Homeschool year calendar
Lay out your year in terms and breaks, and see what your state requires before you count days.
States differ: some set a number of days or hours and some set none. The table below quotes the rule for each of 49 states from Peabody's checked state law pages. Thirty-six weeks of five days make 180, so a year can be four nine-week terms with breaks in between, or a year-round schedule.
Checked October 27, 2026.
This is a plain-words summary, not legal advice. Laws change: check your state's current law and its education department before you act.
Three common layouts
- Four nine-week terms: 36 weeks of 5 days is 180 days, with breaks between terms.
- Year-round, six weeks on and one week off: the same days spread over the year.
- Four-day weeks: 36 weeks of 4 days is 144 days; add 9 more weeks of 4 days to reach 180.
What each state requires
| State | Days or hours (from its law page) |
|---|---|
| Alabama | The law sets no number of days or hours for a church school. A private tutor (another route) must teach at least three hours a day for 140 days each calendar year, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. |
| Alaska | The law sets no number of days or hours for a child educated at home by a parent or legal guardian. |
| Arizona | The homeschool law sets no number of days or hours. (A private school, a different route, must give instruction for at least the same number of days and hours each year as a public school.) |
| Arkansas | The Department says parents set their own schedule of instruction; we found no required number of days or hours. |
| California | The private school route sets no number of days or hours; the Department of Education says the law does not define full-time. The private tutor route says at least 3 hours a day for 175 days each calendar year, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. |
| Colorado | The program must include no less than 172 days of instruction, averaging four instructional contact hours per day. |
| Connecticut | The statute requires "equivalent instruction in the studies taught in the public schools" and sets no number of days or hours. The Department suggests keeping a log of attendance that shows days and hours of instruction. |
| Delaware | The Department says it does not require a specific number of days for nonpublic schools to be open. Many nonpublic schools model the public school year of 180 days, but that is not a requirement. |
| District of Columbia | No number of days or hours is set. The program must provide thorough and regular instruction of sufficient duration. |
| Florida | The law sets no number of days or hours for a home education program. It says a home education program is excluded from meeting the requirements of a school day. |
| Georgia | The program must give instruction equal to 180 school days a year, with each school day at least four and one-half school hours. |
| Hawaii | The home schooling rules set no minimum number of days or hours. The record of planned curriculum you keep must show the number of hours per week the child spends in instruction. |
| Idaho | The statute gives no number of days or hours for instruction by a parent. The phrase 'a period in each year equal to that in which the public schools are in session' appears in the sentence about enrolling in a school. |
| Illinois | The Board's guidance says parents are free to decide the manner, time and materials that suit their children. An ISBE FAQ (revised October 2017) says Illinois law does not set a minimum number of hours per day or days of instruction per year for students in… |
| Indiana | 180 days of instruction. The Department says you decide which days your school will be in session and how long to teach each day. For a mid-year transfer, days attended at the first school count toward the 180. |
| Iowa | Competent private instruction means instruction provided on a daily basis for at least 148 days during a school year, met by attendance for at least 37 days each school quarter. The Department's handbook says this applies to all CPI students. Independent… |
| Kansas | Classes must run for a period substantially equivalent to public school. KSDE gives the public school time as at least 186 days of not less than 6 hours per day, or 1116 hours per year for grades 1-11. |
| Kentucky | The Department of Education says certified homeschools must run at least 1,062 hours of instruction in no less than 170 student attendance days, and that there is no minimum school term for non-certified homeschools. It recommends all homeschools meet those… |
| Louisiana | The Department of Education's guidelines say a child between 5 and 18 who is not in a public or nonpublic school or a BESE-approved home study program for at least 180 days in the school year could put the parents in violation of the compulsory attendance law. |
| Maine | The notice must state the program will provide at least 175 days of instruction a year. The Department of Education says at least 175 instructional days are required and there is no hourly requirement, per day or per year. |
| Maryland | The regulation sets no number of days or hours. The program must take place on a regular basis during the school year and be of sufficient duration to carry out the instruction program. |
| Massachusetts | We found no number of days or hours set for home schooling. The Department says public school rules such as structured learning time do not apply, and that districts typically look at the plan's content, materials, duration and frequency of instruction,… |
| Michigan | The home-school exemption names no number of days or hours; it asks for an organized educational program in the listed subjects. Public schools must give 180 days and 1,098 hours. The Department of Education says a court ruled that nonpublic schools need not… |
| Minnesota | We did not find a required number of days or hours for homeschools in the compulsory instruction law (sections 120A.22 and 120A.24) or in the Department of Education's homeschool questions and answers. The law requires instruction in the listed subject areas,… |
| Mississippi | We 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. |
| Missouri | The parent must offer at least 1,000 hours of instruction, at least 600 of them in reading, language arts, mathematics, social studies, science or related academic courses suited to the child's age and ability. At least 400 of those 600 hours must be at the… |
| Montana | A home school must provide the same minimum aggregate hours of pupil instruction as public schools: 720 hours for grades 1 through 3 and 1,080 hours for grades 4 through 12 in a school fiscal year. 1,050 aggregate hours may be enough for graduating seniors.… |
| Nebraska | The department says there are no legal or regulatory requirements other than 1,032 hours of instruction (elementary grades) or 1,080 hours of instruction (secondary grades) for the school year. The parent chooses the school calendar. Hours can be prorated for… |
| Nevada | We found no required number of days or hours for homeschooling in NRS chapter 388D or in NRS 392.070. The law asks for an educational plan, and does not require every subject to be taught each year. |
| New Hampshire | The home education law sets no number of days or hours. It says dates and hours of instruction do not have to match the district calendar, and the academic term does not have to match the district school year. |
| New Jersey | State guidance names no number of days or hours. The standard is instruction equivalent to the public schools; the state says courts have required parents to show only that instruction was academically equivalent to the local public school. |
| New Mexico | The department's home school form and FAQ list 1,140 instructional hours per year (550 hours for half-day kindergarten), citing Section 22-2-8.1, among home school responsibilities. The home school law itself (Section 22-1-2.1) names no hours or days. The… |
| North Carolina | The law sets no number of days or hours. A home school must operate on a regular schedule, excluding reasonable holidays and vacations, during at least nine calendar months of the year. DNPE recommends, but does not require, five hours of instruction each… |
| North Dakota | The law says instruction must last at least four hours each day for a minimum of one hundred seventy-five days each year. |
| Ohio | The home education law (R.C. 3321.042, in effect since October 3, 2023) names no number of days or hours. It also says the section is not subject to rules of the state education department. |
| Oklahoma | The law sets no number of days or hours for home instruction. The department's guidelines suggest the equivalent of 180 days a year and six clock hours (360 minutes) a day, as appropriate for the child's age, and state these suggestions are not required by… |
| Oregon | For a child educated at home by a parent or legal guardian, the statute names no number of days or hours. (The separate private-teacher route says teaching for a period equal to what public school children get.) |
| Pennsylvania | The law says 180 days of instruction a year, or 900 hours a year at the elementary level or 990 hours a year at the secondary level. A family may count either days or hours. |
| South Carolina | Option 1: the instructional day is at least four and one-half hours, not counting lunch and recesses, and the year is at least 180 days. Options 2 and 3 (association standards): the law requires the instructional year to be at least 180 days. It sets no… |
| South Dakota | The law names no number of days or hours for alternative instruction. It asks for instruction in the basic skills of language arts and mathematics, given so as to lead to a mastery of the English language. |
| Tennessee | Independent home school students must receive a minimum of four hours of instruction per day for 180 days per school year. |
| Texas | We found no required number of days or hours in the Education Code or on the TEA's home schooling page. State law says the Texas Education Agency and State Board of Education may not adopt a rule or policy that regulates the educational program of a home… |
| Utah | Utah sets no number of days or hours for home school. The statute says the parent is solely responsible for the time, place and method of instruction, and the State Board of Education says Utah law does not require homeschool families to follow a set number… |
| Vermont | The notice includes an attestation that each child will be provided the equivalent of at least 175 days of instruction in the minimum course of study per year (16 V.S.A. 166b(a)(5)). |
| Virginia | The home instruction section (22.1-254.1) sets no number of days or hours for home instruction. The general attendance section (22.1-254) says attendance is for the same number of days and hours per day as the public schools, and lists home instruction as one… |
| Washington | Home-based instruction must be provided for a number of hours equal to the annual program hours for approved private schools. The private school statute sets an annual average of 1,000 hours for grades 1 through 12 and at least 450 hours for kindergarten (or… |
| West Virginia | On the notice-of-intent route, the law names no number of days or hours, and the WV Department of Education says families do not have a set instructional year. Only the other home route, where the county board approves the home instruction, says it must run… |
| Wisconsin | The program must provide at least 875 hours of instruction each school year (Wis. Stat. 118.165(1)(c)). |
| Wyoming | The statute gives no number of days or hours for a home-based program. Its attendance sentence says children attend a public or private school during the entire time public schools are in session, and its definition of private school includes home-based… |
Sources
- Peabody's state homeschool law pages (each lists its statutes and state education department pages) (checked October 27, 2026)