How to Homeschool in Pennsylvania

What Pennsylvania homeschool law requires

The whole list for the 2026–2027 school year, from the Public School Code, 24 P.S. § 13-1327.1, and the Department of Education's home education pages:

PDE: home education and private tutoring (affidavit templates) PDE's circular on the Home Education Program

How to start homeschooling in Pennsylvania

1. Before you begin, and by August 1 each year after, file with your superintendent a notarized affidavit (or an unsworn declaration, which needs no notary) using the Department's templates: the supervising parent, who holds a high school diploma or its equivalent; the children's names and ages; your address; an outline of your educational objectives by subject; evidence of immunization and of the health services required for the child's grade, or a religious or medical exemption; and the assurance that the supervisor, the adults in the household and anyone with custody have not been convicted of the listed offenses in the past five years. For a child identified for special education, a qualified person approves the objectives first.
2. Withdraw your child from the public school once the affidavit is filed.
3. Plan 180 days a year, or 900 hours in the elementary years (990 in the secondary years), in English, across: English including spelling, reading and writing; arithmetic; science; geography; history of the United States and Pennsylvania; civics; safety education including the dangers and prevention of fires; health and physiology; physical education; music; and art. Faith Schooling covers English and arithmetic; you add the rest. The free Homeschool Rhythm Builder turns your week into a printable plan with an hour count.
4. Keep the portfolio as you go: a log of the reading materials used, samples of writings, worksheets, workbooks and creative work, and, in grades 3, 5 and 8, the results of a nationally normed standardized test (or the state test) in reading and mathematics, given by someone other than the parent.
5. By June 30, have your evaluator (a licensed clinical or school psychologist, a Pennsylvania-certified teacher, or another qualified person agreed with the superintendent) review the portfolio, interview your child, and certify to the superintendent that an appropriate education took place. The portfolio itself stays with you.

How Faith Schooling covers Pennsylvania's requirements

Pennsylvania asks for 180 days a year or 900 hours in the elementary years (990 in the secondary), about five hours a day over 36 weeks of five days, or 45 weeks of four.

Pennsylvania's affidavit asks for your educational objectives by subject, and its portfolio holds writings, worksheets and workbooks. Two of the elementary subjects are ours in full: English, which the statute spells out as spelling, reading and writing, is Phonics, Decoding, and Early Fluency and Grammar Garden; arithmetic is Building Number Sense; each a sequenced textbook with a printed scope you can copy into the objectives and a teaching guide for every grade from Kindergarten to Grade 5, and their dated, finished pages are the portfolio an evaluator reads in June. Science, geography, history, civics, safety, health, physical education, music and art are yours to choose.

Pennsylvania asks for a portfolio: a log of the reading materials used, samples of writings, worksheets, workbooks and creative work, and the test results in grades 3, 5 and 8, reviewed by your evaluator each June. The dated, finished pages of each program are that record, and a HARVEST report is a placement note for the file.

English, including spelling, reading and writing

Phonics, Decoding, and Early Fluency and Grammar Garden spelling patterns are taught with the phonics; grammar and writing in Grammar Garden

Arithmetic

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

Science, geography, history of the United States and Pennsylvania, civics, safety education, including the dangers and prevention of fires, health and physiology, physical education, music and art

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

Bible

The Apostolic Academy not something Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania does not require, and you should still do

• Place your child before grade 3. Pennsylvania's first test comes in third grade; HARVEST, the free placement check, tells you at the start where your child stands in reading and math and names the grade and quarter to begin.
• Plan the 180 days. The Homeschool Rhythm Builder turns your week into a printable plan with an hour count, so 900 hours is a tally rather than a guess.
• Keep the portfolio as you go. Set a few dated pages aside from each subject every month, and the June evaluation is a folder you already have.

HARVEST free placement Homeschool Rhythm Builder The Apostolic Academy