Information on What is Required of Indiana Homeschoolers
Contents
Are you thinking about homeschooling in Indiana? The laws are fairly simple. Here are some things that you should know about before beginning.
Home School Parent Education Requirements
A home school is allowed in Indiana. It is ultimately considered a private school that is run out of a home, and generally speaking, the state will legally treat it as a private school. No special teacher qualifications exist in a home school situation.
Forms and Paperwork Required
Notification paperwork is not required unless specifically requested by the state school superintendent. At that time, the superintendent may request the number of children attending each grade in a similar way that a request to a private school would be issued. An official request should be made, and not a general request made to the public at large for such information.
Attendance records do need to be kept. Again it is the state superintendent that may request to see them at any time. The superintendent of the local school corporation that the “private” school is a part of may also request to see attendance records. This request is to simply ensure that attendance is actually occurring instead of truancy. Keep in mind that the number of attendance days should be somewhere close to the 180 days during any given school year that a child who is enrolled in a public school would be required to attend.
Kindergarten Home School Requirements
Children in Indiana do not have to start school until seven years of age. If a parent chooses to start his or her child in school at a younger age, then attendance is compulsory for that child from that earlier age on. For a home school, this means that any child that starts home school before the age of seven must-have attendance records kept just like all other children.
Testing Requirements
Home school students are not required to take any standardized testing or even any state-mandated test.
Other Useful Information
It is assumed that a similar curriculum will be utilized in a home school situation as the curriculum that is taught in public schools. With that said, there are no specific subjects that are required by law to be taught in a home school. It is believed that education is crucial, but the method of education is not mandated by state law. Support and ideas can be acquired from such organizations as the Indiana Association of Home Educators or the Indiana Foundation for Home Schooling. More information is also available through the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA).
