PARENT REQUIREMENTS

Neither a high school diploma nor any specific level of education is required for parents who wish to homeschool their children. Regardless of your educational background, if you are a parent or legal guardian, you have the right to decide on homeschooling.

PAPERWORK REQUIREMENTS

Missouri law allows parents to provide a signed written declaration of enrollment to the recorder of deeds stating their intent to homeschool. If you choose to do this, it must be submitted within 30 days of starting homeschooling and then by September 1st each year. There is a fee involved, and you must renew your declaration and pay the fee annually by September 1st after the initial filing.

MATCH strongly advises against signing the intent declaration. The only paperwork you need to handle is sending a withdrawal letter to the principal or superintendent if your student has been enrolled in another school. MATCH suggests sending this letter via certified mail to ensure you have proof of receipt. You can find a convenient fillable form letter on our website that you can complete and print out. .

Why shouldn't someone fill out the intent form? It can affect the family's privacy, as the information becomes public and accessible to anyone. Occasionally, this has led to families being investigated.

AGE REQUIREMENTS

In Missouri, homeschooling is required for students between the ages of 7 and 17. You can start earlier, but it isn't necessary until the school year when your child turns 7. If your student fulfills the necessary credits for high school graduation, they may graduate early. If your child is enrolled in another school before age 7, they must attend until a withdrawal letter is sent to the principal. Once your child turns 16, you no longer need to keep detailed records of their education. However, you must continue homeschooling them until they are 17, even though you can stop recording the hours spent on schooling after age 16.

OVERSIGHT REQUIREMENTS

In the state of Missouri you are considered a homeschool if:

1. Your main purpose is to provide private or religious-based instruction.
2. Your student is between the ages of 7-16. No more than 4 unrelated are being schooled. There is no limit of related students.
3. You can not charge or receive tuition, fees or other remuneration. You can NOT pay someone to homeschool your child.
4. Homeschool student may participate in a variety of programs, including programs that aren’t homeschool programs.

Missouri requires homeschoolers to keep the following records (but do not submit them to anyone):

1. A plan book, diary, or other record that tells about each subject that was covered during the day. A daily log could be used for this.
2. A portfolio. This consists of samples of your student's work throughout the year to show their progress. You can show what it was like at the beginning of the year, middle of the year and at the end of the year. MATCH has a nice Memory Ebook that you can download to help with items to put in your portfolio. There are two versions of this ebook. The one linked here is a condensed version of the one that MATCH members get on their website.
3. A record of evaluations. Missouri doesn’t require achievement testing. For the evaluations you can take a quiz or test given at the beginning, middle and end of the year to show the students progress.

Some people mistakenly think they need to follow the same rules as public schools when homeschooling. That's not the case—homeschoolers have their own laws and aren't bound by public school regulations. As a homeschooling parent, you act as the school's administrator. While you're not required to name your school, many choose to do so. You decide on the curriculum, schedule, and testing. Your records are private and don’t need to be submitted regularly to anyone. If charges of truancy or educational neglect are ever brought against you, the local prosecuting attorney can request your daily logs showing courses and hours, but not grades. Be sure you know who this is!!

SUBJECT REQUIREMENTS

In Missouri, students must study five core subjects each year:

Reading
Math
Social Studies
Language Arts
Science

The law doesn't specify graduation requirements for each subject, allowing you to choose what they study in each area. If your student plans to attend college, we recommend exploring different colleges during their 8th or 9th grade years to understand their admission requirements. Subject material should match the student's age and abilities. Homeschoolers don't have IEPs, so this approach helps tailor education to the student's needs and capabilities.

TIME REQUIREMENTS

Missouri requires students to complete 1,000 hours of instruction within the school year, from July 1st to June 30th. You have the flexibility to decide when these hours are fulfilled, so year-round schooling isn't mandatory. You set the school days, daily hours, and vacation time, as you are the school's administrator. At least 600 of those hours must be in the core subjects:

Reading
Math
Social Studies
Language Arts
Science

Of these, 400 hours need to be at the main homeschool location, which could be your home or another regular location where schooling occurs. The remaining 400 hours can include extracurricular activities of your choosing. You're in control of how much time is spent on each subject. There's no required number of minutes per class, so if your student struggles with a subject, you can allocate more time to it, and less to subjects they excel in. Once your student turns 16, you're no longer required to adhere to these guidelines.

GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS

In Missouri, homeschool students aren't required to earn a specific number of credits to graduate. You decide what's necessary for graduation. Students must attend school until their 17th birthday. However, there's an exception for those wishing to graduate early. Parents need to document a "statutory credit" for each class toward graduation. A statutory credit is 100 hours of instruction or more in a course counting toward graduation. A student can graduate early after completing 16 statutory credits. You only need to track these credits if your student plans to graduate before turning 17. These credits aren't required for transcripts sent to colleges or employers.

ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS

Missouri doesn't require homeschool students to take achievement tests. However, MATCH highly recommends that students take a standardized test every three years to assess their academic level. These results are solely for the parents' reference. Missouri does require parents to maintain a record of student evaluations. You can include a quiz or test from each class at the beginning, middle, and end of the year in the student's portfolio to demonstrate progress.

VACCINATION REQUIREMENTS

Missouri does not require homeschoolers to take vaccinations.

OTHER

Religous Freedom Act

Missouri homeschoolers are not required to include any concepts, topics, or practices in their curriculum that conflict with their school's religious doctrines.

Virtual School

In Missouri, virtual schools, stay-at-home schools, accredited online schools, and Pandemic PODs fall under public school law. Those using these types of schooling are not considered homeschoolers.

CONCLUSION

Most of Missouri's homeschool law was established following a 1985 federal court decision, which found the previous regulations unconstitutionally vague. We are grateful for the state legislators who support homeschooling, many of whom are homeschoolers themselves. We also appreciate the lobbyists who alert us when bills unfriendly to homeschooling are introduced. Working together helps maintain the positive homeschooling environment we enjoy in Missouri today.