How to Homeschool in Massachusetts

Massachusetts homeschool law in detail

Each requirement below links to the statute that governs it, so you can read the law yourself instead of taking our word for it. The governing law is Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 76, Section 1, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 71.

Notice / letter of intent

Massachusetts has no homeschool statute as such; home education operates under the compulsory attendance law, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 76, Section 1, which lets a child be "otherwise instructed in a manner approved in advance by the superintendent or the school committee." The Supreme Judicial Court's Care and Protection of Charles decision (1987) frames the approval process: you notify your district in writing (certified mail is the standard advice) and submit an education plan, and the district reviews it under the Charles factors. DESE itself does not approve plans or police district policies, approval is entirely local, so request your district's homeschool policy as your first move. Plans are filed annually in most districts.

Read the law: Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 76, Section 1 The record attributes notice/approval to the compulsory attendance law (ch. 76, Section 1, the "otherwise instructed in a manner approved in advance" clause) as framed by Care and Protection of Charles (1987); no narrower subsection is named.

Required subjects

Instruction must equal, in thoroughness and efficiency and in the progress made, what the local public schools provide in the legally required studies. The required-subject baseline (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 71) includes reading, writing, spelling, English grammar, geography, arithmetic, drawing, music, U.S. history and the Constitution, duties of citizenship, health (CPR appears in the public-school version), physical education, and good behavior. Districts typically just want to see these areas reflected in your plan, not a school-style syllabus.

Read the law: Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 71 The record ties the required-subject baseline to ch. 71 (the public-school required studies); no specific subsection is named.

Required days or hours

Districts may consider the proposed number of hours and days under Charles, and many use the public school benchmarks as a reference point: 180 days and 900 hours (elementary) or 990 hours (secondary). Charles does not let a district dictate that home instruction occur on a school-style schedule, and you do not have to replicate a school day to satisfy the hours conversation.

Read the law: No statutory homeschool hours mandate; districts may consider hours under Care and Protection of Charles Per the record, 180 days / 900 (elementary) or 990 (secondary) hours are public-school benchmarks a district may consider under Charles, not a statutory home-instruction requirement. Governing law: Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 76, Section 1.

Recordkeeping

Your real recordkeeping obligation is whatever your approved education plan commits to. A typical plan includes the curriculum or subject outline, materials and resources, the rough schedule, who will teach, and the proposed assessment method; keep a copy of the plan, the district's approval, and the year-end evaluation materials you agreed to provide. Many families keep attendance and work samples regardless, since they double as the evaluation evidence.

Read the law: No statutory recordkeeping mandate; obligation set by the district-approved education plan under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 76, Section 1 The record states the real recordkeeping obligation is whatever the approved education plan commits to, not a statutory list. Governing law: Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 76, Section 1.

Testing and assessment

Charles allows districts to require some method of evaluating progress, but the method is negotiated: standardized testing, periodic progress reports, or dated samples of the student's work are the recognized options, and the parents' consent matters in choosing the form. There is no statewide test mandate, no percentile threshold, and no required outside evaluator. Under Brunelle v. Lynn (1998), districts cannot require home visits as a condition of approval.

Read the law: No statewide test mandate; districts may require a negotiated evaluation method under Care and Protection of Charles Per the record, Charles allows a negotiated evaluation method (testing, progress reports, or work samples) with no statewide test or percentile threshold; Brunelle v. Lynn (1998) bars required home visits. Governing law: Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 76, Section 1.

Withdrawing from public school

Send your written notice and education plan to the superintendent's office, and a short withdrawal letter to your child's school. Because approval is technically in advance, districts differ on how they treat the window between notice and approval, courts and DESE guidance recognize that children should not be treated as truant while a plan is pending in good faith, but get your district's practice in writing.

Read the law: Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 76, Section 1 The record describes withdrawal as part of the same advance-approval process under ch. 76, Section 1 (written notice and plan to the superintendent plus a withdrawal letter to the school); no separate withdrawal subsection is named.

Good to know

Approval is 100 percent local: DESE publishes only an advisory and explicitly does not approve plans or review district decisions, so the practical experience ranges from a one-page form rubber-stamped in a week to a district that wants detail on every Charles factor. The case law is your guardrail, curriculum, hours, parent competency, materials, and an agreed assessment method are fair game; home visits, credentials, and schedule-matching are not. When this page and your district's policy disagree, work from the policy but check it against Charles.