Homeschooling in New York? We’ll walk you through it.

You send a written notice of intent to the superintendent of your school district by July 1. If you begin home instruction during the school year, or move into a district after it starts, you send it within 14 days of beginning. No later than 10 business days after receiving it, the district sends you a copy of 8 NYCRR 100.10 and an IHIP form. You submit your IHIP within four weeks of receiving those materials or by August 15, whichever is later. For each required subject, the IHIP lists the syllabi, curriculum materials, and textbooks, or a plan of instruction, along with your quarterly report dates and the names of the people providing instruction.

You provide the substantial equivalent of 180 days of instruction, with 900 hours a year in grades 1 through 6 and 990 hours a year in grades 7 through 12. The regulation lists required subjects by grade band. You keep attendance records and show them to the district if asked. No teaching credential is required.

On the dates in your IHIP, you send quarterly reports with the hours of instruction, a description of the material covered in each subject, a grade or a written narrative for each subject, and an explanation if less than 80 percent of the planned material was covered in any subject. With the fourth quarterly report, you file an annual assessment every year. It is either a standardized achievement test, with a composite score above the 33rd percentile on national norms or one academic year of growth, or a written narrative evaluation, which is allowed in grades 1 through 3 and every other year in grades 4 through 8. If an assessment falls short, the program goes on probation with a remediation plan for up to two school years.

Compulsory education runs from the school year your child turns 6 (by December 1) through the school year your child turns 16, or 17 in New York City.

IHIP preparation. For each required subject, list the syllabi, curriculum materials, and textbooks you will use, or describe your plan of instruction. A district may require only the information the regulation sets out, and the superintendent, not the board, reviews the IHIP. If you contest a finding of noncompliance, you can meet with the board and then appeal to the Commissioner of Education.

Quarterly reports. You choose the report dates in your IHIP. NYSED recommends listing hours per subject in the secondary grades.

Annual assessment. NYSED recommends telling your district which method you will use, a standardized test or a written narrative, by the end of the third quarterly reporting period. Grades 9 through 12 use a standardized test.

Home visits and meetings. A district may require a home visit, on three days' written notice, only when a program is on probation. You are not required to meet with school officials.

Leaving school. File your notice of intent within 14 days of beginning home instruction. That notice is the required filing; state law does not require a separate withdrawal letter to your child's school.

IEP 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 to request services and by when.

Activities and Regents exams. Interscholastic sports and intramurals require public school enrollment, but homeschooled children may join school-sponsored clubs. If you ask, school officials are encouraged to admit your child to Regents examinations. A homeschooled student cannot be awarded a local or Regents diploma, and the GED is available.

Co-ops and tutors. You may hire a tutor for all or part of your program. Group instruction with other families is fine for particular subjects, but when groups of parents arrange a tutor for the majority of the program, NYSED treats that as a private school rather than home instruction.