Do I need a teaching certificate to homeschool in Idaho?

No. Idaho sets no qualification requirement for the parent teaching at home.

Homeschooling in Idaho

What the law requires, what you file and when, and what to keep — with the statute behind each rule.

no notice required 12 sources Verified 12 October 2026

What Idaho requires

Notify: none
Testing or evaluation: Not required.
Subjects set by the state: Yes — 1 group of required subjects, listed below
Teaching time: No specific number of days or hours.
Compulsory school age: 7 to 16 — in detail
Records: None required (keeping attendance and work samples is recommended).

Taking your child out of school in Idaho

No legal withdrawal procedure, but the State Department of Education advises notifying the school office in person or in writing; otherwise the child may stay on the attendance list and be considered truant.

The legal routes

3 routes exist in Idaho. They carry different duties, and families often do not know the alternatives to the obvious one.

Private instruction by or at the direction of the parent (homeschool): Idaho Code 33-202 lets a parent meet compulsory attendance by having the child 'privately instructed by, or at the direction of' the parent or guardian. The parent may teach or have someone else teach.
Private or parochial school: Enrolling in a private or religious school also satisfies the law; the state does not regulate these schools' homeschool-like programs.
Public virtual/online charter school: Enrolling in a public online charter is legally public school, not homeschooling, and comes with that school's rules.

The notice, and who receives it

none Nothing has to be filed with any authority to begin.

Subjects Idaho requires

Subjects commonly and usually taught in Idaho public schools (state lists language arts/communication, mathematics, science, social studies; plus fine arts, health, physical education by grade)

See which courses here cover these subjects →

Compulsory school age

7 to 16 (child who is 7 when the district's school year starts, until 16); kindergarten not required

Teaching time

No specific number of days or hours. Idaho Code 33-202 requires attendance 'during a period in each year equal to that in which the public schools are in session', but the sentence is worded around school enrollment, so whether it binds home instruction is unclear.

The State Department of Education has suggested, but not required, roughly public-school-equivalent hours (450 K, 810 gr 1-3, 900 gr 4-8, 990 gr 9-12).

Who may teach

Idaho sets no qualification for the parent teaching at home: no teaching certificate, no college degree, and no requirement that you hold a high school diploma.

Testing and evaluation

No testing required. Homeschoolers who want to join public school sports or other nonacademic activities must show grade-level proficiency (state-recognized achievement test, portfolio or other method under State Board rules, or an average-or-better composite/core score on a nationally normed test); proficiency counts for the current and following school year.

Districts must offer nonpublic students the same state/standardized tests given to enrolled students (Idaho Code 33-203).

Records to keep

None required (keeping attendance and work samples is recommended).

High school, diplomas and transcripts

Parent sets graduation requirements and issues the diploma and transcript; public school graduation rules do not apply. Dual-enrolled homeschoolers may take postsecondary courses through the public school under 33-203.

Public school classes, sports and activities

Yes - under Idaho Code 33-203, homeschoolers may dual enroll in the public school whose attendance zone they live in for classes and activities (including sports), meeting the same behavior/performance standards; nonacademic activities require the proficiency showing described above.

Funding: education savings accounts, vouchers and tax credits

Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit (Idaho Code 63-3029N, from 2025): refundable credit up to $5,000 per student ($7,500 for certain students with disabilities) for qualified nonpublic education expenses incl. textbooks/curriculum from vendors and academic tutoring (not payment to the parent for their own teaching); capped statewide, priority for incomes at or below 300% of poverty; apply Jan 15 - Mar 15. The Empowering Parents grant program was eliminated (no 2025-26 applications).

What changed recently

2025: Parental Choice Tax Credit created (HB 93); Empowering Parents grants eliminated (SB 1142), existing grant funds usable until they expire. 2026: HB 934 (signed Apr 2, 2026) clarified the credit - homeschoolers who join public school extracurriculars are not treated as enrolled and stay eligible; curriculum may come from multiple vendors; retroactive to Jan 1, 2026.

What we could not confirm

Exact 2026 statewide credit cap (SB 1281 proposed $48M for 2026; not confirmed whether enacted). The enrolled text of HB 934 was not compared line-by-line with prior law.

Homeschool eligibility for Idaho's Advanced Opportunities (public-school dual-credit funding) not confirmed.

Listed because a legal summary that hides its gaps is harder to trust than one that names them. How these pages are checked.