Homeschooling has experienced unprecedented growth, with approximately 3.1 million homeschool students in grades K-12 across the United States in 2021-2022, up from 2.5 million in spring 2019¹. As more families choose to customize their children’s education, a new funding opportunity is emerging that can help support specialized learning tools: Education Savings Accounts (ESAs).
The Growing Homeschool Movement
The homeschool population had been growing at an estimated 2% to 8% per year over the past several years, but experienced dramatic growth from 2019-2020 to 2020-2021¹. Parents choose homeschooling for various reasons, including the desire to customize or individualize the curriculum and learning environment for each child, accomplish more academically than in traditional schools, and use pedagogical approaches different from those typical in institutional schools¹.
The results speak for themselves: home-educated students typically score 15 to 25 percentile points above public-school students on standardized academic achievement tests¹. Perhaps most importantly, homeschool students score above average on achievement tests regardless of their parents’ level of formal education or their family’s household income¹.
Meeting the Needs of Homeschooled Students with Learning Differences
Within the homeschool population, approximately 9.8% to 13.7% of students have special needs¹, mirroring the conventional school setting. This is particularly significant when considering that 15-20% of the population has a language-based learning disability, with dyslexia being the most common cause of reading, writing, and spelling difficulties³.
For these students, traditional textbooks and reading materials can present significant barriers to accessing grade-level content. This is where Learning Ally’s Audiobook SolutionⓇ becomes invaluable.
A Parent’s Perspective: The Learning Ally Difference
Angela Marie D’Antonio, a Barton dyslexia tutor, academic coach, and homeschool parent of a dyslexic child, shares her experience:
“As a homeschool parent of a dyslexic child, Learning Ally has been the bridge that connected my daughter’s brilliant mind to challenging texts that would have otherwise remained inaccessible. Human narration brings literature to life in a way that technology alone cannot. It’s not just an audiobook service—it’s a tool for independence, confidence, and academic success that has transformed our homeschool journey.”
Angela (left) with her daughter, Sofia
Her daughter, Sophia, a student and dyslexia advocate, adds:
“Before Learning Ally, I felt trapped between my love for learning and the frustration of struggling with text. When I started my college classics courses, I worried I wouldn’t be able to keep up. But hearing those complex texts read by real human voices changed everything. Suddenly, I could focus on understanding the ideas instead of fighting with every word. Learning Ally didn’t just help me read—it let me discover who I am as a scholar and showed me that dyslexia limits how I read, not what I can achieve.”
How ESAs Can Help Fund Audiobooks
Education Savings Accounts (ESAs)—also known as Education Freedom Accounts, Education Scholarship Accounts, and Empowerment Scholarship Accounts—are transforming how families can fund personalized education². These accounts provide valuable tools that can greatly impact your child’s educational journey, whether you’re planning for K–12 education or looking to enrich your homeschooled child’s learning experience².
Learning Ally is proud to be an approved ESA vendor in the following states:
- Arizona ClassWallet Direct Pay
- Idaho Odyssey
- Mississippi Reimbursement
- Montana Reimbursement
- New Hampshire ClassWallet Direct Pay
- Utah ClassWallet Direct Pay
- West Virginia ClassWallet Direct Pay
- Wyoming ClassWallet Direct Pay
Why Learning Ally Works for Homeschoolers
Learning Ally’s Audiobook Solution offers several key advantages for homeschooled students:
Human Narration: Unlike robotic text-to-speech, Learning Ally’s human narrators convey meaning, emotion, and proper pronunciation of difficult terms, making complex literature and textbooks more accessible.
Highlighting Feature: Text highlights as it’s read, helping students connect written and spoken words—a crucial skill for students with dyslexia.
Customizable Experience: Students can adjust reading speed without distorting the narrator’s voice and use bookmarking and note-taking features that support active learning.
Comprehensive Library: The extensive library covers textbooks, literature, and popular titles across all grade levels.
Building Confidence: Perhaps most importantly, Learning Ally allows students to access grade-level content independently, building the confidence that comes with being able to engage with the same materials as their peers.
→ Sample a Learning Ally Audiobook.
Professional Recommendations
As D’Antonio notes from her professional perspective: “While structured literacy programs build foundational skills, Learning Ally provides access to grade-level content. Students can listen to a book several times to build comprehension while working on decoding skills separately. It prevents the common pattern where reading difficulties lead to knowledge gaps in other subjects.”
Research supports this approach, showing that homeschooled students with special needs who receive more individualized instruction have academic engagement time rates 2.6 times greater than their public school counterparts¹.
Getting Started
Learning Ally’s audiobook solution is an investment that removes the barriers that text presents, allowing students with dyslexia and other reading challenges to shine in their areas of strength while continuing to develop their reading skills at their own pace. For homeschool families in approved ESA states, this valuable resource can now be funded through an education savings account.
Learn more about how Learning Ally can support your homeschool journey.
Sources:
- National Home Education Research Institute. “Research Facts on Homeschooling.” https://nheri.org/research-facts-on-homeschooling
- My School Choice. “Education Savings Accounts.” https://myschoolchoice.com/opportunities/education-savings-accounts
- International Dyslexia Association. “Frequently Asked Questions.” https://dyslexiaida.org/frequently-asked-questions-2/
Additional research cited from National Home Education Research Institute study on homeschooling children with special needs and Pew Research Center data on homeschooling trends.