Homeschooling in
the State of Colorado

A unique feature to the homeschooling system in Colorado that is shared by very few other states is the ability to allow multiple options in terms of how the parent or legal guardian may provide education to their child. Although the compulsory state law does still abide, stating that individuals between the ages of 6 to 16 are required to attend some sort of educational school, the state allows providing homeschooling education in a multitude of ways to better fit into a busy parents or guardian’s style of life. The state having a slight change than the usual amount of days mandatory for schooling, 172, is supplemented by a rigorous list of subjects that must be taught such as: Constitution of the United states, reading, writing, speaking, math, history, civics, literature, and science.

The three various ways homeschooling curriculum can be taught vary mostly due to the parent’s preference in academic teaching style. The first option allows parents the right to choose their form of education for their child, and therefore prior to starting the homeschooling a form of education is mandatory 14 days prior to starting the homeschooling program. The form must include name, age, residence and also the hours of attending, as they must annually reach 172. Furthermore, the parent is responsible for tracking and keeping various records to state and prove the child’s progress. Items that must be recorded are attendance, test results and immunization records, all of which must be sent to the superintendent of the county and your individual homeschooling program.

The second option allows parents to enroll their children in an “Independent school” but teach them at home. This option often deems the homeschooling process as a student enrolled in a private school, and through this option making it that children enrolled in this option are exempt from the compulsory school attendance as this law only pertains to public institutions, furthermore no testing or evaluation is mandatory. This making it that the parents are able to establish the set rules of the homeschooling process and also greatly minimizing the amount of records, however, in order to form an independent school, the school must consist of two home school families, as in two different families combining together to form this type of homeschooling option.

The last option for homeschooling is to have a parent or other person certified in the state of Colorado, to come and teach home school in which they are providing instruction that meets the requirements including testing and attendance. The teacher does not have to have any qualifications unless it is a private tutor who otherwise must be certified by the state. Furthermore, the testing of the child must be conducted at grades 3, 5, 7,9, and 11. Testing must be taken by the national standardized achievement test, and if results show that the student is above the 13th percentile, then the student can continue to be exempt from public school. Furthermore, evaluations must be conducted by the qualified individual and must show that the student is making progress academically, however, if the evaluation proves otherwise, the student must then attend public school until the next testing period.






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