Vermont homeschool checklist for this year

Things to do, with their deadlines

• At least 10 business days before you start

  Send the Secretary of Education a notice of intent on the Agency of Education's form. Your child is not enrolled until the Agency confirms.

  Source: 16 V.S.A. 166b, home study program (Vermont Legislature)
• At the end of each school year

  Assess each child's progress and keep the record.

  Source: 16 V.S.A. 166b, home study program (Vermont Legislature)

The state's own form: Home study enrollment notice (Vermont Agency of Education).

All year

• All year

  Teach the subjects Vermont names: basic communication skills (reading, writing, use of numbers), citizenship, history and government in Vermont and the United States, physical education and comprehensive health education (under 13), English, American and other literature, natural sciences, fine arts (under 13).

  Source: 16 V.S.A. 906, course of study (Vermont Legislature)
• All year

  Keep count of the days. 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)).

  Source: 16 V.S.A. 166b, home study program (Vermont Legislature)
• All year

  The parent or guardian keeps the record of the end-of-year assessments. The Agency of Education says to keep a copy of the minimum course of study and of each assessment for your own records, and not to send them to the Agency unless you want them reviewed.

  Source: Vermont Agency of Education: Home Study

Good habits (not in the law)

• Keep a copy of everything you send, and of any acknowledgement you get back, with the date.

• Start simple records on day one: the days you teach, the books you read and a few samples of work in each subject. They help if you move, return to school or apply to college.