HOMESCHOOLING IN IDAHO & HOMESCHOOL LAWS
You may be considering homeschooling your children in Idaho, but don’t know where to start regarding Idaho law. This guide will walk you through what you need to know to successfully set up your own homeschool program legally in Idaho. We’ll cover the history of homeschooling in Idaho, current Idaho law, required notifications and filings, curriculum and testing choices, high school transcripts, extracurricular activities, graduation requirements, and special education services.
History of Homeschooling in Idaho
Homeschooling in the state was initially met with skepticism and faced legal uncertainties under Idaho law. In fact, in 1984, six Idaho parents were arrested for teaching their children at home. In 1990, four homeschooled children were charged with habitual truancy under Idaho law. However, the subsequent legal proceedings resulted in a successful outcome, establishing that homeschool parents are not obligated to provide information requested by the school district under Idaho homeschool laws.
Throughout the 1990s, the homeschooling movement continued to grow rapidly in Idaho, aided by the relaxed Idaho law. Major homeschooling support organizations like the Idaho Coalition of Home Educators (ICHE) were founded during this period to advocate for homeschooling rights and provide resources. By the early 2000s, it was estimated there were over 10,000 homeschooled students in Idaho.
Current Idaho Homeschool Laws and Regulations
Idaho law has extremely minimal regulations governing homeschooling. Under Idaho homeschool laws, students are exempt from compulsory school age attendance Idaho law as long as they receive instruction that adheres to several basic guidelines:
The instruction must be provided by a parent or legal guardian.
It must occur on a regular basis.
The content you teach must offer a sequentially progressive homeschool curriculum for the appropriate grade level in fundamental academic areas including fine arts, language arts, math, science, and social studies.
Parents have wide discretion in choosing their own curricula, schedules, and methods of instruction for their homeschools under Idaho homeschool laws.
How to Set Up a Homeschool In Idaho
Starting a homeschool in Idaho is very straightforward with minimal paperwork under Idaho law. Follow these steps according to Idaho laws on homeschooling:
Withdraw your child from the public school system if they are currently enrolled. Parents are advised to personally visit or communicate in writing with the school office to inform them of their decision to homeschool their child, thereby withdrawing them from public school enrollment.
A sample withdrawal letter can be found on the Homeschool Idaho website at: Public School Withdrawal Letter (homeschoolidaho.org)
For families moving in from another state, the same requirements apply under Idaho law.
You do not need any specific teaching credentials or certification to homeschool your own children. The only requirement is that a parent directly provides the instruction.
After submitting the withdrawal letter, you are free to begin homeschooling with no further interaction with the state required. You can choose your own homeschool curriculum, educational approach, schedule, and graduation plan.
Maintaining Your Idaho Homeschool
Once established, maintaining your homeschool according to Idaho law is extremely easy with very little regulatory burden. Besides the withdrawal letter, there is virtually no other paperwork or filing requirements according to Idaho homeschool laws.
No annual notifications, academic progress reports, test scores, or any other paperwork needs to be regularly submitted under Idaho homeschool laws. Homeschoolers operate completely independently with no ongoing oversight from authorities.
As long as you continue providing instruction that qualifies as “equivalent” to a conventional school curriculum for public school students and follows Idaho homeschool laws, you are free to continue your homeschool journey.
The only potential circumstance where a family might need to file additional paperwork is if they decide to re-enroll a homeschooled child and place transferred students back into the public schools. In that case, transcripts demonstrating the child’s academic progress could be requested by the school districts. But for simply maintaining your own private homeschool, no regular reporting is mandated.
Idaho Homeschool Reporting Requirements
Idaho homeschool laws do not require families to submit any formal academic reports, attendance records, test scores, or other documentation regarding a student’s educational progress.
Homeschools operate privately outside the public schools. Parents have complete discretion over their own methods of assessing their child’s progress, which need not be shared with any government authorities. The Idaho department does not regulate or monitor the academic oversight within individual homeschools.
While many parents do voluntarily conduct their own standardized tests or maintain detailed attendance logs, transcripts, and work portfolios, none of this needs to be reported to any government agency under homeschool laws in Idaho. All education planning, record-keeping, and evaluation is independently managed by each family.
The only reporting homeschooling in Idaho laws require is the withdrawal form filed with the local school district to establish the homeschool. Once this notification is submitted, there is no further ongoing reporting or paperwork under Idaho homeschool laws.
Homeschool Testing In Idaho
According to Idaho homeschool laws, there are no mandatory testing requirements for homeschooled students. Idaho homeschool laws recognize home schooling as a legitimate educational option and grant parents the freedom to oversee their children’s education without the need for standardized testing. However, if parents choose to home school their children through a virtual public school, the students may be required to participate in state assessments as part of the program’s homeschool requirements. It is important to note that while testing is not mandated by Idaho homeschool laws, parents are still responsible for providing a thorough and comprehensive home education that prepares their children for future success.
Funding Your Idaho Homeschool
The State does not provide any direct funding, resources, or materials to support homeschooling families. Aside from access to standard public services like community libraries and parks, homeschoolers do not receive allocations of tax dollars for their educational expenditures under Idaho homeschooling laws.
All costs related to homeschool curriculum, books, technology, supplies, enrichment activities, tutoring, etc. must be privately borne by families themselves. Covering these expenses is the sole responsibility of parents or legal guardians.
Homeschooling in Idaho is considered a purely private educational endeavor. Under homeschool laws Idaho parents essentially take on the equivalent role of both educator and school administrator. They fund their home education just as a private school would, using their own finances to purchase all materials and services needed.
While no direct state agency funding is available specifically for home educated students, families may qualify for general tax credits, deductions, education savings plans, and scholarship opportunities that can help offset some of the costs. But these are not Idaho accredited homeschool programs. Overall, homeschooling families should plan to privately fund the full scope of their educational needs.
Federal Tax Breaks
Homeschooling families may be eligible for certain federal tax benefits to help offset educational expenses. One option is a Coverdell Education Savings Account, which allows money to grow tax-free when used for qualified education costs. Homeschool parents might also be able to deduct a portion of mortgage interest or rent if part of the home is used regularly and exclusively for homeschooling. Finally, tax credits or deductions could be available for required books, supplies, equipment and curricula used for homeschool instruction. To learn more about these potential tax advantages, homeschooling families should review the information and resources provided by the IRS.
Idaho Immunization Requirements
The state does not impose any immunization or vaccination requirements on a homeschooled student. Families who choose to homeschool completely exempt themselves from any school health regulations or immunization mandates.
Homeschoolers operate fully privately under the discretion of parents. They are not subject to public school health policies. Determining whether to vaccinate a homeschool child, or obtain medical exemptions for certain immunizations, is solely at the discretion of each homeschool family and their healthcare provider.
The state does not monitor or regulate immunization status for homeschool students. Health records are a matter of private family decision-making.
Idaho State Graduation Requirements
There are no specific state graduation requirements that homeschooled students must follow in Idaho. The Idaho state department does not issue an accredited high school diploma, transcripts, or graduation approvals for homeschoolers.
Home schooling families have complete autonomy to determine their own graduation criteria, course requirements, credits, and all other academic standards. The courses taken, number of credits, grades assigned, and diplomas awarded are all defined privately by each homeschool.
While some homeschoolers choose to voluntarily align with typical public school graduation requirements or those of a particular private school, there is no state mandate on this. The graduation plan can be tailored to the individual interests and needs of each homeschool student.
Most homeschool families in Idaho maintain their own detailed transcripts, portfolios, and graduation plans to track progress and demonstrate completion of a graduate high school level to potential college, trade schools, and employers. But the specific criteria, diploma, and all high school graduate decisions are managed independently by each homeschool.
Idaho Homeschool Charters
There are no state-funded or state-run homeschool charter schools operating in Idaho. The state does not support any hybrid charter-homeschool education models.
All homeschooling in Idaho is conducted through completely independent private homeschools established and operated directly by individual parents or legal guardians. No public funds, oversight, or resources are provided to homeschoolers through charter school arrangements.
Local Idaho Homeschooling Resources
While the state government does not provide direct funding or resources for homeschoolers, there are Idaho homeschool groups, programs, field trips, and opportunities that can benefit Idaho homeschool families.
Idaho Coalition of Home Educators (ICHE): This longstanding statewide non-profit organization has served as a major advocacy group and resource hub for Idaho homeschooling families since the 1980s. ICHE was founded in 1992.
Christian Homeschoolers of Idaho State (CHOIS) was founded in 1998.
In 2018, both organizations merged into one new organization: Homeschool Idaho. The following pages of their website homeschoolidaho.org is a rich source of information and lesson plans for homeschoolers in the state.
Regional Homeschool Co-ops and Support Groups: The state has a robust network of local cooperatives, support groups, and activity clubs scattered throughout the state. These provide social engagement, group learning opportunities, science field trips, college information, and support services managed by homeschool community members. Searching online directories, social media groups, and local advertisements can help connect families with co-ops in their area.
According to the Dual Enrollment Law, parents of school-aged children attending nonpublic or public charter schools have the option to enroll their child in public school classes for dual enrollment.
Public Libraries and Community Resources: As tax-paying residents, homeschool families are entitled to access the same public libraries, parks, museums, historical sites, recreation centers and other local community resources as public school students. These provide educational enrichment opportunities such as field trips for homeschoolers.
Despite the lack of direct state funding, creative homeschoolers can tap into a number of grass-roots support systems and take advantage of certain voluntary homeschooling programs in Idaho. Connecting with the broader homeschool community is key to maximizing resources to start homeschooling.
