Idaho Homeschool Law ( Summary) - Idaho Homeschooling

Home schooling families in Idaho are subject to only minimal regulation. These are the actual statutes that govern home education in Idaho. Idaho's laws do not require home schoolers to register with the state or the local school district, report to anyone, or to take standardized tests.

Idaho law requires only that parents who choose to teach their children at home provide an education that is "comparable" to that available in the public schools. They are not required to provide an education that is identical, only comparable. This distinction provides the flexibility that has produced such remarkable academic achievement by home educated students. As compared to the laws in the rest of the nation, Idaho's provide tremendous freedoms. You can view a comparison of the home schooling laws of the various states.

Statutes do not define the precise subject materials that must be taught to home schooled students each year. They do not specify how many hours per day or days per year the student must be instructed. That is all left to the discretion of the parents as they decide how to design their child's program. This permits the parents to teach to their student's natural curiosity and to advance each child as he or she masters each component of the subject matter.

Students between the ages of seven (7) and sixteen (16) years of age are required to receive an education. Prior to a child's seventh (7th) birthday and after a child's sixteenth (16th) birthday, instruction is not mandatory.

Although home schooled students are not required to take standardized tests, ICHE encourages parents to routinely test their children to insure that educational progress is being made and to spot areas of weakness within the body of knowledge that has been mastered by the student. ICHE offers the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills and Iowa Tests of Educational Development to all privately home schooled students in the state.

In the event that a parent fails to provide instruction that is comparable to that available in the public schools, juvenile charges may be brought against the child and criminal charges may be brought against the parent. But before such charges will be sustained, the prosecutor's office must have credible evidence that the child is not being properly instructed. The home schooling family cannot be required to prove their innocence of the charges unless and until evidence suggesting that that the child is not receiving a comparable education is discovered. Instead, the family is entitled to a presumption of innocence until such evidence is produced by the police or the prosecutor. For more information on the rules protecting the privacy of the family, go here.

Home educated students in Idaho have an option to dually enroll in selected public school courses or programs. This may include academic classes, sports programs, band, and orchestra opportunities. The materials included in section V, below, set forth more of the rules that apply to dually-enrolled students.

Students may also enroll in charter school computer-based distance education programs. However, even though most or all of such instruction is given at home, it should be remembered that such students are treated by the state as full-time public school students. They are not participating in what has historically been regarded as private home schooling. The enrollment in such a program requires the parents and the students to adhere to the regulations that govern the particular program in which the student is enrolled, including state mandated testing

Vist the site for
State Laws
Federal Laws
Testing & Registration
Dual Enrollment
Dealing With Health & Welfare, Police, and School Districts
The Social Worker at Your Door: 10 Helpful Hints (pdf)
Department of Education Protocols

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This summary is intended as a guide and not legal advice.
Check for updates regularly.