How to Start Homeschooling in Georgia

Yes. Homeschooling is legal in Georgia. O.C.G.A. Section 20-2-690(c) allows parents or guardians to teach their children at home in a "home study program" that meets its requirements. Georgia's attendance law, O.C.G.A. Section 20-2-690.1, lists a home study program alongside public and private schools as a way to meet the attendance requirement.

You do not need a teaching degree to homeschool in Georgia. You do need a high school diploma or a state-approved high school equivalency diploma. Parents or guardians may teach only their own children. You may also hire a tutor who holds a high school diploma or a state-approved equivalency diploma.

Georgia requires school attendance for children between their sixth and sixteenth birthdays. This comes from O.C.G.A. Section 20-2-690.1.

Because attendance is required starting at age 6, a 5-year-old is not yet of compulsory school age. Use this time to explore curricula and find your approach. There is no rush.

Children older than 16 may keep homeschooling. They are just not required to attend school.

Here is how to start homeschooling in Georgia:

Step 1: Prepare your Declaration of Intent. This is the official document you submit to the Georgia Department of Education to begin or continue a home study program. By law, it must include:

1. The names and ages of the students in your home study program
2. The address where the program is located
3. The local school system where the program is located
4. A statement of the 12-month period that is your school year

No notarization is required.

Step 2: Submit your Declaration of Intent. File with the Georgia Department of Education within 30 days of starting. You can submit online on the GaDOE website, or print the form and send it by email, fax, or mail. Starting mid-year? Same 30-day window, with no separate process. After your first year, file again by September 1 each year. GaDOE strongly encourages you to keep a copy for your records.

Step 3: If your child is in a public school. GaDOE's guidance explains that local school systems must have proof of a student's home school enrollment no later than 45 days after the student withdraws from a Georgia public school, and your Declaration of Intent satisfies that requirement. For any other withdrawal steps the school asks of you, confirm with the Georgia Department of Education.

Step 4: Start teaching. Cover reading, language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science. Provide instruction equivalent to 180 school days each year, with each day at least 4.5 school hours. The only exception in the law is for a child who is physically unable to meet this schedule.

Step 5: Plan your records. At the end of each school year, you will write a progress assessment for each child. Keep each one for at least three years. Keep your standardized test scores and records too.

Georgia has one filing plus records you keep at home:

Declaration of Intent. File with the Georgia Department of Education within 30 days of starting, then by September 1 each year after. Include your children's names and ages, the program address, your local school system, and the 12-month school year period. File online, or by email, fax, or mail using the printable form.

Annual Progress Assessment (kept by you). At the end of each school year, write a progress assessment for each child. It must include your individualized assessment of your child's academic progress in reading, language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science. The law says you keep it for at least three years. You do not send it to the state.

Test scores. Keep the scores and records from your child's standardized tests. You do not send them to the state.

Georgia law does not require an attendance log. It also does not require you to submit your progress assessments or test records, and it does not give any official a right to inspect them.

Georgia requires a basic academic program that includes, but is not limited to, reading, language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science. This is set by O.C.G.A. Section 20-2-690(c).

The Georgia Department of Education does not endorse, promote, or provide a curriculum for home study programs. You choose the course of study and resources. Commercial, religious, secular, or self-designed all work. You can add other subjects like art, music, or a foreign language.

Georgia gives you real freedom here. Cover the five core subjects. The teaching approach is yours.

Georgia requires instruction equal to 180 school days each year, with each school day consisting of at least 4.5 school hours, under O.C.G.A. Section 20-2-690(c). That works out to 810 hours across 180 days. The only exception in the law is for a child who is physically unable to meet this schedule.

Georgia law does not require you to keep an attendance log. You still need to provide the 180 days.

Students in home study programs must take part in an appropriate nationally standardized testing program at least every three years, beginning at the end of third grade, under O.C.G.A. Section 20-2-690(c).

The test is meant to evaluate your child's educational progress. It must be given in consultation with a person trained in the administration and interpretation of norm-referenced tests. GaDOE does not name specific tests.

The law sets a schedule rather than fixed grades: at least once every three years, starting at the end of third grade. There is no passing score, and you do not submit the results. Keep the scores and records from each test.

Georgia families generally use one of two routes:

Pathway 1: Home Study Program (O.C.G.A. Section 20-2-690(c)). File a Declaration of Intent directly with the Georgia Department of Education. Teach the five core subjects. Meet the 180-day and testing requirements. Write and keep an annual progress assessment. You choose the curriculum and methods. This guide covers this pathway.

Pathway 2: Private School or Umbrella School (O.C.G.A. Section 20-2-690(b)). Enroll your child in a private school, sometimes called an umbrella school. Your child is then a private school student, not a home study student, and you do not file a Declaration of Intent. The school must teach reading, language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science and provide 180 school days of at least 4.5 hours. Since July 1, 2026, a school that teaches only virtually is exempt from the day and hour minimum. The school reports your child's enrollment to your local superintendent within 30 days after the school year begins, and reports new enrollments and withdrawals each month. The home study testing rule does not apply.

File on time, every time. Declaration of Intent within 30 days of starting, then by September 1 each year. Write your annual progress assessment at the end of each school year and keep it on file.

Keep copies of everything. Keep a copy of every Declaration of Intent you submit, your progress assessments for at least three years, and your test scores and records. To get a copy of a past declaration, email homeschool@doe.k12.ga.us.

Driver's license and work permits. Homeschool students seeking a driving permit, driver's license, or Youth Work Permit must have a copy of the Declaration of Intent with the 36-character parent signature.

The Promise Scholarship is separate from homeschool law. The Georgia Promise Scholarship is an education savings account with its own eligibility rules and requirements, administered through the Georgia Student Finance Commission. If you want simplicity, you can skip it and follow the baseline home study requirements only.

Dual enrollment. Georgia's Dual Enrollment program (formerly Move On When Ready), administered by the Georgia Student Finance Commission, lets eligible high school students, including homeschoolers, take college courses at eligible Georgia institutions. Your student must meet age and readiness requirements.

You issue the diploma. As your child's home study instructor, you create the transcript and award the diploma.

Extracurricular access through the Dexter Mosley Act. GaDOE's guidance explains that the Dexter Mosley Act (O.C.G.A. Section 20-2-319.6) allows home study students in grades 6 through 12 to take part in extracurricular and interscholastic activities in their resident public school system, subject to notification and course enrollment requirements. Ask your resident school system for the details before the season you are planning for.

Returning to public school. If your child later enrolls in a public school, the local school system decides grade placement and credit for homeschool courses, following State Board of Education Rule 160-5-1-.15 and any local policies.