Mississippi asks for one thing: a certificate of enrollment filed with your local school attendance officer each year. No testing, no required subjects, no reviews.
Homeschooling is legal in Mississippi and the state keeps it remarkably simple. Your entire legal obligation is filing a certificate of enrollment with your county's school attendance officer once a year — the commonly cited deadline is September 15, but confirm the current date when you file.
Beyond that form, Mississippi mandates no specific subjects, no standardized testing, no minimum hours, and no portfolio reviews. The form itself just asks for basic information about your children and a simple description of the education being provided.
File a certificate of enrollment with the school attendance officer for your county each year. It asks for the child's name, age, address, and a brief description of your educational program — a sentence or two is fine.
Mississippi doesn't prescribe subjects. You have full freedom over curriculum, though covering the standard core — reading, writing, math, science, and social studies — serves your child regardless of what the law requires.
Nothing is required by law, but keep your filed certificates and simple progress records. For high schoolers, maintain a transcript from ninth grade on, since you'll issue the diploma.
Contact your county school district and ask for the school attendance officer who handles homeschool certificates.
File the certificate of enrollment — and if you're starting mid-year, file when you begin rather than waiting for fall.
Withdraw your child from their current school in writing if they're enrolled.
Set a recurring reminder to re-file each fall.
Choose your curriculum freely — with no state constraints, the smart move is one that meets your child where they are, like Cullinan Academy's adaptive placement, rather than a one-size-fits-grade box.
Whatever Mississippi asks for — attendance, subject coverage, progress evidence, transcripts — Cullinan Academy tracks it automatically as your kids learn: verified mastery records, time-on-task, printable transcripts with GPA, and state report templates. No spreadsheet required.
Really. Mississippi requires no standardized testing or assessment of homeschooled students at any point.
Keep it brief and honest — something like a parent-directed program covering language arts, math, science, and social studies. It is not evaluated or approved; it's informational.
No. There's no diploma, degree, or certification requirement for parents.
Yes. The school will place them, usually using its own placement testing — one good reason to keep informal records of what your child has covered.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Homeschool law changes, and districts sometimes apply it differently. Verify current requirements with your state's department of education or a local homeschool association before filing anything. Content last reviewed 2026-07.