Homeschool Grants
The debate over homeschool grants has been waged for a long time. Should homeschoolers receive government money for homeschooling? Should there be educational grants for homeschool families from private organizations? What about grants for families with children with special needs? What about tax breaks for homeschoolers? Today I am going to share a bit of how I feel about these grants and I will include a list of homeschool grants I find linked to their original website. If you know of one that is not listed please leave me a comment and I will add it to the list.
Homeschool Grants
I have spent a lot of time thinking about the issue of homeschool grants. I would love a little extra money for curriculum shopping or for extra Science manipulatives. It would be nice to have more to put towards educational memberships or classes. It sounds like a really appealing concept. You homeschool after all. You save the government $10,000 a year per kid for keeping your child home. That should count for something right? You are homeschooling a child with special needs. Someone should help you to afford that since you are not using school resources to do this. That would be right…
I am actually not a huge fan of the idea of government tax breaks and homeschool grants. Before you get frustrated, let me explain.
Government Homeschool Grants
Should you take money for homeschooling from the government? My biggest concern with these is that it opens up our homeschool to stricter guidelines. I don’t know why you are homeschooling but for me, it is to offer my children a customized education specific to their needs. With government involvement this may be lost. I would rather work from home when I can, then open them up to education that would not be best for them.
I also have a problem with homeschool grants for homeschoolers because of one of the arguments many people use. People often say they are saving the government money by not putting their child in school. While I understand that, there are those that pay taxes and don’t have children in school because they are grown. Should they receive a tax break or refund because they are paying taxes in while not homeschooling? I don’t believe they should.
Private Sector Grants
While these seem appealing, it isn’t always cut and dry. These private grants sound good but at the end of the day, that money is being taken away from other grants. Will that homeschool grant take funding from a local children’s hospital or organization? Is it worth the grant for other areas with needs to be shortchanged?
Homeschooling with Special Needs
I completely understand why you would want help for homeschooling a child with special needs. There aren’t many resources out there for families who are homeschooling a child with special needs. That being said, I think the responsibility should fall on the schools to open these resources to homeschool families instead of expecting outside funding for the family of the homeschooler. I think that with a partnership with the schools children could have access to certain things that would benefit them better but these resources need to start being available in the elementary years instead of exclusively for older students. That being said, I think this would be on a case by case basis and not as a standard for all homeschool students.
It could open a can of worms…
Homeschooling is an excellent choice for many families. There are those who shouldn’t homeschool. By placing tax breaks and grants on the table for homeschoolers, there is a chance that people who should not homeschool their children will “homeschool” so they can get the funding in order to have extra money. When you make a decision to homeschool you make a decision to do what you need to for your child’s education. At times this will be a financial sacrifice but I don’t think it is someone else’s responsibility to pay for that choice for you.
Homeschool Foundation Homeschool Grants (Faith Based)
Children of Single Parents Fund – This fund helps single-parent families in which the children, through no fault of their own, experience financial hardships that threaten their homeschool.
Emergency Response Fund – This fund helps homeschooling families facing a natural disaster or other extreme financial crisis that has impacted their access to homeschool curriculum.
HSLDA Members Helping Members Fund – The HSLDA Members Helping Members Fund enables families experiencing financial difficulty to join HSLDA by awarding full and partial financial aid.
International Homeschooling Fund – The International Homeschooling Fund promotes homeschooling internationally by providing financial assistance to homeschooling organizations in other nations.
Kids Curriculum Fund – The Kids Curriculum Fund helps provide curriculum to homeschooling families who are struggling financially to meet their children’s needs.
Military Fund – This fund assists low-income military homeschool families who are struggling financially to meet their children’s educational needs.
Special Needs Children’s Fund – This fund helps HSLDA member families provide a higher quality education for their children with special learning needs.
Widows Fund – The Widows Fund enables widows and widowers to continue homeschooling by helping them afford curriculum, HSLDA membership, and emergency needs.
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I absolutely agree! The temptation to have extra funds can be great, but is it worth the trade-off? I really don’t thinks so. If it invites Big Brother or Uncle Sam into my homeschool, I’ll manage on my own, thanks.
I agree with the sentiments about government involvement and the use of government money. However, I believe we should be getting something for the taxes we pay in. I live in FL and pay over 1200 per year in school taxes and my loving wife homeschools all 5 children because the FL school system is so horrible. My kids experienced so much negative influences from other children and the teachers in the first 6 months of living in this state that we had no choice but to homeschool. We love the experience the kids are now getting and we can customize this to their needs much better that the school system did. Also in FL we have to pay for an annual evaluation for each child each year. Again it seems that its all about the money they can get and not our kids education.
Honestly all school systems I have run across are not in good shape, and with the teachers union you can have some seriously bad teachers that don’t care about the kids teaching. Homeschooling is the best method in my opinion. My kids are far past others of their age in education and I feel this shall benefit them later in life. Would I like a tax break for not sending them to a failing system, yes, but would I rather take the hit and still have them have an excellent education then I shall sacrifice my hard earned cash to pay for those children out there that don’t have the luxury of having a focused education and have to endure the 20 plus other students.
As far as the statement on someone who doesn’t have kids doesn’t get their tax money back, I don’t understand the applied analogy. Education of a society’s children has been taken on by society as a whole mainly because society as a whole benefits. The man who never had kids may be saved by a doctor who was educated by tax dollars, etc. I think when one has the opinion that another citizen is receiving tax money for a said purpose whether it is education or access to public roads (not everyone owns a car or even uses public transport, some people simply walk or bike) it makes sense one would also wonder if they can gain like funding for the same said purpose.
Now the choice to receive that funding is and should be very personal. There are individual needs, views, factors that will all lead to individual choices. I would never tell another person that they should or should not take certain funding, it needs to be their personal decision based on personal factors and hopefully a well informed and researched decision.
As far as corruption, people taking money for the wrong reasons and not the intended purpose, that will most likely be present anywhere there is freedom of choice. I am glad no one can control my decisions for my education and the education of my family. I am glad that I do not control anyone else’s. I make every full and conscious effort to be honest in all my doings and I hope everyone does. Monitoring and accountability for corruption lies in the administration of funds and I hope there are checks and balances involved. Still humans can lie. I would never use that as a reason to stop all the good any one program may be doing.
As far as private foundations, they are just that, private. They are run by individuals who are very capable of deciding for themselves where they want their money to go. It is not for anyone else to decide where that money could have gone. They are intelligent people making their own decisions, often with their own money. I would never discourage anyone from applying to anything. Do your research, consider your own factors and do what makes the most sense for you. Trust yourself and others to do the same.
Just like homeschooling itself is a personal decision, both in doing it or not and in how it is done, so is the decision on where to get funding.
Whether is is government, private, donated, or from family earned income, there is a trade off. I wish each person reading this the best of luck in designing and deciding for themselves what that looks like for their family. I am grateful the decision is yours and mine to make for ourselves. Good luck in all your educational endeavors of every kind. May we each fully enjoy!
Well said…Thank you!
I was just wondering if there was some sort of science grant for homeschooling because I was looking at cost for some simple lab/ experiment equipment that are a bit pricey so I simply wanted to know if I could apply for some assistance in purchasing the equipment
There are options in some states. There is also the potential of working within a maker space. Have you ever tried that?
Parents, male or female must be paid as teachers do as each person provides the same function as the other. Parents who decide to educate their kids have made the choice for some reason or another. The same as parents who dont know what a public school is like, finds out that the school does not teach the kids well, or there is bullying or other things going on that hamper a students education process. The government receives billions of dollars in state taxation as well as federal taxation. Neither entity wants to hand out any money to the public regardless of the reason. K12 is another avenue for a group of people to collect grants or funds from either State, Federal or both funds. When a person asks for pay for educating his or her child, are looked down upon as if we did not exist. I have tried to get a Bill started for Parents who home school as a teacher and each child is granted so much (per say) for their education. The legislature refused to even agree to this idea because when grant money or funds are given to a person, the legislature is less likely to receive a huge donation in return. All Parents must get together and get a Bill started to get paid for the education you provide, just like the public, or government operated schools do.
I have to homeschool due to my child having a nervous condition as well as bullying from other parents and unfortunately her teacher.. She’s a little bigger than others and started not eating and when I noticed, she would throw up her food. She came home saying ” my teacher says I have to drink diet coke and lettuce. She then started using on herselfbat least 7 times a day before school and became depressed ( she was 5) . homeschool has been a God send but I can’t afford laptops, iPads, chalkboards, whiteboards, printers, coppiers etc. Where can we get grants forbourbneeds ( including desks and supplies) I’m disabled and previously was a pre k teacher for 10 yrs. I need alot more than I can afford. Where can inreceive help? Plus I can’t get a loan due to security breach in Equifax where someone bought homes and everything so I’m broke with no hope.
This may sound strange but you seem like a pro and I am in desperate need of help. I am going to be homeschooling my 15 yr old due to her anxiety and ptsd. She was also attacked at school and then punished for it . That just added to her ptsd. I just want to do the right thing and I don’t know how. I’m in a race for time because the school is going to have me arrested and call CPS because I won’t force her to go back. Please, if you can, would you listen to the rest of my story and then you can tell me to go away or maybe point me in the right direction? Thank you. I hope to hear from you soon. I’ll be filing the papers to officially remove her from school in the morning. No idea what to do after that. Thanks again, Sharon Przybylski
Really, you don’t think those who home school could use a little help on books or some money to help pay the cost of rent for utilities at a church for a co-op school day? That would eliminate the freeloaders. People seem to forget, that these same families are paying school taxes every year for which they are receiving NOTHING in return. Yes it is a sacrifice, but a little help is never out of place. It could make the difference between minimal and great learning opportunities.
I believe that by receiving those grants and programs we could potentially open ourselves to greater government involvement and having them further dictate teaching. Many homeschool to have a choice about the education of their children.
What about us grandparents raising and home schooling are grandkids with learning issues. also we adopted a little boy, the mother was messed up on drugs, he has issues with not getting out of my site. Karen
This is the first time I have visited your site. I enjoyed it. Well written. Cogent thinking. Compact. I agree with your basic views vis a vis tax money used for homeschoolers. These are different times, however; and I will be homeschooling not because I have any desire to, but because our local schools are opening up soon with remote learning only as a Plan B option. Anyway, thanks for the info.
Hello, I homeschool using education funds in the state of Arizona. Look up Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Account. ESA. It works great for us. I can purchase curriculums, reading books, pay for subscriptions such as Creative Cloud or Science Boxes, Audible etc we can also pay music teachers, dance schools, Martial arts, horsemanship etc.