Pennsylvania homeschool requirements
What Pennsylvania 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 — Pennsylvania sets the rules and they change.
The rule, in plain English
Pennsylvania: 180 days OR 900 hours (elementary) / 990 hours (grades 7-12) — either measure satisfies the requirement. Notarized affidavit and objectives annually.
What that works out to
- →180 days is about 36 school weeks — roughly 5 days a week across a 36-week year, or about 3.5 days a week if you school year-round instead of stopping for summer.
- →900 hours for elementary 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 elementary, and 19 hours a week for grades 7-12.
- →Either measure satisfies Pennsylvania, so it's worth tracking both and reporting whichever you reach first. Against 180 days, the hours option comes out to 5 hours a day for elementary, and 5.5 hours a day 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. Pennsylvania sets the requirement; these numbers are not part of it.
Laws change — always confirm the current rules for Pennsylvania yourself before relying on them. See Pennsylvania'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 Pennsylvania
The general path most families follow. Pennsylvania's specific requirements are in the summary above — confirm the exact steps and deadlines with your state before relying on them.
- 1
Check what Pennsylvania asks for before you begin
Pennsylvania: 180 days OR 900 hours (elementary) / 990 hours (grades 7-12) — either measure satisfies the requirement. Notarized affidavit and objectives annually. Confirm the exact form, deadline, and current wording with Pennsylvania or HSLDA before you rely on any of it.
- 2
Teach on a schedule that satisfies Pennsylvania's rule
Either measure satisfies Pennsylvania, which is more forgiving than it first looks. A family doing long, intensive days may reach the hours total well before the day count; a family doing short daily lessons will hit days first. You only find out which describes you by recording both — and the cost of tracking the second one, if you're already tracking the first, is close to nothing.
- 3
Complete Pennsylvania's required testing or assessment
Yes — standardized testing/assessment required Confirm the accepted tests, the grades they apply to, and the timing with Pennsylvania, and keep the results with your records.
Pennsylvania lets you choose — so track both and use whichever helps
Either measure satisfies Pennsylvania, which is more forgiving than it first looks. A family doing long, intensive days may reach the hours total well before the day count; a family doing short daily lessons will hit days first. You only find out which describes you by recording both — and the cost of tracking the second one, if you're already tracking the first, is close to nothing.
What to keep in Pennsylvania
- ✓Attendance — the hours that count toward Pennsylvania's requirement
- ✓Samples of your child's work — writing, math, projects, and photographs of things they built or grew. This is what an Pennsylvania evaluation is easiest to face with.
- ✓The curriculum and materials you used, and which of Pennsylvania's 8 required subjects each one covered
- ✓Your Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania'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 Pennsylvania's 8 required subjects
Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania's call, not ours, but the record of it is the part you control.
Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvaniamake — Cultivate records what you did, it doesn't decide what counts. Confirm anything you intend to rely on with Pennsylvania or HSLDA.
Pennsylvania homeschool requirements — FAQ
What does Pennsylvania require to homeschool?
Pennsylvania: 180 days OR 900 hours (elementary) / 990 hours (grades 7-12) — either measure satisfies the requirement. Notarized affidavit and objectives annually.
How many days do you have to homeschool in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania: 180 days OR 900 hours (elementary) / 990 hours (grades 7-12) — either measure satisfies the requirement. Notarized affidavit and objectives annually.
What does Pennsylvania's requirement work out to per week?
180 days is about 36 school weeks — roughly 5 days a week across a 36-week year, or about 3.5 days a week if you school year-round instead of stopping for summer. 900 hours for elementary 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 elementary, and 19 hours a week for grades 7-12. Either measure satisfies Pennsylvania, so it's worth tracking both and reporting whichever you reach first. Against 180 days, the hours option comes out to 5 hours a day for elementary, and 5.5 hours a day for grades 7-12. These are our calculations from the figures above, offered to make planning easier — Pennsylvania sets the requirement, not the arithmetic.
Does Pennsylvania require standardized testing for homeschoolers?
Yes — standardized testing/assessment required. Confirm the accepted tests, the grades they apply to, and the timing with Pennsylvania or HSLDA, and keep the results with your records.
What records should I keep to homeschool in Pennsylvania?
Either measure satisfies Pennsylvania, which is more forgiving than it first looks. A family doing long, intensive days may reach the hours total well before the day count; a family doing short daily lessons will hit days first. You only find out which describes you by recording both — and the cost of tracking the second one, if you're already tracking the first, is close to nothing.
What is the legal citation for homeschooling in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania's homeschool law: 24 P.S. 13-1327.1. Always confirm the current rules with Pennsylvania or a homeschool legal resource such as HSLDA.
Stop tracking this on paper
Cultivate keeps your records — and produces the documents.
Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania 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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