Homeschooling in Colorado? Here’s your plan.

Colorado's home-based education law is C.R.S. 22-33-104.5. You give written notice to a school district in Colorado 14 days before you establish your program, and each year after that while the program continues. The notice is a written 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)). Districts may offer their own forms, but the statute asks only for those items.

Your program includes at least 172 days of instruction, averaging four instructional contact hours per day (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(3)(c)). The required subjects are reading, writing, speaking, mathematics, history, civics, literature, science, and regular courses of instruction in the Constitution of the United States (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(3)(d)).

At grades 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11, your child takes a nationally standardized achievement test, or a qualified person you choose evaluates your child's progress. You submit the results to the school district that received your notice, or to a Colorado independent or parochial school (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(3)(f)). You keep permanent records of attendance, test and evaluation results, and immunizations. The district can ask to see them on 14 days' written notice only if the superintendent has probable cause to believe the program is out of compliance (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(3)(g)).

Colorado also allows enrollment in an independent or parochial school for at least 172 days, where the school provides a basic academic education (C.R.S. 22-33-104). In that case, the family files no notice with the district, and the state does not set a testing rule.

Colorado families can use home-based education under C.R.S. 22-33-104.5, with an annual notice, testing or evaluation at five grade levels, and permanent records. Or they can enroll their child in an independent or parochial school under C.R.S. 22-33-104. In that case the school provides at least 172 days of a basic academic education and certifies each child's attendance to the local school board when asked (C.R.S. 22-1-114).

A third route applies if your child is instructed at home by a teacher licensed in Colorado under article 60.5 or 61 of title 22. That is its own exemption from compulsory attendance (C.R.S. 22-33-104(2)(i)(I)). 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.

14-day advance notice. Send your notice to a Colorado school district 14 days before you establish your program, then each year while it continues. You do not need to send notice until your child is six, or establish the program until your child is seven (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(3)(e)).

Coming from a school with attendance problems. If your child was habitually truant at any time during the last six months they attended school, you include a written description of your curriculum with your notice (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(3)(b)).

Testing or evaluation at five grade levels. At grades 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11, your child takes a nationally standardized achievement test or is evaluated by a qualified person: a licensed teacher, a teacher at an independent or parochial school, a licensed psychologist, or a person with a graduate degree in education. A composite test score above the 13th percentile keeps your child exempt. At or below the 13th percentile, your child first gets a chance to retest before any action is taken (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(5)).

Extracurricular access. 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. A district may test your child for grade placement, and it accepts your transcripts for credit unless its testing does not verify them (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5(4)).

The U.S. Constitution requirement. Colorado requires regular courses of instruction in the Constitution of the United States as provided in C.R.S. 22-1-108. It is one of the required subjects.