How to Homeschool in Illinois

What Illinois homeschool law requires

The whole list for the 2026–2027 school year, from the School Code and the State Board of Education:

ISBE's homeschooling guide (PDF) ISBE's five homeschooling questions (PDF)

How to start homeschooling in Illinois

1. Tell the school in writing that you are withdrawing your child to homeschool, so the child is not marked absent and truant, and keep a copy. No school may require you to register first.
2. Choose materials for the six subjects, taught in English: language arts, mathematics, biological and physical sciences, social sciences, fine arts, and physical development and health. Faith Schooling covers the first two; you add the rest.
3. Plan the year. Illinois counts no days or hours; the free Homeschool Rhythm Builder turns your week into a printable plan and the attendance log the State Board suggests.
4. Keep your own records: report cards, syllabi and an attendance log. Nothing is submitted, and a public school places a returning child on what it can see.

How Faith Schooling covers Illinois's requirements

Illinois 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.

Illinois treats your home as a private school and asks for six subjects taught in English. Two of them are ours in full: language arts is Phonics, Decoding, and Early Fluency and Grammar Garden, mathematics is Building Number Sense, each a sequenced textbook with a teaching guide, in English, for every grade from Kindergarten to Grade 5. The sciences, the social sciences, fine arts, and physical development and health are yours to choose.

Illinois asks for no records; the State Board suggests report cards, syllabi and an attendance log for a return to public school. The dated, finished pages of each program are that record, and a HARVEST report is a placement note for the file.

Language arts

Phonics, Decoding, and Early Fluency and Grammar Garden reading in Phonics, Decoding, and Early Fluency; grammar, writing and composition in Grammar Garden

Mathematics

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

Biological and physical sciences, social sciences, fine arts and physical development and health

Your choice Faith Schooling does not publish these subjects; choose what fits your family

Bible

The Apostolic Academy not something Illinois 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 Illinois homeschoolers

Illinois's Education Expense Credit is open to home schools. A parent or guardian of a full-time student under 21 may claim 25 percent of qualified education expenses over $250, up to $750 a year for the family, when the student attended a public or nonpublic school in Illinois or a school providing instruction in the home that satisfies the truancy law (Section 26-1 of the School Code). Publication 112 lists what counts for a home school and the receipts to keep.

• A credit for qualified education expenses in excess of $250 paid during the tax year, for the parent or guardian of a full-time student under 21, when the student attended kindergarten through twelfth grade at a public or nonpublic school in Illinois or a school providing educational instruction in a home that satisfies the requirements of the truancy law in Section 26-1 of the School Code. Source: Illinois Department of Revenue, Publication 112, Education Expense Credit General Rules and Requirements (R-04/24), read 9 October 2026.
• The credit is 25 percent of the student's qualified education expenses after the first $250, and the total credit may not exceed $750 regardless of the number of qualifying students. Source: Illinois Department of Revenue, Publication 112, Education Expense Credit General Rules and Requirements (R-04/24), read 9 October 2026.

Publication 112, Education Expense Credit (Illinois Department of Revenue)

What Illinois does not require, and you should still do

• Place your child. Illinois tests no homeschooled child; HARVEST, the free placement check, names the grade and quarter to start in reading and math.
• Plan the year. Illinois counts no days or hours; the Homeschool Rhythm Builder turns your week into a printable plan and the attendance log the State Board suggests.
• Keep the pages. A public school places a returning child on what it can see; a dated stack of finished work, with a report card you wrote yourself, is what it will look at.

HARVEST free placement Homeschool Rhythm Builder The Apostolic Academy