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

Georgia homeschool law

Notice, days or hours, subjects, testing and records, in plain words, with the source for each.

This is general information, not legal advice; check your state's own page. Laws change, and Georgia's own statute and education department are the final word. The links below go straight to them.

Checked on against the sources linked on this page.

What to file in Georgia

File
A Declaration of Intent, online or by email, fax or mail. §
To
Georgia Department of Education (not the local district). §
By
Within 30 days of starting, then by September 1 each year. §
Keep
An annual progress report per student in five subjects, kept 3 years, plus test scores. Teach 180 days of at least 4½ hours. §
Test
A nationally standardized test every three years from the end of grade 3. Scores stay with you. §

The law's number: 180 days. In its words: “180 school days a year”, “each school day at least four and one-half school hours”. Your Record Book offers it as a target; it is never filled in for you.

Starting this year
  • Within 30 days of starting: File a Declaration of Intent with the Georgia Department of Education (online, or by email, fax or mail), not the local district.
  • At least every three years, from the end of grade 3: A nationally standardized test. You keep the scores; they are not sent in. Georgia Milestones tests do not count.
Already homeschooling
  • By September 1: File this year's Declaration of Intent.
  • At least every three years, from the end of grade 3: A nationally standardized test. You keep the scores; they are not sent in. Georgia Milestones tests do not count.
Leaving a school mid-year
  • Within 45 days of leaving a public school: The local school system must have proof of home school enrollment within 45 days; your Declaration of Intent is that proof.

When a child leaves a Georgia public school for home study, the local school system must have proof of home school enrollment within 45 days; the Declaration of Intent satisfies this. A child returning to public school is placed and given credit by the local school system, which follows State Board of Education Rule 160-5-1-.15 and may add its own policies.

Open your attendance recordStart the Tap Clock

What Georgia's law asks you to keep, as tools: Attendance · Hours log · Progress report. The same rows for every state: what to file, by state.

Checked . § = source: GaDOE: Georgia Home School, information about home study programs (August 2025). Information, not legal advice.

Quick answers

Notice
Notice every yearFile a Declaration of Intent with the Georgia Department of Education (not the local school district) within 30 days of starting a home study program, and by September 1 each year after. It lists each student's name and age, the program's address, the local school system and the 12-month period used as the school year. Submit it online, or by email, fax or mail. Checked October 27, 2026. Source: GaDOE: Georgia Home School, information about home study programs (August 2025)
Days or hours
Days and hoursThe program must give instruction equal to 180 school days a year, with each school day at least four and one-half school hours. Checked October 27, 2026. Source: GaDOE: Georgia Home School, information about home study programs (August 2025)
Subjects
A basic academic program that includes, but is not limited to, reading, language arts, mathematics, social studies and science. Checked October 27, 2026. Source: GaDOE: Georgia Home School, information about home study programs (August 2025)
Testing or evaluation
A testA nationally standardized test at least every three years, starting at the end of third grade, given with someone trained to give and read norm-referenced tests. The parent keeps the scores and records; they are not sent in. Georgia Milestones tests do not count as nationally standardized tests. Checked October 27, 2026. Source: GaDOE: Georgia Home School, information about home study programs (August 2025), GaDOE: Georgia Home School supporting information (October 2024)
Records
The teaching parent writes an annual progress report for each student covering reading, language arts, mathematics, social studies and science, and keeps each report for at least three years. Keep the nationally standardized test scores and records too. Checked October 27, 2026. Source: GaDOE: Georgia Home School, information about home study programs (August 2025)
Who must attend school
Children must attend a public school, private school or home study program between their sixth and sixteenth birthdays (O.C.G.A. 20-2-690.1). Source: GaDOE: Georgia Home School, information about home study programs (August 2025)
Education savings accounts and vouchers
A program is open to homeschool familiesThe Georgia Promise Scholarship (up to $6,500 per child in its first year, per the state FAQ) can pay for items such as private school tuition, tutoring and curriculum. State law says its article applies to a home study student only if that student is a participating student. To be eligible a child must have been in a Georgia public school for two consecutive full-time-equivalent counts (about a school year) or be a rising kindergartener, and live in the attendance zone of a school on the state's lowest-25% list. Most existing homeschoolers will not meet that. Georgia Promise Scholarship. What taking the money changes, in full. Source: Senate Bill 233 (2024), Georgia Promise Scholarship Act, signed legislation (Governor's site), Georgia Student Finance Commission: Georgia Promise Scholarship FAQ, Georgia Promise Scholarship program site (Georgia Education Savings Authority), Georgia Promise Scholarship: family handbook, August 2026 (PDF), Georgia Promise Scholarship: testing guide, July 2026 (PDF)

What to do first

  1. Read Georgia's own pages, linked under each row below, so you know what applies to your situation.
  2. Notice: Within 30 days of starting, then by September 1 each year To: Georgia Department of Education, Homeschool Division.
  3. If your child is in school now: When a child leaves a Georgia public school for home study, the local school system must have proof of home school enrollment within 45 days; the Declaration of Intent satisfies this. A child returning to public school is placed and given credit by the local school system, which follows State Board of Education Rule 160-5-1-.15 and may add its own policies.
  4. Plan the year around the days or hours and the subjects below.
  5. Start your records on day one: a simple attendance log, a list of books read and a work sample or two for each subject.
  6. Put the testing or evaluation date on your calendar.

The state's own form or page: apps.gadoe.org/Pages/Home-Study-DOI.aspx

Records to keep

The teaching parent writes an annual progress report for each student covering reading, language arts, mathematics, social studies and science, and keeps each report for at least three years. Keep the nationally standardized test scores and records too. Whatever the law asks, many families also keep a simple attendance log, a list of books read and a few work samples for each subject; they cost nothing and help if you move or return to school.

Good to know

  • Who may teach: a parent or guardian may teach only their own children, and needs at least a high school diploma or a state-approved high school equivalency diploma. Instead, a family may employ a tutor who has one of those.
  • Sports and clubs: the Dexter Mosely Act (O.C.G.A. 20-2-319.6) lets home study students in grades 6 to 12 take part in extracurricular and interscholastic activities in their resident public school system, with notification and course enrollment requirements.
  • Georgia Cyber Academy and Georgia Connections Academy are public charter schools, not home study programs; students enrolled in them are public school students and do not file a Declaration of Intent (GaDOE overview, October 2024).
  • Driving permits and youth work permits for a home-schooled student need a copy of the Declaration of Intent with the 36-character parent signature.

Where this comes from

Checked on October 27, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice; check your state's own page, and confirm with your school district or the department before you rely on a date. Something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.