Do I need a teaching certificate to homeschool in Wyoming?

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

Homeschooling in Wyoming

Q: Do I have to notify anyone to homeschool in Wyoming?

No. None. (If you are withdrawing a child from public school, tell the district in writing that the child is enrolling in a home-based program.)

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

no notice required 9 sources Verified 12 October 2026

What Wyoming requires

Notify: None. (If you are withdrawing a child from public school, tell the district in writing that the child is enrolling in a home-based program.)
Testing or evaluation: Not required.
Subjects set by the state: Yes — 7 required subjects, listed below
Teaching time: 175 days — in detail
Compulsory school age: 7 to 16 — in detail
Records: None required.

Confidence in this record: medium. The facts below come from the sources listed, but at least one could not be confirmed against a primary source.

Taking your child out of school in Wyoming

First move: Tell the school district in writing that you are enrolling the child in a home-based educational program.

This is a one-time notice; no curriculum is required. If the district has not been told the child is enrolling elsewhere, a parent of a child under 18 must meet in person with a district counselor or administrator and sign a written consent to withdraw (W.S.

21-4-102(c)).

The legal routes

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

Home-based educational program (W.S. 21-4-101(a)(v), 21-4-102(b)): A parent or guardian, or someone they designate, teaches the child using a sequentially progressive curriculum in the required subjects. Since July 1, 2025, nothing has to be filed with the school district.
Private, parochial, church or religious school (W.S. 21-4-101(a)(iii)-(iv)): Enrolling in a nonpublic school that provides a basic academic program. In Wyoming law, 'private school' also includes home-based programs.
Steamboat Legacy Scholarship ESA (W.S. 21-2-901 to -909; 21-4-102(d)): A child using a state ESA ($7,000/year) who notifies the school district meets compulsory attendance that way. ESA students taught at home are legally not 'home-based program' students, and must be taught core subjects and tested every year.

The notice, and who receives it

None. (If you are withdrawing a child from public school, tell the district in writing that the child is enrolling in a home-based program.) Nothing has to be filed with any authority to begin.

Subjects Wyoming requires

reading
writing
mathematics
civics
history
literature
science

See which courses here cover these subjects →

Compulsory school age

7 to 16 (applies to a child who turns 7 on or before Aug. 1, or Sept.

15 if the child started kindergarten early with approval; ends at the 16th birthday or on completing 10th grade)

Teaching time

No specific hours or days are set for homeschools. The general compulsory attendance law refers to attending while the local public schools are in session (public schools must run at least 175 days), and sources disagree on whether this applies to homeschools.

Who may teach

Wyoming 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

None for homeschoolers. ESA students must take the state assessment or a nationally normed achievement test each year.

Records to keep

None required. It is wise to keep your own records of the curriculum and instruction, in case a district or agency asks, or the child joins public school sports or programs.

High school, diplomas and transcripts

No statute covers homeschool diplomas; in practice the parent issues the diploma and transcript. Homeschoolers can earn the Hathaway Scholarship by meeting its test-score or career-technical-assessment thresholds and curriculum requirements.

They must apply before age 21 (W.S. 21-16-1308). Districts must let resident homeschool 11th and 12th graders take the state's college-entrance or career-readiness exam free of charge (W.S. 21-3-110(a)(xxix)).

Public school classes, sports and activities

Activities: a resident school-age child who is not enrolled full-time in the district must be allowed to take part in any district activity, including WHSAA sports. The district may charge WHSAA fees and the usual participation fees, but not tuition, and the student must follow district and association rules (W.S.

21-4-506). Part-time attendance: the law says public schools are free and accessible to resident children 'including children attending school on a part-time basis,' subject to board rules (W.S. 21-4-301). Details vary by district.

Funding: education savings accounts, vouchers and tax credits

Steamboat Legacy Scholarship ESA: $7,000 a year for Wyoming K-12 students not enrolled in public school. Pre-K is limited to households at or below 250% of the poverty level.

Choosing the ESA puts the child under ESA rules (core subjects plus an annual test) rather than homeschool rules. The 2026-27 application window closed Aug. 6, 2026.

What changed recently

July 1, 2025: HB 46 ('Homeschool Freedom Act') ended the yearly requirement to submit a curriculum to the local school board. It also repealed the rule that not submitting one was prima facie evidence of noncompliance.

Families now file nothing each year, though the curriculum must still cover the required subjects. HSLDA reports some districts still wrongly ask for annual notice. ESA: the Steamboat Legacy Scholarship ($7,000 a year) is open to K-12 students not in public school. A July 2025 district-court injunction blocked it, but the Wyoming Supreme Court lifted that injunction in mid-2026. Payments are going out for 2026-27, while the lawsuit continues in district court.

What we could not confirm

Whether the 'while public schools are in session' language (about 175 days) applies to homeschools: the statute is ambiguous, CRHE says there is no day requirement, and the WDE page does not say. Homeschool diplomas are not addressed in statute.

The exact date of the Wyoming Supreme Court ESA ruling (May or June 2026) and the final outcome of the ESA lawsuit are unconfirmed. Part-time class access depends on district policy.

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

Statutes and sources

Statute and regulation

W.S. 21-4-101
W.S. 21-4-102
W.S. 21-4-301
W.S. 21-4-506
W.S. 21-3-110(a)(xxix)
W.S. 21-16-1308(a)(iii)
W.S. 21-2-901 through 21-2-909