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Minnesota · 2026-2027 school year

Minnesota homeschool requirements, 2026-2027

Last checked against the statutes and the state's own guidance: 2026-09-04

Start your family's records

Know what the law asks. Keep your records. Teach your day.

Each requirement below is separated from Trellis's optional record-keeping tools, with direct links to the official sources. This is a planning aid, not legal advice; confirm unusual circumstances with your district superintendent or qualified Minnesota legal counsel.

MN

2026-2027 at a glance Minnesota law

  • Teach children from age 7 until age 17. Minnesota requires children in this age range to receive instruction unless they have already graduated.
  • File the required forms: Send an Initial Report when you start or move districts, then a yearly Letter of Intent by October 1 when required.
  • Test once a year: usually ages 7 to 16 with a nationally norm-referenced standardized test.
  • Keep your records: save schedules, instructional materials, assessments, and test records.
  • Send immunization paperwork twice: the child's first Minnesota homeschool year and again in 7th grade.
  • Set your own schedule: Minnesota has no required number of school days or instructional hours.

What you must do this year, and by when

  • By October 1, 2026, or within 15 days of leaving a public school or moving districts: send your initial report (the first year, or after a move) or your letter of intent (every year after) to the superintendent of the district where the child lives.
  • By October 1 of your first Minnesota year, and again the year a child enters 7th grade: submit the immunization record or the exemption that applies.
What holds true all year: the subjects, the test, your records
  • All year: teach reading, writing, literature and fine arts; math and science; history, geography, economics, government and citizenship; health and physical education. No hours or days are prescribed.
  • Once a year: each child 7 through 16, and a 16- or 17-year-old whose initial report was filed after the child turned 16, takes a nationally norm-referenced standardized test you and the superintendent agree on. You keep the score; nothing is submitted.
  • Always: keep class schedules, copies of instructional materials, and a description of how you assess achievement, where you can reach them.

Minnesota lets you teach your children at home under Minn. Stat. §§ 120A.22 and 120A.24. The state asks for a short report to your school district each fall, four subject areas, a yearly test, and records you keep at home. There are no required hours, no curriculum approval, and no state review of your transcript. Here is each step, in plain English, with the statute linked.

1Know which ages must be taught

Teach children from age 7 until age 17. Minnesota calls that compulsory instruction. It can end earlier: a child who graduates is done.

Younger than seven? Then you ordinarily need no homeschool report for that child at all. One exception: a child already enrolled in public kindergarten or a higher grade; the box below says what to do.

Brand new to homeschooling? The Minnesota Department of Education's (MDE) own homeschool page covers the basics from the state's side. Then read MÂCHÉ's (the Minnesota Association of Christian Home Educators) How to Begin Homeschooling in Minnesota, a friendly walkthrough from Minnesota's homeschool association.

One exception: a child under seven who already started school
Read this if your under-seven child has enrolled in public kindergarten or a higher grade.
  • What changes: special rules apply, because the child is already enrolled.
  • What to do: tell the district you are withdrawing the child to homeschool.
  • Who skips that step: a family in a district whose school board has adopted that exemption. Ask your district office whether it has; if so, skip this step, and if not, follow it (Minn. Stat. § 120A.22, subd. 6(a)).
  • Afterward: once the withdrawal qualifies, compulsory attendance ends.
Minn. Stat. § 120A.22, subds. 5–6

2Send the initial report, and send one again if you move districts

Send one report to the superintendent of the district where the child lives. Trellis builds it. You send it.

If it is late or missing. Minn. Stat. § 120A.26 sets the order. The superintendent “must notify the parent, in writing”. If the violations “are not corrected within 15 days”, the superintendent “must request fact-finding and mediation”. Only if it is still not corrected does the superintendent “notify the county attorney”, and the case proceeds “as provided by law in misdemeanor cases.” In plain terms: notice, fifteen days, mediation, then referral.

When it is due:

  • Your first year: by October 1 of the first school year the child receives home instruction after turning seven;
  • Leaving a public school: within 15 days after withdrawing a child over seven from public school to homeschool (the statute's own term is a nonpublic school that is not state-recognized as accredited, the category a homeschool falls into);
  • Moving away: within 15 days of moving out of a district; and
  • Settling somewhere new: by October 1 after establishing a new resident district.

What goes in it:

  • each child's name, birth date, and address;
  • the annual test you intend to use, if one is required;
  • each instructor's name; and
  • the qualification that applies to each instructor under Minn. Stat. § 120A.22, subd. 10.

The five ways an instructor qualifies, in the statute's order (§ 120A.22, subd. 10): a valid Minnesota teaching license in the field and grade taught; direct supervision by a person who holds one; instruction in a school that is accredited by an accrediting agency, recognized under § 123B.445, or recognized by the commissioner; a bachelor's degree; or being the parent of a child who takes the yearly assessment in step 5.

What a home school is entitled to, once it is one
Extracurriculars, PSEO college courses, nonpublic-pupil aid, driver's-ed classroom credit. None of it is required to homeschool.

What a home school is entitled to, once it is one.

  • Extracurriculars: the school board “shall allow all resident pupils receiving instruction in a home school…to be eligible to fully participate in extracurricular activities on the same basis as public school students”. So a home-schooled child may join the district's activities on the same footing as its enrolled students (Minn. Stat. § 123B.49, subd. 4(a)).
  • PSEO: a home-schooled student in grades 10 to 12 is an “alternative pupil” for Postsecondary Enrollment Options and “must register with the commissioner of education before participating” (§ 124D.09, subd. 4(a)). The commissioner sets the form and manner. A 10th grader qualifies only for a career or technical course, with a passing 8th-grade reading score (subd. 4(b)). MDE's PSEO page says a home-schooled pupil registers each year by filing either the Initial Registration Form or the Letter of Intent to Continue to Provide Instruction; that is MDE's guidance, not the statute's words.
  • Nonpublic-pupil aid: a home school is a “nonpublic school” for § 123B.42 and § 123B.44 (§ 123B.41, subd. 9). So textbooks, materials, standardized tests and health services can be requested through the district superintendent. MDE's page sets October 1 each year as the date to elect it.
  • Driver's ed: the classroom part may be “home-classroom driver training” with materials the commissioner of public safety approves. The parent certifies it on that commissioner's form (§ 171.05).

That last line is the one worth reading twice. The path most families use is being the parent or legal guardian of a child who completes the annual assessment in step 5; that alone satisfies the line.

Minn. Stat. § 120A.24, subd. 1

3Send the letter of intent by October 1, if it applies to your child

By October 1 of each school year, send a letter saying you are still teaching at home. Report anything that has changed since the initial information. Continuing details that have not changed do not need to be rewritten.

Who the letter covers:

  • a child age 7 through 16; and
  • a 16- or 17-year-old whose initial report was filed after the child turned 16.

Those two together are what makes the yearly report due. Trellis never files the letter for you. When you use it, it records only your own answer that you sent it.

If this applies to you: a 17-year-old you first reported earlier
The age rule and the form do not line up cleanly, so this one is worth a phone call.
  • The same sentence of the law, and the Minnesota Department of Education's (MDE) form, describe the letter as covering all students under your supervision.
  • So confirm with your district before omitting a 17-year-old first reported earlier.
Minn. Stat. § 120A.24, subd. 1(b)

4Teach the required subjects

Cover these four areas:

  • reading, writing, literature, and fine arts
  • math and science
  • history, geography, economics, government, and citizenship
  • health and physical education

How you cover them is yours to decide. Curriculum, library trips, life itself.

  • Hours and days: Minnesota sets no required instructional hours or days and no prescribed daily schedule for these subjects. A non-accredited homeschool still keeps class schedules, as part of the records described in step 6.
  • Language: English, with one narrow exception
    A program under the English-learner sections, Minn. Stat. §§ 124D.59 to 124D.61.

    Language: instruction, textbooks, and materials must be in English. The statute's one exception is a program run under its English-learner sections, Minn. Stat. §§ 124D.59 to 124D.61; a bilingual home program that is not one of those is taught in English.

Minn. Stat. § 120A.22, subd. 9

5Give the yearly test

Once a year, each child age 7 through 16 who is not enrolled in a public school takes a test. It has to be a nationally norm-referenced standardized achievement test. The rule also covers a 16- or 17-year-old whose initial report was filed after the child turned 16.

  • Which test: you and the superintendent agree on the specific test, how it will be administered, and where it will be given. In practice, your family proposes the test and the superintendent's office agrees as routine paperwork. It is not a negotiation.
  • Who sets it up: your family arranges the testing.
  • What you send in: nothing. The score report is not submitted with the annual filing. Keep it with your own files.
  • If the test skips a required subject: a parent-instructor must assess that area too. Minnesota prescribes no separate format or annual submission for that parent assessment, so your grades and Learning Log can help document it.
  • If the score comes back low: obtain an additional evaluation to determine whether the child has learning problems. Low means a total battery score at or below the 30th percentile, or performance one grade level below children of the same age. The statute requires an evaluation, not a change in how you school.

Two license situations excuse the parent's own assessment of the subjects the test skips (subd. 11(b)), not the low-score evaluation. Either the parent holds a valid Minnesota teaching license in the field and grade taught, or a person who holds one directly supervises the parent. A bachelor's degree does not excuse it by itself. Minnesota-recognized accredited programs are exempt from the yearly test and from the records described in step 6. (MDE's homeschool page: “Minnesota currently recognizes only one accrediting agency, the Home-Based Educators Accrediting Association, for accrediting homeschools”; accreditation is optional, and its one stated benefit is the test waiver.)

Who is excused from that extra parent assessment
Two kinds of teaching license count. One thing that sounds like it should does not.
  • A parent who holds a valid Minnesota teaching license in the field and grade taught.
  • A parent who is directly supervised by a person holding a valid Minnesota teaching license.
  • A bachelor's degree by itself does not create this exemption.
Who can ask to see the scores later
Two narrow situations, years apart from most school days.
  • If the child later enrolls full time in public school, provide the test scores and other placement records the school requires (Minn. Stat. § 120A.24, subd. 2(b)).
  • The required documentation must also be available to the county attorney in the proceedings listed in subd. 2(c).

Choosing a test? MÂCHÉ's testing resources lists the common options and how to order them.

Minn. Stat. § 120A.22, subd. 11

6Keep your instruction records where you can reach them

Non-accredited homeschools keep records showing that the required subjects are being taught, plus proof that required annual tests were administered.

Those records must include:

  • class schedules;
  • copies of instructional materials; and
  • descriptions of how achievement is assessed.

Keep the score report with your own files. Trellis records that the test happened, not the score report itself.

Trellis builds the paper trail as you go. Your Calendar is the schedule. Your imported curriculum is the materials list, and the books and workbooks themselves stay on your shelf. The Gradebook and Learning Log describe assessment.

If someone actually asks, Trellis prints a short summary and the full line-by-line record for each child from the same records, and you can export everything anytime.

Minn. Stat. § 120A.24, subd. 2

7Send immunization papers twice: your first Minnesota year, and again at 7th grade

Your first Minnesota year: submit that child's immunization record, or the exemption statement that applies, by October 1 of the child's first year homeschooling in Minnesota. A nonmedical exemption must be notarized.

The 7th-grade year: submit an updated record or applicable exemption statement again, by October 1 of the year the child enters 7th grade.

The statute keys this schedule to the first year in Minnesota, not the first year in a district. Even so, a new district may still request records after a move.

Need a conscientious exemption? Use the nonmedical exemption section of the MDH form above; Minnesota law asks for that statement to be notarized (Minn. Stat. § 121A.15, subd. 3(d)). MDH's exemption page above explains the wording.

Minn. Stat. § 121A.15

Questions Minnesota families ask

Do I have to notify the state to homeschool in Minnesota?

Show answer
You notify your school district, not the state: the district where the child lives, which is the one that would enrol the child (its office or the Minnesota Department of Education can confirm which). One initial report by October 1 of the first year a child over seven is taught at home (or within 15 days of leaving a public school), then a letter of intent by October 1 each year the child is 7 through 16. Minn. Stat. § 120A.24, subd. 1.

Are there required hours or days?

Show answer
No. Minnesota sets no instructional hours, days, or daily schedule for a homeschool. You teach the four subject areas; how and when is yours. Minn. Stat. § 120A.22, subd. 9.

Is testing required?

Show answer
Yes, once a year for each child 7 through 16 who is not enrolled in a public school, and for a 16- or 17-year-old whose initial report was filed after the child turned 16 (step 5): a nationally norm-referenced standardized achievement test, chosen by agreement with the superintendent. The score stays with you. Minn. Stat. § 120A.22, subd. 11.

What records do I have to keep?

Show answer
Class schedules, copies of instructional materials, and a description of how achievement is assessed, plus proof that the annual tests were given. Nothing is filed; they must be available if asked. Minn. Stat. § 120A.24, subd. 2.

My child is six. Do I do anything?

Show answer
Ordinarily nothing: compulsory instruction begins at seven. The one exception is a child under seven already enrolled in public kindergarten or a higher grade, who has to be withdrawn. Minn. Stat. § 120A.22, subd. 6(a).

Does the state approve my curriculum or review my transcript?

Show answer
No. Minnesota has no curriculum approval and no state homeschool diploma; the parent issues the diploma. What colleges read a transcript against is on the Minnesota high school and transcript page.

Is there a homeschool compliance planner for Minnesota?

Show answer
Compliance means meeting what your state asks, on time. Trellis is a planner that keeps what Minnesota asks you to keep at home. It holds your class plans, your book list and your test scores. It counts the work each child checks off, by subject, all year. Trellis never sends your report or letter for you. The card below starts your family's records.

Back to the jump list

Plan your Minnesota year in Trellis

Trellis puts your whole school year on one calendar. Your children check off their work, and Trellis keeps the class schedule for you. Your subjects line up against Minnesota's list before your October 1 report is due.

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