Pennsylvania is among the most regulated states: a notarized affidavit each year, required subjects and hours, a portfolio, an annual evaluation, and testing in certain grades.
Homeschooling is legal in Pennsylvania, but it comes with more paperwork than almost anywhere else in the country. Under the state's home education law (Act 169), you file a notarized affidavit with your district each year, teach specified subjects for a set number of days or hours, keep a portfolio, and have a qualified evaluator certify progress annually. Thousands of PA families do this successfully every year — the key is treating it as a checklist, not a threat.
The supervising parent needs a high school diploma or equivalent. Standardized testing is folded in at grades 3, 5, and 8, with results going into the portfolio. Alternatives exist: a PA-certified private tutor, or enrolling through certain accredited or church-based day/boarding school satellite programs, each with their own rules.
File a notarized affidavit with your district superintendent before starting and then annually — check your district's current filing deadline. It includes basic assurances and an outline of proposed education objectives. The supervising parent must hold a high school diploma or GED.
PA lists required subjects for elementary and secondary levels — including English, math, science, social studies (with PA and US history and civics), health, physical education, safety and fire safety, music, and art — taught over 180 days or the required instructional hours (900 elementary / 990 secondary).
Keep a portfolio of work samples and a log of reading materials through the year. Before the end of the school year, a qualified evaluator (such as a certified teacher or licensed psychologist meeting the statute's criteria) reviews it, interviews your child, and writes a certification of appropriate education that you file with the district.
Students take an approved standardized test in grades 3, 5, and 8; results go in the portfolio. The evaluation, not the score alone, determines whether education was appropriate.
PA homeschool graduates can receive a state-recognized diploma through their supervisor with a final evaluation, or via approved diploma organizations — a genuine advantage over many states.
Confirm the supervising parent has a high school diploma or GED in hand.
Prepare the affidavit with your education objectives, get it notarized, and file it with your district superintendent.
Withdraw your child from school only after the affidavit is filed, so attendance is never in question.
Set up your portfolio system on day one — a binder or digital folder for dated work samples and a reading log.
Line up an evaluator early in the year, not in May; experienced PA evaluators book up.
Choose a curriculum that maps cleanly onto PA's subject list and produces a natural paper trail of completed work, so your portfolio builds itself.
Whatever Pennsylvania 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.
It's the most paperwork-heavy state, but every requirement is a known, repeatable step: affidavit, subjects, portfolio, evaluator. Families who set up systems in September find June painless.
They review the portfolio, talk with your child, and certify that an appropriate education occurred. Most evaluations are friendly, 30-60 minute conversations, done in person or often online.
No. You write your own objectives and choose your own materials. The district reviews compliance, not curriculum quality.
A PA-certified tutor teaching your child, or enrollment through a qualifying accredited or religious school's satellite/umbrella program. Each replaces the affidavit-portfolio process with its own requirements.
The state maintains a list of approved tests, and homeschoolers can administer many of them privately. Confirm the current approved list before you buy a test.
Yes — Pennsylvania recognizes homeschool diplomas issued under the law, which carry the same standing as public school diplomas for state purposes.
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.