Start homeschooling

How to start homeschooling, by state.

State start pages for all 50 states. Where a source supports it, each page covers the state's legal framework (notification requirements, attendance, testing), Education Savings Account and scholarship opportunities, and curriculum notes. Confirm current requirements with the state education department.

Texas

The Texas Education Agency states that it does not regulate, index, monitor, approve, register, or accredit home school programs, and that parents do not need to call it to say they intend to home school. The Texas Education Freedom Accounts program, administered by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, lists up to $2,000 per year for homeschooled students.

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California

California Education Code section 33190 requires a private school to file an affidavit with the Superintendent of Public Instruction between the first and 15th day of October each year.

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Florida

Florida home education parents file a notice with the district school superintendent, keep a portfolio of records and materials, and file an annual educational evaluation under section 1002.41, Florida Statutes.

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North Carolina

North Carolina law requires a home school to elect to operate under Part 1 or Part 2 of Article 39, to maintain annual attendance and disease immunization records, and to administer a nationally standardized test or equivalent measurement on an annual basis (G.S. 115C-548, 115C-549, and 115C-564).

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Georgia

Georgia requires a home study program to submit a declaration of intent to the Department of Education within 30 days of establishment and by September 1 each year, and to administer a nationally standardized test at least every three years beginning at the end of the third grade.

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Ohio

Ohio Revised Code Section 3321.042, enacted by House Bill 33 and effective October 2023, exempts a child receiving home education in the listed subject areas from Section 3321.04 on notice to the district superintendent.

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New York

Where to begin homeschooling in New York, with curriculum guides by grade and by use case.

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Tennessee

Tennessee Code Annotated section 49-6-3050 governs home schools, including home schools operated through a church-related school as defined by section 49-50-801.

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Virginia

Virginia allows home instruction under section 22.1-254.1 of the Code of Virginia, which requires an annual notice of intent and annual evidence of academic progress. The Code also preserves the excuse from school attendance by reason of bona fide religious training or belief.

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South Carolina

South Carolina law lets parents teach children at home under three options: approval by the district board of trustees (S.C. Code Section 59-65-40), the South Carolina Association of Independent Home Schools (Section 59-65-45), or an association for home schools with no fewer than fifty members (Section 59-65-47).

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Alabama

Alabama law lets a child between the ages of six and 17 satisfy compulsory attendance by attending a public school, private school, or church school, or by being instructed by a competent private tutor. The Alabama Department of Revenue manages the CHOOSE Act, which makes education savings accounts available to eligible families.

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Alaska

Where to begin homeschooling in Alaska, with curriculum guides by grade and by use case.

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Arizona

Where to begin homeschooling in Arizona, with curriculum guides by grade and by use case.

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Arkansas

Arkansas requires a written notice of intent to the superintendent of the local school district at the beginning of each school year, no later than August 15.

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Colorado

Colorado law, at section 22-33-104.5 of the Colorado Revised Statutes, lets a parent establish a nonpublic home-based educational program by giving written notice to a school district, with a standardized test or evaluation of the child's progress at grades three, five, seven, nine, and eleven.

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Connecticut

Connecticut General Statutes Section 10-184 requires a parent to ensure a child is instructed in reading, writing, spelling, English grammar, geography, arithmetic, United States history, and citizenship, or to show that the child is elsewhere receiving equivalent instruction in the studies taught in the public schools.

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Delaware

Delaware law recognizes three types of homeschool: multi-family, single-family, and single-family coordinated with the local school district. A homeschool is considered a nonpublic school.

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Hawaii

Hawaii Administrative Rules require a parent to give the local public school principal a notice of intent to home educate the child before beginning, on Form 4140 or in a letter, and to submit an annual report of the child's progress to the principal.

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Idaho

Where to begin homeschooling in Idaho, with curriculum guides by grade and by use case.

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Illinois

Where to begin homeschooling in Illinois, with curriculum guides by grade and by use case.

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Indiana

Indiana law requires a student to attend a public school or another school taught in the English language, and makes it unlawful for a parent to keep a child out of public school for the full term unless the child is provided instruction equivalent to that given in public schools (IC 20-33-2-4 and IC 20-33-2-28).

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Iowa

Iowa Code chapter 299A provides for competent private instruction, by a licensed practitioner or by a parent, guardian, or legal custodian, and for independent private instruction, with dual enrollment available to a child receiving competent private instruction. The Students First Education Savings Account program makes funding available for eligible students to attend accredited nonpublic schools.

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Kansas

Kansas treats a home program that satisfies the compulsory attendance law as a private, nonaccredited school under K.S.A. 72-3120 and 72-4345.

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Kentucky

Kentucky treats a homeschool as a nonpublic school. The Kentucky Department of Education states that parents must notify the local school district of their intent to homeschool each year and must keep attendance records and scholarship reports.

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Louisiana

Louisiana law treats a child in a home study program approved by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education as attending a day school solely for purposes of compulsory attendance in a nonpublic school, and requires a parent to apply to the Board within fifteen days after the program begins and to file a renewal application by the first of October of the school year or within twelve months of approval of the initial application, whichever is later (R.S. 17:236 and 17:236.1).

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Maine

Maine requires written notice of intent to the school officials of the administrative unit and to the commissioner, followed each year by an annual assessment of the student's academic progress.

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Maryland

Maryland regulations allow home instruction either with a portfolio reviewed by the local superintendent or under the supervision of a church-operated school or a nonpublic school with a certificate of approval.

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Massachusetts

Where to begin homeschooling in Massachusetts, with curriculum guides by grade and by use case.

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Michigan

Michigan Compiled Laws 380.1561(3)(f) exempts from public school attendance a child educated at home by a parent or legal guardian in an organized educational program in the subject areas of reading, spelling, mathematics, science, history, civics, literature, writing, and English grammar.

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Minnesota

Minnesota requires annual notification to the local school district plus annual standardized testing.

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Mississippi

Mississippi law requires a parent of a child who has attained or will attain age six on or before September 1, and has not attained age seventeen on or before that date, to enroll the child in a public or legitimate nonpublic school or to educate the child in a legitimate home instruction program, and to return a certificate of enrollment to the school attendance officer on or before August 15 each year (Miss. Code Ann. 37-13-91(2)(f) and 37-13-91(3)).

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Missouri

Missouri law makes a parent, guardian, or other person with custody of a child responsible for enrolling the child in a program of academic instruction in a public, private, parochial, parish, home, or FPE school (Section 167.031, RSMo).

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Montana

Montana requires a home school to notify the county superintendent of schools in each school fiscal year of the student's attendance (MCA 20-5-109).

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Nebraska

Nebraska allows a private, denominational, or parochial school to elect not to meet state accreditation or approval requirements by filing a statement signed by a parent, legal guardian, or educational decisionmaker with the Commissioner of Education.

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Nevada

Nevada requires a parent who wishes to homeschool a child to file a written notice of intent with the superintendent of schools of the district of residence, and the notice includes an educational plan for the child (NRS 388D.020 and 388D.050).

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New Hampshire

New Hampshire law, as amended effective July 1, 2026, does not require a declaration of home education except to obtain access to public school programs or upon withdrawal from a public school.

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New Jersey

New Jersey law, at N.J.S.A. 18A:38-25, requires a child between six and 16 to attend public school, attend a day school with instruction equivalent to the public schools, or receive equivalent instruction elsewhere than at school.

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New Mexico

New Mexico requires a home school registration with the Public Education Department within thirty days of establishing the home school and by August 1 each year, and instruction by a person with at least a high school diploma or its equivalent.

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North Dakota

North Dakota requires a parent to file a statement of intent with the superintendent of the school district of residence at least five days before beginning home education and once each year thereafter. A child receiving home education takes a standardized achievement test in grades four, six, eight, and ten.

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Oklahoma

Where to begin homeschooling in Oklahoma, with curriculum guides by grade and by use case.

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Oregon

Oregon requires the parent, legal guardian or private teacher to notify the education service district in writing when a child is taught at home, and the child is examined at grades 3, 5, 8 and 10.

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Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania law requires a home education program supervisor to file a notarized affidavit with the school district superintendent before the program begins and each August 1, to provide 180 days or 900 hours (elementary) or 990 hours (secondary) of instruction, to keep a portfolio, and to provide an evaluator's certification by June 30 each year (Public School Code Section 1327.1).

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Rhode Island

Rhode Island General Laws Section 16-19-2 provides that at-home instruction shall be approved only when it complies with the statute's requirements.

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South Dakota

South Dakota law provides for alternative instruction in the basic skills of language arts and mathematics after a parent, guardian, or other person having control of a child files a notification with the Department of Education or the local district; the person providing the instruction is not required to be certified (SDCL 13-27-3).

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Utah

Utah law requires the parent of a school-age child to enroll the child in a public or regularly established private school unless exempt, and a parent who withdraws a child to home school, or chooses not to enroll, gives the local school board a one-time initial notification (Utah Code 53G-6-202(2) and 53G-6-204(3)).

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Vermont

Vermont law requires a parent or legal guardian to send the Secretary of Education a notice of intent at least 10 business days before home study begins, attesting to an annual assessment of each child's progress and the equivalent of at least 175 days of instruction in the minimum course of study, and to give notice each year of the intention to continue (16 V.S.A. 166b(a) and 166b(k)).

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Washington

Washington requires a parent to file an annual declaration of intent to provide home-based instruction and to ensure that an approved standardized achievement test is administered annually or that an annual assessment of academic progress is written by a certificated person (RCW 28A.200.010).

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West Virginia

West Virginia law provides two routes for home instruction: instruction in the home or another place approved by the county board, or a notice of intent filed with the county superintendent. The Hope Scholarship, the state's education savings account program, is open to existing traditional homeschool students who were not previously eligible beginning with the 2026-27 school year.

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Wisconsin

Where to begin homeschooling in Wisconsin, with curriculum guides by grade and by use case.

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Wyoming

Wyoming law requires a home-based educational program to meet the requirements of a basic academic educational program, a sequentially progressive curriculum of fundamental instruction in reading, writing, mathematics, civics, history, literature and science (W.S. 21-4-102(b), 21-4-101(a)(vi)). The Steamboat Legacy Scholarship Act, W.S. 21-2-901 and following, creates education savings accounts subject to legislative funding.

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