Homeschool + special needs
Homeschooling a Child With Special Needs on the Arkansas EFA
Updated for the 2026-27 school year · Last reviewed July 27, 2026
Quick answer
Arkansas homeschool families can use the Education Freedom Account (EFA), and the program’s homeschool path explicitly includes tutor payments. But there is an important tradeoff the EFA Family Handbook states plainly: homeschoolers on an EFA do not receive special education services from public schools. Instead, families obtain needed therapies privately — and the handbook says you can hire licensed therapists or specialized educators and pay them with EFA funds, as long as they become approved providers.
Homeschooling is a major part of the EFA program, not a footnote. According to the Arkansas Department of Education’s 2024-25 annual report, 24% of EFA participants that year were homeschoolers — 3,422 accounts. Homeschool families have been eligible since 2024-25, and for a family homeschooling a child with dyslexia, ADHD, autism, or another learning difference, the EFA can fund the specialized help that homeschooling alone doesn’t provide.
This guide walks through the homeschool-specific mechanics — the Notice of Intent, ClassWallet setup, annual testing — and then the part that matters most for special-needs families: what happens to special education services when you homeschool on an EFA, and how to replace them.
Step 1: File your Notice of Intent every year
Arkansas homeschool families file an annual Notice of Intent (NOI) to homeschool with their local school district. That requirement does not go away when you join the EFA — it becomes more important, because ADE verifies the NOI before funding your account.
Practically, that means a late or missing NOI can hold up your child’s EFA deposits. Treat the NOI as the first item on your back-to-school checklist each year, and keep your own copy of the confirmation.
Step 2: Link your account to homeschool in ClassWallet
EFA applications run through the state’s FACTS portal, but the money itself moves through ClassWallet. Homeschool families link their student to the homeschool path inside ClassWallet, which is what unlocks the homeschool spending categories — including tutor payments.
Once linked, the smoothest way to pay a tutor or therapist is Direct Pay: the approved provider sends an invoice, you upload it in ClassWallet, and on approval the payment goes straight from your EFA funds to the provider — nothing out of pocket. Our ClassWallet payments guide walks through the flow step by step.
Step 3: Plan for annual testing
Homeschool EFA students in grades K-10 arrange an annual norm-referenced test covering math and reading, with results reported to ADE. According to SchoolChoiceAR, testing takes place after March 1.
For families of children with significant cognitive disabilities, there is an accommodation built in: those students take an alternate assessment rather than the standard norm-referenced test.
If testing makes you nervous because your child is behind grade level, remember what the test is for: it is a reporting requirement, and it can double as a useful yearly data point for tracking whether your child’s tutoring and therapy plan is actually closing gaps.
The special-needs tradeoff, stated plainly
The EFA Family Handbook is direct about this: homeschoolers on an EFA do not receive special education services from public schools while on an EFA. You will need to obtain any needed therapies privately. The handbook is equally direct about the replacement path: you can hire licensed therapists or specialized educators and pay them with EFA funds, as long as they become approved providers. If your child has an IEP or you are weighing private school instead of homeschool, read our companion guide on the EFA and your child’s IEP before deciding.
What you can fund instead of district services
Two parts of Arkansas law matter here. First, tutoring is a statutory qualifying expense — “instructional or tutoring services” under Ark. Code Ann. § 6-18-2503(11)(B)(ii) — and the handbook’s homeschool path explicitly includes tutor payments among fund uses. Second, there is a separate disability-services category: educational services provided by a licensed or accredited practitioner or participating service provider to a participating student with a disability, under § 6-18-2503(11)(B)(vii). The handbook describes this as covering speech therapy, occupational therapy, behavioral therapy, or other specialized educational services by licensed providers, for a student with special needs.
In plain terms: the specialized reading tutor, the speech therapist, the occupational therapist — the supports a public school would have delivered through an IEP — can be assembled privately and paid from your child’s EFA, provided each provider is approved in the program. Assembling that team means checking each provider’s approval status — our guide to finding and verifying EFA-approved tutors covers the three places to look and how to confirm a listing in ClassWallet.
If reading is the core struggle, start with our pages on dyslexia tutoring and reading struggles. For attention and organization, see ADHD tutoring and executive function coaching. For math, see dyscalculia support or the parent-first page on being behind in math.
How much money are we talking about?
The EFA award is $7,208 for the 2026-27 school year, deposited quarterly, according to SchoolChoiceAR (ADE’s 2026-27 handbook has not yet been published, so confirm the final figure there when it posts). Funds roll over quarter to quarter and year to year up to a $8,500 cap, so a well-planned homeschool year can bank unused funds for a heavier-support season later.
For a homeschooling family, that award typically has to stretch across curriculum, testing, and services — which is exactly why the Direct Pay route matters: it lets you commit funds to tutoring without fronting cash and waiting on reimbursement. See using your EFA for tutoring for the full picture, and renewal and deadlines so you never miss a window.
Frequently asked questions
Can homeschoolers use the Arkansas EFA?
Do I still file a Notice of Intent to homeschool if my child has an EFA?
Will my homeschooled child receive special education services from the school district on an EFA?
What testing is required for homeschooled EFA students?
Can EFA funds pay for a special education tutor for my homeschooled child?
Building your child’s support plan?
Our tutors are certified special education tutors, and we are an ADE-approved EFA provider. If you are homeschooling a child with a learning difference and want help mapping EFA funds to a real support plan, book a free consultation — we’ll talk through your child’s needs before you commit a dollar.