Legal Requirements for Homeschool

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  Homeschool Laws & Education Standards

Here you’ll find information and resources regarding the legal requirements and education standards for homeschoolers.


▶︎ Legal Requirements

Here you'll find information about the legal requirements of homeschooling in Missouri and the applicable homeschool law.

How to Comply with Missouri's Homeschool Law, from HSLDA:

Under Missouri law, a homeschool is a school that:

  1. Has the primary purpose of providing private or religious-based instruction
  2. Enrolls pupils between the ages of 7 and 16 years. (No more than four students can be unrelated.)
  3. Does not charge or receive tuition, fees, or other remuneration

To homeschool under this statute, you'll need to follow these requirements:

  • Teach the required subjects for the required period of time
    • You must provide your child with at least 1,000 hours of instruction every school term
    • Six hundred of the 1,000 hours of instruction must be among one or more of the following core subjects
      • reading
      • math
      • social studies
      • language arts
      • science
    • Of those 600 hours among the core subjects, 400 must occur at the "regular" homeschool location, which is not defined by law
  • Maintain records for all children under age 16
    • If you are homeschooling a child who is younger than 16, you must maintain (but do not need to submit) the following records for the child:
      • A plan book, diary, or other record indicating subjects taught and educational activities engaged in. This requirement can be satisfied by keeping a daily log of hours of instruction.
      • Samples of your child's work.
      • Academic evaluations. (These could be regular test in the various subjects, annual standardized tests, etc.)
    • During a child's elementary and middle school years, you should always have on hand at least one full year's worth of records.
    • For a high school student, the records (for all four years) should be kept indefinitely.

Helpful Links

Home School Legal Defense Association: Missouri Homeschool Law at a Glance
How to Comply with Missouri Homeschool Law
Missouri Homeschool Laws and Requirements

Resources for Recordkeeping

Missouri Homeschool Recordkeeping and Graduation Requirements
Recordkeeping Guidelines and Free Logs
Logging Homeschool Hours Q&A

▶︎ State Standards

Here you'll find information about state education standards and standardized testing for homeschoolers.

Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (DESE) Resources

Resources for Remote teaching and Learning
How to Support Student Learning at Home
State Learning Standards by Grade-Level and Subject

U.S. Department of Education

Common Core Standards
Homework Tips for Parents

Standardized Testing for Homeschoolers

Is State Testing Required?
Testing & Evaluation for Homeschoolers
Intro to Standardized Testing
Choosing a Standardized Test and Setting
Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) Testing


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