Massachusetts
Homeschooling in Massachusetts
Our summary below describes the overall picture of homeschooling requirements in the state of Massachusetts. Additional and more extensive help can be found within our e-book: Massachusetts Homeschool Legal Workbook: Your Guide to Compliance - Facts & Forms, prepared by HomeSchoolLegal.com.
Approach 1 |
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| Approach: | Establish a homeschool which has the approval of the local school committee or superintendent. For guidelines on how to write approval application, see our Massachusetts Legal Workbook. |
| Restrictions: | Teacher certification not required |
| Reporting: | Covered as part of the approval process |
| Recordkeeping: | None |
| Requirements: | Required to provide a program that is equivalent to that of public schools, with the parent free to choose any appropriate materials or means of education. Subjects required include orthography, reading, writing, the English language and grammar, geography, arithmetic, drawing, music, the history and Constitution of the United States, the duties of citizenship, health education, physical education and good behavior. Public schools require 900 hours at elementary level and 990 hours at secondary level in attendance; requirements for private homeschools are not stated. |
| Testing: | Testing may be required as condition of approval, but may take many forms of evaluation. |
| Compulsory Attendance: | Applies to children from age 6 (by December 31) to 16. |
| Source of Law: | General Laws of Massachusetts, Chapter 76 |
| NOTE: | This is not intended to be legal advice and is offered only as an educational service for visitors to www.Home-School-Inc.com and www.HomeSchoolLegal.com. It is not a substitute for competent legal advice. Requirements may change at any time, and interpretations of the law and regulations can differ. Consult a legal services provider and a local homeschooling support group for more specific information. |
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