I know that a lot of you out there are already planning ahead for next year.
If you aren’t registered with an umbrella/independent school for homeschooling, you are required to submit a letter of intent to homeschool to your local school district if you plan to homeschool your children. As I’ve received several questions on this matter, I created a sample Notice of Intent to Homeschool form that you can download and use for your own family.
–> Download the Notice of Intent to Homeschool Form <–
(This form is in MS Word format and is editable so you can insert your family’s information)
What are the notification requirements?
Requirements will vary by state, however most states require that you submit a notice of intent to homeschool to any school district in your state. The notice must be sent for any student between the ages of 6 and 16, including children who will be 6 by August 1st.
There is typically not a deadline for the notice of intent to be sent in, however it is required that the letter be filed with your school district at least 14 days prior to the start of your homeschool year. This means you do not have to file before the start of the local public school year, but 14 days prior to the start of your own homeschool year.
A notice of intent is also typically required to be re-submitted annually for each year that you plan to homeschool.
What should be included in the notice?
- Child’s Name
- Child’s Age
- Child’s Residence
- Hours of Attendance (For most states this should be 4 hours per day & 172 days per year)
What are the testing requirements?
Testing requirements vary by state as well, but most states require that you test or evaluate your students’ academic progress at grades 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11. Testing should be administered by a certified evaluator using a nationally standardized achievement test. Test scores are then sent to your local public school district OR to an independent school. You can visit my “Homeschool Testing” post for more details on how testing works. As always please refer to the testing requirements outlined by your specific state for complete information.
Where can I get more information?
- The internet! A simple Google search for “your state + homeschool law” will give you most of the answers you need for your state. If you have more questions, you can also call your local public school district offices.
- www.hslda.org (Home School Legal Defense Association) is a nonprofit agency established to help the constitutional rights of parents to direct the education of their children and protect family freedoms. They have a lot of information regarding homeschooling help.
As always, you will need to contact your state for current homeschool laws and requirements, but I hope this post helps you get started!
Disclaimer: I am not an attorney, nor is this post to be construed as legal advice. For homeschooling laws and requirements for your state, please contact your state’s department of education.
I just wanted to thank you for the wonderful form. It made life a little easier! Thanks!
Anyone know what would happen if you never filed a notice to home school? My son is in 6th grade. He does well, but I’ve never filed and don’t know if I should or shouldn’t?!
-home school mom in Ohio
I would contact your local school district and ask them what you should do, each state is different.
I just came across this trying to find out the same thing. Can u tell me if you ever found the answer to your question about what would happen if you didn’t file? Thanks
I believe if you do not file a Notice of Intent to Homeschool with your local district then your kids can be considered truant. Unless you are part of an umbrella school that doesn’t require you turn them in. But you’ll of course want to check with your local school district.
I only filed two letters of intent ever. Now we have moved to Oklahoma and my little will be starting kindergarten and I’m not sure if I want to, the school district here doesn’t even know we exist and I’m not even sure where they are. Not sure what we are doing but it’s been almost 10 years since I’ve filed a letter of intention and back then it was a one and done deal, so the annually deal seems really weird. Hmmm
Hi Serenity, you may want to check with http://www.hslda.org and your local school district to make sure you are following state requirements for homeschooling 🙂
I found this so helpful and appreciate all the information that was listed on your blog. Thank you!
I live in virginia, Do I have to wait for the NOI to deliver to pull my child from public schools or can I pull him right after sending it?
You’ll want to check with your public school district to see what they require.
Hi, I have a question. I have been homeschooling my son, now 8, for the past 2 years. I pulled him out of Kindergarten and just went for it. We live in Oregon and I never registered him as a homeschooler. Is it too late to comply with the law or will sending a letter just draw attention to myself make trouble for us? I knew about the testing at the end of grade 3 but I did not realize I needed to alert the state so soon after withdrawing him. According to Oregon law, I needed to tell them within 10 days of beginning homeschool or when he was 6 years old.
It really depends on what the laws are there, I would probably send in a letter now otherwise you may start getting truancy notices from the state. You can also check with http://www.hslda.org they’re better at things like this 🙂
Anyone know anything about Homeschooling laws in Florida! I have looked on the website but have not found much :(. thanks
Check http://www.hslda.org they have homeschooling requirements for all US States.
I’m in MA- my daughter is joining a farm school which is technically working as a homeschooling co-op. What do I need to do??
Hi, check with http://www.hslda.org for MA homeschooling laws. I’m assuming you might still need to turn in an NOI to your local school district. But HSLDA can help you more with MA laws than I can 🙂
So if I am enrolled in an umbrella school, do I still file a notice of intent? Or how do I go about un enrolling from public school?
You’ll want to check with your umbrella school. Often you won’t need to file an NOI because technically you’re enrolled in a school when you join an umbrella school. But you’ll want to ask them to verify for your state requirements.