WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9
Happy Wednesday, Eddies!
It’s hard to believe we’re already over the hump (granted, it’s more of a molehill given the Labor Day head start, but a W is a W).
A quick favor before we dive in: show us back-to-school in your household. Reply with a pic or two, upload them here, tag us on Instagram (@openedhq), or drop them in this Facebook thread. Ten random families will win a $25 swag store gift card.
76 families have shared so far - check out the gallery and send yours in!
Forget porch photos with matching chalkboards (unless that’s your style, in which case - awesome).
Get creative, or just send a picture of something fun.
We know the beginning of the year can also bring some testing-related anxiety, especially for new OpenEd families. So today, we’re dropping two new pieces to help.
First, our latest podcast features a former principal who ran kindergarten screeners for nine years before leaving to homeschool her five-year-old. Read on for her unconventional take on testing.
Second, we just published a guide to state assessments, based on real questions families ask. Have a question we didn’t answer? Add it to our Facebook post or reply directly to this email.
– Charlie (the OpenEd newsletter guy)
THE OPENED PODCAST
Why a Principal Quit to Homeschool Her Kids
Hosted by Ela Bass · September 9, 2026
Liz Powell (@principal_in_pajamas) spent nearly two decades in public education, nine of them as a principal, before leaving to homeschool her own children.
Every spring on kindergarten “screening day,” she watched incoming five-year-olds walk through the front doors. Within twenty minutes she could tell which kids would struggle inside the system: the lively, curious ones who weren’t built to sit in a plastic chair for six hours.
When her own daughter turned five, Liz faced a decision. She looked at her own kindergarten staff - people she hired, loved, and trusted - and realized she couldn’t enroll her own child.
The biggest difference Liz saw between home education and her district was the nature of authority. At home, a family member who knows the child makes the call on what they need that day. In a district, a principal might spend three months building a budget that reflects the needs of her student body, only to watch an administrator who hasn’t been in the building in five years strike a line through it.
Ela asked her where testing is valuable in a homeschool. Her answer:
“I actually do not think it is helpful in homeschooling at all. The only reason it helps in a classroom is that the teacher has twenty-four other children and cannot possibly know every child’s skills without a uniform assessment. As a homeschool mom you already know, because you are in the weeds every day.”
- Liz Powell, on the OpenEd podcast
In this episode
What gets cut first when a district budget tightens
Why kindergarten starts a year too early for most boys
The diagnostic question Liz tells parents to ask before choosing a school
Why Liz tells families to stop stressing over standardized screeners
Prefer to read? The complete interview transcript and show notes are on the blog: here’s the full story →
LISTEN NEXT
DEEP DIVE
Before You Stress Over State Testing: A Guide for Home Educators
Liz’s comments on testing leave the obvious question hanging: if a screener tells you little you don’t already know, why does your child have to sit through it? Our new guide walks through all of that, and the five questions parents ask most often:
Do we really have to? In most states, yes. These are the check-ins that keep OpenEd tuition-free and open.
What if my child scores low? Nothing – there is no passing or failing score, nobody is grading your parenting, and no child is removed from the program over a score.
What does it actually measure? While it might offer a few useful data points, an assessment measures how many questions on the test your child answered correctly on that particular morning.
Is it one big test? No. Typically there are short screeners at home in fall, winter and spring, and one state test each year in some grades.
What do I do with the report? Look for patterns, but don’t obsess over numbers. Trust what you see every day, and if you have any questions, ask your learning mentor.
We’ll have more assessment-related content in the days and weeks ahead – including one on the question we hear most from kindergarten parents: how can a five-year-old take a screener before he or she can read? Drop your own question on our Facebook post and we’ll do our best to answer it.
That’s all for today!