South Dakota Homeschool Documents & Templates

What to file

simple notice

Send to

South Dakota Department of Education or local school district

Deadline

within 30 days of beginning alternative instruction

How often

one time

One-time filing per child. Once notification is filed, no additional filing is required unless the child enrolls in public or nonpublic school, moves to a different school district, or begins/stops dual credit participation. South Dakota DOE provides a standard notification form and online notification system. Notification is informational only — no authority to approve or deny.

SDCL 13-27-7; SDCL 13-27-8

Status

Not required, but recommended to prevent truancy concerns

Send to

current school

If the child is currently enrolled, formally withdraw and file the alternative instruction notification simultaneously with or before the withdrawal. Keep copies of all correspondence. No statutory waiting period between filing notification and beginning instruction.

This page covers Alternative Instruction. South Dakota offers 2 different ways to homeschool, and each may require different documents:

• •
  Alternative Instruction(this page): You file a one-time notification with the SD Department of Education or your local school district, teach language arts and math for at least 175 days, and that is all South Dakota requires. No testing, no curriculum approval, and no ongoing reporting. One of the simplest homeschool frameworks in the country.
• •
  Alternative Instruction Program: You operate under a more formalized alternative instruction program structure, with the same basic requirements — language arts, math, 175 days, and one-time notification. This pathway is designed for organized programs rather than individual families. Most families use the basic alternative instruction pathway instead.

Our wizard helps you choose the right one and generates the correct documents. Compare all pathways for South Dakota