Skip to the content
Peabody HomeschoolEvery homeschool law, plan, record and tool, free

Homeschool attendance tracker

Paper, a spreadsheet or an app all work. What matters is that the record is made as you go and adds up to what your state asks.

A homeschool attendance tracker can be a paper calendar, a spreadsheet or a free tool like Peabody's Record Book, which counts full and half days against the number you set, shows the days and school weeks left and prints a signed sheet. Your state law page says whether the law counts days, hours, both or neither, so check it before you pick a target.

Checked October 27, 2026.

By Peabody editors.

This is a plain-words summary, not legal advice. Laws change: check your state's current law and its education department before you act.

Paper, spreadsheet or Record Book: which one?

Paper calendarSpreadsheetPeabody Record Book
CostA printoutFree if you have the softwareFree
Adding upBy handFormulas you writeDone for you: full days, half days as one half, by month and year
Your state's numberYou write it inYou type it inOffered with the law's words and a "Use 180"-style button for states with one plain number; you choose
HoursA second sheetA second tabThe hours log and Tap Clock, shown beside the days
PrintingIt is already paperWhatever you lay outA year grid with totals, notes and a signature line
Where it livesYour shelfYour file or cloud driveYour browser on this device, plus a backup file you download

What does the Record Book count?

  • School days counted, split into full and half days.
  • Days to reach, once you type a target or tap the suggested one. It stays empty until you choose; the tool never fills it in for you.
  • Weekdays left in your school year and the school weeks that makes (five to a week, rounded up). Holidays you have not marked are not taken off.
  • Hours logged from the hours log, and hours to reach if you set an hour target.
  • A month-by-month table: full, half, no school and days counted.

Does my state count days or hours?

Here is how the 49 checked state records sort, by what each one's instruction rule counts. A state with no number may still ask for other records, so read its page.

From the instruction field of each checked state record.
What the law countsStatesSome of them
Days5Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Vermont
Hours6Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Washington, Wisconsin
Days and hours (or a choice)7Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee
None set6Delaware, Florida, Illinois, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Utah
No number found on the homeschool route25Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, and more on the laws table

How does the state's number get into the tracker?

On a state page, the What-to-file box links into the Record Book with that state named. The tracker then shows the law's sentence, such as Indiana's "180 days of instruction", with a button to use that number. Tapping it sets your target; ignoring it leaves the target yours to type. States whose number belongs to another route, or that have none, get a link to their page instead.

What makes any tracker hold up?

  • Mark days as they happen, not in May from memory. Florida's and Pennsylvania's records both describe a log made at the time of teaching.
  • Write a short note on unusual days: a field trip, a sick day, a lesson at 7 pm.
  • Print or save a copy at the end of each month, and keep a backup file.
  • Keep the year's sheet with whatever else your state asks you to keep.

Start tracking

Open the attendance record, add your child and school year, and find your state's number in what to file, by state. If your state counts hours, use the hours log and Tap Clock.

Sources