Support Homeschooled Students in Your Community

This page is for people who want to start making a difference and shifting the conversation in their own communities, where all change truly starts. 

Lasting legislative change only happens when people organize. The most effective way to make homeschooling safe is to start with your community. Tell your friends and family why it’s so important that homeschooling has accountability – have them tell their friends, and their friends, and their friends. Bring it up in public: at city council, at school board meetings, at social gatherings. When your community starts talking about an issue enough that momentum starts to build, lobby your legislators and show them that these changes are needed and you will support their decision to protect homeschooled children.

Most importantly, in doing so, you’ll have made a bigger impact than you realize in the lives of homeschooled children you know (and some you don’t) by showing them that their futures matter and there is hope.

There are several options and strategies, choose the ones that seem most doable to you. 

Start the Conversation

Write a letter (or letters) to the editor to your local newspaper or community newsletter about why accountability for homeschooling is important for students. Below are some talking point ideas: 

• • Homeschooling shouldn’t have a body count
  • Homeschooled students deserve the same access to education and opportunities as their traditionally schooled peers
  • Students who are pulled out of school for their own safety deserve support 
  • Students who are pulled out of school because their parents are hiding abuse deserve protection
  • Homeschooling should empower students to do what they want with their life, not limit their future options due to educational neglect or abuse
  •  People convicted of child abuse should not be able to homeschool children
  • Homeschooled children usually have no say in how they are educated. They shouldn’t be punished for their parents’ choices.

For more ideas check out our Homeschooled Children’s bill of rights. 

Not sure where to start on writing a letter or an op-ed? Check out our guide and our Share the Word page for more resources.

If you’re a homeschool alumni or homeschooling parent and would like to add your story to our website or could use some personal experience based writing prompts, visit our Share Your Support for Reform page.

If you’re an alumni, join our network of advocates. Our advocates are alumni who are open to talking to the media about their experiences. When we get a request for someone to talk to with experience in a particular state, we call on advocates from this list. 

Show Up

Show up to school or college board meetings and ask if homeschooled students have equal access to opportunities provided to traditionally schooled students. E.g: College pathways, sports, music, other extracurriculars, resources for learning disabilities, dual enrollment, testing, etc 

• • If not, what is standing in the way of that?

If you have a skill or are a homeschooling parent, offer tutoring or support to your local homeschooling community. 

• • • Use this opportunity to talk to parents about what requirements exist and why it’s important and benefits parents to be accountable for their students’ education. 
    • Ask what resources they wish they had better access to (educational programs, help with record keeping, etc) that could be provided locally.
    • Become an Advocate for Child Safety. This starts by unlearning and rejecting childism and seeing children for who they are, as full autonomous human beings and not extensions of their parents.
    • Advocate for Child Protection policies that will make your homeschooling group safe.

Many local homeschool groups have websites or facebook pages. You can usually find them by searching for “[your location] homeschool group.” For more information about joining a homeschool group and what the terms mean, check out our Joining a Homeschool Group page.

Be a Supportive Adult for homeschooled students in your life. Encourage their interests and capabilities. Believe in them and their potential. If you need ideas, here are 40. 

Push for Legislative Change

Get Coffee/Email/Call your representatives to protect homeschooled children. In order for legislation to pass, elected officials need to know that their constituents want it. The parental rights lobby has harassed legislators into killing the bills in committee or withdrawing them completely whenever legislation to protect homeschooled children has been introduced. Most constituents don’t show up to support legislation like this, assuming that it will get passed because it’s common sense. Loud, active, and engaged support from constituents is vital to passing legal protections for children.

• • Take it a step further and organize your friends and community  to collectively write letters to your State’s educational committee(s) and your representatives, show up at the hearings and advocate for homeschooled kids during public comment.

For more information on how to contact your representatives, check out this page.