When deciding to homeschool your children you must follow the homeschool laws of the State in which you reside.  Homeschool laws vary from state-to-state, so if you move do not assume the laws are the same in your new State as the one you moved from.  Or that the homeschool laws you must abide by are the same as your friend or relative in another State.

One of the best and most accurate ways to get information on your State’s homeschool laws is to visit your official State website.  All States have a web site for their education department, but they may be listed a little differently.  Some States refer to their education department as:

• State Education Department
• Department of Education
• Department of Education and Early Development
• Superintendent of Public Instruction
• Department of Public Instruction
• Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
• Department of Education and Cultural Affairs
• Education Agency
• Office of Education

Many official state websites are easy to find by simply going to www.usa.gov, from there you can choose the State site you wish to visit.  Most States also have the same format for their State sponsored websites which is www.______.gov (insert your State in the blank area – ie. www.vermont.gov). Most of these sites offer an easy to find portal to their education information, usually a tab labeled “education” at the top of the page.  From there you can navigate your way to homeschool information. Most also have a “search” on their site and if you type in “homeschool” you will be directed to areas that have information on your State homeschool information.

Should these site become overwhelming with all the information and different sites you can visit for information you can always go to the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) site.  This site is a guaranteed resource for homeschool law, and offers information on homeschool law, legal analysis, and recent and/or pending legislation for all every state. However, keep in mind this site covers mostly summaries of each State’s homeschool laws, and the information is not legally binding. 

Your public school district office may also have useful information or direction to help you research your homeschool laws.