Latest news with #HomeschoolHub
CBS News
03-07-2025
- General
- CBS News
North Texas mom creates a one-stop-shop for fellow homeschooling parents: "It's special"
As the new school year approaches, more and more families in North Texas are turning to home schooling. One woman in Lewisville noticed the need for a one-stop-shop for parents to buy curriculum and get connected with other homeschoolers. The Homeschool Hub, owned by Krissa Tejeda, is tucked on a quiet corner in Lewisville. "It's something I desired to have or wish I had had when I started homeschooling," she said. Stores like these are a rarity for North Texas and a necessity for homeschoolers. There are hundreds of resources at The Homeschool Hub – all subjects, all genres, second-hand or brand new. The store has been open for a year and has already served 3,500 homeschooled families. Tejeda said that in a world where everything is online, one of the biggest challenges parents face is being able to flip through pages before purchasing. "I would spend hours and hours online researching and reading the reviews and sweating over what is the best curriculum for our family," she said. "Then I would spend all the money, it would get shipped to me, and then like a week later we would realize this was not a good fit." Homeschooling is growing fast in Texas, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. The Texas Homeschool Coalition estimates that between 8-10% of students in the state are currently homeschooled. That's between 500,000 and 620,000 students. To put into perspective, that's about the same number of students who were enrolled in charter and accredited private schools in 2023. So the need for stores like The Homeschool Hub is critical. Karie Stevens drove over an hour from Palmer to pick up some materials for her four children whom she homeschools. "The only place I've seen stuff like this is at some of the homeschool conventions that I've been to, but no, I've never seen a local store that has such a wide selection as this," she said. "It's rare to me, I mean I've never heard of one in the Dallas area or where I'm from. It's special." Summer is their busiest time of the year, so they recommend coming as early in the day as possible. Doors open at 10 a.m.
Axios
27-06-2025
- Business
- Axios
North Texas store is hub for homeschool supplies
A store inside a Lewisville church has become a go-to stop for parents homeschooling their children. Why it matters: An estimated 500,000-620,000 children in Texas are homeschooled, and that number could grow due to the state's newly minted voucher law. The law will establish savings accounts giving eligible families up to nearly $11,000 a year per child for private school tuition and $2,000 per child for homeschooling, starting in the 2026-27 school year. The big picture: Texas is among a few states that offer the most choices and flexibility to parents who homeschool. Parents don't have to run their lessons by state officials or administer state-mandated assessments. Context: The education must be provided in a "bona fide" way, offered in a visual form such as workbooks and video and include basic subjects such as reading and math, per the Texas Homeschool Coalition. Students also need to be taught about good citizenship. Yes, but: Homeschooling is often misunderstood, says Krissa Tejada, who opened the Homeschool Hub last year after buying the inventory of a homeschool store that closed. Parents' reasons for homeschooling can vary from demanding work schedules, a desire for faith-based learning and more time for athletics. Flashback: Tejada survived the 1999 Columbine High School shooting and tells Axios her interest in homeschooling in part "started out of fear." Tejada and her husband enrolled their children in a Christian school before deciding to homeschool them, wanting more control over what they learned and their schedule. How it works: Homeschooling arrangements can include co-ops, parent-led lessons, online courses and travel. Swim centers, gymnastics facilities and tutoring centers have also realized they can make extra money by opening daytime slots for homeschoolers. Zoom in: Tejada and her husband work in sales and marketing and like the flexibility that homeschooling offers their family. Tejada admits that it takes a lot of work and can be overwhelming but that it gives her extra time with her three children, ages 15, 12 and 10. The kids have been part of the Homeschool Hub from the beginning, from helping decide the branding to setting up the books. "Everything is a learning opportunity. … They're watching Mom and Dad build a business from the ground up," Tejada says. Zoom out: Customers have traveled long distances — from as far as Tennessee, Tejada tells Axios. Tejada says she wants to help other families avoid the challenges she faced while learning how to homeschool. "It's very overwhelming, especially when you're first starting out, because there are so many options and you want to do a good job," Tejada says. Vibe check: The store has bookshelves arranged by subject area and a curriculum room where parents can read the materials and compare them with other options before buying them.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Analysis Shows Military Families Homeschool at Twice the Average Rate
An analysis by researchers at Johns Hopkins University has revealed that military families are much more likely to homeschool their children than civilians. It also suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic didn't exert as much of an influence on military families' choice to do so. The researchers identified military families as one of the special groups whose motivations to homeschool might help explain why households in the wider population do it. "We knew at least anecdotally that people said [military families] homeschooled at higher rates," said Angela Watson, assistant research professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Education. Read Next: Bill to Provide Full Retirement, Disability Pay to Combat-Injured Veterans Is Reintroduced by Lawmakers Data gathered as part of the Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey, launched in 2020, provided the ability to quantify the difference in homeschooling between military and civilian households, Watson said. The survey asks participants about their children's school attendance, as well as whether the participants are members of the active-duty military or the National Guard or another reserve component. "What we found was that, indeed, the Pulse does show a high -- almost double -- rate of homeschooling among these families," Watson said. Published as part of Johns Hopkins' Homeschool Hub research aggregator, the analysis found that 12% of active-duty military respondents said their family homeschooled during the 2023-2024 school year. Civilians, on the other hand, did so at a rate of 6%. And while the civilian rate had doubled since prior to the pandemic, the military rate stayed relatively flat, Watson said. Blue Star Families' Military Family Lifestyle Survey reported rates of homeschooling between 11% and 13% going back to 2018. Conventional wisdom suggests that military families might choose to homeschool for the sake of stability amid numerous permanent change-of-station, or PCS, moves or, following a deployment, to "prioritize that time together" over sending a child to school, Watson said. However, she pointed out that those reasons may not fully explain the higher prevalence since National Guard and reserve members also homeschool at a much higher rate than civilians: 11% in 2023-2024, only a percentage point behind the active duty. Natalie Mack, founder of the Military Homeschoolers Association, said stability and time together exemplify what she considers the traditional reasons military families homeschool. She also named what she considers new reasons, including the ability to meet special needs such as neurodivergence and to avoid bullying and the prospect of school violence. Mack said her organization is waiting to see what the Defense Department proposes in response to President Donald Trump's executive order on school choice before weighing in on whether it could benefit homeschoolers. Trump ordered the department to look at ways it could pay for military families "to attend schools of their choice" as soon as next year. Related: Trump Orders DoD to Study School Choice Options for Military Families
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Utah might remove background checks for homeschooling parents
Moms, dads and students gathered at the state Capitol on Tuesday to debate amendments to homeschooling requirements. Currently, Utah parents who want to homeschool their children must undergo a background check. House Bill 209 would remove background checks and relieve school boards of liability in the event that parents misrepresent civil abuse convictions when filing for approval to homeschool. Rep. Nicholeen Peck, R-Tooele, sponsored HB209. She told the House Education Committee that HB209 seeks mainly to amend 'confusing' wording that led some school districts, but not all, to seek background checks on homeschooling parents. 'My faith teaches me that every child is unique, they're made in the image of God, they're worthy of protection. ... The only thing that this bill would change is it would remove references to those (that) homeschool,' said Home School Legal Defense attorney Peter Kamakawiwoole, who joined Peck's presentation. 'It will remain a crime for a parent or any other adult to abuse a child, to exploit a child, to kidnap a child.' Homeschooling mothers and fathers voiced support for Peck's bill at the hearing. 'This bill is about making things simpler and more efficient for both families and school districts,' testified UHOPE Chair and Homeschool Hub Co-Executive Director Britany Sproul. 'We homeschool for so many ... reasons,' said Hannah Kleeberger, a longtime homeschooling parent. 'Our relationships with our kids are so wonderful ... they know and love each other so well. We're also able to tailor the academics and all of their opportunities outside of the house.' 'Parents don't need background checks to parent their children,' she told the Deseret News. '(Homeschooling is) really fun. ... The part I like most is that you get to be with your mom,' said Hannah's youngest son, Sam Kleeberger, who is homeschooled. 'She can help me in the ways that a public-school teacher can't.' All who spoke at the hearing, as well as every committee member, indicated their support for homeschooling. Utah ranks third-best in the nation for quality and seventh-highest for number of homeschooling students per capita, per a 2023 study by Age of Learning. Parent-organized groups like Homeschool Hub connects homeschooling families with co-ops and enrichment programs, while UHOPE Coalition provides guidance for new homeschooling parents and advocates for homeschooling interests in the arena of public policy. For its part, the state offers millions of dollars in scholarships to private school or homeschooling students in the form of the Utah Fits All scholarship, which offers 10,000 scholarships worth $8,000 each. The bill passed unanimously out of committee. It will now go to the Senate for further consideration. 'This is really a wonderful, empowering moment for families. When the parents realize 'OK, this is all me, this is all my responsibility' — as a homeschooler, that can feel heavy,' said Peck. 'But it also feels like, 'but the state thinks I can do it. The school is thinking I can do it... So I can do it.' It's an empowering moment. '
