Pennsylvania homeschool checklist

Pennsylvania homeschool checklist (general information, not legal advice)

• Submit a notarized affidavit (or unsworn declaration) with proposed objectives by subject, plus immunization and required health/medical-service evidence, to your district superintendent — by August 1 each year for continuing students; in your first year the program may begin when the affidavit and supporting documents are submitted. Checked Oct 19, 2026.
• Compulsory attendance in Pennsylvania is age 6 to 18 (a child who is 6 on or before September 1 must enroll or begin home education that year); kindergarten itself is not required, and a district is not required to accept an affidavit for a child below its enrollment age. Checked Oct 19, 2026.
• Teach the required elementary subjects — including English (reading, writing, spelling), mathematics, science, geography, United States and Pennsylvania history, civics, health and physiology, physical education, music, art, and safety/fire prevention — for 180 days or 900 hours at elementary level. Checked Oct 19, 2026.
• Maintain a portfolio all year: a contemporaneous log of reading materials, samples of student work, attendance, and (in test grades) test results. Checked Oct 19, 2026.
• Submit a written evaluation by a qualified evaluator — based on an interview with the student and a review of the portfolio, stating whether an appropriate education is occurring — to your district superintendent by June 30 each year. Standardized testing is required in grades 3, 5 and 8 only (statewide tests or an approved nationally normed test); results go in the portfolio, not to the district. Checked Oct 19, 2026.

Source: Pennsylvania Department of Education — Home Education and Private Tutoring + Home Education Program guidance, checked Oct 19, 2026 · Checked 2026-10-19. General information, not legal advice — verify with your district/state.