How to Homeschool in Indiana (2026 Guide)
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At a Glance
The short version
Indiana is one of the most family-friendly homeschool states in the country. Under IC 20-33-2-12, your home school operates as a nonpublic non-accredited school, which means it sits almost entirely outside the reach of state education regulations. You do not file notice with anyone before you begin. You are not required to follow Indiana Academic Standards, submit a curriculum plan, obtain a teaching credential, or have your child tested. The one substantive obligation is maintaining a daily attendance log — which you keep at home and produce only if the state superintendent or your local school corporation superintendent asks to see it. Indiana law requires 180 days of instruction per academic year, and it requires that instruction be equivalent to what is given in public schools, but neither requirement comes with a compliance mechanism aimed at families. The legal framework has been this permissive since at least 1904.
Legal basis
Indiana home education law is anchored in two places: a century-old court decision and a short set of statutes in Title 20 of the Indiana Code.
State v. Peterman, 32 Ind. App. 595 (1904), established that a home can constitute a school under Indiana law. The court held that the purpose of compulsory education is to ensure children are educated, not to force them into a particular institutional setting. A well-run home instruction program satisfies that purpose. That principle has remained undisturbed for more than 120 years.
IC 20-33-2-12 provides the current statutory foundation. It classifies home schools as nonpublic non-accredited schools and explicitly exempts them from “any legal requirements set forth in IC 20 or IC 21 with regard to curriculum or the content of educational programs.” That exemption covers Indiana Academic Standards, graduation pathway requirements, standardized testing, textbook selection, instructional hour rules, and teacher certification — none of those requirements apply to your home school.
IC 20-33-2-27 and IC 20-33-2-28 create the underlying compulsory attendance obligation: it is unlawful for a parent to fail or refuse to send a child to a public school for a full term unless the child is being provided with instruction equivalent to that given in public schools. State law does not define what “equivalent” means, and the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) has confirmed in its published FAQ that it does not attempt to define it. In practice, families teaching their children have not faced enforcement on the equivalence standard alone.
IC 20-33-2-8 sets the compulsory attendance age at seven. You may begin homeschooling earlier — there is no lower age limit — but the compulsory attendance law does not apply until a child turns seven.
Primary IDOE resource: Indiana Homeschool Information — IDOE
IDOE Homeschool FAQ: Homeschool FAQ (PDF)
Notice of intent
Indiana does not require you to file any notice with the IDOE, your school district, or any state agency before you begin homeschooling. There are no forms to submit, no registration numbers to obtain, and no annual renewals.
The IDOE maintains a voluntary online enrollment form — accessible through the “Register your Homeschool” link on the IDOE’s homeschool information page — that families may use to report their enrollment to the department. Submitting it is entirely optional. If you do register, you register once; the registration remains active for future students you homeschool and does not need to be renewed each year. Not registering carries no legal penalty.
Required subjects
Indiana law does not prescribe specific subject areas for home schools. The statutory obligation under IC 20-33-2-27 and IC 20-33-2-28 is that instruction be “equivalent to that given in public schools,” but the IDOE has explicitly stated in its published FAQ that state law does not define that term.
IC 20-33-2-12 goes further and specifically exempts home schools from all curriculum and content requirements in IC 20 and IC 21. Indiana Academic Standards — the subject and grade-level content guidelines used by public schools — do not have to be followed.
In practice, this means you choose your own curriculum without state approval, follow your own scope and sequence, and teach subjects in the order and depth that suit your child. The IDOE does not review or endorse any homeschool programs.
A few additional points confirmed by the IDOE FAQ:
- Instructional hours: The daily minimum-hours rules that apply to public schools (five hours for elementary, six hours for secondary) do not apply to home schools.
- Diplomas: A home school parent or administrator has legal authority under HEA 1348 to issue a high school diploma. State agencies, higher education institutions, and local agencies in Indiana may not reject or treat a person differently based solely on the fact that a diploma was issued by a non-accredited nonpublic school. Students who want a diploma accredited by the Indiana State Board of Education may take the High School Equivalency (HSE) exam administered by the Department of Workforce Development.
- Graduation requirements: Indiana’s Graduation Pathways and Core 40 requirements do not apply to home schools.
Annual assessment
Indiana does not require home school students to take standardized tests. Unless a student is simultaneously enrolled in at least one class at a public or accredited school, homeschool students are not permitted to participate in Indiana’s statewide assessments (ILEARN, IREAD-3, SAT cohort testing). This is not a burden — it simply means state assessments are not available to independent homeschoolers as a routine option.
Parents who want independent evidence of academic progress can pursue nationally normed assessments (the Iowa Assessments, the CAT/5, or similar instruments) through private testing services. No results need to be filed with any state agency.
Record keeping
Indiana law requires one category of records: attendance.
Under IC 20-33-2-20, every nonpublic school — which includes your home school — must maintain an accurate daily record of the attendance of each student subject to compulsory attendance. The record may be kept in any format you choose; the law does not specify a form. You keep this record at home. It must be produced only if the state superintendent of education or the superintendent of your local school corporation asks to verify enrollment and attendance. Routine audits do not occur.
The IDOE FAQ specifies that families should aim for 180 days of instruction in each academic year running from July 1 through June 30. Days spent enrolled in a public school or another accredited school during the same year count toward the 180-day total.
Beyond attendance, Indiana law does not require you to maintain lesson plans, portfolios, test results, or any other academic records. The IDOE does not accept or maintain educational records for homeschooled students.
That said, there are practical reasons to keep your own private records:
- Re-enrollment: If a child returns to public school, the district will use its own placement policies. Having transcripts, course descriptions, and work samples on hand can support grade-level and course placement conversations.
- College applications: Selective colleges and some dual-enrollment programs will ask for a transcript. A parent-created transcript and course descriptions from your home school are the appropriate documents. Indiana does not issue transcripts for home-educated students.
- Legal protection: If educational neglect is ever alleged, thorough attendance records and documentation of ongoing educational activity are the most effective response.
Scholarship and funding programs
Indiana has three programs relevant to homeschooling families. Two are restricted to specific circumstances, and one affects families with children who have disabilities.
Indiana Education Scholarship Account (INESA / ESA)
The Indiana Education Scholarship Account (INESA, now administered by the Indiana Department of Education as of July 1, 2026) is available to homeschool families whose children have disabilities, or who are siblings of approved ESA students.
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Administered by | Indiana Department of Education (from July 1, 2026; previously the Treasurer of State) |
| Statutory basis | IC 20-51.4 |
| Student eligibility | Child with a disability requiring special education services (ages 5–22), or sibling of an approved ESA student |
| Funding | Up to $20,000/year for students with disabilities; up to $8,000/year for siblings |
| How funds work | Deposited quarterly into a ClassWallet account; parents direct spending to approved providers |
| Approved uses | Tuition and fees at participating INESA schools, curriculum and supplies, tutoring, therapies, individual courses, testing fees, transportation, camps, and other approved services |
| Full-time online schools | Excluded |
| Application window | March 1 – September 1 annually (priority access window March 1 – April 15) |
| IDOE page | Education Scholarship Account — IDOE |
| Contact | ESA@doe.in.gov / 317-232-0723 |
Indiana Choice Scholarship Program (voucher)
The Indiana Choice Scholarship Program (IC 20-51-1 and IC 20-51-4) provides tuition vouchers for eligible students attending accredited private schools. For the 2025-2026 school year, income eligibility is set at 400% of the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch threshold — for a family of four, that is approximately $230,880 annually, making the program available to the vast majority of Indiana families.
However, homeschoolers cannot use the Choice Scholarship directly. Under the program’s requirements (IC 20-51-1-4.7), a participating school must be accredited by the Indiana State Board of Education or a recognized national or regional accreditation agency. Home schools operate as non-accredited nonpublic schools and do not meet this requirement. The voucher flows from the state to the school, not to the parent, and it requires the child to be enrolled in a qualifying institution.
Indiana Enrichment Scholarship Account and education deductions
The Indiana Department of Revenue also recognizes an Indiana Enrichment Scholarship Account Deduction (Schedule 2, Schedule C on Form IT-40) for amounts paid from enrichment scholarship accounts for qualifying educational expenses to the extent those payments are included in federal gross income. Families should consult current DOR guidance at in.gov/dor/i-am-a/individual/deductions/ for current-year details, as deduction rules may change during legislative sessions.
Withdrawing from public school
Withdrawing a child from public school to begin homeschooling works differently depending on grade level. The IDOE’s own FAQ is the authoritative source on both pathways.
Kindergarten through grade 8: Indiana does not require parents to sign any specific state form to withdraw a K–8 student. Notify the school principal in writing that you are withdrawing your child to establish a nonpublic non-accredited school in your home. The school cannot require you to register with a state agency or provide proof of a homeschool program as a condition of processing the withdrawal. A written letter identifying your child, the effective date, and your intent to provide home education under Indiana law is sufficient. Send it by a method that creates a delivery record.
Grades 9 through 12: For high school students, IC 20-33-2-28.6 requires a specific procedural step. The school principal must provide a form developed by the IDOE — the “Withdrawal to Non-Accredited Nonpublic School Located in Indiana” form — and the parent must sign it. The form removes the student from the school’s graduation cohort without classifying the student as a dropout.
Returning to public school: A student may re-enroll in public school at any time. The school will use its own placement policies to determine grade-level and course placement. Transcripts, course descriptions, and work samples from your home school can be useful in those conversations, though the district is not required to grant credit for home school work.
Support and community
Indiana has a well-established homeschool community at both the statewide and local level.
- Indiana Association of Home Educators (IAHE) — iahe.net — statewide organization providing legislative updates, a convention, and a curriculum fair
- Indiana Home Education Network (IHEN) — ihen.org — secular-inclusive network with co-op listings, support group directories, and community events
- Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) — hslda.org — national legal membership organization that monitors Indiana legislation and represents members in disputes
- IN*Source — insource.org — Indiana resource center for families of children with disabilities; particularly useful for families navigating INESA eligibility and IEP processes
Local co-ops, park days, and subject-specific classes for homeschoolers are found throughout the state. Searching for homeschool co-ops by county or city typically surfaces active local groups through Facebook and local homeschool blogs.