How to Homeschool in Idaho

What Idaho homeschool law requires

The whole list for the 2026–2027 school year, from Idaho Code section 33-202 and the Department of Education:

Idaho Department of Education: homeschool Idaho Code § 33-202

How to start homeschooling in Idaho

1. Unenroll your child from the public school first; the Department of Education calls that the first step. Nothing is filed with the state or the district.
2. Choose your materials. Idaho asks for the subjects commonly and usually taught in its public schools, covered in your own way, and approves no curriculum; Faith Schooling's reading, language arts and mathematics programs give the year a sequence, and the Idaho Content Standards show what each grade covers in the rest.
3. Plan the year. Idaho counts no days or hours; the free Homeschool Rhythm Builder turns your week into a printable plan.
4. Keep the records that stand in for a diploma: a dated stack of finished pages from the first year on. The Department says the parent's records take the place of an accredited diploma, and a district decides grade placement for a child returning to public school.
5. Ask your district about part-time enrollment or its tests if you want them: Idaho's dual enrollment law lets a homeschooled child take part by arrangement.

How Faith Schooling covers Idaho's requirements

Idaho sets no days or hours. A year of 36 weeks with four or five mornings a week is the common shape, and it is yours to set.

Idaho asks for the subjects its public schools teach and nothing else: no filing, no test, no hours. Faith Schooling's programs are the heart of that list, a sequenced reading, language arts and mathematics textbook for every grade from Kindergarten to Grade 5 with teaching guides, and the Idaho Content Standards the Department points to are a checklist you can hold them against. Science, social studies, health and the arts are yours to choose.

Idaho asks you to keep no records. Keep them anyway: the dated, finished pages of each program are your own record of the year, and they answer any question a school ever asks when a child moves between home and classroom.

Reading

Phonics, Decoding, and Early Fluency K–5 reading textbooks in four quarterly volumes a year, with complete teaching guides

Language arts and writing

Grammar Garden K–5 language and writing coursebooks, four a year, with Preceptor Guides

Mathematics

Building Number Sense K–5 mathematics textbooks; Kindergarten to Grade 2 add practice workbooks and teaching guides

Everything else

Your choice Idaho names no subjects; science, social studies, health and the arts are yours to choose

Bible

The Apostolic Academy not something Idaho requires; free: Scripture memory, Bible study and printables for the family

The curriculum map Phonics, Decoding, and Early Fluency Grammar Garden Building Number Sense HARVEST placement Homeschool Rhythm Builder

Financial assistance for Idaho homeschoolers

Idaho's Parental Choice Tax Credit (House Bill 93, 2025; administered by the State Tax Commission) is a credit of up to $5,000 per eligible student, or $7,500 for a student with a qualifying disability, for nonpublic education expenses, with priority for families at or under 300 percent of the federal poverty level.

For a homeschooling family the qualifying expenses are a base curriculum covering at least English language arts, math, science and social studies, textbooks, tutoring in those four subjects, reasonable transportation and certain academic tests. The instruction a parent provides does not qualify, nor do extracurricular or nonacademic activities. The 2026 application period has closed.

• Up to $5,000 per eligible student, or up to $7,500 per eligible student with a qualifying disability; families who make 300% or less receive priority. Source: Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit, About the Program (State Tax Commission), read 9 October 2026.
• Qualifying expenses include tuition to a nonpublic school or a base curriculum that covers at a minimum the four core subjects of English language arts, math, science and social studies, and then tutoring in the four core subjects, textbooks, reasonable transportation to and from the nonpublic school, and certain academic testing. Source: Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit, Qualifying Expenses, read 9 October 2026.
• Homeschool academic instruction that a parent provides, and extracurricular or nonacademic activities, are nonqualifying expenses. Source: Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit, Qualifying Expenses, read 9 October 2026.
• The 2026 application period is closed. Source: Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit, About the Program (State Tax Commission), read 9 October 2026.

Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit (State Tax Commission)

Public school access and other opportunities in Idaho

Neither is required, but Idaho's districts open two doors to a homeschooled child by arrangement:

• By arrangement a district may let a homeschooled child sit its tests or enroll part time under the dual enrollment law. Source: Idaho Department of Education, Frequently Asked Questions about Homeschooling (May 2025), read 8 October 2026.

What Idaho does not require, and you should still do

• Place your child. Idaho tests no homeschooled child; HARVEST, the free placement check, names the grade and quarter to start in reading and math.
• Plan the year. The Homeschool Rhythm Builder turns your week into a printable plan; with no calendar required, the plan is the calendar.
• Keep the records that stand in for a diploma. Idaho's Department says the parent's records take the place of an accredited diploma; a dated stack of finished pages, kept from the first year, is the transcript you will need later.

HARVEST free placement Homeschool Rhythm Builder The Apostolic Academy