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Michigan · 2026-2027 school year

Michigan homeschool rules, 2026-2027

Last checked against Michigan law and the state's own pages:

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Each rule below comes from the law or from the state's own pages. Trellis tools are your own choice. For a hard case, ask a Michigan lawyer.

All Michigan asks on the home-school route: teach your own child at home. Do it from age 6 to the 18th birthday (card 1). Follow a plan you set out. Cover nine subject areas: reading, spelling, mathematics, science, history, civics, literature, writing and English grammar.

2026-2027 at a glance Michigan law

  • Your route. Teaching your own child at home puts you on the home-school route. There is nothing to sign up for.
  • The other route. You don't need it. It needs a certified teacher. It reports yearly to the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) (cards 4 and 5).
  • File. Nothing on the home-school route. Want special education or other district help, like speech services? Send MDE a yearly report first (card 5).
  • Leaving a public school? Send the school a short note, or it may mark your child absent. MDE calls this a good idea.

1Who this covers

Your child must be in school from age 6 to the 18th birthday. At 16, your written notice, sent to your district, may end school early.

Turning 6 before December 1? Start on that year's first school day. If later, the next year.

Michigan has two routes. Teaching your own child at home puts you on the home-school route. There is nothing to sign up for.

The other route, a nonpublic school at home, is optional. It needs a certified teacher and a yearly report (cards 4 and 5).

MCL 380.1561(1), (2), (3), (5) · MCL 388.553

2The home-school route

On this route the law asks four things:

  1. Your child is taught at home.
  2. You teach, as the parent or legal guardian.
  3. You follow an organized educational program, meaning a plan you set out and follow.
  4. It covers nine subject areas.

The law names these nine subject areas:

  1. Reading
  2. Spelling
  3. Mathematics
  4. Science
  5. History
  6. Civics
  7. Literature
  8. Writing
  9. English grammar

MDE's own list of subjects is longer. That list is for nonpublic schools, the other route.

MCL 380.1561(3)(f) · MDE manual

3What Michigan does not ask for

The home-school route asks for none of these.

  • No notice, no form and no sign-up.
  • Leaving a public school? No law asks you to tell it, but MDE says it is a good idea. If not told, it may mark your child absent. It may then send a truancy officer, who checks on missed school. MDE says a call or a short note is enough.
  • No teaching certificate.
  • No count of days or hours, and no set calendar. This is true on both routes.
  • No test. MDE says none is asked of a child taught at home.
  • No one checks your lessons or visits your home.
MCL 380.1561(3)(f) · MDE fact sheet

4The nonpublic school route

You don't need this route to homeschool. It asks more. Card 5 has its report.

  • Who may teach. The teacher needs a Michigan teaching certificate. MDE also checks for a bachelor's degree. If your religious faith rules out a certified teacher, you need neither. The Michigan Supreme Court set this. Courts have not accepted any other reason.
What to teach on this route
  • Subjects. The law says comparable: teach what public schools where you live teach at each grade. There is no full state list.
  • Constitution courses. Nonpublic schools teach the U.S. and Michigan constitutions, and how government works. Start by grade 8 (9 with a junior high).
MCL 380.1561(3)(a) · MCL 388.553 · MCL 380.1166 · MDE

5Reports to MDE, and help from your district

MDE's yearly report is the Nonpublic School Membership Report. Send it October 15 to October 31.

The nonpublic route sends the report yearly. The home-school route sends it only when help needs it:

  • Special education help. Send the report before help starts, then yearly. Help before October? Ask your district and MDE.
  • Other services. MDE says speech, nursing and reading help need it yearly too.

MDE says the sender needs a bachelor's degree. No degree? Email MDE first. Religious faith rules out certified teachers? MDE doesn't ask for it.

A home school sends it on MDE's 2026–2027 Homeschool Registration Form, with MiLogin. NexSys schools file there.

Open MDE's form

No report needed: ask your local public school
  • Some classes. MDE says your child may take electives like art or music at your district. Your district sets its own sign-up rules.
  • Teams. MDE says each local school board runs its own sports. Ask your district's board about its rules.
  • State tests. Your child may sit them at your district's school. MDE says they cost your family nothing.
  • No state money. MDE says no state money pays for teaching at home.
Only on the nonpublic route: if you pay other workers

Do you run your home as a nonpublic school and pay anyone besides you? Then MDE also asks for its Nonpublic School Personnel Report. MDE takes it from September 1 to December 1. Ask MDE whether a paid tutor counts. The home-school route has no such report.

MCL 388.555 · MDE fact sheet and manual

6Records, immunizations, and the diploma

MDE says no law asks you to keep records, on either route. MDE still encourages them. A school your child joins later decides the grade level. Your records help it decide.

Immunization records. Signing your child up at a school? The first time, you must show the school an immunization record. A child excused from immunizations shows an exemption statement instead.

You write the diploma, on your own standards. MDE says the parent gives it out after grade 12.

MDE fact sheet and manual · MCL 333.9208

7If the rules are not followed

Keeping your child home without teaching them on either route is a misdemeanor. The fine runs from $5 to $50. Jail can run up to 90 days. A court may order both. A family teaching on either route is not breaking this law.

On the nonpublic school route: state checks

The state superintendent may check the school at any time. That covers how clean it is, its list of children, its courses and its teachers.

A court held that a hearing comes first. The state superintendent sends notice. The hearing is held within 15 days. An order to put things right comes before any court case. It gives up to 60 days. If it is not met, the state superintendent may close the school.

If a notice comes. Go to the hearing. Bring your records: your list of children, your courses and who teaches. Card 4 has the rules.

MCL 380.1599 · MCL 388.554 · MCL 388.555

Questions Michigan families ask

Which Michigan route am I on?

Show answer
The home-school route, if you teach your own child at home. You don't sign up for it. The nonpublic school route is optional. It asks for a certified teacher and a yearly report to MDE.

Do I have to tell anyone I teach my child at home in Michigan?

Show answer
No. On the home-school route Michigan asks for no notice, no form and no sign-up. You tell no one, before you start or after. Telling the school your child is leaving is still a good idea. MDE says a school that hears nothing may mark your child absent.

What subjects does Michigan make me teach?

Show answer
On the home-school route the law names nine subject areas. They are reading, spelling, mathematics, science, history, civics, literature, writing and English grammar. That is the whole list. MDE prints a wider list of its own. Its manual gives that list to nonpublic schools. It belongs to the other route, not this one.

How many days or hours does Michigan ask for?

Show answer
None. Neither route names a number of days or hours. There is no set calendar either.

Does my child have to take a test?

Show answer
No. MDE says no test is asked of a child taught at home. Your child may sit the state tests at your district's school if you want. MDE says they cost your family nothing.

What is the nonpublic school route, and do I need it?

Show answer
You do not need it to homeschool. It runs your home as a private school under a school law from 1921. That law asks the person teaching to hold a teaching certificate. MDE asks for one report a year. This route asks more than the home-school route.

When is the Michigan report due?

Show answer
It opens October 15 and is due October 31, each year. It is the Nonpublic School Membership Report. A home school sends it on MDE's 2026–2027 Homeschool Registration Form, with a MiLogin account. A school already set up in NexSys files there. Only the nonpublic school route sends it every year. MDE also asks for it from a home-school family that wants special education help. MDE asks for it again each school year to keep that help.

Can my homeschooled child get speech help or special education in Michigan?

Show answer
Yes. Your district may offer special education and other services, like speech help. First send MDE the Nonpublic School Membership Report, then send it yearly. It opens October 15 and is due October 31. For help that starts before October, ask your district and MDE. MDE's fact sheet says a parent who sends it needs a bachelor's degree. If your religious faith rules out a certified teacher, MDE doesn't ask for the degree. No degree? Email MDE before you send it. Card 5 has the address.

Do I need a teaching certificate to homeschool in Michigan?

Show answer
Not on the home-school route. The home-school part of the law names none. The nonpublic school route does ask the person teaching to hold one. The Michigan Supreme Court held that rule cannot bind some religious families. Their religious faith rules out a certified teacher. MDE also checks that a parent who reports to it has a bachelor's degree. If your religious faith rules out a certified teacher, MDE doesn't ask for the degree.

Who gives my child a high school diploma?

Show answer
You do. MDE says the parent gives out the diploma after grade 12. Michigan's course count for public schools does not reach either route. There is nothing to count up. MDE says no state money pays for teaching at home.

Is there a homeschool compliance planner for Michigan?

Show answer
Compliance means meeting what your state asks, on time. Michigan asks a home-school family to file nothing. What is left is the teaching itself. Trellis is a planner that keeps that record. It holds each subject, each course and each grade. Trellis never files a paper for you. It never says you have passed.

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Plan your Michigan year in Trellis

Trellis puts your whole school year on one calendar. Your children check off their work, and Trellis keeps the record. Your subjects line up against Michigan's nine areas.

Start your free 30 days See how the Trellis planner works