How to Homeschool in Montana (2026 Guide)

The short version

Montana is a straightforward state for homeschooling families. You notify your county superintendent of schools once each school year, maintain attendance records, cover subjects comparable to those taught in Montana public schools, and meet minimum instructional hour requirements. No standardized testing is required, no curriculum must be submitted for review, and no teaching credential is needed. Once those requirements are met, Montana law explicitly places the educational philosophy, curriculum choices, schedule, and evaluation entirely in your hands.

Legal basis

Montana’s homeschool framework is grounded in Title 20 of the Montana Code Annotated. Mont. Code Ann. § 20-5-102 establishes compulsory enrollment for children who are seven years old or older and requires instruction until the later of the child’s sixteenth birthday or completion of eighth grade. The statute carves out an explicit exemption for families who enroll their child in a home school that complies with § 20-5-109.

The statute defines a home school as “the instruction by a parent of the parent’s child, stepchild, or ward in the parent’s residence.” A child enrolled in a qualifying home school is fully exempt from compulsory public school enrollment. That same child may also enroll on a part-time basis in a public school if the family wishes.

Mont. Code Ann. § 20-5-109(2) sets out the four conditions a home school must satisfy to maintain the exemption. As amended by House Bill 778 (signed May 13, 2025), those conditions are:

1. Notify the county superintendent of schools annually of the student’s attendance at the home school.
2. Maintain records on pupil attendance and make them available to the county superintendent on request.
3. Provide at least the minimum aggregate hours of pupil instruction required by § 20-1-301 and § 20-1-302.
4. Provide an organized course of study that includes instruction in the subjects required of public schools as a basic instructional program under § 20-7-111.

Mont. Code Ann. § 20-5-111 then expressly states that, subject to those requirements, a parent “has the authority to instruct the parent’s child, stepchild, or ward in a home school and is solely responsible for: (1) the educational philosophy of the home school; (2) the selection of instructional materials, curriculum, and textbooks; (3) the time, place, and method of instruction; and (4) the evaluation of the home school instruction.”

Primary OPI resource: Montana OPI Home School Informational Packet

Statute index for MCA Title 20, Chapter 5, Part 1: leg.mt.gov

Notice of intent

Under § 20-5-109(2)(a), you must notify the county superintendent of schools in the county where your home school is located each school fiscal year of your student’s attendance at the home school. The school fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30.

The notice goes to the county superintendent, not to the Office of Public Instruction and not to your local school district. Montana has 56 counties, each with its own county superintendent office. You can find your county superintendent by contacting your county courthouse or searching the OPI website.

The law does not specify a particular form, a required deadline within the fiscal year, or a minimum amount of information to include. In practice, most county superintendents accept a brief written notification identifying the child, the parent, the address of instruction, and the school year covered. Contact your county superintendent’s office before the school year begins to confirm their local process, since offices vary.

If your child is currently enrolled in a public school, you will need to formally withdraw them by contacting the school directly. That withdrawal is a school administration step — it does not require the school’s permission, and it is separate from the annual county superintendent notification.

Required subjects

§ 20-5-109(2)(d) requires that a home school provide “an organized course of study that includes instruction in the subjects required of public schools as a basic instructional program pursuant to § 20-7-111.” Section 20-7-111 directs that the basic instructional program be defined in the Montana Board of Public Education’s Standards of Accreditation, codified in the Administrative Rules of Montana (ARM) Chapter 10.55.

ARM 10.55.901–10.55.904 set out the public school program against which home school instruction is measured. At the elementary level, the program must cover English language arts (including reading and writing literacy integrated across subject areas), mathematics, physical and life sciences, social studies, and health and physical education. For middle grades (7–8), the same core areas apply. For high school (grades 9–12), the public school framework calls for English language arts, mathematics, science, social studies (including civics/government), health and physical education, arts, and career and technical education.

What this means for home educators:

• Your course of study should address the same general subject areas taught in Montana public schools at your child’s grade level.
• No approved curriculum list exists. You choose your own materials, sequence, and approach.
• The state does not review or approve your curriculum, and no agency will examine your lesson plans or course materials unless a legal dispute arises.
• § 20-5-111 explicitly places curriculum selection, teaching method, and educational philosophy solely with you.

For grades 3 through 12, § 20-7-111(2) also requires instruction about the United States Constitution and the Pledge of Allegiance, and this requirement applies to the “organized course of study” that home schools must parallel.

Instructional hours

§ 20-5-109(2)(c) requires that a home school provide at least the minimum aggregate hours of pupil instruction set by § 20-1-301. The minimum hours, by grade, are:

Grade level	Minimum annual hours
Kindergarten (half-time)	360 hours
Kindergarten (full-time)	720 hours
Grades 1 through 3	720 hours
Grades 4 through 12	1,080 hours

These are aggregate totals across the school fiscal year (July 1–June 30), not daily minimums. A family teaching a student in grades 4–12 who provides 1,080 hours over the course of the year satisfies the requirement regardless of how those hours are distributed across days or weeks.

Montana law does not specify how instructional time must be documented, but keeping a simple log is a reasonable practice given that you are required to maintain attendance records (see the Records section below).

Testing

Montana does not require home-educated students to take standardized tests or submit any assessment results to the state, the county superintendent, or any other government agency. Testing decisions belong entirely to the family.

Some families choose to use nationally normed assessments as a personal benchmark, for portfolio building, or in preparation for college admissions. If your child wants to participate in dual enrollment at a community college or apply to a Montana university, those institutions may have their own placement or admissions procedures — but those are institution-specific requirements, not state mandates.

Records

§ 20-5-109(2)(b) requires that a home school “maintain records on pupil attendance and make the records available to the county superintendent on request.” This is the extent of the state’s record-keeping requirement.

You are not required to submit attendance records proactively, but you must be prepared to provide them if the county superintendent asks. There is no prescribed format. A written log showing the dates your student received instruction is sufficient.

Beyond attendance, you are not required to maintain transcripts, grade records, curriculum documentation, or portfolios. However, keeping those records for your own purposes is well worth the modest effort involved:

• College applications: Colleges and universities typically ask homeschool applicants to provide a transcript and course descriptions. Families who keep contemporaneous records find this process much easier.
• Re-enrollment in public school: If your child later returns to a public school, the district will conduct its own placement assessment under § 20-5-110. Your records can inform that process.
• Dual enrollment and testing: Community colleges and some four-year institutions ask for evidence of prior academic work.
• Military enlistment: The U.S. military uses a tiered system for homeschool graduates; documentation strengthens an applicant’s standing.

Participation in extracurricular activities

Mont. Code Ann. § 20-5-112, enacted by Senate Bill 157 (2021), gives home school students the right to participate in extracurricular activities — including interscholastic sports — at a public school in their resident school district. A school district, athletic association, or interscholastic organization may not prohibit or restrict that participation solely because the student attends a home school or because of the number of hours the student physically attends the public school.

Home school students who participate in extracurricular activities are subject to the same conduct, eligibility, and participation standards as full-time enrolled students, and to the same rules of any interscholastic organization to which the participating school belongs.

Academic eligibility for extracurricular participation must be attested in writing by the educator providing the student instruction, with verification by the school principal. Importantly, the statute states that the verification process “may not include any form of student assessment,” so the public school may not require a test or standardized evaluation as a condition of participation.

Also under § 20-5-102(2)(e), home school students may enroll on a part-time basis in a public school if the family chooses to do so for specific courses or programs.

The Montana Student Scholarship Organization Tax Credit

Montana operates a Student Scholarship Organization (SSO) Tax Credit program under Mont. Code Ann. § 15-30-3101 et seq., which allows individual and business taxpayers to donate to approved 501(c)(3) organizations that provide scholarships for students to attend private education providers.

This program does not benefit home-educating families directly. Montana statute defines a “qualified education provider” as an entity that is not a public school and is not a home school. Scholarships from approved SSOs may only be used to enroll a student with an accredited (or provisionally accredited) private or nonpublic school that meets certain state standards. A parent providing home instruction in the home does not qualify as an eligible provider under this program.

For reference, the 2025 aggregate credit cap is $6,000,000, with the cap growing by 20 percent in a subsequent year if 80 percent is claimed. Individual donors may claim a credit of up to $200,000, carried forward for up to three years.

What this means for homeschool families: If you are considering enrolling your child in a private school that operates an approved SSO scholarship program, those funds could assist with private school tuition. However, for families providing instruction at home, there is currently no state-administered scholarship, ESA, or direct tax credit that applies to home education expenses. Multiple bills proposing such programs were introduced in the 2023 and 2025 legislative sessions but were not passed.

Montana Department of Revenue SSO information: revenue.mt.gov/taxes/tax-credits/student-scholarship-org-credit

Withdrawing from public school

If your child is currently enrolled in a public school, contact the school directly to notify them that you are withdrawing your child to home school. Schools must process the withdrawal. You do not need the school’s permission.

Once withdrawn, you have no further reporting obligation to the school. Your annual compliance obligation runs to your county superintendent, not to the school district.

When withdrawing, ask for a copy of your child’s academic records, including any standardized test scores or evaluations on file. Those records belong to your child and can be useful for your own planning.

Returning to public school: If your child later re-enrolls in a public school, the district will conduct a placement assessment under § 20-5-110. Districts are required to have a written policy on assessment for placement of students coming from unaccredited nonpublic schools and home schools, including a hearing process if you disagree with a placement decision.

Special education and students with disabilities

Home school students in Montana are treated as parentally placed private school students for purposes of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This means they are registered with the county superintendent and may receive some services, but no parentally placed private school student with a disability has an individual right to receive all of the special education services they would receive if enrolled full-time in a public school. The OPI’s Home School Informational Packet notes that additional information on IDEA and private school students is available in OPI’s Special Education in Montana guide.

Support and community

Montana has an active statewide homeschool community. The primary advocacy organization is the Montana Coalition of Home Educators (MCHE), founded in 1988. MCHE maintains a communication network, monitors legislation, and connects families with support groups across the state.

• Montana Coalition of Home Educators (MCHE): mtche.org — statewide advocacy, legal information, and a directory of local support groups
• MCHE Support Groups directory: mtche.org/support-groups — regional co-ops and support groups listed by county, covering Billings, Missoula, Helena, Great Falls, Flathead Valley, and many rural areas

Local groups operate across the state, including co-ops, enrichment programs, athletic associations, and curriculum fairs. The MCHE website’s support-group directory is the most current aggregator of local contacts.