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

Mississippi 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 Mississippi'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 Mississippi

File
A Certificate of Enrollment, every year. Keep a copy. §
To
The school attendance officer where your child lives. §
By
August 15 of each school year. §
Keep
No attendance or progress records required. The department recommends a portfolio and a book log. §
Test
None found. §
Starting this year
  • By August 15 each year: Return the Certificate of Enrollment to the school attendance officer where your child lives.
Already homeschooling
  • By August 15 each year: Return the Certificate of Enrollment to the school attendance officer where your child lives.

Open your attendance recordStart the Tap Clock, if you want to

What Mississippi's law asks you to keep, as tools: Attendance · Portfolio · Reading log. The same rows for every state: what to file, by state.

Checked . § = source: Mississippi Department of Education: Home School. Information, not legal advice.

Quick answers

Notice
Notice every yearEvery year the child is home schooled, the parent completes a Certificate of Enrollment and returns it to the school attendance officer where the child lives (it can also be emailed to homeschool@mdek12.org). The department says it must be completed by August 15 of each school year, and that you must wait until the current school year has ended before enrolling for the next one. Keep a copy. Checked October 27, 2026. Source: Mississippi Department of Education: Home School, State Board of Education Rule 30.7 Home School Guidelines (final, 2026-10-19)
Days or hours
No number givenWe did not find a required number of days or hours for home instruction in the State Board of Education's Rule 30.7 or on the department's home school page. The only requirement the department lists is the yearly enrollment form. Checked October 27, 2026. Source: Mississippi Department of Education: Home School
Subjects
The department's rules do not name required subjects for a home instruction program. The department recommends reviewing the Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards so the child can return to public school more smoothly. Checked October 27, 2026. Source: House Bill 281 (2025), introduced text reproducing Miss. Code 37-13-91 (Mississippi Legislature)
Testing or evaluation
No testing requiredWe did not find any required testing for home instruction on the department's home school page or in Rule 30.7. The department recommends keeping the results of any national assessments in the child's portfolio. Checked October 27, 2026. Source: Mississippi Department of Education: Home School
Records
The law does not require attendance or progress records. Parents should keep a copy of the enrollment form. The department recommends a portfolio for each child with samples of activities, assignments, projects and assessments, a log of books and materials used, and results of any national assessments. Checked October 27, 2026. Source: Mississippi Department of Education: Home School
Who must attend school
Children who have turned or will turn six on or before September 1 of the calendar year, and who have not turned 17 on or before September 1, must attend a public, private or home school (State Board of Education Rule 30.7, under Miss. Code 37-13-91). Source: State Board of Education Rule 30.7 Home School Guidelines (final, 2026-10-19)
Education savings accounts and vouchers
A program exists, but homeschool students are not eligibleMississippi's Education Scholarship Account is for children with disabilities who have an IEP and are accepted into an eligible private school. The department says an eligible school does not include a home instruction program, and parents agree not to file a home instruction certificate of enrollment. We did not review the department's dyslexia therapy or speech-language therapy scholarship programs, so check its pages for those. Education Scholarship Account (Equal Opportunity for Students with Special Needs). Source: Department of Education: Understanding the Education Scholarship Account (revised 10/2025)

What to do first

  1. Read Mississippi's own pages, linked under each row below, so you know what applies to your situation.
  2. Notice: August 15 of each school year To: School attendance officer where the child lives (Mississippi Department of Education, Office of Compulsory School Attendance Enforcement).
  3. Plan the year around the days or hours and the subjects below.
  4. Start your records on day one: a simple attendance log, a list of books read and a work sample or two for each subject.

The state's own form or page: mdek12.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2026/09/Certificate-of-Enrollment-09.17.2026.pdf

Other legal routes in Mississippi

  • Private school. A child can instead attend a legitimate nonpublic (private) school. The school's official completes the Certificate of Enrollment for its children, and the form has separate boxes for private school and online private school.

Records to keep

The law does not require attendance or progress records. Parents should keep a copy of the enrollment form. The department recommends a portfolio for each child with samples of activities, assignments, projects and assessments, a log of books and materials used, and results of any national assessments. 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

  • The law only counts a legitimate home instruction program, meaning one not operated or instituted for the purpose of avoiding or circumventing the compulsory attendance law.
  • If a child has been enrolled in public school within 15 calendar days after the first day of the school year, the parent may later enroll the child in a home instruction program and send in the certificate, and still be in compliance.
  • If the attendance officer finds a family in noncompliance, the family has ten days after written notice to comply.
  • A first-time home instruction enrollment will not be accepted for a person who has already passed compulsory school age.
  • On the deadline: the copy of Miss. Code 37-13-91 posted on the department's page, and a 2025 bill reproducing that section, say the certificate is due on or before September 15. The State Board's Rule 30.7 and the department's home school page say August 15. We use the earlier date.
  • The statute says it must not be construed to give any state agency or other entity authority to control, manage, supervise, provide for or affect the operation, management, program, curriculum, admissions policy or discipline of a home instruction program.

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.