Homeschool Compliance Documents
Homeschool compliance is the paperwork your state uses to confirm your child is being educated at home. Depending on the state, that means a notice that you are homeschooling, an instruction plan, attendance records, progress reports, a yearly test or evaluation, or a portfolio. A high schooler needs a transcript in every state.
The list varies a lot by state. Start with your state's rule, then keep the records it names as the work happens.
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Notices and affidavits
These tell the state or your school district that you are homeschooling. Where one is required, it usually comes before you start and again each year.
Letter or notice of intent
When you need it. Required in many states. Florida asks for it within 30 days of starting. New York asks for it by July 1, or within 14 days of starting mid-year.
What it contains. Your name and address, your child's name, date of birth, and grade, the school year, and your school district.
Affidavit
When you need it. A sworn version of the notice. Pennsylvania asks for an affidavit filed with your local superintendent by August 1.
What it contains. The same family details as a notice, sworn and often notarized. Check whether your state requires a notary.
Private School Affidavit
When you need it. California families on the private-school pathway file it each year during the October 1 to 15 filing window.
What it contains. Your school's name and address, the parent's name, and the students enrolled with their grades.
Withdrawal letter
When you need it. Only when your child is enrolled in a school now. Send it before your first day at home and keep a dated copy. See the withdrawal letter template.
What it contains. The same family details as a notice, plus the school your child is leaving.
Instruction plans
A few states want to see what you plan to teach before the year starts.
IHIP (Individualized Home Instruction Plan)
When you need it. New York, every year, after your notice of intent. Your district reviews it and can ask for changes.
What it contains. Your child's name and age, the syllabi, curriculum materials, and textbooks for each subject, the grade level for each subject, and the names of any instructors other than the parent.
Education plan
When you need it. Massachusetts. You submit it to your local school committee for approval.
What it contains. A description of the curriculum, the materials, your teaching methods, and the schedule.
Attendance and progress records
These show that school is happening. Some states collect them; others only ask you to keep them.
Attendance log
When you need it. Montana, North Carolina, and Colorado ask families to keep attendance records. Your state's rule decides whether it counts instructional days, total hours, or time by subject.
What it contains. Dated school days, hours of instruction, and running totals for the year.
Quarterly report
When you need it. New York asks for four a year, due on dates your district sets.
What it contains. Hours of instruction for the quarter, the material covered in each required subject, and a grade or narrative evaluation of your child's progress.
Portfolio
When you need it. Florida asks you to keep one. Pennsylvania also has it reviewed at the end of each year by a qualified evaluator, such as a certified teacher or licensed psychologist.
What it contains. A log of activities or reading, samples of your child's work in each subject, the materials used, and, in Pennsylvania, test results in the testing grades.
Tests and evaluations
Moderate and high regulation states check progress once a year or on a set schedule.
Annual evaluation
When you need it. Florida requires one each year. You choose a certified teacher evaluation, standardized testing, a psychological evaluation, or another approved method.
What it contains. The evaluator's name and credentials, the date, the subjects reviewed, and a written account of your child's progress.
Standardized test results
When you need it. North Carolina requires a nationally standardized test every year. New York requires one every other year in grades 4 to 8 and every year in grades 9 to 12. Pennsylvania requires one in grades 3, 5, and 8.
What it contains. The test name and date, your child's grade, and the scores or percentiles.
Written narrative evaluation
When you need it. New York accepts an alternative evaluation, such as a written narrative by a certified teacher, in place of a test.
What it contains. An account of what your child learned in each subject over the year.
High school records
No state collects these, but colleges, employers, and new schools ask for them.
Transcript
When you need it. Every high schooler, for college applications, jobs, and transfers.
What it contains. Courses, grades, credits, GPA, the grading scale, the expected graduation date, and your signature as the homeschool administrator. See the transcript template.
Course descriptions and school profile
When you need it. College applications, when an admissions office asks how a course was taught.
What it contains. Each course's objectives, materials, and methods. The profile describes your homeschool: its approach, curriculum, grading scale, and accreditation status.
Diploma
When you need it. When your student meets the graduation requirements you set.
What it contains. Your student's name, the graduation date, your school's name, and your signature.
How much your state asks for
States fall roughly into four levels. Use them to set expectations, then read your own state's rule.
No notice
Texas, Alaska, Idaho. No notice and no required testing. Texas still requires instruction in reading, spelling, grammar, math, and good citizenship, so your own records still matter.
Low regulation
California, Nevada, Montana. A notice or filing, with no required testing.
Moderate regulation
Florida, Colorado, North Carolina. A notice plus a yearly test or evaluation.
High regulation
New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Vermont. A notice, a plan or curriculum review, testing, and a professional evaluation or portfolio review.
Look up your state in homeschool laws by state, or answer a few questions in the homeschool requirements checker.
How TheHomeschoolingCompany drafts these documents
Parent accounts include a document generator. Pick your state and it lists the documents that state requires first, marked Required in this state, then optional ones such as a withdrawal letter and the high school records. In Texas, which requires no filing, nothing is marked required.
Drafts are filled from your learner's actual records. The attendance log counts each day your learner checked in and totals session minutes by day and month. Grades come from graded project feedback, and portfolio samples from submitted projects. Transcript credits are estimated from recorded hours only.
You add what the platform cannot know, such as legal names, date of birth, your address, your school district, activities, and awards. Then you download a PDF.
You stay the one who files. Read every draft, check it against your state's current official rule and your district's process, then sign and submit it yourself. The generator does not file for you, does not replace official legal verification, and cannot promise your district will accept a draft. Some districts use their own forms.
The automatic compliance page explains how the records build up during the year.
Common questions
Do I need an IHIP?
Only if your state's process calls for one. In our state data, New York is the state that requires an IHIP, filed with your district each year. Massachusetts asks for an education plan instead.
What counts as attendance?
Your state's rule decides. Some states count instructional days, some count hours, and some want time by subject. In TheHomeschoolingCompany, a day counts when your learner checks in, and session minutes add up to hours.
How long should I keep homeschool records?
Check your state's rule for any required period. Florida, for example, expects you to keep the portfolio for two years. Keep a high schooler's transcript and course descriptions for good, because colleges and employers can ask for them years later.
Can I make a homeschool transcript myself?
Yes. A parent-issued transcript is an official record when you set the grading policy, sign it as the homeschool administrator, and can show the work behind each course. Check each college or program for its own requirements.
Keep the records while the work happens
Your learner's attendance, grades, and work samples are recorded as they go, ready to draft into the documents your state asks for.