Families for Home Education

Still one more Zoom in June. And here is the July and August Free Zoom Schedule. Head over to our Events to register.
https://fhe-mo.org/events

FHE Annual Homeschool Resource Fair 2026
https://fhe-mo.org/
https://www.slcl.org/hours-and-locations/clark-family-branch
Saturday, July 18 from 10:00-2:00
St Louis County Library Clark Family Branch
1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63131-3598

Bring your Families to this FREE event; NO registration required.
Free Giveaway Bag full of great information while supplies last.
70 Organizations from the region that offer programs, resources and/or classes for your homeschool families

Exciting news:
**New Location - Come in Side Doors, Follow the signs
**Plenty of Parking - Additional at the Litzsinger School next door
(10094 Litzsinger Rd, St. Louis, MO 63124)
**Food Truck from 11:00-1:00 Doughboy's Wood Fired Pizza Truck

Schedule of Workshop Presentations:

**Homeschooling 101 in Missouri (10:30 a.m.)
Presented by Families for Home Education
This will be a quick overview of our homeschooling law. Join us as we cover the withdrawal process, our Missouri homeschool law, and what records/hours you need to keep.

**Gateway to Reading (11:00 a.m.)
Presented by St. Louis County Library
Reading success starts at home. Gateway to Reading offers workshops for caregivers and children to learn and practice evidence-based techniques, curated kits with decodable books, decodable readalongs and games.

**Online Library Resources to Boost Learning at Home (11:30 a.m.)
Presented by St. Louis County Library
Discover the library’s online resources that support students of all ages. Access tools that strengthen literacy skills, provide live, free tutoring, offer ready to use lesson plans and materials, and help you find research support for assignments.

**Creative Lab for Homeschool Families (12:00 p.m.)
Presented by St. Louis County Library
Discover how homeschool students can learn, create and explore in St. Louis County Library’s Creative Lab, a hands-on makerspace supporting STEM, art, and entrepreneurship. Students can 3D print prototypes, use a laser cutter and Cricut machines, design with Adobe Creative Cloud, and record podcasts or videos in a professional studio. This presentation will highlight how families can use these real-world tools to enhance learning and bring creative ideas to life.

**Library Resources and Programs for Home Educators (12:30 p.m.)
Presented by St. Louis County Library
Explore some of the library's popular resources that can help support homeschooling families. We'll cover different kits and items you can check out with a library card and programs you can attend.

**Learning Opportunities at the Emerson History & Genealogy Center (1:00 p.m.)
Presented by St. Louis County Library
Discover resources for tracing ancestors and exploring local history, including available databases, the print collection, and more!

**Thinking Outside the Box (1:30 p.m.)
Presented by Families for Home Education
Are you wondering how you are going to get those 1000 hours or struggle trying to figure out where to log an activity? How do you keep records when you unschool? Homeschooling is not like public school, and we often must "think outside the box" to educate our children and get our required hours. Join us for some ideas on what to count and where you can log it into your records.

Congratulations to the 2026 FHE High School Graduates. If you have an upcoming Senior this next year and want to participate in the Region 3 (KC Area) 2027 graduation, please join our FB page so that you can stay up to date on the summer kick off meeting and any plans the graduating class makes. Details will start being posted later this summer.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1501389591367835

Send a message to learn more

It's a wrap. The 2026 Legislative session has now adjourned. While from the outside it may have seemed like an uneventful year with no legislative alerts, it has been VERY busy on the inside with a record number of bills filed this year. FHE has researched 100's of bills and read through 1000's of pages of bill language to ensure that our homeschool freedom is protected. Many thanks to the legislators who worked with us to amend language and listen to our concerns. And many thanks to our current lobbyist for all her hard work and our previous lobbyist for her training. And to those who helped us listen to all the House and Senate Hearings and Chamber sessions. Now for a break before they start again in Dec filing new bills.

Update: Unfortunately, the CT bill was signed into law by their Governor on 5-26-2026. While the CT state homeschool organizations and HSLDA were not able to stop it, it is imperative that homeschoolers in every state remain vigilant and support their homeschool lobbying groups who are on the front lines and often are the ones to communicate with HSLDA for the legal help.
To support FHE in our lobbying efforts here in MO ($20 per year), please join or renew at https://fhe-mo.org/

Connecticut Homeschool Freedom Being Challenged (5-5-2026)

FHE has received a few questions regarding what is happening in the state of Connecticut and if it could come to Missouri. You may have seen news or Facebook feeds regarding the CT bill, HB 5468, that has now passed both Chambers (Senate and House) and is on its way to their Governor as of 5-4-2026. While we are not experts on CT homeschool law or their state legislation, we did want to give you some information.
HB 5468
https://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/cgabillstatus/cgabillstatus.asp?selBillType=Bill&which_year=2026&bill_num=5468

The easy answer is that this is not in MO (YET), but could be during any legislative session. That is why we MUST stay vigilant at all times. Currently, there are 2 more weeks left of our MO 2026 legislative session. While FHE had several concerns at the beginning of the session in January (See our Capitol Report https://fhe-mo.org/capitolreport), those bills have not been moving. We will continue to watch to make sure they do not get amended to another bill, but it’s unlikely that there is enough time for them to move anywhere this year. And we have successfully worked with several of the legislators to amend wording in various bills to clarify who the bill was intended for. We have several friends in the legislature, and we appreciate their help and support. Remember that this is an election year. While FHE cannot and will not tell you who to vote for, please do your own due diligence. Whether at your local, state, or federal level, who we vote into office matters and could affect the outcome of our future homeschool freedoms.

Now for things to know:
1. The wording in the CT bill is at least in part from the “Make Homeschool Safe Act” manifesto. FHE posted information about this a few years ago and will attach that information again to this message. This Act was drafted by the Coalition for Responsible Home Education in 2024 and is a model legislative proposal designed to increase state oversight of homeschooling to prevent educational neglect and child abuse. It proposes mandatory registration, parent qualifications, annual assessments, and restrictions on withdrawing children during investigations. Here is HSLDA’s Analysis.
Coalition: https://crhe.org/make-homeschool-safe-act/
HSLDA: https://hslda.org/post/what-homeschoolers-need-to-know-about-the-make-homeschool-safe-act

2. FHE will ALWAYS be on the side of child safety; however, this is an overreach into a parent’s right to manage the upbringing and education of their children. Most child abuse cases have already been on the Child Protective Services radar before the children were ever removed from the public schools to homeschool. There is nothing in law that prevents them from continuing to follow up and investigate where appropriate for the safety of the children. That does not require a crackdown of ALL homeschool families.
3. Articles from HSLDA regarding the bill:
Is Connecticut’s Homeschooling Bill “Repugnant” to American Tradition?
https://hslda.org/post/is-connecticut-s-homeschooling-bill--repugnant--to-american-tradition

Connecticut House Bill 5468 (note that at the time of our post, the HSLDA website has not been updated with the passage in the Senate on May 4.)
https://hslda.org/post/hb-5468

4. Main bullet points of the bill (from HSLDA’s website):

-Require all parents to file an annual notice of intent for students ages 5-18 stating whether their child will attend a public school, a nonpublic school, or receive “parent-managed learning.”
-Remove the portfolio and assessment requirements from the previous version of the bill.
-Require parents to appear in person to withdraw a child from public school and pass a child abuse and neglect registry check through the Department of Children and Family (DCF). The child cannot be withdrawn until this registry check is completed. If a parent appears on the registry for any reason, the family cannot homeschool. The registry includes not just confirmed abuse, but a wide range of “neglect” findings, some of which are minor, disputed, or entirely unrelated to a parent’s ability to educate their child.
-Prevents a family from homeschooling that shares a household with someone who has an open DCF case—even if the case has not been substantiated.

We/FHE hope this gives you some clarity around the current situation and how it affects our homeschool law in MO. For specifics around the CT bill and their homeschool law, please refer those questions to HSLDA. We are NOT the experts on their state’s law, do not want to presume to know it’s details, or give out inaccurate information.

For those near the Stover/Morgan County area, come join FHE at the annual Survive and Thrive Homeschool and Homestead Event on May 2 from 9-6. Get all your homeschool questions answered while also visiting with lots of local homesteading vendors. There will also be a short workshop on homeschooling at 9:50 am.
Note: FHE will only be there until around 2pm since we have a long drive back home.

Welpman Springs Brewing Taproom
517 Hatchery Road, Stover, MO

Homeschool 101 Workshop 9:50 am.

Join FHE and Suzanna & Dale Brown, our Region 7 Directors, at the upcoming Teaching Them Diligently Conference. Stop by our Booth and ask your questions. Also a great time to join or renew your membership with FHE, our largest and oldest MO homeschool organization and protecting our homeschool freedoms since 1983.

TTD website for tickets, workshops, and all details about the conference.

Branson 2026 - Teach Them Diligently Branson, MO Branson Convention Center | May 14th - 16th, 2026 Register Now! For the past 14 years, Teach Them Diligently has worked to focus families on

https://greathomeschoolconventions.com/locations/missouri

https://fhe-mo.org/events

Check back on the website towards the end of June for more free summer Zoom dates for:
New Homeschool
High School
Thinking Outside the Box
SPED 101

https://fhe-mo.org/fhehomeschooldayatthecapitol