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MT

Medium regulation

Homeschool laws in Montana

Montana has a direct homeschool path, but it is more regulated than the lowest-regulation states. Families generally file a notice of intent each school fiscal year, keep attendance records, provide a set minimum number of instructional hours, and teach an organized course of study that includes the basic subjects required in Montana public schools.

Last verified

2026-04-20

Compulsory age range

7-16, or until 8th grade work is completed if later

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. 1If your child is enrolled in public school, withdraw them so there is a clear paper trail.
  2. 2File your yearly notice of intent with the county superintendent.
  3. 3Choose a curriculum that covers English language arts, math, social studies, science, health, arts, and career education.
  4. 4Build a school-year schedule that reaches Montana's required instructional hours for your child's grade range.
  5. 5Keep attendance records from the first day of homeschooling and save a copy of your yearly notice.
  6. 6Start a transcript early if your student is doing high school-level work.

Montana 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 Montana homeschool requirements: notice, subjects, hours, testing, records, teacher qualifications, and source links.

Letter of intent

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

Recordkeeping

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

Graduation

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

Testing

Plain-English Montana 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 Montana.

Popular Montana 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 MontanaBest secular 4th grade curriculum in MontanaHomeschooling a child with ADHD in MontanaHomeschool vs public school in MontanaCan 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 Montana 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 Montana, but families need to file yearly notice and follow basic attendance, subject, and instruction-time rules.
Compulsory age range
7-16, or until 8th grade work is completed if later
Notification required
Yes. Families notify the county superintendent each school fiscal year that the child is being homeschooled.
Who you notify
The superintendent of schools of the county where the homeschool is located.
Notification deadline
During each school fiscal year, which runs from July 1 through June 30. The HSLDA source suggests filing at the beginning of each school year.
Required subjects
English language arts, Mathematics, Social studies, Science, Health, Arts, Career education
Hours or days required
At least 720 hours of instruction each school fiscal year for grades 1-3, and at least 1,080 hours each school fiscal year for grades 4-12.
Record keeping
Keep attendance records for your homeschool and make them available to the county superintendent on request. Families should also keep a copy of the yearly notice and strong academic records, especially for high school, even though the available sources mainly speak to attendance.
Testing and evaluation
No statewide testing requirement is described in the available sources reviewed here.
Testing frequency
Not required statewide in the available sources.
Teacher qualifications
Montana's statute describes a home school as instruction by a parent of the parent's child, stepchild, or ward in the parent's residence. The available sources do not describe a separate parent teaching license requirement.
Curriculum freedom
Moderate. Families choose their materials, but the homeschool must provide an organized course of study that includes the basic subjects Montana public schools are required to teach.
Umbrella school option
Yes, but it is optional. The available sources mainly describe Montana's direct parent-run homeschool path.
Virtual school option
The raw sources do not describe a separate virtual-school homeschool pathway. Families may use online materials privately, but public virtual enrollment would be a different arrangement from direct homeschooling.
Special education
The available sources reviewed here do not clearly explain one simple statewide rule for special education services for independent homeschoolers.
High school diploma
The raw sources do not spell out a separate Montana homeschool diploma process. Families homeschooling through high school should keep careful transcripts and other records.
College admission
The raw sources do not discuss college admission rules in detail. Clear transcripts and other supporting records are likely important for homeschool graduates.
Sports access
The available sources reviewed here do not clearly describe a simple statewide rule for homeschool access to public school sports or extracurricular activities.
Dual enrollment
Partly. Montana's compulsory-attendance statute says a child enrolled in a home school may enroll on a part-time basis in a public school, but the available sources do not separately explain a statewide college dual-enrollment rule.
Notes
First-pass draft. Verification quality is mixed: Montana's compulsory-attendance statute was readable and HSLDA's compliance summary was readable, but the Montana OPI homeschool URL in the raw source file returned a 404 during capture, so the practical compliance wording relies heavily on HSLDA plus the statute. The available sources point to one main direct homeschool path, and the broken OPI link 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.