Legislative Audit told lawmakers on September 10 that nineteen students who were enrolled full time in a public school during 2024-25 spent $58,751 in Education Freedom Account funds they were not eligible to use. Sixteen of them were in one online public charter school and three were in traditional districts. The previous year’s audit had found 28 duplicate enrollments.

The rest of the audit is the reassuring part. Auditors sampled 746 expenses totaling $305,000 across 52 accounts and flagged only three small problems: a $216 expense without an itemized receipt, a $42 duplicate payment, and a $1,407 overpayment from a duplicate account. There were 14,297 accounts in 2024-25, and the department expects about 50,000 participants this year at $7,208 per student. The state is recovering the money and now cross-checks account holders against public school rosters.

The lesson for the rest of us: the program’s controls caught a small problem, and the homeschool side of the ledger was clean. (Be sure to look for us in the CW Marketplace!)

Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

The federal scholarship tax credit rules are due by September 30, and 30 states are in

As we noted last week, the rules are the thing to watch. The IRS page for the federal scholarship tax credit now lists 30 states participating for 2027, as of July 24. Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Nevada, Colorado, Alaska, and New Hampshire are on it. Arizona, Texas, California, Pennsylvania, and most of the Northeast are not.

Treasury promised proposed regulations “no later than the end of September 2026,” and as of this week they have not appeared. Those rules are what will say whether scholarships can cover homeschool expenses, so we are watching the last two weeks of the month. The credit itself is up to $1,700 per taxpayer for donations to scholarship organizations, starting January 1, 2027.

Arizona’s status became a political fight on August 26, when Education Secretary Linda McMahon came to Mesa to push the governor to opt in. Nothing has changed there since.

Sources: IRS, U.S. Treasury, KAWC

Minnesota: $138.43 per homeschool student for materials, and the district report is due October 1

Minnesota’s Nonpublic Pupil Aid reimburses homeschool families for textbooks and instructional materials through the resident public school district. For 2026-27 the rate is $138.43 per student. Parent requests had to be signed by September 15, the district’s report to the state is due October 1, and receipts are due by May 1 for purchases dated on or after July 1, 2026.

Two rules trip people up every year: used books are not eligible, and materials bought with the aid are technically loaned to you by the district rather than owned. It is not a lot of money, but it is money most Minnesota homeschool families never claim.

Source: ISD 728 Elk River, quoting MDE rates

Around the country

Wisconsin. The annual homeschool enrollment report (PI-1206) counts enrollment as of the third Friday in September, which is September 18 this year, and must be filed by October 15 through DPI’s online HOMER system. Registration for 2026-27 is open now.

California. The statutory filing window for the Private School Affidavit is October 1 through 15. The system stays open all year, but that is the window the state expects.

Ohio. If you are a continuing homeschool family, your annual notice to the superintendent was due August 30. If you started mid-year, it is due within five days of withdrawing.

Idaho. The Parental Choice Tax Credit application window runs January 15 through March 15 each year, first come first served, with awards prioritized for families at or below 300 percent of the federal poverty level. If you want the credit for 2027, January 15 is the date to have your Taxpayer Access Point account ready.

New Hampshire. The Education Freedom Account program hit its 12,500-student cap for a second straight year in August, with 13,443 eligible students and a waitlist. Priority students (current recipients, students with disabilities, and lower-income families) can still enroll.

Oklahoma. Wilson Public Library launched a free weekly Homeschool Hangout on September 16, every Wednesday from 3 to 4:30 p.m., alternating between led activities and open social weeks. If your library does not have one, this is the model to show them.

Pennsylvania. Ridley Creek State Park in Media runs free K to 5 Home School Nature Adventures every other Friday this fall: October 2, October 16, October 30, and November 13. No registration needed.

Utah. No new program news this week. Utah is on the IRS list for the federal scholarship credit starting in January, and the next thing on the Utah Fits All calendar is the spring provider fair. (Look for A to Z for Moms Like Me in the Odyssey Marketplace)

Scripps National Spelling Bee. Enrollment for the 2027 Bee is open through January 29. Individual homeschool families with no local group can enroll directly for $135, and homeschool groups pay $199 at the early rate through November 30.

Sources: Wisconsin DPI, Wisconsin Parents Association, California Department of Education, Ohio DEW, Idaho State Tax Commission, Children’s Scholarship Fund NH, Southern Oklahoma Library System, Pennsylvania DCNR, Scripps National Spelling Bee

Upcoming Homeschool Events

Oklahoma Hall of Fame Homeschool Day, “Sooner Survival Science.” Wednesday, September 23, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Oklahoma City. $7 per child ages 5 to 17, $5 per adult, free under 5. Registration closes the Sunday before, September 20. Details.

Indiana State Museum Youth Homeschool Program, “Creepy Chemistry.” Monday, October 5, sessions at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., Indianapolis. Ages 6 to 13, $15 per student. Register at least three days ahead. Details.

Strawbery Banke Museum, “Building the Past” Homeschool Day. Tuesday, October 6, 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Ages 5 and up, $15 per workshop with a 10 percent sibling discount. Workshops are split by age group. Details.

Idaho State Museum Homeschool Day, “History Mystery.” Wednesday, October 21, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Boise. $4 per student, $5 per adult. Preregistration is required and walk-ups are not accommodated. Details.

Homeschool Facts and Tips for This Week

Did you know? NHERI’s 2026 systematic review, published in the Peabody Journal of Education, looked at 45 years of research and found homeschooled students did better than their peers on social and emotional measures in 64 percent of studies and on adult-life outcomes in 54 percent. The review is here.

Myth to bust. “You need a dedicated classroom and an expensive setup.” You do not. A kitchen table, a library card, and a shelf are how most families start, and many of the best homeschools never move past that. Buy the desk later if you find you actually want one.

Cost tip. If your state pays quarterly, plan the big purchases around the deposit dates instead of the sale dates. West Virginia’s next deposit is October 15 and Arkansas’s is late October. Buying a week early on a card you then have to reimburse yourself for is how families end up out of pocket.

Planning tip. September is count-and-report season in several states: Wisconsin counts on the 18th, Ohio’s notice was due August 30, California’s window is October 1 to 15. Put your state’s date in your phone with a two-week reminder now, and you will never scramble for it again.

Field trip tip. October is the cheapest month of the year for museum and zoo homeschool days, and the good ones sell out. The Maryland Science Center’s soldering session is already gone and a Michigan History Museum program is full. If a date above caught your eye, register this week, not next.

Until next week

What we are watching: the Treasury’s scholarship tax credit rules (due by September 30), a possible Senate vote on the homeschool diploma bill, the Wyoming court ruling (mid-October), and Colorado’s October 14 hearing. Ohio’s 2025-26 homeschool count should also land this month. And if you are in Arizona, October 1 is your State Fair registration deadline.

Happy homeschooling, and we will see you next Saturday.

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