Pennsylvania Homeschool Laws (2026): Affidavit, 180 Days, Portfolio and Evaluator

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Pennsylvania's home education law is built around two documents that bracket the school year. An affidavit opens the year and goes to the district. An evaluator's certification closes it and goes to the district too. Everything in between, the log, the work samples and any required test scores, stays with you in a portfolio. This guide quotes the Pennsylvania Department of Education's Home Education and Private Tutoring Guide (revised May 2026), which cites the statute section by section.

How to start

The law is 24 P.S. § 13-1327.1, the home education section of the Public School Code of 1949. The department is clear about what that makes your home: "A home education program is not considered a nonpublic school under the home education law; it is a program (24 P.S. § 13-1327.1 (b))."

Compulsory attendance starts at six. The department's guide says a child "who has attained the age of six (6) on or before September 1 must enroll and attend school or begin a home education program that year." It also notes: "Kindergarten is not required in Pennsylvania." You may still file an affidavit for a kindergartner, though a district doesn't have to accept one for a child below its enrollment age; some parents file to document progress before a child enrolls in a school later.

The program begins with paperwork, and not before. In the department's words: "Without this documentation, a home education program does not legally exist."

Notice

The notice is the affidavit. The department describes it this way: "A home education program commences by the submission of a notarized affidavit to the superintendent's office, in the student's district of residence, by the home education supervisor (parent, guardian or person having legal custody of the child)."

Timing depends on whether it's your first year. The guide explains: "The affidavit covers the school year (July 1 – June 30) and must be submitted to the superintendent's office no later than August 1 of each school year a child is homeschooled. The exception is the first year a student is homeschooled; that year the home education program may begin at any time as soon as an affidavit and supporting documents are submitted."

So the affidavit is a yearly filing, not a one-time notice. Families arriving from North Carolina, where the state agency asks for a notice only once, should plan on a fresh affidavit every August. If you teach year-round, you can file as early as July 1 and start counting days then.

The affidavit names the supervisor and the student, gives the program's address, promises the required subjects will be taught in English, outlines your education objectives by subject, and includes proof of immunizations and health services and a certification about criminal records. There is no single statewide form. The department posts sample affidavits, and it also accepts an unsworn declaration, which has the same contents but is signed under penalty of perjury instead of in front of a notary. Check your district's board policy for any local paperwork it asks for.

Required subjects

The course lists come straight from the statute.

The full course lists, quoted from the statute

For the elementary years: "Elementary school level (grades K-6), mandatory courses: English, to include spelling, reading and writing; arithmetic; science; geography; history of the United States and Pennsylvania; civics; safety education, including regular and continuous instruction in the dangers and prevention of fires; health and physiology; physical education; music; and art."

For the secondary years: "Secondary school level (grades 7-12), mandatory courses: English, to include language, literature, speech, and composition; science; geography; social studies, to include civics, world history, history of the United States and Pennsylvania; mathematics, to include general mathematics, algebra and geometry; art; music; physical education; health; and safety education..."

A student who wants a diploma from the home education program also has to finish the graduation minimum for grades 9 through 12, which the guide lists as:

1. Four years of English
2. Three years of mathematics
3. Three years of science
4. Three years of social studies
5. Two years of arts and humanities

The transcript builder keeps those courses and credits in one place.

Days and hours

Pennsylvania gives you a choice. A year counts when the log shows 180 days, or when it shows the hours for the child's level, whichever you decide to track. You only need one. The guide adds: "If the choice is to document days, the portfolio does not need to specify the number of hours each day."

The choice matters more for older students. A 9th grader who works six-hour days reaches 990 hours in 165 days, well before day 180. A 2nd grader on four-hour days would need 225 days to reach 900 hours, so days are the shorter path there.

Time only counts once the program exists. Per the guide: "Since no time can be recorded toward the mandatory hours or days until the affidavit is submitted to the school district (the affidavit begins the program)" the evaluator can check the affidavit's date if there's a question.

Set the attendance tracker to Pennsylvania and it follows whichever path finishes first. The year planner shows when 180 days, or your hours target, runs out on the calendar.

Records

Your records live in the portfolio. The minimum is "Samples of any writings, worksheets, workbooks, or creative materials used or developed by the student" and "A log, made contemporaneously with the instruction, which designates by title the reading materials used." Contemporaneously means you keep it as you go, not rebuilt in June. In grades 3, 5 and 8 the portfolio also holds test results, and every year it gets the evaluator's written evaluation.

The department suggests a plain three-ring binder with tabbed sections for the log, the test results, the evaluation and the work samples. The portfolio isn't filed with the district, which stopped collecting it under Act 196 of 2014; it goes to your evaluator. The PDE guide gives no fixed number of years for keeping a portfolio. It does say portfolios cover the whole compulsory-age span, from six until 18 or graduation.

Testing and evaluation

Testing applies in three grades. The guide says: "The law requires that homeschooled students take the statewide tests or other authorized tests in grades 3, 5, and 8. The results must be reported in the portfolio; they are not reported to the school district." Students can sit the PSSA at their district for free or use a test from the department's approved list. Skipping it isn't an option: "There is no 'opt-out' option for home school students in grades 3, 5, or 8 in English and in Math."

Every year ends with an evaluation. You choose a qualified home education evaluator and pay for it; the guide notes, "It is the responsibility of the parent to pay for any charge for this service." According to the guide, "The evaluation must be based on an interview of the child and a review of the portfolio and accompanying documentation." It certifies whether the child is getting an appropriate education, which the law defines as "a program consisting of instruction in the required subjects for the time required in this act and in which the student demonstrates sustained progress in the overall program."

The certification is due to the superintendent by June 30. As the guide puts it: "The evaluation must be submitted by June 30 of each year for full year programs" and a program that stops partway through should send it in when the program ends.

Records checklist

Sources (2)

1. Pennsylvania Department of Education: Home Education and Private Tutoring Guide (May 2026) pa.gov
2. 24 P.S. Chapter 13 (Pennsylvania General Assembly) palegis.us

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