Georgia homeschool requirements
What Georgia requires to homeschool — instruction time, testing, and the exact legal citation, in plain English. Then the part most guides skip: how the garden, the animals and the work you do around the place fit into the same record.
Last verified June 2026 · A starting point, not legal advice — Georgia sets the rules and they change.
The rule, in plain English
Georgia: 180 days of at least 4.5 hours each (there is no statutory total-hours number). Declaration of intent; nationally-normed test every 3 years from grade 3.
What that works out to
- →180 days at 4.5 hours each works out to 810 hours over the year — though Georgia sets the daily minimum, not that annual total.
Our arithmetic on the figures above, to make planning easier — shown against a conventional 36-week school year and against a full 52-week year for families who school year-round. Georgia sets the requirement; these numbers are not part of it.
Laws change — always confirm the current rules for Georgia yourself before relying on them. See Georgia's official requirements on HSLDA →
This is a plain-English summary for your convenience, not legal advice. Cultivate helps you store, organize, and produce your homeschool records — it isn't the authority on what your state requires. Homeschool laws change; always confirm current rules with your state or a homeschool legal resource (e.g., HSLDA) before relying on them.
How to start homeschooling in Georgia
The general path most families follow. Georgia's specific requirements are in the summary above — confirm the exact steps and deadlines with your state before relying on them.
- 1
Check what Georgia asks for before you begin
Georgia: 180 days of at least 4.5 hours each (there is no statutory total-hours number). Declaration of intent; nationally-normed test every 3 years from grade 3. Confirm the exact form, deadline, and current wording with Georgia or HSLDA before you rely on any of it.
- 2
Teach on a schedule that satisfies Georgia's rule
This is the rule most families misread. Georgia asks for 180 days of at least 4.5 hours each — so a short day may not count toward the total at all. There is no stated annual hours figure to fall back on. The record you need therefore has to show duration per day, not just presence, because the qualifying question is asked of each individual day rather than of the year as a whole.
- 3
Complete Georgia's required testing or assessment
Yes — standardized testing/assessment required Confirm the accepted tests, the grades they apply to, and the timing with Georgia, and keep the results with your records.
In Georgia, a day only counts if it's long enough
This is the rule most families misread. Georgia asks for 180 days of at least 4.5 hours each — so a short day may not count toward the total at all. There is no stated annual hours figure to fall back on. The record you need therefore has to show duration per day, not just presence, because the qualifying question is asked of each individual day rather than of the year as a whole.
What to keep in Georgia
- ✓Attendance — the hours that count toward Georgia's requirement
- ✓Samples of your child's work — writing, math, projects, and photographs of things they built or grew. This is what an Georgia evaluation is easiest to face with.
- ✓The curriculum and materials you used, and which of Georgia's 5 required subjects each one covered
- ✓Your Georgia test or evaluation results — required, so keep them filed
- ✓Grades and a transcript — and note that hours logged by subject are what a transcript is built from, so the two are the same job
This is exactly what Cultivate keeps for you. Describe the day in plain English and it files the hours by subject against Georgia's total as you go. The chicken tally, the fence repair and the reading lesson go in the same box and come out sorted.
A homestead day, against Georgia's 5 required subjects
Georgia names 5 required subjects, and a working homestead touches most of them before lunch. This is how families commonly categorise the practical work they are already doing — whether any particular activity counts is Georgia's call, not ours, but the record of it is the part you control.
Georgia counts hours. The hours your children spend on this work are real hours — but only if something wrote them down while it was happening. That is the problem Cultivate solves: describe the day in plain English and the garden, the goats, the tractor repair and the reading lesson all land in the right record at once.
How practical work is categorised is a judgement your family and Georgiamake — Cultivate records what you did, it doesn't decide what counts. Confirm anything you intend to rely on with Georgia or HSLDA.
Georgia homeschool requirements — FAQ
What does Georgia require to homeschool?
Georgia: 180 days of at least 4.5 hours each (there is no statutory total-hours number). Declaration of intent; nationally-normed test every 3 years from grade 3.
How many days do you have to homeschool in Georgia?
Georgia: 180 days of at least 4.5 hours each (there is no statutory total-hours number). Declaration of intent; nationally-normed test every 3 years from grade 3.
What does Georgia's requirement work out to per week?
180 days at 4.5 hours each works out to 810 hours over the year — though Georgia sets the daily minimum, not that annual total. These are our calculations from the figures above, offered to make planning easier — Georgia sets the requirement, not the arithmetic.
Does Georgia require standardized testing for homeschoolers?
Yes — standardized testing/assessment required. Confirm the accepted tests, the grades they apply to, and the timing with Georgia or HSLDA, and keep the results with your records.
What records should I keep to homeschool in Georgia?
This is the rule most families misread. Georgia asks for 180 days of at least 4.5 hours each — so a short day may not count toward the total at all. There is no stated annual hours figure to fall back on. The record you need therefore has to show duration per day, not just presence, because the qualifying question is asked of each individual day rather than of the year as a whole.
What is the legal citation for homeschooling in Georgia?
Georgia's homeschool law: O.C.G.A. 20-2-690. Always confirm the current rules with Georgia or a homeschool legal resource such as HSLDA.
Stop tracking this on paper
Cultivate keeps your records — and produces the documents.
Georgia sets the rules. Cultivate does the part that has to happen every day: you describe the day in plain English and it tallies the hours by subject as you go — so the Georgia total is already counted, not reconstructed in May from memory. The garden, the animals, the workshop and the school day all go in the same place, and come out as print-ready reports and transcripts whenever you need them.
Start your free 30-day trialNo credit card required · Founding members lock in 25% off for life (first 50)