Erin Napier pushed back after an online critic questioned why she homeschools Helen and Mae. The Home Town star, 40, said the accusation about fear and violence at school had no basis in her family’s decision.
“You know nothing about why I am homeschooling my children, you sick goblin,” she wrote after the critic suggested the girls were being kept home to avoid violence at school. The response cut through the usual soft-focus celebrity parenting tone and made the dispute plain: this was not a vague lifestyle choice getting polite scrutiny, but a public challenge to a parent’s judgment.
April’s shift on homeschooling
In April, Napier said she had not always understood the appeal of homeschooling. “Some people think homeschooling is weird. I did too when I was young,” she wrote, adding that motherhood and meeting other families changed her view. After Helen was born, she said she and Ben Napier met homeschooled children whose maturity, communication skills, and enthusiasm for learning impressed them.
That change in perspective matters because it shows the decision did not begin as a defensive move. Napier framed it as a choice that grew out of exposure, not ideology, and that leaves less room for the kind of speculation that followed. For readers trying to understand the family’s setup, the sequence is the point: curiosity first, then observation, then a decision to try it with their own daughters.
Home Town schedule and lessons
The family has built a routine around the filming schedule for Home Town. Napier said the production team makes room for at least two hours of lessons on three and sometimes four filming days each week, which turns schooling into a fixed part of the workweek instead of an afterthought squeezed between shoots.
When Napier and Ben cannot teach, a family friend who is a retired educator steps in. Ben teaches history, Bible, and math. Napier handles Mae’s early reading and arithmetic, while Helen works through grammar, spelling, poetry, cursive writing, art, and science. The girls also take French and piano lessons.
Helen and Mae at work
Helen and Mae also leave the house for learning. The girls visit museums, go horseback riding, and sometimes accompany their parents to work. Helen has shadowed a veterinarian while learning about caring for animals, and the girls have picked vegetables from their garden and learned how to preserve food with their grandparents.
The practical takeaway is simple: this is not a loose, unscheduled arrangement built around celebrity convenience. It is a structured school day spread across filming days, family instruction, outside lessons, and supervised experiences. Napier’s sharp reply signals that she is not interested in debating the arrangement with strangers online; the family is already running it the way it wants to run it.
