We have considered moving sometime in the future, and I was wondering; how is your state about homeschool regulations? Is there a particular time you have to complete, or number of days? Do your kids need to take certain tests?
I live in the middle of nowhere aka Illinois which as far as it goes I’ve been told is one of the easiest states for homeschooling because of the serious lack of requirements. I think the only things we “have” to do is agree to teach our kids from a certain age (six I think, now) and to cover certain core subjects.
So how about you? Is your state easy or hard to get along with?
I live in Ohio. What we have to do each year is fill out a letter of intent, which just states the year we want to homeschool and what children we are going to homeschool. Along with that we have to send in a a curriculum page, listing everything we are going to be teaching that year for each kid.
At the end of the year, we have to have a certified teacher come look over our children’s work and sign a paper saying they have done the work agreed upon. Then all those forms are sent to our local superintendant and he will send a letter back saying that you can(or cannot, I guess, in some cases) homeschool the following year. In Ohio we are required to have 900 hours of school per year.
We live in California. There are three options to home school and is required from age 6. There is paperwork you are required to keep bit don’t have to send in. It is actually quite easy and hands off as far as the government is concerned but there are requirements.
I live in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia (10 minutes from Maryland, 15 from Virginia). Homeschooling is pretty easy here. Of course, I pulled my daughter from public school, where she had an IEP, and had to fight to continue speech services. Other than that, though, it’s been good.
We live in Utah and our requirements just changed to almost nothing. We submit our letter of intent once and that’s it. No set hours or days and no submitting test scores or curriculum. I haven’t started homeschooling yet but as far as I can tell that’s baisically it.
Texas is easy as well. I had to send my letter of intent to pull the kids out and request records and that’s it. We don’t have to test or keep track of anything.
We live in Tennessee and have 4 or maybe 5 options for how we can be classified as a homeschooler. Depending on the option you choose, the requirements vary. We choose the most basic option-independent homeschoolers. We report to our local school district, fill out intent to homeschool forms, submit health records and my (educator’s) proof of diploma. We have to school for 180 days per year for at least 4 hrs per day, and if we stay with this classification, our children will be required to take standardized tests in 5th, 7th, and 9th grades. We have no required subjects though. I think things in our state are a little tricky with all of the various options (but like I said, for now, we choose the easiest).
I live in MIchigan and I have looked up regulations about homeschooling many times to see what all the pages say and finally came upon the state page which says that Michigan is very laxed in homeschooling as well. You don’t even have to report to the schools here that you are homeschooling. You have to teach Science, English, Math and Social Studies, grammar, and spelling. other than that. There are I believe 180 days that need to be taught. It is best to tell the school district that you are homeschooling that way you don’t have to deal with truancy, but other than that really laid back rules on homeschooling. Also, here in Michigan your child can play in sports at the school of the district in which you live, but it is ultimately up to the school as to whether or not they let the child play.
I’m in oregon, we have to send a letter of intent when our child is 7 years old, then do testing in grades 3, 5, 8, and 11. But test scores are rarely requested. I think it’s pretty easy.
Mississippi is easy, too. Just fill out a letter of intent for each child. There is a space for listing curriculum, but I was told that all you really needed to do was say “standard __________ grade curriculum.” I’ve always done that and there’s been no problem.
I’m in Georgia, you have to file the Intent to Homeschool by Sept 1 each year. They require the equivalent of 180 for 4.5 hours a day (810 hours per year), but there is no reporting for attendance or grades. We are required to do one of the national standardized test every three years, after the kids have completed 3rd grade, no the results are not turned in. We also have to complete an annual assessment, which again is not required to be turned in. It is pretty easy.
New Mexico is really easy! There’s an online form that we fill out notifying the PED (Public Education Dept) of our intent to homeschool. We don’t have to submit records or do testing. We are supposed to cover certain core subject and have 18- days of school time.
We live in Arkansas currently and I don’t like their laws. They only require a letter of Intent to Homeschooling annually waiving their respocibilities to educate your kids. But the require annual Testing for kids 3rd grade through 9th. And it is worthless…there is NO Benefit at all. They don’t use the results unless the States Public School Test results are too low, then they add he homeschooling test results to pump their numbers up for state reporting. It is a waste of tim and money. And it is cheating on their part, they don’t school our kids but use their good test scores to make the state look better.
However I was raised in Oklahoma and Missouri and there was no testing there then.
Missouri requires you to keep documentaton of your time, and records …only for auditing purposes.
We hope to move to Texas and I will have to check our their laws and requirements soon.
i live in Texas too, i was wondering if you can help a bit. I am about to start homeschooling this year, Do i have to send the letter of intent to pull my son out if he has not been signed in. Thanks
I’m in Ny, we are a “red” state on HSLDA map!! High control by the state. They dictate how many hrs, what subjects per grade to teach, what grades you have to test in, quartly reports, intent to hs letter, plus a list of curriculum or copy of table of contents per book that you will use! There’s more, but it all makes my head spin😜 we moved here from CA and it was so easy there! We filed a single document online stating we were a “private school”…although I think CA may want a little more from hs now?
Wyoming here! It seems to be pretty easy here. We just have to fill out a form every year and send it into the district. You have to list- name, age, and curriculum of children 7 and up. You are required to teach math, science, social studies, lang. arts, and spelling. You are supposed to have 180 days of school and 900 hrs -but you are not required to turn in those numbers at the end of the year. I am planning on keeping an attendance log and a grade book for each child - just in case it ever changes so I am prepared and have my “transcripts” ready to go.
I consider Florida easy. They require a letter of intent at the beginning of the year and a portfolio signed off on by a certified teacher. I want to say they require 180 days but we never had to submit proof of that do I’m not sure if that is law. Children are allowed to participate in PS sports which is nice for those who want to do that.
In NC, we have to submit a letter of intent once to ‘open’ our school, and then another when it is closed. We have to keep attendance records, but the actual time the children attend school (180 days over at least nine months) is just a recommendation and not a requirement. We must administer end of grade standardized tests each year from grade 3, but it can be any national test of our choosing. We have to keep files with this info, but they are kept in the homeschool, and only provided to the state upon their request.
