Homeschooling in Pennsylvania

With all the new social distancing implementations I am finding more and more of my friends opting to homeschool rather than send their child to public school this year. So, this post is for you my dear mama.

First off, congratulations! I know this may not be the terms under which you want to jump into an adventure like this but trust me you CAN do it! Homeschooling is this wonderful bundle of joy, learning and daily graces with each other. You are already fully equipped for the task because you are their parent and you care more than anyone else in the world. You don’t need to be an expert, your willingness to learn along side them is enough.

While you could honestly homeschool with your general knowledge and a library card there are a few legal hoops you have to jump through to comply with PA Homeschool Laws. Unfortunately, PA is not the most relaxed state to homeschool in but it’s really not difficult either!

First off, you’ll have to file an affidavit by August 1st. An affidavit is just a fancy way of saying you are legally supervising your child’s education. The document will need to be notarized by a licensed PA notary, you can usually find one at your local post office, your bank or even a car dealership. Just be sure to call ahead to see if they are available.

Along with your affidavit you need to submit your child’s immunization records OR your religious exemption from them.

Lastly, you will need to submit a list of objectives outlining what material you will cover. This can be very basic and honestly, the more vague you keep it the better! Just be sure that you make a point to show you are covering the state mandated subjects. Keep in mind you don’t have to cover all these subjects every day! It’s your homeschool and you can do whatever you want with it. I’ll attach a copy of my AmblesideOnline’s Year 1 student’s objectives to give you a basic idea.

That’s it! Be sure to send all three forms to your school districts superintendent office. I highly recommend sending it via certified mail as proof that you sent it. Keep a copy of all documents and the mail receipt for your records.

If all this legal mumbo jumbo is kind of making you nervous you could always do what I did this year and purchase a HSLDA membership for your family. There, they have all the legal documents you will need and will be your legal representation if you should need it during the course of the year. They are fantastic and were a huge help as I was gathering all my information for my first time filing for homeschool this year too.

Wishing you the absolute best this year! If you want you can follow me on Instagram at Threelittleacornsacademy or on Facebook. There, I like to share more of our homeschool journey and helpful tips I’ve learned along the way.