2026–2027 Homeschool Laws and Requirements
How to Homeschool in Massachusetts
Yes, you can homeschool your child in Massachusetts. You do not need a teaching license or a college degree, and you choose your curriculum, including religious materials, which the law says may not be a reason to refuse you. Massachusetts asks one thing most states do not: your local superintendent or school committee approves your home education plan in advance, each year, under rules the Supreme Judicial Court set in 1987.
Updated 9 October 2026 · Sources read 8 October 2026
Free printable guide
The Massachusetts homeschool quick reference, 2026–2027
One page to keep: what Massachusetts requires, the dates, and the official links, checked for the 2026–2027 school year. Open it here first, then download it.
What Massachusetts homeschool law requires
The whole list for the 2026–2027 school year, from the General Laws and the Supreme Judicial Court's Charles decision of 1987, which every district follows:
| Requirement | What Massachusetts asks | Where it says so |
|---|---|---|
| Approval in advance | From your superintendent or school committee, renewed each year. Approval may not be withheld on account of religious teaching. Each district has its own form or policy; ask for it, and send your plan before you withdraw a child from a public school, so the district has time to answer. | M.G.L. c. 76, § 1; Care and Protection of Charles (1987) |
| What a district may ask | The subjects and the proposed curriculum, which it may compare with what the public schools teach (reading, writing, English and grammar, arithmetic, geography, the history and Constitution of the United States, the duties of citizenship, drawing, music, health and physical education); the hours of instruction and the length of the school year, measured against the public schools' 180 days; and who will teach. No teaching certificate and no college degree. | M.G.L. c. 71, § 1; Charles (1987) |
| Progress | Shown as you and the district agree: periodic standardized tests, periodic progress reports, or dated samples of your child's work. A district may ask to see your textbooks, workbooks and lesson plans; it may not require home visits, and it must hear you before refusing a plan. | Charles (1987); Brunelle v. Lynn Public Schools (1998) |
| Tests, curriculum, diploma | No state test (MCAS is not required of homeschoolers), no state curriculum and no state diploma. The district reviews your plan; the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education does not approve plans. | DESE, Home Schooling |
| Ages | Compulsory attendance begins in the September of the calendar year your child turns six and runs to sixteen. | 603 CMR 8.02 |
M.G.L. c. 76, § 1: school attendance, instruction approved in advance DESE: home schooling
How to start homeschooling in Massachusetts
- Ask your district for its home education form or policy; each has its own. Send your plan before you withdraw a child from a public school, so the district has time to answer.
- Write the plan the district may ask for: the subjects and proposed curriculum (it may compare them with the public schools'), the hours of instruction and the length of the school year (measured against the public schools' 180 days), who will teach, and how progress will be shown. Faith Schooling's reading, language arts and mathematics programs come with a published scope and sequence, which answers the curriculum question for those subjects.
- Agree the progress check: periodic standardized tests, periodic progress reports, or dated samples of your child's work. A district may ask to see textbooks, workbooks and lesson plans; it may not require home visits, and it must hear you before refusing a plan.
- Once the plan is approved, withdraw your child and begin; renew the approval each year.
- Keep the pages dated from the first week, so the progress check you agreed is a folder you already have.
How Faith Schooling covers Massachusetts's requirements
Massachusetts sets no days or hours in its statute. Your district measures the hours and the length of year you propose against the public schools' 180 days, and you are the one who proposes them: 36 weeks of five days, or 45 weeks of four, is the common shape.
Massachusetts is the one state where your plan is read before you begin, and the court that set the rules said approval may not be withheld on account of religious teaching. Faith Schooling's programs are a plan a district can read: reading, writing, English and grammar are Phonics, Decoding, and Early Fluency and Grammar Garden, arithmetic is Building Number Sense, each a sequenced textbook with a printed scope and a teaching guide for every grade from Kindergarten to Grade 5, and their dated, finished pages are the dated work samples a district may accept as its progress check. Geography, history, citizenship, drawing, music, health and physical education are yours to choose.
Massachusetts asks for the progress check you agree with your district: periodic tests, progress reports, or dated samples of your child's work. The dated, finished pages of each program are that record, and a HARVEST report is a placement note for the file.
- Reading
- Phonics, Decoding, and Early Fluency K–5 reading textbooks in four quarterly volumes a year, with complete teaching guides
- Writing
- Grammar Garden K–5 language and writing coursebooks, four a year, with Preceptor Guides
- English and grammar
- Phonics, Decoding, and Early Fluency and Grammar Garden reading in Phonics, Decoding, and Early Fluency; grammar, writing and composition in Grammar Garden
- Arithmetic
- Building Number Sense K–5 mathematics textbooks; Kindergarten to Grade 2 add practice workbooks and teaching guides
- Geography, the history and Constitution of the United States, the duties of citizenship, drawing, music, health and physical education
- Your choice Faith Schooling does not publish these subjects; choose what fits your family
- Bible
- The Apostolic Academy not something Massachusetts 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
What Massachusetts does not require, and you should still do
- Place your child. The state tests no homeschooled child, and a district may accept work samples instead of tests; HARVEST, the free placement check, names the grade and quarter to start in reading and math, and its report is a page you can attach to the plan.
- Plan the year before you file. The Homeschool Rhythm Builder turns your proposed hours into a printable weekly plan, which is the hours-and-length-of-year answer a district asks for.
- Keep the pages dated from the first week. Dated work samples are the progress check the court named, and the folder is ready whenever the district asks.
HARVEST free placement Homeschool Rhythm Builder The Apostolic Academy
Common questions
- What is required to homeschool in Massachusetts?
- Approval in advance from your superintendent or school committee, renewed each year, of a plan covering subjects and curriculum, hours and length of year, who will teach, and how progress will be shown. No teaching certificate, no college degree, no state test.
- How do I start homeschooling in Massachusetts?
- Get your district's form or policy, send your plan before withdrawing your child, agree the progress check, and begin once the plan is approved.
- Can a Massachusetts district refuse my homeschool plan?
- It must hear you first, and approval may not be withheld on account of religious teaching. The district reviews the plan; the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education does not.
- Are standardized tests required for Massachusetts homeschoolers?
- Not by the state: MCAS is not required of homeschoolers. Progress is shown as you and the district agree, by periodic standardized tests, progress reports, or dated samples of work.
- How many instructional hours does Massachusetts require?
- None are set in law. The district may ask for your hours and the length of your school year and compare them with the public schools' 180 days.
- Can I homeschool kindergarten in Massachusetts?
- Yes. Compulsory attendance begins in the September of the calendar year your child turns six, so approval is needed from that year.
Official Massachusetts homeschool resources
Read from the state's own pages for the 2026–2027 school year on the date shown. The General Laws, the courts and your own district's policy are the final word; this page is a plain-language guide, not legal advice.
- M.G.L. c. 76, § 1 — school attendance; a child otherwise instructed in a manner approved in advance by the superintendent or the school committee; approval not withheld on account of religious teaching — checked 2026-10-08
- M.G.L. c. 71, § 1 — the subjects every public school teaches, the measure a district may use for a home education plan — checked 2026-10-08
- Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries — Massachusetts law about home schooling: the statute, 603 CMR 8.02, Care and Protection of Charles, 399 Mass. 324 (1987) and Brunelle v. Lynn Public Schools, 428 Mass. 512 (1998)
- 603 CMR 8.02 — school attendance begins in September of the calendar year in which the child turns six
- Department of Elementary and Secondary Education — Home Schooling