How to Start Homeschooling in Colorado

Yes. Homeschooling in Colorado is legal under C.R.S. 22-33-104.5.

The legislature declared that home-based education is "a legitimate alternative to classroom attendance." A child in a home-based program is not subject to compulsory school attendance, as long as the program follows the statute's guidelines. The program is provided by the child's parent, or by an adult relative the parent designates, and it is not supervised by a school district. It is also not a private school under Colorado law.

Colorado is a moderate-regulation state. You have real freedom in how you teach, with testing or evaluation at a few grade levels.

Colorado's compulsory attendance law covers children who are six on or before August 1 of the school year and under seventeen (C.R.S. 22-33-104).

Home-based education has its own timing rules that give you some breathing room (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(3)(e)):

• You do not need to send notice until your child is six.
• You do not need to establish the program until your child is seven.
• You do not need to continue the program or send notice after your child is sixteen.

Here is how to start homeschooling in Colorado, step by step.

Step 1: Write your notice. Your written notice is a statement of each child's name, age, place of residence, and number of hours of attendance (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(3)(e)). Some districts offer their own forms, but the statute asks only for those items. If your child was habitually truant at any time in the last six months they attended school, include a written description of your curriculum (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(3)(b)).

Step 2: Send it to a school district 14 days ahead. The statute says "a school district within the state," and the notice goes in 14 days before you establish your program. Keep a copy.

Step 3: Withdraw from school, if needed. Colorado law does not require a withdrawal letter. If your child is enrolled in a school, let the school know they are leaving, and ask how the district handles it.

Step 4: Start your records. Keep permanent records that include attendance, test and evaluation results, and immunization records (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(3)(g)).

Step 5: Choose your curriculum and start teaching. Colorado lists the required subjects but gives you freedom in how you teach them.

Step 6: Send notice again each year. The notice is due each year after the first while your program continues. The statute does not set a date for the yearly notice, so a calendar reminder helps.

You file two things with the district that received your notice.

Your annual notice (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(3)(e)). A written statement of each child's name, age, place of residence, and number of hours of attendance. Send it to a Colorado school district 14 days before you establish your program, and each year after that while the program continues.

Test or evaluation results at grades 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(3)(f)). Submit them to the school district that received your notice, or to a Colorado independent or parochial school. If you use an independent or parochial school, give its name to the district.

The notice is not an application. The statute asks you to certify "only" the four items listed above.

Colorado lists the required subjects for home-based education in C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(3)(d):

1. Reading
2. Writing
3. Speaking
4. Mathematics
5. History
6. Civics
7. Literature
8. Science
9. Regular courses of instruction in the Constitution of the United States, as provided in C.R.S. 22-1-108

The program "shall include, but need not be limited to" these subjects. The law does not tell you how to teach any of them. No required textbooks. No curriculum review. How you cover them is your call.

Colorado requires no less than 172 days of instruction per year, averaging four instructional contact hours per day (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(3)(c)). That works out to about 688 hours.

Four hours is an average across the year, not a fixed daily minimum. Track your teaching days and hours with a simple calendar or spreadsheet. Attendance data is part of the permanent records you keep (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(3)(g)).

You do not send your attendance records to anyone routinely. The district can ask for your records on 14 days' written notice only if the superintendent has probable cause to believe your program is not in compliance.

Your child is evaluated at grades 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(3)(f)). You have two options.

Option 1: Standardized test. Your child takes a nationally standardized achievement test. A composite score above the 13th percentile keeps your child exempt from compulsory attendance.

Option 2: Evaluation. A qualified person you choose evaluates your child's progress. A qualified person is a licensed teacher, a teacher employed by an independent or parochial school, a licensed psychologist, or a person with a graduate degree in education (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(2)(c)). The standard is sufficient academic progress according to your child's ability.

Either way, submit the results to the school district that received your notice, or to a Colorado independent or parochial school.

What if your child scores at or below the 13th percentile? No action is taken until your child has a chance to retest, using an alternate version of the same test or a different nationally standardized test you choose from the state board's approved list. If the result stands, the district requires placement in a public, independent, or parochial school until the next testing period (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(5)).

Mark grades 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 on your calendar now.

Colorado gives you three ways to educate your child outside public school.

Pathway 1: Home-Based Education (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5). Annual notice to a school district. Required subjects. 172 days averaging four hours a day. Testing or evaluation at grades 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11, with results submitted. Permanent records.

Pathway 2: Independent or Parochial School (C.R.S. 22-33-104). Your child is enrolled for at least 172 days in an independent or parochial school that provides a basic academic education, including reading, writing, speaking, mathematics, history, civics, literature, and science. The family files no notice with the district, and the state sets no testing rule. When the local school board asks, no more than once a month, the school certifies each child's attendance (C.R.S. 22-1-114).

Pathway 3: Instruction at Home by a Licensed Teacher (C.R.S. 22-33-104(2)(i)(I)). If your child is instructed at home by a teacher licensed under article 60.5 or 61 of title 22, that is its own exemption from compulsory attendance. The home-based education rules for notice, subjects, instructional time, testing, and records are written for home-based programs and do not apply to this route by their terms. The licensed teacher does not have to be the parent.

The Colorado Department of Education also publishes information on part-time programs for homeschooled students.

A few things every family should know about homeschooling in Colorado.

You do not need a teaching license. A parent or designated adult relative teaching a home-based program is not subject to the Colorado Educator Licensing Act (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(3)(a)).

Your child can join school activities. A child in a home-based program has the same rights as a public school student in the district to participate on an equal basis in extracurricular and interscholastic activities. A district cannot require course enrollment as a condition, except for activities that extend a course, such as a performing arts group (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(6)(b)).

Returning to public school. The district may test your child for grade placement. It accepts your transcripts for credit unless its testing does not verify them (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(4)).

Records inspection has rules. The district can ask to see your records on 14 days' written notice, and only if the superintendent has probable cause to believe your program is out of compliance (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(3)(g)).

Keep these dates straight. Send notice 14 days before you begin and each year after. Submit test or evaluation results at grades 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11. Keep attendance records showing 172 days. Include the U.S. Constitution in what you teach.