Texas Homeschooling

In Texas, homeschools are considered private schools. To legally homeschool, you will need to follow these requirements:

1. Teach the required subjects: Math, Reading, Spelling and grammar, and A course in good citizenship

Although science and history are not required by state law, any college your student applies to will require them for admittance, so you’ll want to make sure to teach those too.

2. Use a written or Online curriculum. 

The private school law as interpreted by the Texas Supreme Court requires that you use some form of written curriculum (online programs meet this requirement) and that you operate your homeschool in a “bona fide” manner.

If you are contacted by the public school wanting to know where your child is enrolled in school, you should send a letter assuring the school that your children are being legally taught at home. If your child has never attended a public school, you do not have to consult anyone about homeschooling your children!

Here is a basic letter format to give to the school.
This is to notify you that I will be withdrawing the above-listed children from your school as of _____________ to enroll them in our private school pursuant to Texas Education Code Annotated section 25.086(a)(1).

We are following the law by conducting our homeschool in a bona fide manner, using a written curriculum that includes reading, spelling, grammar, math, and good citizenship.

Our school meets the standards established by the Texas Supreme Court in Texas Educational Agency v. Leeper, 893 S.W.2d 432 (1994).

If you have any questions regarding our children’s education, please submit them in writing.

Sincerely, __________________ Parent Signature

Getting a high-school diploma from a home school in Texas is simple. 

First, there is no homeschooling statute in the state of Texas, but there is an alternative schooling statute. 

It is explained in detail under the Texas Education Code, Section 25.086, Exemptions, which outlines who is exempt from public school and how to comply with the Texas alternative schooling statute.

According to Texas law, home schools are legal, private schools, and because home schools are private schools, you can issue a diploma to your home-schooled child just as any other private school can issue diplomas. 

The fact that your home school is not accredited does not matter, because there are schools other than home schools that also are not accredited; accreditation does not necessarily equal quality education. 

Create a transcript. Keep a list of classes taken, grades earned and credits earned. The transcript should explain the class content in detail, grade point average and honors. 

If the classes were taken online or through a homeschool co-op with a teacher (other than the parent), the teacher can write a letter regarding the student's grade and participation level in the class. This can be included with the transcript.

Compile a portfolio. Take an inventory of the high school student's learning experiences. The portfolio should be in two parts. The first part includes how and when the learning took place. The second part contains documents, pictures, certificates, etc. regarding the learning experience. Print or order diploma. Because your home school is considered to be a private school in Texas, you can issue a diploma to your child. Since a school name will be on the diploma, you can name your homeschool. 

If you have complied with the Texas alternative school statute and taught your child according to what is required, you have the legal right to issue a diploma to your privately schooled (homeschooled) student. 

Another option is to order a diploma through a company that prints diplomas for homeschoolers.

In public school the average classroom holds 19-25 students, and they are usually taught by one teacher, or at most two depending on the grade and need. 

When you choose to homeschool your children, you are choosing to significantly change the environment, and structure in comparison to the public school system. 

Physically, Mentally, and even Spiritually. 

I’ve found that comparing ourselves and our children in general, to other families and schools etc, does more harm than it does good. 

Also, because of these differences between home and a school building, the amount of time taken for your child to learn,will also change drastically.

The average homeschooler schools for about 2-4 hours per day depending on age and grade level, for about 3-5 days a week. Get to know your children, and see what works for you all. 

Pull out a paper and make a rough list of why you want to homeschool, and what you want to accomplish. 

Just know that this list may change significantly throughout your journey, and that’s okay. 

Just as your curriculum choices may change as well, throughout your family's homeschool journey. That’s usually because as you spend the time with your children individually, the more you’ll start to notice the way they learn! Or maybe your family is busy! You started homeschooling because you needed the flexibility, and you ended up choosing a curriculum that is way more time intense than you expected. There are so many reasons you would need to adjust your methods, but that’s up to you to decide the why and when. 

If you’re taking your child out of public school, give you and your child some time to unwind. Talk about the goal, rest for a bit, go visit museums, parks, and look at different hands on ways of learning before jumping into the main curriculum. Unschool for a bit and be kind to yourself :) 

-Every child is different, regardless of age. Not every child learns the same, and not every child has the same learning pace!

Something that’s helped me tremendously has been to figure out the learning style of both of my children. Learning how they prefer to learn and how they comprehend things will help so much in figuring out the curriculum. There are a few curriculums that will have placement tests on their sites, take full advantage of those!

-Research! Go online and browse the curriculum sites, or search specific curriculums on youtube, and hear what other homeschool families have to say about it. Sometimes you can even meetup with local homeschool families and get a glance at the curricula they’ve been using, and maybe they have advice and reviews to share. 

-Masterbooks (Christian)

-Lamp and Light (Christian)

-Christian Light Publications (Christian)

-Christian Liberty Press (Christian)

-A.C.E (Christian)

-Time4Learning (Online) 💻 

-HeritageHomeschoolAcademy (Christian)

-BookShark

-Math Mammoth 🧮 

-Memoria Press (Christian)

-Simply Charlotte Mason 

-Ambleside Online (Free) (Christian) 💻  

-Classical Conversations(Christian) 

-Calvert Education (Christian)

-Elemental Science 🧬 

-All About Learning (Christian)

-Brave Writer 💻 ✍🏼 

-Drawing with Children -Fine Arts ✍🏼 

-Rosetta Stone -Languages

-Sonlight (Christian)

-Apologia (Christian)

-Math U See 🧮 

-Excelsior Classes (Christian & Online) 💻 

-KONOS (Christian)

-My Father’s World (Christian)

-Heart Of Dakota (Christian)

-LifePac Alpha and Omega (Christian)

-The Mystery of History (Christian) 

-Saxon Math Homeschool (Christian) 

-Happy Phonics 📕 

-The Reading Lesson 📕 

-Touch Type Read Spell 💻

-Monarch (Christian) (online) 

-Teaching TextBooks Math (Online) 🧮 

-All about Reading (Christian) 📕 

-Singapore Math 🧮 

-Outschool (Unit Studies Online)

-Character First Education (Good Citizenship) 

-Arrows Of Wonder Homeschool (Unit Studies) 

-Easy Peasy.   (FREE) (Bible optional)

-The Good And Beautiful (Made by LDS but uses non denominational approach) 

-Discovery K-12 (FREE & Online) 💻 

-K-12  (FREE,Public School at home Online)💻 

-MiaAcademy Online 💻 

-ABEKA (Christian)

-Acellus Academy online 💻 

-Lyrical Learning (Learning through Song) 💻 

-SchoolHouse Teachers

-R.E.A.L Science 🧬 

-Dollar Tree/Walmart/Target Work Books, Usborne Wipe-Clean Books

-KUMON workbooks

-Gather’ Round Homeschool (Christian)

-Leapfrog Workbooks

-Rod and Staff (Mennonite)

-Bob Jones BJU (Christian) 💻 

-Blossom and Root 

-eat2explore (Cooking Subscription with Selected Country and Recipes) 🍱 

-Discover Texas Online (Texas History)

-7sistershomeschool (Teen Electives)

-www.rainbowresource.com IS A GREAT resource for curriculum shopping