If you live in Alabama, you have 2 options for homeschooling. The first is to enroll your child in a church school; the second is to hire a private tutor to home school your child. Alabama homeschooling law dictates that children must be enrolled if they are between the ages of 7 and 17. Alabama does not require specific subjects to be taught.
Alabama Homeschooling Option 1: Church School Enrollment
Alabama homeschooling law defines a church school as a school:
“operated as a ministry of a local church, group of churches, denomination and/or association of churches on a non-profit basis which do not receive any state or federal funding.”
As with any homeschooling law, Alabama requires certain stipulations to be met with the church school enrollment homeschooling option.
- Homeschooling laws in Alabama require parents to file a one-time report of enrollment and attendance with the local school district superintendent. The superintendent supplies the form; parents must obtain the signature of the church school administrator. What I think is cool is that Alabama homeschooling laws only require this form to be filed once, as opposed to once every year.
- The teacher at the church school must keep attendance records.
- In order to qualify as a church school by Alabama homeschooling laws, all grades from kindergarten through 12th grade must be offered.
Alabama Homeschooling Option 2: Private Tutor
If you choose not to enroll your child in a church school, Alabama homeschooling laws state that you can choose to hire a private tutor. The tutor must be a state certified teacher, so if you are an Alabama state certified teacher, the Alabama homeschooling laws allow you to teach your children.
There seems to be a lot of paperwork required under Alabama homeschooling laws for this option; first of all, the certified teacher must teach a minimum of 3 hours daily, for at least 140 days a year. Alabama homeschooling laws even dictate the hours this instruction must take place: between 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM.
Second of all, the certified teacher has to file a statement listing the child(ren) being taught, the subjects included, and the period of work. Records of the child’s work, hours of instruction and attendance records are also required under Alabama homeschooling laws.
Alabama homeschooling laws only require teacher certification if you are trying to have your children taught by a tutor; no such certification is required if the child is enrolled in a church school.
Alabama homeschooling laws do not require annual standardized testing.
