Home Education

Home education is an option for families who want to take the responsibility for and actively participate in their child’s education. Families desiring to educate their children at home should notifying their local school district superintendent as outlined in Ohio law.  Once requirements are met, students are excused from compulsory attendance. 

Families can join a co-op or support group to complement their home education, which allows them to connect socially with other homeschooling families and share teaching responsibilities and materials. No funding is available for homeschooling, but families have access to several types of state-funded resources.

Note: Students enrolled in online schools are not considered as being home educated.  Tuition-free, online schools are public community (charter) schools. Families that pay tuition to enroll their child in an out of state online school are also not considered to be home educated and must register their child with their district as being enrolled in an out of state school.

Getting Started

Once families make the decision to pursue home education, they should contact the superintendent of the school district in which they reside and provide notice of their intent to educate their child at home. (Districts may have a specific notification form they suggest you use.)

As part of the notification of intent to educate your child at home parents will agree to: 

• Provide annual notice of home education;
• Provide 900 hours of instruction per year; and
• Provide an assessment of student work and progress

Parents will also be asked to provide the following information:

• An outline of intended curriculum;
• Assurance that the curriculum includes
  • Language, reading, spelling and writing; 
  • Geography, history of the United States and Ohio, and national, state, and local government;  
  • Mathematics; 
  • Science; 
  • Health and physical education;
  • Fine arts, including music; and 
  • First aid, safety and fire prevention.

• A list of teaching materials; and
• Assurance the home teacher has a high school diploma or the equivalent or is working under the guidance of a person holding a bachelor’s degree.

Additional Resources

Ohio Department of Education Homeschooling Information

Ohio Department of Education Homeschooling Frequently Asked Questions

District Superintendent’s Responsibilities

Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA)

Christian Home Educators of Ohio

Ohio Revised Code 3321.04 – Compulsory Attendance Statute

Ohio Administrative Code – Home Schooling Regulations