Home-School Legally

Are you considering homeschooling? If so, you've probably got lots of questions. Before you get too far into the idea, it's a good idea to check out the laws in your own state. Some states are very progressive when it comes to the concept of homeschooling. Idaho, for instance, requires home schooled students to be schooled the same number of hours and in the same subjects as students in public schools, but does not require testing or record keeping. Other states are very regulated and may require filing detailed reports on attendance, curriculum and grades, as well as periodic assessments by someone from the local district or the state. Some states may require monitoring by a certified teacher, if the parent does not posses teaching credentials.

A good place to begin researching the laws in your particular state is with the summaries at http://www.hslda.org/laws. These are summaries and subject to change, so you also might want to check out http://www.hslda.org/legislation/state/default.as
for some information on current legislative activity in your state. Actually, http://hslda.org is a resource to bookmark.

At some point, you'll probably need to contact your state department of education. Here's a list of links to DoE websites: http://www.doe.state.in.us/htmls/states.html.

Does this sound like a lot of work? Depending on where you live, it can be. Is it too much work? Depending on your motivation to home school in the first place, it can be. Homeschooling is not for everyone. However, if you are still thinking about it, you can use this information to move a few steps closer to a decision. Good luck.