Un/Homeschooling

Lesson 8: Homeschooling Resources

Legal Information

Homeschooling is legal in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, France, and elsewhere. Homeschooling support groups and associations are often the most reliable source of information about laws and regulations that homeschooling families must follow as the member families have traversed the path of interpreting the legal literature and interacting with the enforcers of those laws.

Besides a homeschooling support group, a call to your local school district or courthouse will also likely be able to connect you to the appropriate government office to learn more about homeschooling laws. To find the website for your local department of education, search for ‘Department of Education’ and your state or province.

Homeschooling legislation may cover such topics as registration requirements, parent requirements, age requirements, attendance requirements (teaching days), curriculum requirements, testing and evaluation requirements, education tax credits or savings account opportunities, special needs services, etc.

Legal cases involving homeschooling families are followed by many of the websites listed below. Cases may involve issues such as social security, veteran’s or other benefits awarded only to dependents who attend educational institutions.

• Home School Legal Defense Association, http://www.hslda.org/hs/international/de... The HSLDA is a nonprofit advocacy organization established to defend and advance the constitutional right of parents to direct the education of their children and to protect family freedoms. Through annual memberships, HSLDA is tens of thousands of families united in service together, providing a strong voice when and where needed. The website provides international homeschooling news, laws, resources, and information, and links to legal information for homeschoolers around the world.
• Federal Legislation, http://www.hslda.org/legislation/nationa... This area of the HSLDA site provides links to current and past federal homeschooling legislation.
• U.S. Department of Education, http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml ‘Promoting educational excellence for all Americans.’ This site provides information on all aspects of education in the United States including research and statistics, policies, programs, accreditation, charter schools, homeschooling, achievement, choice, learning resources, technology, international education, standards, and more.
• Canadian Homeschooling Information by Province, http://homeschooling.about.com/cs/suppor... This page on the About.com website provides homeschooling links categorized by province.
• Homeschool Legislative News, http://reliableanswers.com/hs/law/ This area of the Reliable Answers website provides information on current homeschooling legislation.
• Legal and Legislative Information Network, http://www.nhen.org/LegInfo/default.asp?... This area of the NHEN website provides legal and legislative information of relevance to homeschoolers.
• Focus on Social Issues, http://www.family.org/cforum/fosi/educat... This area of the family.org website provides information on the homeschooling movement in America. Focus on the Family works to honor and protect the rights of all parents to direct their child's education.

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