How to Start Homeschooling in New York

Yes. Homeschooling is legal in New York.

Home instruction rests on the state's compulsory education laws, including NY Education Law Sections 3204, 3210, and 3212, with the procedures set out in 8 NYCRR 100.10.

You do not need a teaching certificate. NYSED says state law does not require any specific credentials for the people providing home instruction, and a district may not require them. You may also hire a tutor for all or part of your program.

Your district has a defined role. It reviews your IHIP, quarterly reports, and annual assessment against the regulation. NYSED says a district may not require you to register your child in the public school (though you may be asked to show that your child lives in the district and is of compulsory age), may not require you to meet with school officials, and may not require more information on the IHIP than the regulation sets out. A lack of socialization is not a basis for finding a program deficient.

Children in New York must receive instruction beginning with the school year in which they turn 6. A child who turns 6 on or before December 1 begins that September. A child who turns 6 after December 1 begins the following September (Education Law 3205).

Instruction is required through the end of the school year in which your child turns 16. In New York City, compulsory education extends to 17. NYSED notes that a student who turns 16 (or 17 in NYC) between July 1 and June 30 is of compulsory age for that entire school year.

Kindergarten is not required under state law.

Here is how to start homeschooling in New York, step by step.

Step 1: Send your notice of intent. Send a written notice of intent to the superintendent of your school district by July 1. The school year for home instruction runs July 1 to June 30. If you are starting during the school year, or moving into a district after the year begins, file within 14 days of beginning home instruction. Keep a copy and proof of delivery.

Step 2: Receive the district's reply. NYSED says the district must reply no later than 10 business days after receiving your notice, sending you a copy of 8 NYCRR 100.10 and an IHIP form for each child.

Step 3: Submit your IHIP. Submit your Individualized Home Instruction Plan within four weeks of receiving the district's materials or by August 15, whichever is later. For each required subject, list the syllabi, curriculum materials, and textbooks you will use, or a plan of instruction. You also set your quarterly report dates and list the names of the people providing instruction.

Step 4: Respond to the review if needed. No later than 10 business days after receiving your IHIP, or by August 31 if that is later, the district must tell you whether it complies or give written notice of any deficiency. If there is a deficiency, you have 15 days, or until September 15 if that is later, to submit a revised IHIP, and the superintendent then has 15 days, or until September 30 if that is later, to respond.

Step 5: Teach and keep attendance records. Cover the subjects required for your child's grade level, for the substantial equivalent of 180 days: 900 hours a year in grades 1 through 6, or 990 hours in grades 7 through 12. Keep attendance records, and show them to the district if asked.

Step 6: Submit quarterly reports. On the dates in your IHIP, send a report for each child. If you start mid-year, the number of reports is proportional to the time remaining.

Step 7: Complete the annual assessment. With your fourth quarterly report, file a standardized test result or a written narrative evaluation. Details are in the testing section below.

Each new school year: Send a new notice of intent by July 1 and a new IHIP.

New York's filings are a notice of intent and an IHIP, both to your local school district superintendent, followed by quarterly reports and an annual assessment.

The notice of intent tells the district you plan to provide home instruction. The district replies with the regulation and an IHIP form. The IHIP lists, for each required subject, the syllabi, curriculum materials, and textbooks, or a plan of instruction. If you list textbooks the district does not know, it may ask for more detail, and you can choose to send a written scope and sequence or a copy of the text, which must be promptly returned.

The district reviews your IHIP for compliance with the regulation, not for whether it matches the district's own courses. A district may require only the information the regulation sets out. The superintendent, not the board of education, reviews the IHIP. If you contest a finding of noncompliance, you can meet with the board, and you may appeal a board determination to the Commissioner of Education no later than 30 days after receiving notice of it.

The notice of intent is due by July 1 each school year, or within 14 days of beginning home instruction if you start mid-year. The regulation does not require it to be notarized.

Quarterly reports go to the school district on the dates you set in your IHIP. Each one includes:

• The number of hours of instruction during the quarter
• A description of the material covered in each subject listed in the IHIP
• Either a grade in each subject or a written narrative evaluating your child's progress
• A written explanation if less than 80 percent of the material planned for that quarter was covered in any subject

Your annual assessment is filed with the fourth quarterly report.

New York requires subjects by grade level under Education Law Section 3204 and 8 NYCRR 100.10. The content of each subject may differ from the public school curriculum, but the required subjects must be taught.

Grades 1 through 6: arithmetic, reading, spelling, writing, the English language, geography, United States history, science, health education, music, visual arts, and physical education, plus bilingual education or English as a second language where the need is indicated.

Grades 7 and 8: English (two units), history and geography (two units), science (two units), mathematics (two units), art (one-half unit), music (one-half unit), and, on a regular basis, physical education, health education, practical arts, and library skills.

Grades 1 through 8: United States history, New York State history, and the Constitutions of the United States and New York State, at least once during these grades.

Grades 9 through 12: English (four units), social studies (four units, including one unit of American history, one-half unit of participation in government, and one-half unit of economics), mathematics (two units), science (two units), art and/or music (one unit), health education (one-half unit), physical education (two units), and three units of electives.

All grades: patriotism and citizenship, health education about alcohol, drug, and tobacco misuse, highway safety and traffic regulations including bicycle safety, and fire and arson prevention and safety.

A unit means 6,480 minutes of instruction per school year, and unit counts for grades 7-8 and 9-12 are cumulative across those grades (8 NYCRR 100.10(e)). NYSED's guidance notes a few more points:

• Physical education is required for every student.
• Health education is required at all grade levels, including instruction on alcohol, tobacco, and drug misuse, and age-appropriate instruction about AIDS at least once in grades K-6, 7-8, and 9-12.
• A second language is not required.
• For a student with limited English proficiency, home instruction must include instruction in English.

Instruction should be geared to your child's level and prior achievement. A six-year-old's IHIP does not have to be at the first grade level.

8 NYCRR 100.10(f) requires the substantial equivalent of 180 days of instruction each school year. Cumulative hours are 900 per year for grades 1 through 6 and 990 per year for grades 7 through 12. Absences are allowed on the same basis as the district's policy for its own students.

NYSED says instruction is usually given within the general timeframe of the school day, but scheduling can be flexible, such as weekends or evenings. Total instructional time per week should be generally comparable to the public school. You document the total hours of instruction for each quarter on your quarterly report, and NYSED recommends listing hours per subject in the secondary grades.

Every homeschooled student in New York completes an annual assessment under 8 NYCRR 100.10(h). You use either a standardized achievement test or a written narrative evaluation.

Standardized test. You choose from the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, the California Achievement Test, the Stanford Achievement Test, the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills, the Metropolitan Achievement Test, a State Education Department test, or another test the State Education Department approves. The district provides the test on request; you pay for any facilities, transportation, or staff if testing happens somewhere other than the public school. A score is adequate if your child's composite score is above the 33rd percentile on national norms, or if it shows one academic year of growth compared with a test taken during or after the prior school year.

Written narrative. A New York State-certified teacher, a home instruction peer group review panel, or another person you choose with the superintendent's consent interviews your child, reviews a portfolio of your child's work, and certifies whether your child made adequate academic progress. You pay any cost. The narrative is allowed in grades 1 through 3, and in grades 4 through 8 no more often than every other school year. Grades 9 through 12 use a standardized test.

Probation. If the assessment falls short, the program goes on probation for up to two school years, and you submit a remediation plan that the district reviews. The program comes off probation at the end of any semester in which your child reaches the level in the plan. If your child reaches less than 75 percent of the plan's objectives at the end of a semester, or has not met all of them after two years, the board of education reviews the program, and you may appeal its final decision to the Commissioner of Education no later than 30 days after receiving it.

A few other points from NYSED:

• NYSED recommends telling your district your chosen method by the end of the third quarterly reporting period.
• With the superintendent's consent, a parent may give a standardized test or prepare the written narrative.
• Your child is not required to take state tests, though some state tests can be used for the annual assessment.
• If testing happens at a location other than a public or registered private school, the district reviews and, if it agrees, consents to your choice of test administrator.

If a program is placed on probation, the district may require a home visit on three days' written notice. Each child is evaluated separately. If no evaluation is submitted, the district must follow up, and if it receives no evidence of instruction it is obligated to report suspected educational neglect.

Know what the district can and cannot require. NYSED says a district may not require you to register your child in the public school, meet with school officials, produce teaching credentials, or add information to the IHIP beyond the regulation. Home visits can be required only when a program is on probation.

Keep attendance records. Parents are required to keep attendance records. NYSED says there is no legal obligation to keep other records, but recommends keeping evidence of your program, your child's achievement, and your correspondence with the district.

Co-ops need care. You may hire a tutor for all or part of your program, and group classes for particular subjects are fine. When groups of parents arrange a tutor to provide the majority of the program, NYSED treats that as a religious or independent school rather than home instruction.

Special education services. Homeschooled students in New York may receive special education services under Education Law 3602-c. Contact your district's Committee on Special Education to ask how and when to request services.

Activities. Interscholastic sports and intramurals require public school enrollment. Homeschooled children may participate in school-sponsored club activities, and possibly band or music lessons if the district treats them as extracurricular. Summer school programs are open to all district residents.

Part-time classes are not available. NYSED says the legislature has not authorized part-time attendance, so homeschooled students may not join the district's instructional program. Dual enrollment under 3602-c is generally unavailable, except for special education services.

You issue the diploma. A homeschooled student cannot be awarded a local or Regents diploma. Create your own diploma and transcript. If you ask, school officials are encouraged to admit your child to Regents examinations, and your district can provide a letterhead list of Regents exam scores for college applications. The GED is also available. After your child completes home instruction, the superintendent may, but does not have to, attest in writing that the program complied with 100.10.

Immunizations. NYSED says the proof-of-immunization rule for school admission does not apply to students educated at home, except that during a declared outbreak, children seeking to attend testing or activities in a school building must show proof of immunization.