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🚀 How to Start Homeschooling in Pennsylvania

The first steps for a Pennsylvania family starting to homeschool: what to file, how to leave a public school, and where to find co-ops, classes and help — drawn from our Pennsylvania guide and articles.

Homeschooling in Pennsylvania: the basics

The law: in 1988, Act 169 added home education programs to Pennsylvania's compulsory attendance law (24 P.S. § 13-1327(d)) and created 24 P.S. § 13-1327.1, the home education program section. Act 67 of 2005 added extracurricular activities, Act 196 of 2014 added state-recognized diplomas and removed the district's review of portfolios, and Act 55 of 2022 opened district classes and career and technical education to home-educated students from the 2023–24 school year.
A right, not a permission: PDE says homeschooling is a right as long as the required documentation is submitted, and school district approval is not required to start (22 Pa. Code § 11.31a). A home education program is a program, not a nonpublic school.
Who must be taught: since the 2020–21 school year, compulsory attendance runs from age 6 to 18. A child who has turned 6 on or before September 1 must enroll in school or begin a home education program that year. Kindergarten is not required, but a child who was enrolled in public school for kindergarten or above, or in any school or tutoring program for first grade or above, needs an affidavit and an evaluation every year regardless of age.
Who may supervise: the parent, guardian or person with legal custody who directs the program must have a high school diploma or its equivalent. The supervisor, every adult living in the home and anyone with legal custody of the child must not have been convicted of the criminal offenses listed in 24 P.S. § 1-111(e) within the five years before the affidavit.
The affidavit: file it with the superintendent of your school district of residence before the program starts; every later affidavit is due by August 1. It covers the school year from July 1 to June 30, so a year-round family may file as early as July 1. It must include the supervisor's name; the child's name and age; the program's address and phone number; a statement that the required subjects will be taught in English; an outline of proposed education objectives by subject area; evidence of immunization (24 P.S. § 13-1303(a)); evidence of the health and medical services required for the child's age or grade (Article XIV); an assurance that the program will comply with the law; and the criminal-history certification. PDE posts sample affidavits and unsworn declarations for the elementary (K–6) and secondary (7–12) levels; an unsworn declaration doesn't need a notary but is signed under penalty of perjury. Check your district's board policy for the forms it asks for.
The outline of objectives: PDE describes it as a "game plan" for the year, like a table of contents. It can't be used to decide whether an appropriate education took place, and your program doesn't have to follow the district's curriculum order.
Time required: a minimum of 180 days of instruction, or 900 hours a year at the elementary level (K–6) or 990 hours at the secondary level (7–12). If you count days, you don't have to record hours. Home-educated students are not truant when they aren't studying during public school hours — the supervisor sets the schedule, including evenings and weekends.
Elementary subjects (K–6): English, including spelling, reading and writing; arithmetic; science; geography; history of the United States and Pennsylvania; civics; safety education, including regular and continuous instruction in the dangers and prevention of fires; health and physiology; physical education; music; and art.
Secondary subjects (7–12): English, including language, literature, speech and composition; science; geography; social studies, including civics, world history and history of the United States and Pennsylvania; mathematics, including general mathematics, algebra and geometry; art; music; physical education; health; and safety education, including fire prevention. Economics, biology, chemistry, foreign languages, trigonometry and other courses may be added at the supervisor's discretion.
Curriculum from your district: the school district of residence must lend, on request and free of charge, copies of its planned courses, textbooks and other curriculum materials suited to the student's age and grade (24 P.S. § 13-1327.1(f)). The supervisor doesn't have to deliver all instruction personally; co-ops, online courses, tutors and other sources all count when the work shows up in the portfolio.
Moving within Pennsylvania: apply to your current superintendent by registered mail 30 days before you move for a letter of transfer, and file it with the new district's superintendent. Families arriving from another state don't need a letter of transfer, but the new district may ask for proof of residency.
Other legal routes: a properly qualified private tutor — a Pennsylvania-certified teacher who files background checks with the district and teaches one family at a time — also satisfies compulsory attendance, with no affidavit or evaluation, but has no direct path to a state-recognized diploma. Attendance at a school run by a bona fide church or other religious body that provides 180 days or 900/990 hours, or at a day or boarding school accredited by an association the State Board of Education approves, also meets the law.
Cyber charter schools are public schools: PDE says cyber charter schools are public schools and are not homeschooling, and their diplomas are state-recognized. Private cyber schools and other "umbrella schools" (correspondence courses, private online providers) are not registered with PDE and don't lead to a state-recognized diploma; a family using one is homeschooling and must file the affidavit and the annual evaluation.

Read the full section in our Pennsylvania guide

Official sources

Summarized from our Pennsylvania guide (as of November 2026) and articles. Rules change — confirm on the official pages before you act.

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