Homeschooling in South Dakota
The rules South Dakota sets out for home education, what they mean for the records you keep, and where to check them yourself.
Verify this with South Dakota 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 South Dakota publishes
low regulation- Do you have to tell anyone?
- Yes. Within 30 days of starting — a one-time filing, to the department of education or your local school district. The Alternative Instruction Notification. Not annual.
- Subjects named
- Language arts — reading, writing, spelling, grammar · Mathematics
- Days and hours
- No state-set days or hours.
- Testing or assessment
- Not required. Standardised testing was removed by SB 177, effective 1 July 2021.
- Records to keep
- Immunisation records
- Who may teach
- None.
- High school diploma
- The parent.
Sources · last checked 2026-08-24
What that means day to day
- A course of study in the required subjects→your course list
- Evidence of instruction→your attendance register
Each of those builds itself here as your child works. That does not make you compliant — only South Dakota decides that — but it means the paperwork exists when you need it.
The records you will have either way
Whatever South Dakota 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.