Episode 299 | Susan Richman | AP Homeschoolers, Inc | The EdisonOS Podcast

Key Topics Covered

• The newsletter that launched a movement - How Susan and her husband Howard published the Pennsylvania Homeschoolers newsletter for over 25 years, built a statewide community of homeschooling families in the 1980s, and turned that network into the foundation for launching one of America's very first online AP course programs in 1996
• A son's perfect AP score and a bet that changed everything - How Susan promised to write an article encouraging homeschoolers to pursue AP exams only if her own son did well, how his top score and full college scholarship became the proof of concept, and how the unexpected discovery that many other students had not finished their course content that same year revealed the core problem she needed to solve
• Pacing as the hidden enemy of homeschool success - Why self-directed learners who love to go deep on what interests them consistently fail to cover the full breadth of AP content, how a student who spent three months on the Civil War never got past 1865, and why structured pacing with expert teachers became the irreplaceable design principle of the entire program
• The family business that grew across generations - How Susan and Howard's son built the original website as a teenager, how their daughter Maya now teaches AP English Literature and Language, how a grandson who took classes through the program is now the computer scientist maintaining the enrollment system, and why being a family operation has preserved the program's values through nearly three decades of growth
• The parent as general contractor, not encyclopedia - Why Susan's clearest advice for high school homeschoolers is that parents should stop trying to be the sole source of knowledge and start coordinating a network of expert teachers, local college classes, and co-op programs, and why the most successful homeschooling families combine multiple learning environments rather than going it alone
• Who homeschooling is for and who it is not - Susan's candid framework for families on the fence: why at least one parent being present in the home is essential, why mutual enjoyment of learning together matters as much as academic planning, and her honest warning to skeptical newcomers that the greatest risk of trying homeschooling is that they might love it

Conclusion

This conversation is a rare firsthand account of what nearly three decades at the frontier of homeschool education actually looks like. Listen to the full episode for the complete methodology and actionable strategies that could transform how any homeschooling family approaches AP preparation, high school planning, and the deeply personal decision of whether to educate at home.

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