Homeschooling in Pennsylvania

Yes, you can do this here. Pennsylvania’s requirements are detailed, but every piece becomes manageable once it is separated by pathway and placed in order.

If you are wondering whether homeschooling works where you live, the answer in Pennsylvania is yes. Pennsylvania gives families two at-home paths, each with its own rules. Once you identify yours, the paperwork, records, and dates become much easier to place in order.

Two legal ways to teach your children at home in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania recognizes two at-home paths, and they are governed by different laws.

A home education program under 24 P.S. § 13-1327.1. You direct your child’s education. You file an affidavit or unsworn declaration with your school district, keep a portfolio, and submit an evaluator’s certification each year.

A properly qualified private tutor under 24 P.S. § 13-1327 and 22 Pa. Code § 11.31. The tutor holds a Pennsylvania teaching certificate, teaches children of a single family, provides the majority of the instruction, and receives a fee or other consideration. A parent who holds Pennsylvania certification may serve as the tutor for her own children.

Follow the requirements identified for the pathway you use. Even when the two pathways address the same subject, their duties and legal sources may differ.

Day schools, church and other private schools, cyber charter schools, and district online programs are separate options under Pennsylvania’s compulsory attendance law. They are not homeschooling. Pennsylvania’s approved diploma-granting organizations are a credential choice inside a home education program, not a third path.

Under 22 Pa. Code § 11.31a, school district approval is not required to begin a home education program once the required paperwork is filed. Under 22 Pa. Code § 11.31(b)(1), district approval is not required to begin private tutoring either. Neither is a request for permission.

What Pennsylvania asks for a home education program, and how to handle it

These are the requirements of § 13-1327.1 only. They do not apply to the private tutor path.

What Pennsylvania asks under § 13-1327.1

  • A notarized affidavit, or an unsworn declaration signed under penalty of perjury, filed with the superintendent of your district of residence before you begin and by August 1 each year after that. It sets forth the name of the supervisor responsible for the instruction, the name and age of each child in the program, the address and telephone number of the program site, that the subjects required by law are offered in the English language, and the assurance that the program will comply with the law. It also carries a certification signed by the supervisor that the supervisor, all adults living in the home, and all persons having legal custody of a child in the program have not been convicted of the criminal offenses enumerated in § 1-111(e) within the five years immediately preceding the date of the affidavit. § 13-1327.1(b)(1)
  • An outline of proposed education objectives by subject area, attached to the affidavit or declaration. § 13-1327.1(b)(1)
  • Evidence, set forth in the affidavit or declaration, that your child has met the immunization requirements of § 13-1303(a) and received the health and medical services required for the child’s age or grade level under Article XIV. § 13-1327.1(b)(1)
  • Instruction in the required subjects. At the elementary level, K through 6: English including spelling, reading, and writing; arithmetic; science; geography; history of the United States and Pennsylvania; civics; safety education including fire dangers and prevention; health and physiology; physical education; music; art. At the secondary level, 7 through 12: English including language, literature, speech, and composition; science; geography; social studies including civics, world history, and history of the United States and Pennsylvania; mathematics including general mathematics, algebra, and geometry; art; music; physical education; health; safety education. § 13-1327.1(c)(1) and (c)(2)
  • 180 days of instruction, or 900 hours at the elementary level, or 990 hours at the secondary level. § 13-1327.1(c)
  • A portfolio for each student containing a log made at the time of instruction naming the reading materials used by title, samples of writings, worksheets, workbooks, or creative materials, and the test results described in the next row. § 13-1327.1(e)(1)
  • Standardized testing in grades 3, 5, and 8 in reading or language arts and mathematics, either the statewide tests or a nationally normed test from the Department’s approved list. The test may not be administered by the child’s parent or guardian. § 13-1327.1(e)(1)
  • An annual written evaluation of each student by a qualified evaluator, based on an interview of the child and a review of the portfolio, with the evaluator’s certification provided to your superintendent by June 30. § 13-1327.1(e)(2) and (h.1)

How to handle it

  • You file this yourself. Pennsylvania does not mandate one form. The Department of Education publishes sample affidavits and unsworn declarations for the elementary and secondary levels. Review your district’s board policy for local submission instructions. PDE says its sample forms contain all and only the legal requirements, and another form may be used if it includes every required item. The § 1-111(e) item is a certification you sign, not a clearance you file.
  • The Education Plan Builder walks you through your year and produces a plan you can print. The statute says this outline may not be used by the superintendent to judge whether your program is out of compliance.
  • Keep the applicable records from your files and health-care providers. The statutory requirement and the documentation question are explained below the table.
  • Hundreds of self-paced courses covering these subjects, preschool through twelfth grade, are included in one membership. You choose what fits each child.
  • You choose days or hours and log what you use. Applecore Record Keeping tracks attendance, and the High School Hours Tracking Logs handle hour counts for older students.
  • The Portfolio Builder gives you fillable templates for the table of contents, subject summaries, and the three archives you are organizing. The evaluator reviews the portfolio. It is not part of the family’s routine annual filing with the district, although statutory hearing procedures may require additional documentation.
  • Arrange the test separately and place the result in the student’s portfolio. If you ask, your district must let your child take the statewide test at the building the child would normally attend, or by another arrangement you agree to. The Department publishes the approved alternative tests.
  • You choose your evaluator from the categories the statute allows, and your district cannot reject one who qualifies. The evaluator may not be you or your spouse. The Portfolio Review Template, the Schoolhouse Gradebook, and Applecore Record Keeping give you the year in order before you meet with your evaluator.

What Pennsylvania asks under § 13-1327.1

How to handle it

  • A notarized affidavit, or an unsworn declaration signed under penalty of perjury, filed with the superintendent of your district of residence before you begin and by August 1 each year after that. It sets forth the name of the supervisor responsible for the instruction, the name and age of each child in the program, the address and telephone number of the program site, that the subjects required by law are offered in the English language, and the assurance that the program will comply with the law. It also carries a certification signed by the supervisor that the supervisor, all adults living in the home, and all persons having legal custody of a child in the program have not been convicted of the criminal offenses enumerated in § 1-111(e) within the five years immediately preceding the date of the affidavit. § 13-1327.1(b)(1)
  • You file this yourself. Pennsylvania does not mandate one form. The Department of Education publishes sample affidavits and unsworn declarations for the elementary and secondary levels. Review your district’s board policy for local submission instructions. PDE says its sample forms contain all and only the legal requirements, and another form may be used if it includes every required item. The § 1-111(e) item is a certification you sign, not a clearance you file.
  • An outline of proposed education objectives by subject area, attached to the affidavit or declaration. § 13-1327.1(b)(1)
  • The Education Plan Builder walks you through your year and produces a plan you can print. The statute says this outline may not be used by the superintendent to judge whether your program is out of compliance.
  • Evidence, set forth in the affidavit or declaration, that your child has met the immunization requirements of § 13-1303(a) and received the health and medical services required for the child’s age or grade level under Article XIV. § 13-1327.1(b)(1)
  • Keep the applicable records from your files and health-care providers. The statutory requirement and the documentation question are explained below the table.
  • Instruction in the required subjects. At the elementary level, K through 6: English including spelling, reading, and writing; arithmetic; science; geography; history of the United States and Pennsylvania; civics; safety education including fire dangers and prevention; health and physiology; physical education; music; art. At the secondary level, 7 through 12: English including language, literature, speech, and composition; science; geography; social studies including civics, world history, and history of the United States and Pennsylvania; mathematics including general mathematics, algebra, and geometry; art; music; physical education; health; safety education. § 13-1327.1(c)(1) and (c)(2)
  • Hundreds of self-paced courses covering these subjects, preschool through twelfth grade, are included in one membership. You choose what fits each child.
  • 180 days of instruction, or 900 hours at the elementary level, or 990 hours at the secondary level. § 13-1327.1(c)
  • You choose days or hours and log what you use. Applecore Record Keeping tracks attendance, and the High School Hours Tracking Logs handle hour counts for older students.
  • A portfolio for each student containing a log made at the time of instruction naming the reading materials used by title, samples of writings, worksheets, workbooks, or creative materials, and the test results described in the next row. § 13-1327.1(e)(1)
  • The Portfolio Builder gives you fillable templates for the table of contents, subject summaries, and the three archives you are organizing. The evaluator reviews the portfolio. It is not part of the family’s routine annual filing with the district, although statutory hearing procedures may require additional documentation.
  • Standardized testing in grades 3, 5, and 8 in reading or language arts and mathematics, either the statewide tests or a nationally normed test from the Department’s approved list. The test may not be administered by the child’s parent or guardian. § 13-1327.1(e)(1)
  • Arrange the test separately and place the result in the student’s portfolio. If you ask, your district must let your child take the statewide test at the building the child would normally attend, or by another arrangement you agree to. The Department publishes the approved alternative tests.
  • An annual written evaluation of each student by a qualified evaluator, based on an interview of the child and a review of the portfolio, with the evaluator’s certification provided to your superintendent by June 30. § 13-1327.1(e)(2) and (h.1)
  • You choose your evaluator from the categories the statute allows, and your district cannot reject one who qualifies. The evaluator may not be you or your spouse. The Portfolio Review Template, the Schoolhouse Gradebook, and Applecore Record Keeping give you the year in order before you meet with your evaluator.

About the health and immunization line. What § 13-1327.1(b)(1) requires is that your affidavit or declaration set forth evidence that your child has met the immunization requirements and received the Article XIV health and medical services for the child’s age or grade level. The statute does not define the form that evidence must take. The Department of Education publishes guidance describing supporting documentation and how districts handle it.

Immunization carries its own exemptions. Pennsylvania recognizes a medical exemption when a physician certifies that a child has a contraindication to immunization, and an exemption on religious grounds or on the basis of a strong moral or ethical conviction similar to religious belief.

The Article XIV requirements are a separate matter. Physical examinations, dental examinations, and health screenings are governed by their own provisions and their own schedule, and the immunization exemptions above should not be assumed to apply to them. Review the Department of Education’s current health guidance and the Department of Health materials it points to for those requirements.

If your district asks for more than you expected, review the Department’s current guidance and contact the Christian Homeschool Association of Pennsylvania, which provides Pennsylvania-specific homeschool guidance.

If your child has been identified as needing special-education services. When a child has been identified under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act as needing special education services, not including a child identified only as gifted or talented, the home education program must address that child’s specific needs and must be approved by a teacher holding a valid Pennsylvania certificate to teach special education, or by a licensed clinical or certified school psychologist. Written notification of that approval is submitted with the affidavit or unsworn declaration. § 13-1327(d). You are not required to hold a special education credential yourself. The approval comes from one of the professionals the statute names.

You do not have to teach every lesson yourself. Pennsylvania recognizes homeschool cooperatives and outside instruction, and work completed through a course, a co-op, a relative, a specialist, or an online provider can count when evidence of that work appears in your portfolio.

A note on co-op clearances. The Pennsylvania Department of Education distinguishes between organized cooperatives and informal parent-run cooperatives. An organized cooperative operated by a homeschool organization needs clearances for instructors who have direct contact with children. Under PDE’s interpretation, an informal cooperative organized by a group of parents does not require instructor clearances. Where clearances apply, Pennsylvania State Police and child-abuse certifications are required and renewed every five years. An FBI certification may also be required depending on residency history and whether a qualifying prior certification exists. Ask the organizer which kind of co-op it is and confirm the current clearance process with PDE or the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. These are co-op obligations, not part of a family’s home education filing.

What Pennsylvania asks for private tutoring, and how to handle it

These are the requirements of § 13-1327 and 22 Pa. Code § 11.31 only. They do not apply to a home education program.

What Pennsylvania asks under § 13-1327 and 22 Pa. Code § 11.31

  • The tutor is certified by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to teach in the public schools, teaches one or more children who are members of a single family, provides the majority of the instruction, and receives a fee or other consideration for that instruction. § 13-1327(a)
  • No person disqualified from school employment under § 1-111(e) may serve as a private tutor, and the tutor files a copy of the Pennsylvania certification and the required criminal history record with the superintendent of the student’s district of residence. § 13-1327(a)
  • Instruction in the required subjects. At the elementary level, K through 6: English including spelling, reading, and writing; arithmetic; geography; the history of the United States and Pennsylvania; science; civics including loyalty to the State and National government; safety education including fire dangers and prevention; health including physical education and physiology; music; art. At the secondary level, 7 through 12: art; English; health; mathematics; music; physical education; science; and social studies including civics, world history, and United States and Pennsylvania history. 22 Pa. Code § 11.31(a)(1) and (a)(2)
  • 180 days of instruction, or 900 hours for an elementary level student, or 990 hours for a secondary level student. 22 Pa. Code § 11.31(a)(4)
  • The parent provides written assurance to the superintendent that the instructional requirements have been met. 22 Pa. Code § 11.31(b)(2)
  • The tutor or the parent keeps documentation of academic progress and instructional time, which the superintendent may request if a complaint is received. 22 Pa. Code § 11.31(b)(3) through (b)(5)
  • The tutor reports to the school district of residence the names and residences of the children being tutored, reports when tutoring ends, and reports any such child absent three days or their equivalent without lawful excuse. § 13-1332

How to handle it

  • All four conditions apply together. Tutoring is to one family at a time. A parent who holds Pennsylvania certification may tutor her own children.
  • The tutor obtains and files the required certification verification and clearances.
  • This list is set by regulation and is not the same as the home education list. Hundreds of self-paced courses are available for the tutor to teach from.
  • The parent does this even when the parent is the tutor.
  • There is no home-education-style portfolio specification for this pathway. These academic-progress and instructional-time records are not routinely filed, but the superintendent may request them after receiving a complaint. Keep student work, assessments, progress reports, and logs. The Portfolio Builder and the Schoolhouse Gradebook organize them if you want a system.
  • This is the tutor’s duty. Parents often confirm with the district that the children were in fact reported.

What Pennsylvania asks under § 13-1327 and 22 Pa. Code § 11.31

How to handle it

  • The tutor is certified by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to teach in the public schools, teaches one or more children who are members of a single family, provides the majority of the instruction, and receives a fee or other consideration for that instruction. § 13-1327(a)
  • All four conditions apply together. Tutoring is to one family at a time. A parent who holds Pennsylvania certification may tutor her own children.
  • No person disqualified from school employment under § 1-111(e) may serve as a private tutor, and the tutor files a copy of the Pennsylvania certification and the required criminal history record with the superintendent of the student’s district of residence. § 13-1327(a)
  • The tutor obtains and files the required certification verification and clearances.
  • Instruction in the required subjects. At the elementary level, K through 6: English including spelling, reading, and writing; arithmetic; geography; the history of the United States and Pennsylvania; science; civics including loyalty to the State and National government; safety education including fire dangers and prevention; health including physical education and physiology; music; art. At the secondary level, 7 through 12: art; English; health; mathematics; music; physical education; science; and social studies including civics, world history, and United States and Pennsylvania history. 22 Pa. Code § 11.31(a)(1) and (a)(2)
  • This list is set by regulation and is not the same as the home education list. Hundreds of self-paced courses are available for the tutor to teach from.
  • 180 days of instruction, or 900 hours for an elementary level student, or 990 hours for a secondary level student. 22 Pa. Code § 11.31(a)(4)
  • The parent provides written assurance to the superintendent that the instructional requirements have been met. 22 Pa. Code § 11.31(b)(2)
  • The parent does this even when the parent is the tutor.
  • The tutor or the parent keeps documentation of academic progress and instructional time, which the superintendent may request if a complaint is received. 22 Pa. Code § 11.31(b)(3) through (b)(5)
  • There is no home-education-style portfolio specification for this pathway. These academic-progress and instructional-time records are not routinely filed, but the superintendent may request them after receiving a complaint. Keep student work, assessments, progress reports, and logs. The Portfolio Builder and the Schoolhouse Gradebook organize them if you want a system.
  • The tutor reports to the school district of residence the names and residences of the children being tutored, reports when tutoring ends, and reports any such child absent three days or their equivalent without lawful excuse. § 13-1332
  • This is the tutor’s duty. Parents often confirm with the district that the children were in fact reported.

Pennsylvania’s immunization and Article XIV health requirements apply to privately tutored children the same as to other children. What is voluntary is submitting the documentation to the district. The Department of Education says a district may ask a privately tutored family for immunization and health records and that the parent may provide them voluntarily. That concerns what you hand the district, not whether the underlying health law applies.

Private tutoring does not lead directly to a state-recognized high school diploma, and the Department notes there are therefore no graduation requirements attached to it. Some families tutor through eleventh grade and move to a home education program for twelfth grade so the student can receive a state-recognized home education diploma. That change is not automatic. PDE says the family would need documentation of the work completed during grades nine through eleven showing that the applicable home education graduation requirements were completed.

Graduating from a home education program

Section 13-1327.1(d) establishes these minimum courses in grades nine through twelve as the requirement for graduation from a home education program: four years of English, three years of mathematics, three years of science, three years of social studies, and two years of arts and humanities.

The Department of Education’s current Home Education and Private Tutoring Guide also provides additional high school planning guidance covering health, physical education, electives, and alignment with state academic standards. Review that guidance with your evaluator or with your diploma-granting organization as you plan the high school years.

Two state-recognized home education diploma routes are available under § 13-1327.1(d.1). A supervisor may award a state-recognized diploma on the Department’s standardized form, co-signed by the student’s twelfth grade evaluator, when the student has completed the § 13-1327.1(d) requirements in a compliant program and an affidavit and evaluation were submitted for the graduation year. Or a family may work with one of the organizations the Department has approved to grant home education diplomas. Both carry the rights and privileges Pennsylvania affords a diploma awarded under the School Code.

Your Pennsylvania year

Compulsory school age. Pennsylvania’s compulsory attendance generally runs from age six until age eighteen or graduation, and a child who has attained age six on or before September 1 must be enrolled or begin a home education program that year. Earlier enrollment can create obligations sooner. The Department of Education describes separate rules for a child previously enrolled in public school kindergarten, and for a child enrolled in first grade or above in a public or nonpublic school, a private tutoring program, or a home education program. In those situations an affidavit and an evaluation can be due every year regardless of the child’s age. If your child is under six and falls into one of those categories, confirm your timing with the Department and your district before you withdraw.

Any month, your first year. File the affidavit or unsworn declaration before you begin. Instructional days and hours start counting once it is submitted, not before.

If your child is currently enrolled in school. File with your superintendent, then contact the school about its withdrawal procedure so your child is properly accounted for. This is practical guidance, not a statutory filing step.

July 1. The Pennsylvania school year opens. Families who teach year round may file as early as this date.

August 1. The affidavit or declaration is due for every year after your first, with the objectives outline and your health and immunization evidence.

Through the year. Keep the log as you go, not from memory in June. Add work samples to the portfolio as they happen.

Grades 3, 5, and 8. Arrange the standardized test sometime during the school year and file the result in the portfolio.

Spring. Schedule your evaluator early. Good ones book up.

June 30. The evaluator’s certification is due to your superintendent. This is the date that matters most.

If you move to another Pennsylvania district. Apply to your current superintendent by registered mail thirty days before you relocate, requesting a letter of transfer, and file that letter with your new district.

What comes with one membership

SchoolhouseTeachers.com is your home base for two things at once.

The Curriculum Lane. Hundreds of online, self-paced courses for preschool through twelfth grade from a Biblical worldview, plus interactive iST courses, Virtual School Boxes, World Book Online, and thousands of family-friendly videos.

The Records Lane. The Homeschool Records & Compliance Center, with the Education Plan Builder, Custom Schedule Builder, Portfolio Builder, Applecore Record Keeping, Schoolhouse Gradebook, Portfolio Review Template, High School Hours Tracking Logs, Certificates of Completion, and transcript templates and tools that members use to prepare their own transcripts.

One membership covers every child in the family. No per-child fees, no per-course fees.

What a membership does is help you teach and help you keep your records in order. It does not file anything with your district, and it does not replace the documents Pennsylvania requires you to produce.

“We LOVE SchoolhouseTeachers.com. I talked about it so much at my evaluation and had so many different SchoolhouseTeachers.com subjects that we used strewn throughout the kids’ portfolios that my evaluator wrote down the internet address so she could check it out for her kids. We use it a ton for my high schooler and middle schooler and have thoroughly enjoyed it.”

M. Perfetto, Mohnton, Pennsylvania

The qualification depends on your pathway

For a home education program, the supervisor is the parent, guardian, or person having legal custody, and needs a high school diploma or its equivalent. No teaching certificate. No college degree.

For private tutoring, the standard is different. The tutor must be certified by the Commonwealth to teach in Pennsylvania’s public schools, teach children of a single family, provide the majority of the instruction, receive a fee or other consideration, and file the certification and criminal history record with the district superintendent.

Your child is being discipled either way, whether at your kitchen table or in a classroom across town. Someone is answering the big questions. Someone is teaching whom he answers to. You get to be the one.

Questions? Call 1.888.718.HOME or email customerservice@theoldschoolhouse.com. A real homeschooler answers.

This page describes Pennsylvania’s home education and private tutoring requirements in general terms and is not legal advice. Requirements change and school district practices vary. Confirm current requirements with the Pennsylvania Department of Education and your school district of residence before you file. SchoolhouseTeachers.com provides curriculum and recordkeeping tools. It is not a school, it is not accredited, it does not file documents for families, and it does not guarantee that any document will be accepted by a school or government agency.

Sources: 24 P.S. §§ 1-111(e), 13-1303, 13-1326, 13-1327, 13-1327.1, 13-1332, and Article XIV (School Health Services); 22 Pa. Code §§ 11.31, 11.31a, 11.33; Act 15 of 2015 and the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s “Clearances/Background Checks Frequently Asked Questions,” for the co-op clearance paragraph; Pennsylvania Department of Education, Home Education Program Basic Education Circular and the current Home Education and Private Tutoring Guide, including its Homeschool Cooperatives section.

Last reviewed: August 2026