How to Homeschool in Florida
If you are moving to Florida and want to know how to homeschool in Florida, this simple guide will explain everything you need to get started!
We are very blessed to have an excellent home education law in Florida. The beauty of homeschooling in Florida is due to the way the law was written to include all children and abilities, and provide the freedom parents need in order to direct their child’s education in the best interest of the child. As homeschoolers we are allowed to use whatever curriculum we want, whatever schedule we want, and move along at the pace that best suits our children’s educational abilities and needs.
According to the Florida Department of Education, during the 2016/2017 school year there were almost 90,000 registered homeschoolers in the state. To learn how the numbers are divided up by county, click here to read their annual report.
In Florida, the term “homeschool student” applies only to children that are home educated as described in FL State Statute 1002.41. Please click on this link to read the statute and know exactly what parents are required to do, but basically,
To homeschool legally in Florida you must do these 4 things:
- Register once with the county by sending them a letter of intent (see below)
- Keep a portfolio of your students’ work (work samples, a list of books and materials used, and a log of activities).
- Send them a proof of student progress (evaluation) once a year, by the anniversary date of your letter of intent (more on that below).
- When you are done homeschooling, you must send the county a letter of termination.
We ARE NOT REQUIRED to do ANY of these things:
- We are not required to keep attendance, or to complete a certain amount of school days
- We are not required to test, ever
- We are not required to provide immunization records, health forms, or birth certificates
- We are not required to follow any state curriculum standards or Common Core standards or methods.
We have the FREEDOM and RIGHT to do ALL of these things:
- Use any curriculum that we want to for our child, whether in book format, video/DVD format, online, or in person.
- Teach our children whatever subject matter we want them to learn.
- We can use tutors, enroll our children in private classes, online or in person, join co-ops, attend workshops, seminars, do apprenticeships, internships, etc.
- We can choose any schedule we want during the day.
- We can choose what days of the week to work, or play, and we can have field trips whenever we want.
- We can school year-round, or follow the regular school schedule. We can take any vacation times we want.
- Our children can do extracurricular activities at the local public school (music, art club, sports, dance, debate, Model UN, ROTC, etc.) via the Craig Dickinson Act.
- Our high-school level children can dual-enroll FOR FREE in the local state or community colleges and get college credit and complete high school course requirements at the same time.
- We can issue our child a high school diploma, signed by us (the parent) and it is considered a valid diploma according to state statute.
- We can issue our child high school transcripts and these must be accepted by Florida state colleges and universities.
- Our high school aged children can become eligible for Florida Bright Futures Scholarships towards college expenses.
- Our special needs children can be eligible for and awarded Gardiner Scholarships of $10,000 per year to go towards educational materials, equipment, and therapies.
As you can see, there are lots of good things about homeschooling in Florida! It’s not a coincidence that the homeschooling office at the Florida Dept. of Education is called “Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice.” That name reflects the light in which the home education statute was written: with independent education and parental choice in mind.
A Note on Umbrella Schools
In many states the only way to legally homeschool is via an umbrella school. That is not the case in Florida. In Florida you do not need to join an umbrella school in order to homeschool. Umbrella schools are an option, but in Florida an umbrella school is a private school, and children that are enrolled in umbrella schools are considered private school students by the state, not homeschooled students. This is an important distinction, because if you use an umbrella school your children are subject to private school laws and statutes, which could impact them in many ways, and they won’t enjoy the homeschooling freedoms we described above. Please click on this link if you would like to learn about how umbrella schools work in Florida.
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How to Homeschool in Florida – Steps in Detail
Step 1: Send a Letter of Intent to Your County Superintendent
When you move to Florida the first thing you will need to do is send a letter of intent (LOI) to the county that you reside in. This must be done within 30 days of establishing your homeschool for all children aged 6 and above. If you have more than one child you can list them all on the same letter. Make sure you include the children’s full names, dates of birth, and your street address.
In most cases you can email the letter of intent to the county homeschool liaison, and follow up with a phone call. You can find the information by county by clicking on this link.
Sample Homeschool Letter of Intent (just copy & paste into a Word document):
Date
School District of [Your] County
Home Education Office
Street Address
City, FL zipcode
[Your] County Superintendent of Schools:
This letter is to inform you of our intent to establish a home education program for the following child(ren), beginning on [DATE].
[Child’s full name] [DOB]
[Address]
Sincerely,
[Parent’s name]
Step 2: Keep a Portfolio
The purpose of a portfolio, according to Florida Statute 1002.41, is to document “the student’s demonstration of educational progress at a level commensurate with her or his ability.” Therefore, to prepare for a portfolio review the most important thing to remember is to focus on your child’s progress, and clearly document it. Some parent just keep all of the work their child has done, others like to keep only samples that show progress. Some parents scan or photograph their child’s work and upload it to a cloud server in a digital format. Others put it all in a big binder, divided by subject. And some parents take photos of the work and make a photo slide show video. However you choose to do it is up to you. Neither the state or the counties are allowed to tell you how to keep your portfolio. Just make sure it has these three elements:
- Samples of work
- A list of books and materials used
- A log of activities
We recommend that you keep samples that show progress and to put the child’s name and dates on each piece of work. This is especially helpful when it comes time to do a portfolio review, and also to tell your children’s work apart.
The list of books and materials can be kept in any format you choose. We like to keep the receipts from the library, but not all libraries do that.
A log of activities is just that. You don’t have to plan ahead, just a log of what you did. It doesn’t have to be in-depth, unless you want it to be. We use a simple wall calendar and fill in things as we go, or later on if we forget. I rely heavily on Google Calendar to organize our lives since we have 5 children, so that would be my log of activities.
ONLINE CURRICULUM
If your have chosen an online curriculum for your child, such as FLVS, Time 4 Learning, Abeka Online, Study Ladder, Khan Academy, etc., the progress will be based on the work they have done online. We recommend keeping hard copies of the grade reports for the entire time that they have been using the curriculum. And if you decide to stop using something (for example, Time 4 Learning) make sure you download and print a copy of their progress reports because after a certain amount of time they will delete all the account information. It is YOUR responsibility to keep these records, so download them or take screen shots of the progress reports as you go. The same for computer-based curriculum, such as Switched on Schoolhouse, or Teaching Textbooks. Computers do crash, so print out the children’s reports on a regular basis. Better safe than sorry!
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Step 3: Yearly Evaluation by the Anniversary Date of Your LOI
Part of the parental choice we enjoy in Florida is the choice to choose what type of evaluation to send to the county every year. We have 5 choices, which are described in FL State Statute 1002.41:
(c) The parent shall provide for an annual educational evaluation in which is documented the student’s demonstration of educational progress at a level commensurate with her or his ability. The parent shall select the method of evaluation and shall file a copy of the evaluation annually with the district school superintendent’s office in the county in which the student resides.
The annual educational evaluation shall consist of one of the following:
1. A teacher selected by the parent shall evaluate the student’s educational progress upon review of the portfolio and discussion with the student. Such teacher shall hold a valid regular Florida certificate to teach academic subjects at the elementary or secondary level;
2. The student shall take any nationally normed student achievement test administered by a certified teacher;
3. The student shall take a state student assessment test used by the school district and administered by a certified teacher, at a location and under testing conditions approved by the school district;
4. The student shall be evaluated by an individual holding a valid, active license pursuant to the provisions of s. 490.003(7) or (8); or
5. The student shall be evaluated with any other valid measurement tool as mutually agreed upon by the district school superintendent of the district in which the student resides and the student’s parent.
Portfolio Evaluations – the most popular option by far
Portfolio evaluations are simple and easy, which is why parents prefer them. They are also the most economical way to complete the annual requirement, anywhere from $28 – 35 per evaluation.
The goal of the portfolio evaluation is for a certifed teacher to look at your children’s work and determine if they have progressed according to their own ability. An evaluator is not supposed to tell you what subjects your child should study, nor whether or not they belong in a certain grade level or not. They are only supposed to look for progress. An evaluator is not evaluating you, the parent, or what you should or should not include in your child’s portfolio, or even how the portfolio is presented. Evalautors can make recommendations, and if they are homeschool-friendly, they can be a great resource of encouragement and inspiration. Click here for a homeschooling parent & certified teacher who does simple and stress-free evaluations.
Standardized Testing
Standardized tests are the second most popular option for the annual evaluation. The more popular tests that parents choose are: Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS), Stanford Achievement Test (SAT), California Achievement Test (CAT), and a few lesser-known nationally normed tests such as the Brigance and Woodcock-Johnson. Testing is a little more complicated and time consuming, and more expensive. Testing can take one or two days, then you have to wait for the tests to be scored and to receive the scores. This takes several weeks, which means that if you want your child to be tested you need to plan ahead so that you receive your test scores on time. They must be sent to the county by the anniversary date of your LOI.
While many parents simply choose to do the portfolio evaluation, there are lots of merits to having your child take a standardized test. It can be helpful to give your child the experience of a standardized test situation. Also, your child’s scores are ranked alongside his or her peers on a national scale. This information can be helpful to see how your child is progressing compared to other children their age. This information can give insight to their strengths and weaknesses, and point out areas that need improvement.
Step 4: Letter of Termination
If any of the following situations occur, then it’s time send a letter of termination to your county:
- You are moving from one county to another county in Florida.
- You are moving out of Florida.
- You are graduating your child from homeschool.
- You are enrolling your child in a public or private school.
If you move from one county in Florida to another, you must send a letter of termination to the county you are moving from. Then, you must send a new Letter of Intent to the school superintendent of your new county.
How to Homeschool in Florida – A Simple Guide #flhomeschool #movingtofl #howtohomeschool https://t.co/y5W1dawHr8 https://t.co/aAdgui1HwA
How to homeschool in Florida – a simple guide to get started. #flhomeschool #homeschool https://t.co/w2QXVVOePQ
Thank you for the the time and detail put into this article. I feel it leaves out one very important factor: what happens if the superintendent decides that your child hasn’t progressed to their standards?
From 1002.41 (http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=1000-1099/1006/Sections/1006.15.html)
(2) The district school superintendent shall review and accept the results of the annual educational evaluation of the student in a home education program. If the student does not demonstrate educational progress at a level commensurate with her or his ability, the district school superintendent shall notify the parent, in writing, that such progress has not been achieved. The parent shall have 1 year from the date of receipt of the written notification to provide remedial instruction to the student. At the end of the 1-year probationary period, the student shall be reevaluated as specified in paragraph (1)(c). Continuation in a home education program shall be contingent upon the student demonstrating educational progress commensurate with her or his ability at the end of the probationary period.
Good question, Allyson. First, it is important to note that the superintendent does NOT review the portfolio for progress. Only a FL certified teacher can evaluate a homeschooled child for progress. Superintendents and most school district personnel are not FL certified teachers. Secondly, only a certified teacher CHOSEN BY THE PARENT can do the evaluation. By law no one else can do the evaluation.
In the case described in the portion of the statute that you provided, this situation will only occur if the certified teacher that the parent has hired to review the child’s portfolio finds that the child has not made progress. If the certified teacher states in the evaluation that the child has NOT demonstrated progress commensurate with his/her ability, then the superintendent has to put that child’s homeschool on probation. If after the 1 year probation, another evaluation is done, and if the child is then making progress according to his/her ability, then the homeschool can continue. If the child is still not making progress, then the homeschool will be terminated.
It is extremely important to note and underscore that there are no standards that the child must have progressed to. The homeschooling statute is a very inclusive law which does not hold the children to any standards except “progress according to his/her own ability.” The superintendent has no room in the law to apply their standards to any homeschooled child registered via the county under FL state statute 1002.41.
That is why it is important to make sure that the homeschool evaluator that you choose for your child’s evaluations understands both homeschooling AND the statute.
Lastly, the superintendent can ask for a portfolio inspection, however the inspection is not to determine progress. The inspection is solely to determine compliance with the law: that it includes work samples, reading list, log of activities. The superintendent cannot review the portfolio for progress because the law clearly states that THE PARENT is the one who chooses the method of evaluation, not the superintendent or the school district.
Allyson,
The superintendent is not who decides that the student is not progressing. Only a teacher that is chosen by the parent can evaluate a homeschooled child. NO one else. The superintendent does not have that jurisdiction, FL law does not allow for that.
If the evaluator, in reviewing all the work that the parent has provided, determines that no progress has been made (which is rare, but it does happen), usually they exhaust all other options before issuing an evaluation that says no progress. The parent can seek a second opinion, and does not have to turn in that evaluation. If a second evaluator also determines no progress, and the parent decides to turn that evaluation in to the county, then what happens next is what you quote in your comment.
If the county receives an evaluation that states no progress for a student, then the statutes says that the county must accept the evaluation and then put the homeschool on probation for one year. If after one year, the student is evaluated and again shows no progress, then that homeschool must be terminated.
This is a rare situation. However, it is never because the superintendent determines no progress (they are not allowed to do that), it’s only if the evaluator determines no progress.
Florida law expressly prohibits the county from any academic oversight of a homeschool in our statutes. So, the county school district is not allowed to academically assess the progress of a student. If they do, it’s a violation of state law.
I can not thank you enough for putting time and effort into putting this online. My daughter has been struggling in the school system here and her poor spirit is broken. I have thought hard about what to do and homeschooling is a great option but very scary to me. This makes it much less scary for me. One question though. How do we find a teacher to evaluate? We don’t know anyone in this state.
Christina, we are glad to hear that this information was helpful for you!
Curtis Tucker, is my husband and a FL certified teacher and an evaluator. He will be happy to help you with your daughter’s evaluation when the time comes.
His Facebook page is: http://www.Facebook.com/HomeschoolEvaluations and a website: http://www.Homeschool-Evaluations.com
He makes evaluations simple and stress-free 🙂
Thank you! This was very helpful and easy to understand!!
Hi!
Thank you for so much great information! I have decided to homeschool 2 of my children after this school year ends, and I was wondering when exactly I could begin the withdrawal process? I’m worried that if I wait until June, the counselors won’t be available or will be too busy for me to withdraw them (speaking with office staff is like trying to get an interview with the Pope!), and if I withdraw them too soon, then will they get their final report cards? I would like to enroll them in FLVS Flex over the summer. Thanks!
Hi Tiffany, sorry for the delay in replying to your comment.
You can withdraw your child at any time. It depends on whether or not you want them to complete the semester at the school or not.
If you do withdraw them too soon, then they will not have the final grades for the semester they are in posted to their report cards and transcripts. So that is one thing to consider when you decide to withdraw.
You can officially withdraw them over the summer, all it takes is sending a letter of intent, and then notifying the school that your students will not be back in August.
What are high school requirements for a student with an IEP for a specific learning disability in reading, writing, memory , math and dyslexia ? Does the child have to take high school exit exams or proficiency tests to receive a homeschool diploma? Also, I am planning on using ASL as the foreign language requirement. Is this acceptable? Thank you
Hi Jen,
The homeschool law in Florida is an inclusive law. What that means is that it does not require students to work at any grade levels, nor does it require homeschooled students to take any specific courses, etc. When a parent sends a letter of intent to the county, the parent decides what subjects the student studies, what the student’s graduation requirements are, and when they are ready to graduate from the home school.
Homeschoolers that are registered via a letter of intent can, if they want to, mimic what the public school graduation requirements are, but the are not required to. You are truly able to tailor an education that is specific to your students needs, goals, and abilities. Also, you don’t have to squeeze it all into four years. You can take an extra year or two if your student needs it. You do not have to do anything a public school does. You are on your own schedule and completely free.
Yes, ASL is considered an acceptable foreign language.
Generally speaking, having an IEP doesn’t impact your ability to homeschool. Since you are the primary educator, you can make sure that the IEP is followed. It doesn’t hinder or restrict you in any way.
Hope this helps!
I can not thank you enough for putting time and effort into putting this online. My son has been struggling in the school system here and suffers from depression and anxiety due to struggling and has fallen behind in school. I have thought hard about what to do and homeschooling is a great option but very scary to me. This makes it much less scary for me.
Awesome information! I Do you know if you can do the extracurricular activities at any high school or does it have to be in your child’s school zone? I am relocating to FL in 3 months and would love to know.
Yes, as long as your local high school is not under capacity. Check with your county homeschool liaison, they’ll tell you the process for trying out at an out of zone school.
Hi! This information has been so helpful! Thank you very much! I would like to know about “virtual education” in Florida in a prívate school. School is in Pensacola, students are in Miami. Would you be able to help me with some information about it!
Lizz, what exactly do you want to know. Is it Abeka Online?
Good Day,
So thankful for this web site. But I would like to ask:
I would like for my child to be able to participate in a few clubs at her local public school. *Would I go directly to the school, where the clubs are and register her there and if so *what should I expect them to ask of me or *would I need to go to the Seminole county board of education building and inquire there?
Thank you in advance for your guidance,
Kind regards,
Robin
Hi Robin! Yes, you would go directly to the school where your child would be participating. The law that gives homeschooled students the right to participate in extracurricular activities is called the Craig Dickinson Act. You may need to have a copy of that statute with you because some schools may not know what you can and cannot do, but the CDA explains it. That law was named after Craig Dickinson, who is the husband of Brenda Dickinson, our homeschool lobbyist in Florida. The Dickinson’s wanted to homeschool their children legally, so they wrote the home education law and got it passed in 1985.
If your child is wanting to play sports at a school that is a member of the FHSAA (Florida High School Athletic Association) then you will need to bring with you a completed packet of forms which you can find on the FHSAA website: EL7, EL7V, EL9, EL2, and EL3. Some of those forms need to be signed by you and notarized. The EL7V is sent to the county and they send it back. The EL2 is the sports physical.
Brenda Dickinson’s website will link you to all of those things: https://www.flhef.org/100615-extracurricular-activities-the-craig-dickinson-act/
Thank you so much Lupe! That was very helpful information!
Have a Blessed Day!
Thankyou so much for this post! I have a question… my children were enrolled in a florida public school last school year, but over the summer I decided to homeschool them. Do I need to withdraw them formally from the school? Or simply not sign them up during verification? ( that is what they call it in ga, not sure if that’s the correct term for florida, but I think you get the idea) Thanks for all the help!
Hi Jessica! Did you already send a letter of intent? If not, that would be the first step. Then, once you’ve sent that in, you do need to communicate to the school that your children will not be returning. It’s just a courtesy, but that way they won’t count your child as absent.