Parents may homeschool their adopted children, but if you are a foster parent, the option of homeschooling may be determined by your caseworker or a juvenile court judge.

It depends. Special education refers to instruction or assistance in traditional academic areas such as math and language arts. Related services, on the other hand, are aids to a child—like speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy. These services indirectly improve a child’s ability to learn but are separate from traditional academic curricula. Under federal regulations, homeschooled students are entitled to seek related services in states where homeschools are considered to be private schools.

Because HSLDA’s emphasis is on guarding the freedom of homeschoolers from public school oversight, we generally do not help homeschooled students obtain access to special education in public schools. HSLDA may, however, assist member families seeking related services if they live in a state where homeschools are considered private schools. You can learn about your state’s provisions here.

It depends! Homeschooling is personalized to each child and each family, so homeschool budgets can vary.

If you have the time and flexibility to borrow curriculum, use the library, shop for used books, find reusable, multilevel, or free curriculum, and exchange services for extracurriculars like music and art, you might pare your costs down to $50–100 per student.

Adding in extra resources like co-ops, online courses, enrichment classes, or sports could bring your budget up to $300–500 per student.

And if you opt for tutors, video courses, or all-inclusive curriculum packages, your cost could be $500 or more. (Still, that’s a lot less than private school!)

You can check out more creative ways to stretch your dollars here.

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  No notice, low regulation: States that require no notification from parents to their local school district or any other governmental agency.
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  States with low regulation: States that require parents to send a notification to their local school district.
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  States with moderate regulation: States that require parents to send a notification, test scores, and/or professional evaluation of student progress to their local school district.
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  States with high regulation: States that require parents to send notification or achievement test scores and/or professional evaluation, plus other requirements (i.e., curriculum approval by the state, teacher qualification of parents, or home visits by officials).