12 Cool Startups Catering to the Homeschool Crowd

Entrepreneurship in the education sector is probably almost as old as the education sector itself. Yet the homeschooling community’s unique set of needs often leaves it outside many benefits provided by business owners. Sad, too, considering how movements beyond the mainstream so frequently prove rather lucrative. But the following startups and small businesses prove it’s possible to tap into the oft-overlooked market and find something rewarding waiting on the other side.

1. Math•U•See

   Steve Demme, a homeschooling father, launched this initiative when tasked with teaching groups of his contemporaries’ children using homemade worksheets. From there, he set up a small company dealing in videos and workbooks meant for homeschooling, co-op, and special education parents looking for quick lessons — or at least lesson supplements. Math•U•See is ideal for families with more than one young child to educate, and they can take advantage of its online resources like customized worksheets, drills, sample videos, calculators, forums, and more.
   

2. ScholarSquare.com

   Although it doesn’t exclusively target homeschooling moms and dads, this oft-overlooked website certainly offers them plenty of videos expounding on a plethora of different subjects. Each one comes pre-screened, and instructors and parents pay a small fee to use them for the time allotted by the uploader. Some, however, are available for free and actually specifically address issues faced by parents who elect to homeschool their kids, such as balancing life and work. Because of its right-wing Christian bias, however, this isn’t exactly the place to go for science advice, though its reading, writing, and art lessons are pretty solid.
   

3. Hschooler.net

   Both parents and students use Hschooler.net as a social network for Christians who opt out of the public and private school system. Founder Russ McGuire is no stranger to startups following this theme, with Christian Homeschool Network, which runs Hschooler.net, standing as his third such business. Participants use the site to trade advice and lesson plans, though the site provides them with quite a few of their own as well.
   

4. Keepers of the Faith

   Most homeschool-oriented startups seem to focus almost exclusively on the lucrative Christian market, which happens to also form the crux of Keepers of the Faith’s customer base. For more than three decades, it has encouraged consumers to set up clubs and purchase its extensive selection of books, craft materials, and other educational items. In addition, homeschooling parents can use the forums to trade advice on viable strategies for getting the most out of both the organizations and the items for sale.
   

5. Eclectic Homeschool Online

   Run by the Eclectic Homeschool Association, this online startup is actually a nonprofit operated almost entirely by volunteers. It acts as an Internet-based magazine covering homeschooling issues big and small, hoping to cover as many (mostly Christian) perspectives as possible. Consider popping in here as a veritable one-stop shop for articles, reviews, advice, directories, class materials, and plenty more.
   

6. The Academic Advantage

   The Academic Advantage aims to provide personalized instruction to students in their own home, making it relevant to the interests of homeschooling and nonhomeschooling moms and dads alike. Because of its high degree of flexibility, however, the services are ideal for small and large instruction in the independent classroom. Currently, Academic Advantage’s services are only available in parts of California, Illinois, Florida, and New York.
   

7. Home School Incorporated

   Former Motorola employee Thomas Morrow established this company to make it easy for homeschooling parents to keep track of digital files. Rather than risking losing their kids’ work, they upload backups to the Home School Incorporated site. Which, by the way, also happens to host a book store, forum, and a “web-based homeschool planning system” meant to help novices and seasoned veterans alike navigate the often difficult task of setting up an effective, efficient home classroom.
   
   
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