Updated for the 2024 – 2025 school year.
Below is a summary of Washington Homeschool Laws to help you ensure your homeschool is compliant.
Looking For Another State? (Click to Drop Down)
Alabama – Alaska – Arizona – Arkansas – California – Colorado – Connecticut – Delaware – Florida – Georgia – Hawaii – Idaho – Illinois – Indiana – Iowa – Kansas – Kentucky – Louisiana – Maine – Maryland – Massachusetts – Michigan – Minnesota – Mississippi – Missouri – Montana – Nebraska – Nevada – New Hampshire – New Jersey – New Mexico – New York – North Carolina – North Dakota – Ohio – Oklahoma – Oregon – Pennsylvania – Rhode Island – South Carolina – South Dakota – Tennessee – Texas – Utah – Vermont – Virginia – Washington – West Virginia – Wisconsin – Wyoming
Note: The information below is not to be considered legal advice. I’m a homeschool mom with an interest in helping you, not a lawyer. I strongly recommend that you contact your state education department if you have questions specific to your circumstances.
Homeschool
Washington has several requirements including your qualifications as a parent-teacher, notifications, annual assessments, immunization records, required subjects, and instruction time.
Can I Teach?
You must meet one of the three criteria below in order to homeschool your child:
- Be supervised by a certificated person who partners with you to plan objectives and who has an average of one contact hour per week with your child.
- You have either earned 45 college-level credit hours or the equivalent in semester hours, or have completed a course in home instruction at a college or vocational institute.
- You must be deemed sufficiently qualified to provide home instruction by the superintendent of your local school district.
Do I Have to Notify the State?
Yes. You must notify your local school district of your intent to homeschool by September 15th of each year or within two weeks of the beginning of any public school quarter, trimester, or semester. Contact your local school district superintendent’s office for the appropriate form.
The Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction provides a sample Declaration of Intent to Provide Home-Based Instruction for your reference. Note: This is a sample, not an official form
Annual Assessment
Washington requires annual assessments that must be kept in your records, but not submitted. You have two options:
- A standardized test approved by the State Board of Education and administered by a qualified individual. Here’s a useful List of approved standardized tests.
- A written progress assessment from a certificated person currently working in the education field.
You must maintain these annual assessment records along with your child’s immunization records and they may be requested by your school district.
Immunization Records
As mentioned above, you must maintain immunization records for your child and they may be requested by your school district.
More information on Washington’s childhood immunization requirements can be found at the Washington State Department of Health website.
Required Subjects
You must teach Washington’s core subjects including:
- Occupational Education
- Science
- Math
- Language
- Social Studies
- History
- Health
- Reading
- Writing
- Spelling
- Art
- Music
How Many Days a Year do I Have to Teach?
You must provide 180 days or 1,000 hours of instruction each year.
I strongly recommend you keep attendance in case it’s needed by the Department of Education or for something like college applications.
Compulsory Attendance Age
The compulsory attendance age is the age range in which your child must be attending school of some type.
In Washington, your child must attend school from when they turn 8 years old until they turn 18 years old, unless they graduate.
Public School Sports
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association allows homeschool students to participate in its activities. One of the requirements is signing a Home-Based Education Contract with your local school.
Contact your local school for more information.
Wrapping Up
Hopefully this summary of Washington Homeschool Laws gets you started on your homeschool journey with your family!
If you’re just getting started, you’re probably feeling a bit overwhelmed.
The Home Learning Kit can help!
It’s a package of handy learning tools to make your homeschool more fun and engaging, curated by yours truly. Check it out!
