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LA

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Homeschool laws in Louisiana

Louisiana has two different homeschool-style pathways with different rules. The BESE-approved home study option requires an application, annual renewal, a sustained curriculum of quality equal to public schools, and proof of progress at renewal. The nonpublic school not seeking state approval option appears lighter, but it still requires certain notices, annual attendance reporting, and a 180-day school year.

Last verified

2026-04-20

Compulsory age range

Unclear from the captured sources. Final QA should confirm Louisiana's current compulsory attendance ages from a readable official source.

Quick-start checklist

What parents need to do first

This is the plain-English checklist a parent can follow to get started without reading a mountain of legal text.

  1. 1Choose whether you will use Louisiana's BESE-approved home study program or the nonpublic school not seeking state approval option.
  2. 2If you choose home study, submit the application within 15 days after you begin and save proof of approval.
  3. 3If your child is leaving public school for the nonpublic-school option, send the required enrollment notice within 10 days.
  4. 4Pick a curriculum and yearly plan that can support 180 school days, and for home study make sure it is comparable in quality to public school instruction.
  5. 5Keep organized records, including course outlines, book lists, work samples, attendance, and any testing or third-party evaluations you may want to use for home study renewal.
  6. 6If your student is in high school, plan early for diplomas, transcripts, and TOPS-related documentation because the two Louisiana pathways do not have the same outcomes.

Louisiana homeschool law hub

These state-specific guides turn the core law summary into focused SEO pages for the questions parents search most: requirements, forms, records, testing, graduation, and support groups.

Requirements

Plain-English Louisiana homeschool requirements: notice, subjects, hours, testing, records, teacher qualifications, and source links.

Letter of intent

Find out whether Louisiana homeschool parents need a letter of intent, who receives it, timing, and what to include.

Recordkeeping

Plain-English guide to homeschool records in Louisiana: attendance, portfolios, grades, transcripts, and what parents should keep.

Graduation

How homeschool graduation works in Louisiana, including diplomas, transcripts, college admission, dual enrollment, and high-school records.

Testing

Plain-English Louisiana homeschool testing guide: whether tests or evaluations are required, how often, and what records to keep.

Co-ops & support groups

How to think about homeschool co-ops, umbrella schools, virtual options, sports access, and local support while homeschooling in Louisiana.

Popular Louisiana homeschool searches

These guides connect the state law checklist to the long-tail questions parents actually search: curriculum by grade, secular options, ADHD support, public-school comparisons, teacher qualifications, and testing.

Best 1st grade curriculum in LouisianaBest secular 4th grade curriculum in LouisianaHomeschooling a child with ADHD in LouisianaHomeschool vs public school in LouisianaCan you homeschool without a degree?Do homeschoolers need testing?

What to do next: choose curriculum after you understand the law

The legal checklist tells you what Louisiana expects. Curriculum is the next decision. Start with your child’s age, learning style, parent prep time, and whether you want faith-based, secular, online, workbook, or literature-rich materials.

New homeschoolers

Pick a simple open-and-go core for math and language arts first. Add science, history, and enrichment after your routine is stable.

Busy parents

Favor programs with clear lesson plans, independent student work, grading support, or online components if parent prep time is limited.

High school

Choose courses you can document with credits, grades, descriptions, labs where needed, and a transcript-friendly record from day one.

Curriculum recommendation links will only be added after official affiliate/tracking URLs are approved and verified. No placeholder affiliate links are used on this page.

Free printables

Download the homeschool starter kit

Print these before you start: a state startup checklist, letter-of-intent template, attendance tracker, and high-school transcript template.

View all downloads

New homeschool families

State homeschool startup checklist

A printable first-week checklist for choosing your pathway, handling notices or withdrawal, tracking deadlines, and setting up records.

Download PDF →

Notice or withdrawal paperwork

Homeschool letter of intent template

A parent-safe fill-in notice/withdrawal template with reminders to use official state forms when required.

Download PDF →

Recordkeeping

Homeschool attendance tracker

A simple school-year tracker for days, hours, holidays, field trips, and notes you can keep with your records.

Download PDF →

High school planning

Homeschool transcript template

A fill-in high-school transcript starter with course records, credit summary, and parent certification lines.

Download PDF →

These printables are general planning tools, not legal advice. Always verify the current rule on your state page and official source links before filing deadlines.

Full breakdown

Every field is designed to answer the real-world compliance questions parents ask first.

Legal status
Homeschooling is legal in Louisiana. The captured sources describe two main ways to do it: a BESE-approved home study program or a nonpublic school not seeking state approval.
Compulsory age range
Unclear from the captured sources. Final QA should confirm Louisiana's current compulsory attendance ages from a readable official source.
Notification required
Yes. The required paperwork depends on which Louisiana option you choose.
Who you notify
For the home study option, apply to the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education through the Louisiana Department of Education. For the nonpublic school option, notify the public school your child attended within 10 days if applicable and report attendance annually to the Louisiana Department of Education.
Notification deadline
For home study, apply within 15 days after beginning and renew annually by October 1 or 12 months after initial approval, whichever is later. For the nonpublic school option, notify the prior public school within 10 days of enrollment if applicable and file the annual attendance report around the 30th day of the school term, with the captured HSLDA resource saying no later than 30 days after the school year starts.
Required subjects
For the home study option, a sustained curriculum of quality at least equal to public schools, Subjects taught at the same grade level used in public schools, Declaration of Independence in elementary school for the home study option, The Federalist Papers in high school for the home study option
Hours or days required
Operate for 180 days each year under either pathway described in the captured sources.
Record keeping
For home study renewals, keep enough records to show that you offered a sustained curriculum of quality. The captured source says the renewal packet can include subject outlines, a list of books and materials, work samples, standardized test results, third-party statements, and other evidence of program quality. For the nonpublic school option, keep copies of withdrawal notices when relevant and the annual attendance report.
Testing and evaluation
No routine statewide testing appears to be required just to homeschool. For the home study option, renewal requires evidence of progress, and one allowed way to show that is through LEAP, CAT, or another approved standardized test score, but the DOE page also says home study students are not required to take state assessments.
Testing frequency
No routine statewide homeschool testing schedule is clearly stated. For the home study option, progress evidence is part of the annual renewal process.
Teacher qualifications
The captured sources do not state a teacher license requirement for parents. The DOE page says parents in a BESE-approved home study program have complete control and responsibility for educating their child.
Curriculum freedom
Moderate overall. Parents choose the curriculum, and the DOE says it does not maintain a list of approved programs, but the home study option must offer a sustained curriculum of quality equal to public schools and at the same grade level.
Umbrella school option
The captured sources do not describe a classic umbrella-school pathway. Instead, they describe either a BESE-approved home study program or operating as a nonpublic school not seeking state approval.
Virtual school option
Families may use online materials privately, but the captured sources do not describe a separate Louisiana virtual-school homeschool pathway.
Special education
The captured sources do not clearly explain service access for homeschooled students with disabilities. One home study renewal option does mention a certified teacher statement comparing the child's instruction to public-school instruction for a child with similar disabilities.
High school diploma
For a BESE-approved home study program, the DOE says the home study program is responsible for creating and issuing diplomas, and that a diploma from that option carries the same weight as a state-issued diploma. The captured HSLDA source also says families who use only the nonpublic-school-not-seeking-approval option through high school will not be eligible for a TOPS award.
College admission
The captured sources do not directly explain college admission rules. Families should keep detailed transcripts and records, especially if they want to document eligibility for scholarships or later applications.
Sports access
The DOE page says students in a BESE-approved home study program may participate in interscholastic athletic activities. The captured sources do not clearly explain sports access under the nonpublic-school-not-seeking-approval option.
Dual enrollment
The captured sources do not clearly explain dual-enrollment access for Louisiana homeschoolers.
Notes
First-pass draft. Louisiana's official home study page was readable and confirmed the BESE-approved pathway, parent control over curriculum, diploma language, and sports access, but the captured statute URL appears to point to a repealed section and does not provide a useful compliance summary. Louisiana clearly has multiple pathways in the captured sources, and the nonpublic-school-not-seeking-approval details rely heavily on HSLDA's summary, so that path should get final QA before publication.

From our sister site

Overwhelmed by curriculum choices?

Now that you know the laws, find the right curriculum. Take the free 5-minute quiz at The Curriculum Compass — matched to your child, your teaching style, and your family values.

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Official sources

Parent-friendly reminder

This page is designed to reduce confusion, not replace legal advice. If something changes or feels unclear, verify with your state Department of Education before making compliance decisions.

Want more homeschool guidance and encouragement? Follow Dani at @thedanicerrato.