Homeschooling in Pennsylvania
The rules Pennsylvania sets out for home education, what they mean for the records you keep, and where to check them yourself.
Verify this with Pennsylvania before you rely on it
Always verify this with your state before you rely on it. This is our summary of what your state publishes, with links to the source and the date we last checked. It is not legal advice, requirements change, and some districts add their own. Your state's department of education, or a homeschool legal organisation, is the authority — we are not.
What Pennsylvania publishes
high regulation- Do you have to tell anyone?
- Yes. By 1 August, and annually, to your school district superintendent. A notarised affidavit (or unsworn declaration) naming the supervisor and each child, with certification that the programme will comply with § 13-1327.1.
- Subjects named
- English including spelling, reading and writing · Arithmetic · Science · Geography · History of the United States and Pennsylvania · Civics · Safety and fire prevention · Health and physiology · Physical education · Music · Art
- Days and hours
- 180 days, or 900 hours at elementary and 990 at secondary.
- Testing or assessment
- Required. Grades 3, 5, 8. An annual portfolio review by a qualified evaluator, plus a nationally normed standardised test in grades 3, 5 and 8. A parent may not administer the test.
- Records to keep
- Attendance · A portfolio · Immunisation records
- A portfolio: a log, samples of work, and standardised test results
- An evaluator's certification that appropriate education is occurring
- Who may teach
- A high school diploma or its equivalent. The evaluator must be a PA-certified teacher, a certified teacher from a regionally accredited institution, or a licensed clinical or school psychologist.
- High school diploma
- The parent. Pennsylvania also allows a diploma through an approved home-education organisation.
Sources · last checked 2026-08-24
What that means day to day
- Attendance or days of instruction→your attendance register
- Standardised test results→test results you add
- A course of study in the required subjects→your course list
- Evidence of progress→your report cards
Each of those builds itself here as your child works. That does not make you compliant — only Pennsylvania decides that — but it means the paperwork exists when you need it.
The records you will have either way
Whatever Pennsylvania asks for, these are the things homeschool families are commonly asked to produce — and here they build themselves as your child works, rather than being assembled in a panic in June.
Attendance
Days and instructional hours, derived from work actually finished.
Report cards
One a quarter, per subject, with the level each strand started and ended at.
Portfolio
Projects, writing and strong work, collected automatically.
Reading log
In the app and off it.
Transcript
Grades 9–10, parent-issued, with credits and GPA.
Export
Everything, one button, any time.
Everything on this page, and the records that satisfy it, are free with no account. Homeschool Year keeps those records for every child across devices and school years, and adds the print library — one payment, twelve months, no renewal.