Tennessee's independent option requires annual notice, a parent diploma, 180 days, and testing in certain grades. Most families instead enroll through a church-related umbrella school with lighter state contact.
Homeschooling is legal in Tennessee through several doors. The 'independent home school' route means registering annually with your local district, holding a high school diploma or GED as the teaching parent, providing 180 days of instruction (about four hours a day), and standardized testing in grades 5, 7, and 9. The second, more popular route is enrolling your homeschool as a satellite of a church-related umbrella school, which handles reporting and sets its own requirements. Accredited online schools are a third path.
Neither route requires curriculum approval — Tennessee leaves what and how you teach to you (and, if applicable, your umbrella school's standards).
Independent home school: register with the district annually; parent needs a diploma/GED; state testing applies. Church-related umbrella school: you enroll and report to the umbrella instead, following its attendance and record rules; district testing requirements don't apply the same way. Umbrella enrollment is the most common choice for its simplicity.
Independent homeschoolers file a notice of intent with the local director of schools each year — check your district's current deadline. Umbrella families register with their chosen school, which manages compliance.
Independent home school students take the state-administered tests in grades 5, 7, and 9. Umbrella schools set their own assessment policies.
Plan for 180 days of instruction, roughly four hours daily, and keep attendance. Umbrella schools typically collect attendance and sometimes grades on their own schedule.
Decide your route: independent registration with the district, or a church-related umbrella school.
If umbrella: compare a few (fees, reporting, diploma services) and enroll. If independent: file the notice of intent with your district.
Withdraw your child from their current school in writing, referencing your new legal status.
Set up attendance tracking to document 180 days.
Choose a curriculum that fills a four-hour instructional day meaningfully and keeps your child on grade level for any testing your route requires.
Whatever Tennessee 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.
A church-related school that enrolls homeschoolers as satellite students. It replaces district registration and state testing with its own (usually lighter) requirements, and many offer transcript and diploma services.
No. Independent home school parents need a high school diploma or GED. Umbrella schools set their own expectations, which are typically similar or lighter.
On the independent route, in grades 5, 7, and 9, using the state's administered tests. Under an umbrella school, follow its assessment policy instead.
The independent statute describes 180 days of instruction at about four hours per day. Homeschool 'hours' flex naturally — one-on-one teaching covers ground much faster than a classroom.
Independent families issue their own; umbrella schools usually issue one for their enrolled students. Both are routinely accepted by Tennessee colleges with a solid transcript.
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.