SPED Homeschool
Empowering Families to Home Educate Diverse Learners
Mission
The purpose of SPED Homeschool is to provide a community service by: improving availability and accessibility of special education homeschooling resources to the public from the point of view of experienced special education homeschooling parents; share relevant information and resources; educate and encourage newcomers to connect with their local, state and national resources; provide online social groups; facilitate both remote and local training opportunities; connect families with helpful resources; and further the advancement of special needs homeschool education and support.
Notes from the nonprofit
Hear from one of our families: "I started homeschooling because my son was slipping through the cracks at school. I thought I could do a better job, it’s very difficult some days and some days I don’t know if I am doing any better, but I know that my son is happier. I have attended some co-op meetings and looked into joining a few but at those meetings all I kept hearing was how smart the kids were in that particular program and how advanced they were in academics. I knew immediately that we wouldn’t fit in. Homeschooling is definitely a calling and it feels like your family is on this journey alone. I remember how thankful I was to find the Sped group, this was my community. I was recently venting to a friend about homeschool and how difficult it can be and I was told that I needed to “find my tribe.” What tribe? There is no tribe for special needs children and we don’t fit into the “homeschool” tribe. My tribe is this community."
Ruling year
2017
CEO
Margaret (nickname - Peggy) Mary Ployhar
Main address
PO Box 996
Kemah, TX 77565 USA
EIN
82-2198504
NTEE code
Alliance/Advocacy Organizations (B01)
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
2020 brought an unprecedented number of students and their families into the homeschooling community and many of these families were ones whose students struggled with the online classes and receive reduced special education services. Amidst the chaotic struggle we help thousands of families each year find hope in refocusing their efforts from public school advocacy to home education instruction. But, since many of these families had not planned to make homeschooling their initial educational choice, many don't know where to start, who to turn to for support, or what resources are worth investigating for teaching their child, and that's where SPED Homeschool comes in. Our goal in 2023 is to refine our programs to educate parents and caregivers homeschooling students with diverse learning needs, grow our team to meet the needs of our growing outreach, and grow our family camp by doubling the number of families we serve in MN and then develop resources to duplicate this camp model.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
SPED Homeschool Website Resources
SPED Homeschool provides special education homeschooling families a community where they can come to find trusted resources, support, and encouragement during their homeschooling journey because we are parents who have walked in their shoes and have children who have overcome their obstacles as we taught them in our own home schools. Currently our website hosts the #1 special needs homeschooling blog and our website draws almost 1k new visitors every week and providing these families with the resources they need t confidently educate their struggling learners at home.
Using our 150+ years of cumulative special education homeschooling experience, we at SPED Homeschool offer our community links on our website to weekly broadcasts, informative articles, an online support group, vetted organizations, and training opportunities...all completely free.
Conversations Weekly Live Broadcast
Every Tuesday afternoon, Peggy Ployhar, Founder & CEO of SPED Homeschool hosts a guest on our weekly broadcast called Empowering Homeschool Conversations. These video interviews teach parents how to customize teaching methods and strategies for meeting the learning needs of children they homeschool with diverse learning needs.
Camp for Homeschool Families Affected by Disability
A week long family camp for homeschool families affected by disability where each member of these families are provided practical tools in a supportive community while receiving respite and a renewed hope.
Our 2023 camp will be held in the peaceful surroundings of Ironwood Springs Christian Ranch inspires guests to relax, recharge and reconnect with scenic views nestled along the banks of the Root River and is conveniently located just 15 minutes from Rochester, MN, the same site we hosted this camp last year.
Our plans are to grow additional camps in IL and TX in 2024 and continue to grow into other states in the future.
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of new organizations signing on as collaborators
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Parents, People with learning disabilities
Related Program
SPED Homeschool Website Resources
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Partner organizations are listed on the various SPED Homeschool website pages by category: Homeschool Partners, Curriculum Partners, Therapy Partners, Special Needs Partners, and Consulting Partners.
Number of individuals attending community events or trainings
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Parents, People with learning disabilities, Children and youth, Caregivers, People with intellectual disabilities
Related Program
Conversations Weekly Live Broadcast
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This is the total number of video views, both live and recorded for the training videos we did live on Facebook and added to both Facebook and our YouTube channel
Number of unique website visitors
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Caregivers, Families, People with learning disabilities
Related Program
SPED Homeschool Website Resources
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Number of unique visitors to the SPED Homeschool website. These numbers are for the old platform. SPED Homeschool switched to a new platform and new interactive website on February 2nd, 2019
Number of funding dollars secured for demonstration projects or pilots
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Caregivers, Families, People with learning disabilities
Related Program
Conversations Weekly Live Broadcast
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Grants or directed funds received for specific projects and programs
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
SPED Homeschool provides specialized education homeschooling families a community where they can come to find trusted resources, support, and encouragement during their homeschooling journey because we are parents who have walked in their shoes and have children who have overcome their obstacles as we taught them in our own home schools. Our collaborative work with other organizations helps to streamline the efforts of these families to find the right resources to use to teach their child effectively.
Using our 150+ years of cumulative specialized education homeschooling experience, we at SPED Homeschool offer our community weekly broadcasts, informative articles, an online support group, vetted organizations, and training opportunities...a public service we provide completely free to special education homeschooling families.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our strategic growth plan is being revisited in the early part of 2023. We are currently surveying our community to determine the best ways new programs can help meet their needs best.
Our first goal though would be to secure funding that would allow us to fully fund our current staff as well as the two positions needed to run our current outreach.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
SPED Homeschool's volunteer base is comprised of 5 board members and our CEO plus 10 paid part-time team members.
Between our board and our team, we have 150+ years of cumulative experience in homeschooling our own children with special educational needs. The most of any organization in existence. As we grow our team as well as partnerships with other homeschool, curriculum, therapy, consulting, blogging and special needs organizations we continue to broaden this expertise and further help parents develop successful strategies for homeschooling their unique learners.
We currently reach over 1k new viewers on our website every week, our weekly broadcast reaches 2k viewers/listeners.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We have built our organization from the ground up to now have a very streamlined website with quick reference resources for families, a weekly broadcast/podcast with searchable content, online support groups, and partnerships with online and local businesses our families can tap into quickly to help their students.
In 2022:
- we held our first live event, a family camp for homeschool families affected by disabilities
- we partnered with Salem Media to host and distribute our podcast Empowering Homeschool Conversations
- we were chosen as a top emerging nonprofit in the Houston, TX area by The Get Together
Moving into 2023:
-we are doing our first official strategic planning process
- we are building the structural framework for hosting our own camp this year so we can easily duplicate this program in partnership with other state homeschooling organizations starting in 2024
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
SPED Homeschool
Board of directorsas of 01/27/2023
Steve Demme
Building Faith Families & Math-U-See
Term: 2020 - 2023
Jan Bedell
Brain Sprints
Term: 2018 - 2023
Faith Berens
Home School Legal Defense Association
Sonya Shafer
Simply Charlotte Mason
Shari McMinn
Christian Home Educators of Colorado
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
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