New York homeschool requirements
What New York 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 — New York sets the rules and they change.
The rule, in plain English
New York: 900 hours per year for grades 1-6 and 990 hours per year for grades 7-12. Letter of intent, then an Individualized Home Instruction Plan (IHIP), then 4 quarterly reports, then an annual assessment.
What that works out to
- →900 hours for grades 1-6 is about 25 hours a week; 990 hours for grades 7-12 is about 27.5 hours a week on a 36-week year.
- →Across all 52 weeks instead, that same total comes down to 17.3 hours a week for grades 1-6, and 19 hours a week for grades 7-12.
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. New York sets the requirement; these numbers are not part of it.
Laws change — always confirm the current rules for New York yourself before relying on them. See New York'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 New York
The general path most families follow. New York's specific requirements are in the summary above — confirm the exact steps and deadlines with your state before relying on them.
- 1
Check what New York asks for before you begin
New York: 900 hours per year for grades 1-6 and 990 hours per year for grades 7-12. Letter of intent, then an Individualized Home Instruction Plan (IHIP), then 4 quarterly reports, then an annual assessment. Confirm the exact form, deadline, and current wording with New York or HSLDA before you rely on any of it.
- 2
Teach on a schedule that satisfies New York's rule
Because New York counts instructional hours rather than days, a log that only records "we did school today" won't answer the question you'd actually be asked. You need time, and for most families the hardest part isn't the teaching — it's remembering to write down 40 minutes of read-aloud three days later. A running per-subject tally is far easier to keep than a year-end reconstruction.
- 3
Complete New York's required testing or assessment
Yes — standardized testing/assessment required Confirm the accepted tests, the grades they apply to, and the timing with New York, and keep the results with your records.
In New York, the unit that matters is the hour
Because New York counts instructional hours rather than days, a log that only records "we did school today" won't answer the question you'd actually be asked. You need time, and for most families the hardest part isn't the teaching — it's remembering to write down 40 minutes of read-aloud three days later. A running per-subject tally is far easier to keep than a year-end reconstruction.
What to keep in New York
- ✓Attendance — the hours that count toward New York's requirement
- ✓Samples of your child's work — writing, math, projects, and photographs of things they built or grew. This is what an New York evaluation is easiest to face with.
- ✓The curriculum and materials you used, and which of New York's 8 required subjects each one covered
- ✓Your New York 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 New York'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 New York's 8 required subjects
New York names 8 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 New York's call, not ours, but the record of it is the part you control.
New York 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 New Yorkmake — Cultivate records what you did, it doesn't decide what counts. Confirm anything you intend to rely on with New York or HSLDA.
New York homeschool requirements — FAQ
What does New York require to homeschool?
New York: 900 hours per year for grades 1-6 and 990 hours per year for grades 7-12. Letter of intent, then an Individualized Home Instruction Plan (IHIP), then 4 quarterly reports, then an annual assessment.
How many days do you have to homeschool in New York?
New York: 900 hours per year for grades 1-6 and 990 hours per year for grades 7-12. Letter of intent, then an Individualized Home Instruction Plan (IHIP), then 4 quarterly reports, then an annual assessment.
What does New York's requirement work out to per week?
900 hours for grades 1-6 is about 25 hours a week; 990 hours for grades 7-12 is about 27.5 hours a week on a 36-week year. Across all 52 weeks instead, that same total comes down to 17.3 hours a week for grades 1-6, and 19 hours a week for grades 7-12. These are our calculations from the figures above, offered to make planning easier — New York sets the requirement, not the arithmetic.
Does New York require standardized testing for homeschoolers?
Yes — standardized testing/assessment required. Confirm the accepted tests, the grades they apply to, and the timing with New York or HSLDA, and keep the results with your records.
What records should I keep to homeschool in New York?
Because New York counts instructional hours rather than days, a log that only records "we did school today" won't answer the question you'd actually be asked. You need time, and for most families the hardest part isn't the teaching — it's remembering to write down 40 minutes of read-aloud three days later. A running per-subject tally is far easier to keep than a year-end reconstruction.
What is the legal citation for homeschooling in New York?
New York's homeschool law: 8 NYCRR 100.10. Always confirm the current rules with New York or a homeschool legal resource such as HSLDA.
Stop tracking this on paper
Cultivate keeps your records — and produces the documents.
New York 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 New York 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.
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