North Dakota homeschool requirements
What North Dakota 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 — North Dakota sets the rules and they change.
The rule, in plain English
North Dakota: 175 days of at least 4 hours each (there is no statutory total-hours number). Annual statement of intent; testing in grades 3, 5, 8, 11.
What that works out to
- →175 days at 4 hours each works out to 700 hours over the year — though North Dakota 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. North Dakota sets the requirement; these numbers are not part of it.
Laws change — always confirm the current rules for North Dakota yourself before relying on them. See North Dakota'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 North Dakota
The general path most families follow. North Dakota's specific requirements are in the summary above — confirm the exact steps and deadlines with your state before relying on them.
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Check what North Dakota asks for before you begin
North Dakota: 175 days of at least 4 hours each (there is no statutory total-hours number). Annual statement of intent; testing in grades 3, 5, 8, 11. Confirm the exact form, deadline, and current wording with North Dakota or HSLDA before you rely on any of it.
- 2
Teach on a schedule that satisfies North Dakota's rule
This is the rule most families misread. North Dakota asks for 175 days of at least 4 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 North Dakota's required testing or assessment
Yes — standardized testing/assessment required Confirm the accepted tests, the grades they apply to, and the timing with North Dakota, and keep the results with your records.
In North Dakota, a day only counts if it's long enough
This is the rule most families misread. North Dakota asks for 175 days of at least 4 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 North Dakota
- ✓Attendance — the hours that count toward North Dakota's requirement
- ✓Samples of your child's work — writing, math, projects, and photographs of things they built or grew. This is what an North Dakota evaluation is easiest to face with.
- ✓The curriculum and materials you used, and which of North Dakota's 5 required subjects each one covered
- ✓Your North Dakota 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 North Dakota'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 North Dakota's 5 required subjects
North Dakota 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 North Dakota's call, not ours, but the record of it is the part you control.
North Dakota 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 North Dakotamake — Cultivate records what you did, it doesn't decide what counts. Confirm anything you intend to rely on with North Dakota or HSLDA.
North Dakota homeschool requirements — FAQ
What does North Dakota require to homeschool?
North Dakota: 175 days of at least 4 hours each (there is no statutory total-hours number). Annual statement of intent; testing in grades 3, 5, 8, 11.
How many days do you have to homeschool in North Dakota?
North Dakota: 175 days of at least 4 hours each (there is no statutory total-hours number). Annual statement of intent; testing in grades 3, 5, 8, 11.
What does North Dakota's requirement work out to per week?
175 days at 4 hours each works out to 700 hours over the year — though North Dakota sets the daily minimum, not that annual total. These are our calculations from the figures above, offered to make planning easier — North Dakota sets the requirement, not the arithmetic.
Does North Dakota require standardized testing for homeschoolers?
Yes — standardized testing/assessment required. Confirm the accepted tests, the grades they apply to, and the timing with North Dakota or HSLDA, and keep the results with your records.
What records should I keep to homeschool in North Dakota?
This is the rule most families misread. North Dakota asks for 175 days of at least 4 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 North Dakota?
North Dakota's homeschool law: NDCC 15.1-23. Always confirm the current rules with North Dakota or a homeschool legal resource such as HSLDA.
Stop tracking this on paper
Cultivate keeps your records — and produces the documents.
North Dakota 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 North Dakota 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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