Navigating Homeschool Laws in Colorado: Your Ultimate Guide

Navigating Homeschool Laws in Colorado: Your Ultimate Guide

In the state of Colorado, there are three legal choices available for homeschooling. You have the liberty to select the option that suits your family's requirements the most.

In the United States, the Colorado law explicitly mentions homeschooling in Colo. Rev. Stat. § 22-33-104.5. To engage in homeschooling according to this law, you will be required to adhere to the following set of instructions.

1. Choose who will be responsible for homeschooling your child.

The person providing instruction must be a parent, guardian, or an adult relative chosen by a parent.

2. Inform a school district that you will be homeschooling.

According to the homeschooling law, parents are required to give a notice of intent at least 14 days before starting a home-based education program, and annually thereafter. You can submit this notice to any school district in the state. The notice should include the names, ages, address, and the hours your children will be attending the homeschool program.

What should be done if the district asks for additional information:

In specific situations, the school district may ask for a curriculum plan. According to the law, if a child has a consistent record of being absent without excuse in the six months preceding homeschooling, the school district has the right to request a detailed curriculum outline.

3. Instruct the subjects that are required.

You must provide instruction for a total of 172 days, with an average of four hours per day, in the following subjects: the United States Constitution, reading, writing, speaking, math, history, civics, literature, and science.

4. Maintain accurate records.

Colorado homeschooling parents are obligated by law to keep records of attendance, test and evaluation results, and immunization records.

If the superintendent believes there is reason to suspect non-compliance with the law regarding homeschooling and requests access to a family's records, they must give the parent a notice of 14 days.

5. Assess or evaluate your student.

Students must undergo assessment through a nationally standardized achievement test or by a "qualified person" in order to determine their academic progress relative to their abilities. Your child must be tested or evaluated in grades 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11.

The test must be a nationally standardized achievement test. If you choose to have your child evaluated instead of tested, you must select one of the following individuals to conduct the evaluation:

-a Colorado certified teacher,

-a teacher employed by a private school,

-a licensed psychologist, or

-a person with a graduate degree in education.

What to do with the test or evaluation results:

You must submit the results to either the school district you notified or an independent or parochial school in Colorado. If you don't send the results to the school you notified, you must inform them where you sent the test or evaluation results.

If your child doesn't make "adequate progress" according to the law, there are consequences. If they don't score above the 13th percentile on a nationally standardized achievement test, they may have to take a different version of the same test or a different nationally standardized test. If their score is still below the 13th percentile, the school district will require you to enroll your child in a public, independent, or parochial school until the next testing period.

If an evaluation shows that your child is not progressing as they should based on their abilities, the school district may also require you to enroll your child in a public, independent, or parochial school until the next testing period.

2: Homeschooling options through an independent school

In Colorado, parents have the option to enroll their children in accredited independent schools, where they can educate their kids at home under the supervision of the independent schools. Alternatively, multiple homeschooling families can form their own school by maintaining basic records and teaching the mandatory subjects, while also following other legal requirements.

Option 3: Homeschooling with a certified teacher

If the person responsible for teaching your child, whether it is you as the parent or someone else you choose, has a valid teaching certificate from Colorado, there are no obligations for notification, evaluation, or any other conditions.

Happy Homeschooling!

The Home Tribe Team