2026–2027 Homeschool Laws and Requirements
How to Homeschool in South Dakota
Yes, you can homeschool your child in South Dakota. You do not need a teaching certificate or an approved curriculum; the law asks for the basic skills of language arts and mathematics and leaves the rest to you. South Dakota calls it alternative instruction, and asks for one notification, filed once with the Department of Education or your district within 30 days of starting.
Updated 9 October 2026 · Sources read 9 October 2026
Free printable guide
The South Dakota homeschool quick reference, 2026–2027
One page to keep: what South Dakota requires, the dates, and the official links, checked for the 2026–2027 school year. Open it here first, then download it.
What South Dakota homeschool law requires
The whole list for the 2026–2027 school year, from the Codified Laws, chapter 13-27, and the Department of Education's home schooling page:
| Requirement | What South Dakota asks | Where it says so |
|---|---|---|
| Notification | On the Department's standard form, to the Department of Education or your local district (the online system tells both at once), within 30 days of the first time your child begins alternative instruction while of school age: the child's name, birthdate, resident district and open-enrolled district if any, your signature and return information. You receive a signed or stamped copy as proof; the notification is confidential, and the form may ask for nothing more. | SDCL 13-27-7; SD DOE, Home Schooling |
| Filed once | No yearly renewal. A new form is due only within 30 days of a transition: your child enrolls in a public or nonpublic school, or moves to a different school district. | SDCL 13-27-7; SD DOE |
| Subjects and teacher | Alternative instruction in the basic skills of language arts and mathematics, given so as to lead to a mastery of the English language. The person teaching need not be certified, and no one may instruct more than twenty-two children. | SDCL 13-27-3 |
| Hours, tests, records | No days or hours, no approval, no curriculum, and no records filed. The current law names no test; the section was rewritten in 2021 and the old testing rule is not in it. | SDCL 13-27-3, as amended by SL 2021, ch 76; SD DOE |
| Ages, proof of age, activities | A child who is five or six by September 1, or at least six, attends school or receives alternative instruction until eighteen, graduation, or withdrawal at seventeen with your written consent; kindergarten comes before age seven. A school asks for a certified birth certificate or the Department of Health's affidavit within 30 days of enrollment, and the Department asks for proof of age before a home-schooled child joins the resident district's athletics or fine arts, which the law opens on the same eligibility rules. | SDCL 13-27-1; 13-27-3.1; SD DOE |
SD Department of Education: home schooling (file the notification online) SDCL 13-27-3, alternative instruction
How to start homeschooling in South Dakota
- File the Department's standard notification form, online (the system tells the Department and your district at once) or on paper, within 30 days of the first time your child begins alternative instruction while of school age: the child's name, birthdate, resident district and open-enrolled district if any, your signature and return information. You receive a signed or stamped copy as proof; the notification is confidential.
- Withdraw your child from the school.
- Teach the basic skills of language arts and mathematics so as to lead to a mastery of the English language. Faith Schooling's reading, language arts and mathematics programs cover exactly those; the rest of the year is yours to add.
- Plan the year. South Dakota counts no days or hours and approves no curriculum; the free Homeschool Rhythm Builder turns your week into a printable plan.
- Keep the stamped copy and a dated stack of finished work. File a new form only within 30 days of a transition: your child enrolls in a public or nonpublic school, or moves to a different school district. The Department asks for proof of age before a home-schooled child joins the resident district's athletics or fine arts.
How Faith Schooling covers South Dakota's requirements
South Dakota 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.
South Dakota's law names two basic skills, language arts and mathematics, and asks that instruction lead to mastery of English. Those two 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 for every grade from Kindergarten to Grade 5, taught in English from the first lesson. Everything else is yours to choose.
South Dakota 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.
- 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
- Everything else
- Your choice South Dakota names only the two basic skills; science, social studies, health and the arts are yours to choose
- Bible
- The Apostolic Academy not something South Dakota 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
Public school access and other opportunities in South Dakota
South Dakota's law opens the resident district's activities to a home-schooled child, as the Department states it:
- A home-schooled child may join the resident district's athletics and fine arts on the same eligibility rules, with proof of age provided to the Department first. Source: South Dakota Department of Education, Home Schooling, read 9 October 2026.
What South Dakota does not require, and you should still do
- Place your child. South Dakota tests no homeschooled child; HARVEST, the free placement check, names the grade and quarter to start in reading and math.
- Plan the year. South Dakota counts no days or hours; the Homeschool Rhythm Builder turns your week into a printable plan.
- Keep the stamped copy and the pages. The signed or stamped notification is your proof of compliance; a dated stack of finished work is the record a school will want if your child ever enrolls, and the transcript the district asks for before an activity.
HARVEST free placement Homeschool Rhythm Builder The Apostolic Academy
Common questions
- What is required to homeschool in South Dakota?
- One notification on the Department's form within 30 days of beginning alternative instruction, and instruction in the basic skills of language arts and mathematics. No yearly renewal, days, hours, test, records, curriculum approval or teacher certification.
- How do I start homeschooling in South Dakota?
- File the notification online or on paper, keep the signed or stamped copy, withdraw your child, and begin.
- Do I file every year in South Dakota?
- No. A new form is due only within 30 days of a transition: enrollment in a public or nonpublic school, or a move to a different school district.
- Are standardized tests required for South Dakota homeschoolers?
- No. The section was rewritten in 2021 and the old testing rule is not in it.
- Can I homeschool kindergarten in South Dakota?
- Yes. A child who is five or six by September 1 attends school or receives alternative instruction, so the notification covers the kindergarten year; kindergarten comes before age seven.
- Can my homeschooled child play school sports in South Dakota?
- Yes. The law opens the resident district's athletics and fine arts on the same eligibility rules, and the Department asks for proof of age first.
Official South Dakota homeschool resources
Read from the state's own pages for the 2026–2027 school year on the date shown. The Codified Laws and the Department of Education are the final word; this page is a plain-language guide, not legal advice.
- SDCL 13-27-3 — alternative instruction: the notification to the Department or the district, the basic skills of language arts and mathematics, mastery of English, no certificate required, twenty-two children at most (as amended by SL 2021, ch 76); read through the Legislature's own data service, which answers where its page does not — checked 2026-10-09
- SDCL 13-27-7 — the notification: the standard form, what it contains, the signed or stamped copy, confidentiality, filed within 30 days of the first time the child begins and not again unless the child enrolls in a school or moves to another district (SL 2021, ch 76) — checked 2026-10-09
- SDCL 13-27-1 — the duty to attend or receive alternative instruction: a child who is five or six by September 1, or at least six, until eighteen; kindergarten before seven; withdrawal at seventeen with written consent (SL 2025, ch 80) — checked 2026-10-09
- South Dakota Department of Education — Home Schooling: the notification form and online system, filed one time unless a transition occurs, the 30 days, the 22-student limit, activities in the resident district, proof of age — checked 2026-10-09