While "homeschooling" is a popular search term, Florida law refers to it as "Home Education"—a parent-directed program where you notify your local school district superintendent of your intent to educate your children at home. No state curriculum approval is needed, and you have full flexibility in methods (e.g., classical, unschooling, eclectic, etc.). This option satisfies compulsory attendance in Florida for ages 6-16.

1) File a one-time notice of intent with your county's school superintendent within 30 days of starting. Include your child's name, birthdate, and address—no fees or approvals required.

Most counties have a Letter of Intent for Home Education available on their website, or you can use the general one provided on our website (https://www.flhef.org/downloads). You'll need to check your local school district's website for the exact email address or physical address to submit this form to your school district (or some counties may use an online submission portal). 2) Be sure to follow the requirements for record-keeping and annual evaluations for home education in Florida! Maintain a portfolio of work samples and reading logs for two years, and submit an annual evaluation (e.g., portfolio review or standardized test) by the anniversary date of your letter of intent.

No daily hours or 180-day requirements apply.

We have another FAQ about the record-keeping and annual evaluations if you want more details!

No registration with a public or private school is required for pure Home Education—you're fully independent. Choose any curriculum that fits your family; Florida doesn't mandate subjects beyond demonstrating progress via evaluation.

If you decide Home Education isn't right for you but would still like an option other than public school or a typical brick-and-mortar private school, there are other attendance options in Florida. You can enroll in a private "umbrella" school for oversight and transcripts (your child would be considered a private school student but would be able to complete most work at home), or you can hire a full-time certified tutor (requiring 180 days/year).

Another option is the Personalized Education Program (PEP), a scholarship providing about $8,000 as an education savings account (ESA). This allows you to "homeschool" with financial aid, but is separate from Home Education in Florida and requires that you submit an annual assessment. This may be a good option for those who want to homeschool, but need the financial support to hire part-time tutors, enroll in enrichment classes, etc., to augment their other homeschooling.

Send a notice of intent to the superintendent and inform the school. No waiting period and no need to wait for "permission"—your child is immediately under Home Education.

Keep records of the transition for your portfolio.

The official website of the Florida Legislature is http://leg.state.fl.us/. There, you can look up any of the Florida statutes.

The statutes directly pertaining to Home Education are primarily in Florida statute 1002, although you will also see references there to statute 1006 (about extracurriculars, including 1006.15 where the Craig Dickinson Act ensures that home education students have the right to take extracurriculars at public schools), and other references to other specific, related statues as well.

Now that PEP (Personalized Education Program) also exists as a separate option for compulsory attendance (it is considered separate from home education in statute), you may want to familiarize yourself with PEP info as well in s.1002.395. You can also find loads of helpful info about PEP on the FLHEF.ORG website.

If you're new to homeschooling and have questions about your rights, responsibilities, and freedoms under Florida law, please reach out to us directly in our HEFx Discord Server! http://flhef.org/discord.

We want all parents to be informed, so we are happy to answer questions!

No. There are no restrictions on what curricula or course content a parent can use for home education, and no required list of subjects per grade level in statute. In fact, home education students do not technically have a "grade level" and do not have to conform to typical grade-level expectations. Your child could be using a variety of levels of curriculum or course materials in any given year, based on their proficiency and/or educational progress in each area---you, as the parent, decide what to use for your child's education.

No. Although many umbrella school students do much of their education at home, and most consider themselves homeschoolers, umbrella schools are private schools according to Florida statutes, and are therefore subject to all private school statutes and requirements, rather than the home education statutes.

Yes! If you're looking for financial aid for home education, you have basically two options:

• The FES-UA (Unique Abilities) scholarship for children with disabilities can be used as a registered home education student or private school student.

• The PEP (Personalized Education Program) scholarship, for those who wish to home-educate with financial aid/scholarship support. However, PEP is not just a scholarship---it is its own attendance track, and is intentionally separate from home education in statute, so if you choose this option, you will need to terminate your home education status once you are awarded PEP--but PEP students still get the same flexibilities and opportunities afforded in statute as home education students. (You can find out more about why PEP is a separate track from home education, and how it all works, in our PEP FAQs below!)