Homeschool Letter of Intent

A parent and or legal guardian of the child or children normally writes the school letter of intent and provides basic information relating to the child. This information includes the following:

• child or children’s full name
• address
• date of birth
• the person who will be taking responsibility to educate the child for the school year.

Nonetheless, each state has different guidelines on what should be included in a letter of intent to homeschool. In fact, some state’s departments of education may have their own specific intent to homeschool forms that you are required to use. Additionally, not all states require such a letter, but normally, it is the initial step to homeschool a child.

What is Homeschooling?

Homeschooling is a method to provide a child with access to education at a home instead of following the traditional routes of education. Education from home can be provided by parents and or guardians but this is completely state-dependent as some states will require authorized educators.

According to the National Home Education Research Institute, there are around 4-5 million homeschool students in grades K-12 (from kindergarten to 12th grade) in the United States. An abundance of reasons makes people choose to homeschool their children. Some of the most common reasons why a parent and or guardian will choose to homeschool their child is disapproval of their local school’s district, religious or philosophical views, or dissatisfaction with the classic educational methods. It is possible to achieve similar if not better results through homeschooling methods when compared to traditional education.

What Homeschooling Requirements Do States Set?

Most states require a parent or guardian to have an educational degree or certification that qualifies them to be able to teach in their state. These requirements vary vastly from state to state, and there are several categories of states based on the scope of requirements to homeschooling parents:

1. States with the least requirements (among such states are Texas, Oklahoma, Michigan, Idaho, and some else; they generally don’t require parents to send a notification to the department of education and typically offer one or two programs for homeschooling – schooling under the homeschool statute or schooling as a private (nonpublic) or denomination school; teacher qualifications are generally not needed).
2. States with low regulation (states like California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Georgia, Alabama, and some else require sending a notification to the local department of education and typically offer three programs for homeschooling – at a home-based private school, using a private-school satellite program, or via instruction by a private tutor).
3. States with moderate regulation (in states like Washington, Oregon, Ohio, Florida, teacher qualifications are required to teach children at home; there might be from 1 to 3 homeschooling options depending on the state; there are also state mandated subjects that a child should be taught at school; the notice should be always sent to the local department of education)
4. States with high regulation (these 5 states – New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania – might offer up to 4 options for homeschooling, and teacher qualifications are needed for some of them; notification to the department of education is always necessary)

It is crucial to check with your state’s department of education about these requirements and the process of homeschooling.

How to Fill Out a Letter of Intent for Homeschool

Step 1 – Date, superintendent, and school district

The letter should start with the effective date placed in the top left corner. Beneath the date, there should be the name of the top executive (“CEO”) of the school district – superintendent, and the school district number.

Step 2 – Opening

Next, the letter should tell its purpose – to inform the school board that your child/children will be studying at home instead of attending public or private school.

Step 3 – Information about child or children

Further, the letter should tell the name, gender, and date of birth of each of your children who is about to be taught at home school.

Step 4 – Address of child/children

The next step is to mention the address of the child or children that will be taught at home.

Step 5 – Information about the teacher

The letter of intent to homeschool should explicitly tell who will be responsible for teaching your child/children at home. It is also important to outline what subjects the child/children will be taught (they should correspond to the list of your state-required subjects if any).

The letter should also state that to the request of the state department of education, you should provide materials that demonstrate proper educational instruction for your child or children.

Step 6 – Signatures

The letter should end with the teacher’s signature, their print name, and contact information (telephone and email).

Next, the signature and the same information about the parents/guardian should be provided.

Step 7 – Notary acknowledgment

To add legal validity to the document, you might notarize it (here’s a notary form). Check your state requirements to know whether you need or not a notary’s signature on your letter of intent to homeschool.

Sample Letter of Intent to Homeschool

From: Mr. and Mrs. Stevens
1089 Augusta Park
Granbury, TX 76048

April 4, 2021

Terry Michael Cozy
Principal of Oak Woods School
311 Davis Rd, Granbury, TX 76049
Granbury Independent School District

RE: Notification of Student Withdrawal and Assurance of Home-Schooling

Dear Mr. Cozy,

This letter is created to notify you of the withdrawal of our son, Patrick Mario Stevens, from Oak Woods School and the Granbury Independent School District, effective immediately.

For your records, this is your assurance that Patrick Mario Stevens
is being homeschooled in a bona fide manner using a written curriculum consisting of books, workbooks, other written materials, and other educational tools meant to develop reading, spelling, grammar, math, and other essential skills.

I request that copies of Patrick Mario Steven’s academic, medical, and all other records concerning Patrick in your files be forwarded to me at the above address within seven (7) days of the date of this letter to avoid delays in continuing his education.

Thank you very much for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

Lisa Lime Stevens
Mike Brown Stevens