After moving from Mississippi to Kansas, and not being required to do much more in terms of homeschooling compliance, I was surprised to learn that some US states make you jump through a lot of hoops. Each state is given the power to regulate as it sees fit, and this means there’s a really wide variance. For example:
Alaska is one of the freest states, requiring only that children start school at the minimum age of 7. Beyond that, no notice is needed from parents; nor must they get approval, submit records or do testing.
Vermont law, on the other hand, is more invasive. Parents must first give official notice, and then provide a written “narrative,” which outlines the course of study for every subject. Then you have to wait on a decision from the commissioner, who may call you in for a hearing (fun!). As if that wasn’t enough, you then have to teach more than 10 required subjects over the course of your child’s educational journey. There are also required tests/assessments every year. Note: A reader informed me that for this required assessment, you can have a certified teacher look at samples of your student’s work and fill out a form, or you can provide a parent-led portfolio containing 2-6 samples of work for each subject.
In Pennsylvania, requirements are very similar to Vermont, but there’s an affidavit you have to sign and have notarized every year. Besides the usual personal information and outline of your lessons, you must provide evidence of immunization and other “required” health and medical services.
Washington state is very choosy when it comes to parent qualifications. You have to (1) be supervised by a certified teacher, or (2) have 45 or more college credits, or (3) complete an approved course in home education, or (4) be deemed qualified by the superintendent (not really sure how that plays out).
Now I realize that if you’re transitioning children from an institutional setting to a homeschool setting, some of these statues might not seem burdensome to you. It may very well be a lot less paperwork and red tape than you are used to dealing with each school year.
But homeschool laws, if any, should still be as “hands off” as possible. Why?
Many Americans believe that states are responsible for educating children. It is more accurate to say that states may provide educational options. Public schooling is the government’s offering; if I choose the homeschool option for my family, then I should not be burdened by unnecessary government rules.
Our rights to educate at home are protected by the 1st and 14th Amendments.
If something in you still cringes at the thought of those 1.8 million unregulated children learning at home, consider this. Ian Slatter, of the Home School Legal Defense Association, says “Homeschool performance doesn’t change between students in the easy states and those in the difficult ones. There’s a lot of regulation and work placed on parents in the difficult states with no benefit.”
To see what’s required in your state, click here.
If you’re curious, though, here’s the HSLDA’s list of the least and most restrictive. It’s based upon things like age and instructor requirements, notice, records and testing.
Some of the least restrictive:
- Alaska
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Michigan
- Missouri
- New Jersey
- Oklahoma
- Texas
Some of the most restrictive:
- Massachusetts
- New York
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- Vermont
My state of Kansas is not on either of these lists, because I suppose it falls somewhere in the middle. We are asked to register our homeschool, but that only takes 2 minutes online. Parents are also required to teach “about” the same number of days as the public school, and plan/schedule their instruction. But there seems to be no real enforcement, as far as I can tell.
In all our years of homeschooling in Kansas, we have never had any contact with the government about our homeschool, with the exception of the registration we initially filed 9 years ago. I do keep records, though, just in case.
Are you familiar with the homeschooling laws in your state? Have regulations ever made it more difficult for your family to homeschool? I keep this post up to date so if you see anything here that needs to be changed for your state, let me know!
I’m about to start homeschooling in Texas. When I was researching the laws here the Texas Homeschool Coalition says, “Welcome to Texas, home of the free.” Makes me proud to be a Texan!
We’re looking into moving to Texas and this comment reinforces my confidence in that decision!
Amen! I went to Baylor. Texas has been a great state. If I could’ve gotten a job there after graduation, I would probably still be there. I miss the “Texas friendly” neighborliness. If we could realistically move to TX, we’d consider it!
Im very curious to see where Wisconsin falls on this list!! I know a lot of homeschooling mamas here!
According to the HSLDA, it falls in the “low regulation” category! https://www.hslda.org/laws/
Interesting. Good to know!
Homeschooling is something I have been considering though I feel my state (NY) is not a very homeschooling friendly state and your list showed that it’s very restrictive.
Great suggestion to using the local library to supplement kids’ education.
Your outline of Vermont is incorrect “Then you have to wait on a decision from the commissioner, who may call you in for a hearing (fun!). As if that wasn’t enough, you then have to teach more than 10 required subjects over the course of your child’s educational journey. There are also required tests/assessments every year.” We are a notification state not an approval state. You are not required to test or have an assessment. You can have a certified teacher look at samples of your work and fill out a small sheet or you can do a parent lead portfolio which contains between 2-6 samples of work per subject. It’s not perfect but not quite as bad as depicted.
Thanks for commenting, Dana! My information about Vermont came from two sources: families who have homeschooled in Vermont and the Vermont Agency of Education. According this link, an assessment or face-to-face meeting is required as of 2018. https://education.vermont.gov/vermont-schools/school-operations/home-study
I will edit my description to include your example of what form this assessment may take. Thanks again! ~Anne Marie
Arizona just requires an affidavit sent in. Written in the law, they require certain subjects to be taught, but there is no logging hours, testing, or keeping track of anything, so I don’t understand why that is included at all if they’re not going to check. I’m not complaining though! I’m happy there’s no government involvement in my homeschooling! Although it’s not required, for wisdom’s sake, I do still keep almost everything and track everything, for my own peace of mind.
Honestly, I think some homeschooling laws are put into place by legislators who are really overreaching. It’s like they feel they have to put SOME kind of regulation in place, even if it’s not enforced! Like you, I also keep basic records and samples of work, just in case. Thanks for stopping by to share your experience, Meghan! ~Anne Marie
As for the mandated subjects in Arizona: actually, there may be a reason for this: suppose a family decides to homeschool some years but then chooses public school the following year. By state law, the kids are tested for grade placement purposes. AZ public schools are known for large class sizes and scant resources. By requiring that core subjects be taught in homeschool, it would hopefully help reduce the likelihood that the formerly-homeschooled students would require intervention / support services – or additional years of instruction – from an already-overburdened school system.
So, it would seem to me that this may be how and why the AZ state legislature came to write the laws as they have – to try to balance parental rights, educational rights and the needs of local schools.
At any rate, I think you’re fortunate to be in Arizona. We live in Virginia and have annual assessments. Because of the current pandemic, I am worried that testing options may be limited, and that that may make it difficult for our family to comply for VA state law. For this reason and others, I would love to move to a freer, minimal regulation / “no testing” state like Arizona.
I’m moving to Tennessee and planning to homeschool my 10 year old. This is all so new to me. Where do I begin? Do you have information on Christian based curriculum? Thank-you
Hi Melanie! There are so many Christian curricula that it would be impossible to list a lot of them here, but some good solid ones that come immediately to mind are Abeka, Sonlight, Alpha Omega and The Good & The Beautiful. – Anne Marie
The Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool curriculum is an awesome tool. It offers a free curriculum/guideline for grades Pre-K all the way through 12th grade. It’s all online, but it also offers printables, or you can order the work books on amazon for a very small price.