State Requirements

Homeschooling in Georgia

810 hrs/year 180 days Notice required Assessment required

Georgia has moderate homeschool requirements. Families must provide at least 4.5 hours per day over 180 school days, and you'll file notice with the state Department of Education.

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Georgia treats homeschooling as a recognized alternative to public school, with a structured path families follow each year: a filing, instructional time, and evidence the learning happened. The state's compulsory school-age band is 6-16. A child outside those ages isn't legally required to be in formal instruction at all.

Georgia law sets a daily and yearly target: families must provide at least 4.5 hours of instruction per day across 180 school days. That works out to roughly 810 hours over the course of the year. There's no requirement to match a public-school bell schedule. Outings, reading, hands-on projects, and lessons at the kitchen table all count toward the total.

The one paperwork moment each homeschool year in Georgia is the notice of intent filed with the state Department of Education before (or soon after) teaching starts. The state-level filing model means one consistent process regardless of where in Georgia a family lives.

Georgia expects standardized testing at specified grade levels, which gives families a checkpoint for measuring progress rather than a surprise at the end of the school year.

Instruction must cover reading, language arts, math, social studies, and science, though families have wide latitude in how they teach each topic. In practice, Georgia homeschool families use Homeschool Fox to log daily activities, keep portfolios in one place, and generate the compliance reports that the state's paperwork moments call for.

At a glance

4.5 hours/day

× 180 days ≈ 810 hours/year

Ages 6-16

Compulsory attendance

Notice requirements

Notice is required

You must notify the state Department of Education of your intent to homeschool.

Need a head start? Use the free Notice of Intent generator to draft a Georgia-ready letter.

Deeper guides: how to write a notice of intent to homeschool covers the language admins look for, and when and where to file your notice of intent covers state-by-state deadlines and recipients.

Generate your notice of intent

Withdrawing from public school

The path out of public school in Georgia routes through the state rather than the local district. After a written withdrawal to the current school, families file a state-level notice of intent before instruction starts at home. Homeschool Fox can draft the withdrawal letter for you. It fills in the student, district, and date fields automatically.

For the play-by-play, how to withdraw your child from public school walks through the conversation, the timing, and the paperwork. What to send the district when you pull your child covers exactly what the letter should and shouldn't say.

Assessment requirements

Assessment is required

Type:: Standardized testing
Frequency:: At specified grade levels

Standardized testing for homeschoolers walks through which test to choose, where to register, and how to prep.

Portfolio & records

Portfolio not required

Each year, a parent writes a brief progress report in every required subject for each child. Georgia law asks that these annual reports be kept at home for at least three years; they aren't turned in unless requested.

Required subjects

Georgia requires instruction in the following subjects.

reading language arts math social studies science

School choice & ESA

Not open to independent homeschoolers

Program

Georgia Promise Scholarship

Who qualifies and what you give up

Georgia's Promise Scholarship pays roughly $6,500 per student per year, but it is functionally a public-school-exit program rather than a homeschool ESA. Eligibility requires that a student either (a) was enrolled in a Georgia public school in a bottom-25% attendance zone for the two consecutive semesters before applying, or (b) is a rising kindergartener. Currently-homeschooling families do not meet either path.

For a Georgia homeschool family this means there's no direct way to take the funds. To become eligible an existing homeschooler would have to enroll their child in a qualifying public school for two semesters first — a step most homeschool families won't take. Once on Promise, recipients are reclassified out of standard homeschool registration and subject to program-specific testing, vendor approval, and reporting. Georgia's existing Section 20-2-690 home-study law remains the path for independent homeschooling.

Program details

Deeper guides: homeschool ESAs explained — which states offer them in 2026 covers eligibility and the trade-offs you sign up for. How to use an ESA for homeschool curriculum walks through what's reimbursable and where families get stuck.

Additional notes

Electronic notice of intent to DOE within 30 days, then by Sept 1 annually. Testing every 3 years from end of 3rd grade. 4.5 hours/day minimum. Parent must have HS diploma or GED.

Calculate your Georgia hours

Georgia requires 810 hours/year. Enter how far you've come and we'll show you the daily pace to finish on time.

Hours logged so far this year

Leave at 0 if you haven't started tracking yet

School year end date

School days per week

Enter an end date to see your targets

Prefer a full-page version? Open the standalone hours calculator.

Sources

HSLDA

Verified May 2026

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to notify anyone to homeschool in Georgia?

Yes, Georgia requires you to file notice of your intent to homeschool. You must notify the state Department of Education.

How many hours do I need to homeschool in Georgia?

Georgia requires at least 4.5 hours of instruction per day over 180 school days, which works out to roughly 810 hours per year.

Does Georgia require testing for homeschoolers?

Georgia requires a nationally standardized test at least once every three years, starting at the end of third grade, given by someone qualified to interpret results. Scores stay with the family — they aren't submitted to the state.

Do I need to keep a portfolio in Georgia?

What subjects must I teach in Georgia?

Georgia requires instruction in the following subjects: reading, language arts, math, social studies, and science. Beyond these requirements, you have flexibility to add subjects that interest your family.

Nearby states

View all states

Want the cross-state comparison? Homeschool laws by state covers the legal regime in every state side by side.

What we track

Track your 810 Georgia hours automatically

Log activities by voice or text and Homeschool Fox rolls them up against Georgia's requirements automatically. Free for 14 days.

Hours toward 810-hour goal
Attendance days toward 180-day goal
Subject coverage (core & non-core)
Activity log (text, voice, AI-parsed)
Portfolios & PDF year-end reports
Transcripts with GPA & credits
Test scores & evaluations
Notice of intent & withdrawal letters

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