March 15, 2025 • 10 mins
Are you ready to pull your teens and kids to start homeschooling, but don't know where to start!? This is the place. This is the first "mini" episode of five that will be released over the next week. In this episode, we discuss how to find your state homeschooling laws.
This is the first episode of 5 in this mini-series. For a deeper dive into the homeschooling transition, check out Episode 1: Beginning the Journey.
After this mini-series, we will be back to the regularly scheduled Monday episodes!
Homeschool Legal Defense Association Laws by State
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Contact Janae: schooltohomeschool1@gmail.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Janae Daniels (00:00):
Hello, my friends, welcome to the School to
Homeschool podcast.
Now, are you brand new to homeschooling?
Or you're thinking I need a homeschool but
I don't know where to start?
Y'all, you have come to the right place.
Now, this week I'm doing something a little
bit different.
I'm doing a five-part miniseries kind of
crash course on how do you homeschool.
(00:21):
Most of these episodes are going to be very
short, with the exception of episode two,
where I go into more depth than I ever have
before in any other episode on de-schooling,
and so that will be coming out on Monday,
the 17th.
So those of you who have are longtime
listeners of this podcast and you know you
go through the whole story already.
(00:41):
I have received so many messages this week
of people just looking to leave the school
system and start homeschooling and just
needing something right away, and so this
is a crash course for them.
But I think you'll find the information
still very valuable and a good reminder for
you.
But, as always for those of you that are
(01:02):
new, once you finish these five episodes,
go back.
Start with episode one from the beginning,
because this is episode 91.
Go back to episode one and I go into a lot
more depth about all of the subjects that
we're going to talk about in these shorter
(01:22):
little episodes Now, with the exception of
episode two, where I discuss de-schooling
and for those of you who've heard me talk
about de-schooling before, I go into more
depth than I ever have in the past and I
might suggest that you watch that one on
YouTube um, because I do have some visuals
that might be helpful for you.
(01:43):
Otherwise, if that's a no-go for you, I
still have all the same information on the
audio platform.
So I just want to let you know yes, an
episode will be released every other day,
and the last episode will be released two
days after the previous episode, on Monday,
the 24th, and so then we'll go back to our
(02:05):
regularly scheduled Monday program.
Just so you know, that's what we're doing.
We're doing a crash course in how do you
homeschool roadmap, and today we're going
to start with how on earth do you find your
homeschooling laws?
So with that let's get started.
(02:25):
Hello and welcome to School, to Homeschool.
I am Janae Daniels.
I'm a wife, a mother of six and a former
middle school teacher turned homeschool mom.
I have kids in their 20s, all the way down
to elementary age and everything in between.
Are you thinking about pulling your kids
from the school system, like I did, but
you're scared to death and don't know what
(02:46):
to do next.
My friends, I felt the same way and you
have come to the right place.
I want to help your family leave the system
so that you can take the hearts and minds
of your children back the hearts and minds
(03:08):
of your children back.
It is legal to homeschool in all 50 states,
so, regardless of what state you're in, it
is absolutely legal to homeschool.
There are no current federal laws about
homeschooling.
That's been turned back over to the states
and the state.
Each state, each state's homeschooling laws
are a little bit different.
Now here's the tricky part is finding your
state homeschooling laws can be a little
(03:30):
bit difficult if you don't know what you're
looking for.
Why I say that is the homeschooling laws in
many state Department of Education websites
are buried very, very, very, very deep.
Let me give you a for instance.
I was on one state's website looking up
homeschooling laws for someone that I coach
and there weren't any listed.
(03:53):
It took me to.
There was a link that said the
homeschooling laws and it literally took me
to the bill that had passed about
homeschooling and it was like 60 pages long
of the homeschooling bill.
So the question then becomes okay, so then
how do you find out your laws?
Well, it's very simple.
There is an organization called the
(04:14):
Homeschool Legal Defense Association and
they are a group of attorneys that have
gotten together and there's attorneys from
every state, and they've been able to go
through and look at all of the different
homeschooling laws and combine it into one
location, and so in the show notes, I've
put the link to the HSLDA the Homeschool
(04:36):
Legal Defense Association website, so that
you can click on that and then, in a very
condensed way, see what your homeschooling
laws are.
Okay, so you can click in the show notes or,
if you're watching on YouTube, the
description below has the Homeschool Legal
Defense Association website.
(04:57):
Now it is a membership website, so those
are free to look at.
I ended up finally joining as a member of
HSLDA because when I came up against some
things that I'm like, wait a minute, I
don't think that's right With the school
district that we were in, I was able to
call them and they were able to get me in
touch with an attorney to discuss the
homeschooling laws.
Some states are really strict with
(05:17):
homeschooling and you have to submit an
official notice of intent, and then you
have to submit a curriculum.
And other states are really easy you just
withdraw your kids and that's it, and then
you've got everything in between, and so
depending on the state that you live in
will determine how much information you
need to give to the Department of Education,
(05:40):
or, in most states, cases need to give to
the Department of Education or, in most
states cases, the school district in which
you reside.
So I'm in the state of Colorado and so in
my state our laws are somewhere in the
middle.
But when you do submit whatever paperwork
you have to submit, you want to submit only
the bare minimum.
Okay, we don't want to give more than
(06:01):
necessary.
You want to give exactly the bare minimum
of what the state requires or needs.
And you have to understand that public
schooling laws and homeschooling laws are
entirely different.
The number of days that a public schooler
is in is different than the days and the
(06:23):
number of hours that a homeschooler has to
do.
Also, the state standards are often very,
very different from the public schooling
versus the homeschooling.
So that's one thing.
As you look at the Homeschool Legal Defense
Association website, it'll be able to tell
you in a condensed, really easy way to read
what your homeschooling laws are and then,
(06:45):
if you have more questions, you could join
them and ask them more questions.
Another thing that you can do is go onto
the homeschooling website, homeschooling
Facebook pages for your state.
There's lots of different homeschooling
groups for every state.
Go on Also ask those mamas or get some
clarification from some of those mamas.
(07:07):
They know the laws.
The homeschoolers know the laws.
The key is we have to obey the laws if we
want to keep homeschooling legal and
protected and all of those things.
So you also go into those Facebook groups.
Ask those mamas what some of the laws are.
They'll be able to clarify as well.
First check the HSLDA website and then also
check the.
(07:27):
Go on Facebook to have some clarification.
If you're still confused, like, what do I
do?
I wish I could give you all of the state
laws, but that would take forever, forever
for me to do so go to the HSLDA website and
check out the state law.
So that's the very first thing that you're
going to do is find out what you need to do
(07:48):
legally to homeschool.
And again, you want to look at the
homeschool laws, not the public school laws,
because the laws are usually very different.
Let me give you a for instance.
In the state of Colorado, where I reside,
the public school has all these state
standards and expectations for graduation,
(08:13):
and every subject has, you know, 50
different things that children are expected
to learn by the time they're X age and by
the time they hit the next grade, whereas
in the homeschooling laws for the state of
Colorado are pretty simple.
It's you have to homeschool 172 days for an
(08:33):
average of four hours a day, for a total of
688 hours minimum, and you need to cover
certain subjects such as history, reading,
writing, constitution, mathematics, science,
missing one, anyway, that's it versus pages
and pages and pages and pages of state
(08:54):
expectations.
It's a paragraph for the homeschoolers of
what they need to learn, so the laws are
very, very different.
Okay, so that's the very first thing you're
gonna do Check out your state laws to learn
what you need to do, and then, once you
know the laws, the next thing that you're
gonna do is what we call de-schooling, so
(09:18):
we will discuss de-schooling in the next
episode in great detail.
Again, you can listen to it on all audio
platforms.
My suggestion, though, would be to watch it
on YouTube, which I'll have the link for
that in the show notes.
If you'd like to watch that on YouTube,
it'll be in the de-schooling show notes,
specifically, not in this episode show
(09:40):
notes.
With that, mamas and papas, grandmas and
grandpas, you are doing so much better than
you think you are.
You got this.
We'll talk in a couple days.
If you found this podcast helpful, sign up
for our newsletter at schooltohomeschoolcom,
where there's also lots of other resources.
You can also subscribe to us on YouTube at
(10:00):
School to Homeschool or join our private
Facebook page School to Homeschool.
You've got this, my friends.
Hello, my friends, welcome to the School to
Homeschool podcast.
Now, are you brand new to homeschooling?
Or you're thinking I need a homeschool but
I don't know where to start?
Y'all, you have come to the right place.
Now, this week I'm doing something a little
bit different.
I'm doing a five-part miniseries kind of
crash course on how do you homeschool.
(00:21):
Most of these episodes are going to be very
short, with the exception of episode two,
where I go into more depth than I ever have
before in any other episode on de-schooling,
and so that will be coming out on Monday,
the 17th.
So those of you who have are longtime
listeners of this podcast and you know you
go through the whole story already.
(00:41):
I have received so many messages this week
of people just looking to leave the school
system and start homeschooling and just
needing something right away, and so this
is a crash course for them.
But I think you'll find the information
still very valuable and a good reminder for
you.
But, as always for those of you that are
(01:02):
new, once you finish these five episodes,
go back.
Start with episode one from the beginning,
because this is episode 91.
Go back to episode one and I go into a lot
more depth about all of the subjects that
we're going to talk about in these shorter
(01:22):
little episodes Now, with the exception of
episode two, where I discuss de-schooling
and for those of you who've heard me talk
about de-schooling before, I go into more
depth than I ever have in the past and I
might suggest that you watch that one on
YouTube um, because I do have some visuals
that might be helpful for you.
(01:43):
Otherwise, if that's a no-go for you, I
still have all the same information on the
audio platform.
So I just want to let you know yes, an
episode will be released every other day,
and the last episode will be released two
days after the previous episode, on Monday,
the 24th, and so then we'll go back to our
(02:05):
regularly scheduled Monday program.
Just so you know, that's what we're doing.
We're doing a crash course in how do you
homeschool roadmap, and today we're going
to start with how on earth do you find your
homeschooling laws?
So with that let's get started.
(02:25):
Hello and welcome to School, to Homeschool.
I am Janae Daniels.
I'm a wife, a mother of six and a former
middle school teacher turned homeschool mom.
I have kids in their 20s, all the way down
to elementary age and everything in between.
Are you thinking about pulling your kids
from the school system, like I did, but
you're scared to death and don't know what
(02:46):
to do next.
My friends, I felt the same way and you
have come to the right place.
I want to help your family leave the system
so that you can take the hearts and minds
of your children back the hearts and minds
(03:08):
of your children back.
It is legal to homeschool in all 50 states,
so, regardless of what state you're in, it
is absolutely legal to homeschool.
There are no current federal laws about
homeschooling.
That's been turned back over to the states
and the state.
Each state, each state's homeschooling laws
are a little bit different.
Now here's the tricky part is finding your
state homeschooling laws can be a little
(03:30):
bit difficult if you don't know what you're
looking for.
Why I say that is the homeschooling laws in
many state Department of Education websites
are buried very, very, very, very deep.
Let me give you a for instance.
I was on one state's website looking up
homeschooling laws for someone that I coach
and there weren't any listed.
(03:53):
It took me to.
There was a link that said the
homeschooling laws and it literally took me
to the bill that had passed about
homeschooling and it was like 60 pages long
of the homeschooling bill.
So the question then becomes okay, so then
how do you find out your laws?
Well, it's very simple.
There is an organization called the
(04:14):
Homeschool Legal Defense Association and
they are a group of attorneys that have
gotten together and there's attorneys from
every state, and they've been able to go
through and look at all of the different
homeschooling laws and combine it into one
location, and so in the show notes, I've
put the link to the HSLDA the Homeschool
(04:36):
Legal Defense Association website, so that
you can click on that and then, in a very
condensed way, see what your homeschooling
laws are.
Okay, so you can click in the show notes or,
if you're watching on YouTube, the
description below has the Homeschool Legal
Defense Association website.
(04:57):
Now it is a membership website, so those
are free to look at.
I ended up finally joining as a member of
HSLDA because when I came up against some
things that I'm like, wait a minute, I
don't think that's right With the school
district that we were in, I was able to
call them and they were able to get me in
touch with an attorney to discuss the
homeschooling laws.
Some states are really strict with
(05:17):
homeschooling and you have to submit an
official notice of intent, and then you
have to submit a curriculum.
And other states are really easy you just
withdraw your kids and that's it, and then
you've got everything in between, and so
depending on the state that you live in
will determine how much information you
need to give to the Department of Education,
(05:40):
or, in most states, cases need to give to
the Department of Education or, in most
states cases, the school district in which
you reside.
So I'm in the state of Colorado and so in
my state our laws are somewhere in the
middle.
But when you do submit whatever paperwork
you have to submit, you want to submit only
the bare minimum.
Okay, we don't want to give more than
(06:01):
necessary.
You want to give exactly the bare minimum
of what the state requires or needs.
And you have to understand that public
schooling laws and homeschooling laws are
entirely different.
The number of days that a public schooler
is in is different than the days and the
(06:23):
number of hours that a homeschooler has to
do.
Also, the state standards are often very,
very different from the public schooling
versus the homeschooling.
So that's one thing.
As you look at the Homeschool Legal Defense
Association website, it'll be able to tell
you in a condensed, really easy way to read
what your homeschooling laws are and then,
(06:45):
if you have more questions, you could join
them and ask them more questions.
Another thing that you can do is go onto
the homeschooling website, homeschooling
Facebook pages for your state.
There's lots of different homeschooling
groups for every state.
Go on Also ask those mamas or get some
clarification from some of those mamas.
(07:07):
They know the laws.
The homeschoolers know the laws.
The key is we have to obey the laws if we
want to keep homeschooling legal and
protected and all of those things.
So you also go into those Facebook groups.
Ask those mamas what some of the laws are.
They'll be able to clarify as well.
First check the HSLDA website and then also
check the.
(07:27):
Go on Facebook to have some clarification.
If you're still confused, like, what do I
do?
I wish I could give you all of the state
laws, but that would take forever, forever
for me to do so go to the HSLDA website and
check out the state law.
So that's the very first thing that you're
going to do is find out what you need to do
(07:48):
legally to homeschool.
And again, you want to look at the
homeschool laws, not the public school laws,
because the laws are usually very different.
Let me give you a for instance.
In the state of Colorado, where I reside,
the public school has all these state
standards and expectations for graduation,
(08:13):
and every subject has, you know, 50
different things that children are expected
to learn by the time they're X age and by
the time they hit the next grade, whereas
in the homeschooling laws for the state of
Colorado are pretty simple.
It's you have to homeschool 172 days for an
(08:33):
average of four hours a day, for a total of
688 hours minimum, and you need to cover
certain subjects such as history, reading,
writing, constitution, mathematics, science,
missing one, anyway, that's it versus pages
and pages and pages and pages of state
(08:54):
expectations.
It's a paragraph for the homeschoolers of
what they need to learn, so the laws are
very, very different.
Okay, so that's the very first thing you're
gonna do Check out your state laws to learn
what you need to do, and then, once you
know the laws, the next thing that you're
gonna do is what we call de-schooling, so
(09:18):
we will discuss de-schooling in the next
episode in great detail.
Again, you can listen to it on all audio
platforms.
My suggestion, though, would be to watch it
on YouTube, which I'll have the link for
that in the show notes.
If you'd like to watch that on YouTube,
it'll be in the de-schooling show notes,
specifically, not in this episode show
(09:40):
notes.
With that, mamas and papas, grandmas and
grandpas, you are doing so much better than
you think you are.
You got this.
We'll talk in a couple days.
If you found this podcast helpful, sign up
for our newsletter at schooltohomeschoolcom,
where there's also lots of other resources.
You can also subscribe to us on YouTube at
(10:00):
School to Homeschool or join our private
Facebook page School to Homeschool.
You've got this, my friends.
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