Plan one manageable week
Choose one reading goal, one math goal, and one question to explore. Keep the goals specific enough that you can see what changed.
| Goal | Activity | What we noticed |
|---|---|---|
| Explain a solution | Solve two word problems aloud | Which step needed more practice? |
| Read for meaning | Discuss a short text | Which detail supported the main idea? |
| Investigate a question | Keep an observation notebook | What could we check next? |
Leave space to adjust
Repeat a useful activity, change an unhelpful one, and make room for rest and interests. A plan is a working tool.
Homeschooling resources for parents teaching at home: printable worksheets, attendance and grade forms, book lists by grade, and subject material you can use the same day you find it.
What counts as homeschooling
Federal surveys use a specific definition, and it is narrower than most people expect.
The National Center for Education Statistics counts a student as homeschooled when parents report the child is “schooled at home instead of at a public or private school” for some or all classes, and enrollment in public or private school does not exceed 25 hours a week (NCES, National Household Education Surveys Program).
A child taking two classes at the local high school and the rest at home still counts. A child schooled at home only because of a temporary illness does not.
In 2019, an estimated 2.8 percent of students ages 5 to 17 were homeschooled, roughly 1.5 million children (NCES Stats in Brief, PFI-NHES 2019). That figure covers the United States, ages 5 through 17, in the 2018-19 school year.
The 2016 rate was about 3.3 percent, roughly 1.7 million students, measured the same way. The rate fell slightly between those two surveys.
What your state requires
Homeschooling is regulated at the state level, not the federal level. Requirements differ substantially between states.
Some states ask for an annual notice of intent. Some require attendance records, standardized testing, or a portfolio review. Some ask for none of that.
Check your own state education agency before you rely on anything you read about requirements, including anything on this site. We publish teaching material, not legal guidance, and we are not able to tell you what your state expects of you.
Where to start
- Getting started covers the first decisions: schedule, space, and what to teach first.
- Methods explains the main approaches families use and how they differ day to day.
- Planning and time management deal with the part most families find hardest, which is fitting school around the rest of a household.
- By grade routes to material for K through 3, 4 through 8, and 9 through 12.
Record keeping
Records are the part families most often start too late. Beginning in September is easier than reconstructing a year in May.
- Attendance forms for logging days of instruction.
- Grade records for tracking work across a school year.
- External activity forms for co-ops, classes, and lessons taught by someone else.
What you need to keep depends on your state. Keeping more than your state asks for costs you a few minutes a week. Keeping less can cost you a year of documentation.
Worksheets and printables
- Worksheets across subjects and grade levels.
- Printables, including reading and language arts sets.
- Dolch sight word lists for early reading practice.
- Math worksheets and printable graph paper.
Subjects
The subject sections are shared with the rest of the site, so material written for a classroom works at a kitchen table without changes.
- Math, including the full geometry sequence.
- Science, including science fair projects.
- Social studies, including geography and US history.
- Language arts, including phonics and spelling.
- Book lists by grade band.
Why families homeschool
Parents in the 2019 survey could give more than one reason, so the percentages below add to more than 100.
Concern about the school environment, including safety, drugs, and peer pressure, was cited by 80 percent of parents. Desire to provide moral instruction and emphasis on family life were each cited by 75 percent, and dissatisfaction with academic instruction by 73 percent (NCES Fast Facts: Homeschooling). Those figures describe US parents of homeschooled students ages 5 to 17 in 2019.
Asked for the single most important reason, 25 percent named the school environment, 15 percent academic dissatisfaction, and 13 percent religious instruction.
The reasons matter for a practical purpose. A family homeschooling over academic dissatisfaction needs curriculum depth. A family homeschooling over environment needs a workable schedule and outside contact more than it needs a harder textbook.
What this section does not cover
No legal advice, no state-by-state requirement tables, and no assessment or diagnostic services. For anything that turns on what your state requires, your state education agency is the source.