State Requirements
Homeschooling in Mississippi
Mississippi has light but formal homeschool requirements with no mandated hour or day minimums, and you'll file notice with your local school district.
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The Mississippi homeschool framework is built around a single, simple idea: let the state know you're homeschooling, then get on with it. The state's compulsory school-age band is 6-17. A child outside those ages isn't legally required to be in formal instruction at all.
With no statutory minimum for hours or school days, families in Mississippi design a schedule that fits their household, whether that's year-round learning, a traditional school calendar, or a mix of the two. Many families aim for around 900 instructional hours per year as a self-imposed benchmark, even though the state doesn't mandate it.
The one paperwork moment each homeschool year in Mississippi is the notice of intent filed with your local school district before (or soon after) teaching starts. Districts vary slightly in expected format, but the core contents (student name, grade, and a statement of intent) are the same everywhere in Mississippi.
In practice, Mississippi 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
Ages 6-17
Compulsory attendance
Flexible requirements
Mississippi does not mandate specific hours or days.
Notice requirements
Notice is required
You must notify your local school district of your intent to homeschool.
Need a head start? Use the free Notice of Intent generator to draft a Mississippi-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 intentWithdrawing from public school
Moving a child from public school to homeschool in Mississippi starts with a written withdrawal to the current school and a notice of intent to the local district. Together they put the new arrangement on record. 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 not required
Mississippi does not require standardized testing or formal assessment.
Portfolio & records
Portfolio not required
While Mississippi doesn't mandate a portfolio, keeping records is still recommended.
School choice & ESA
Open to homeschool familiesProgram
Equal Opportunity for Students with Special Needs (ESA)
Up to $7,089 / student / year
Homeschool-eligible amount. Some programs pay private-school students more.
Who qualifies and what you give up
Targeted to special education only. Eligibility is limited to Mississippi students who have had an active Individualized Education Program (IEP) within the last three years. Award is roughly $7,089 per student per year and may be spent on tuition at participating schools, tutoring, therapies, curriculum, and assessments through the program portal. There is no general-population ESA in Mississippi as of April 2026 — proposed Magnolia Student Accounts legislation has not been enacted.
For an IEP-holding homeschool family the program is genuinely accessible, but the strings are non-trivial: participants must use the program's vendor list for therapies and curriculum, file annual progress documentation, and re-verify the qualifying disability on a set cadence. Funds left at year end revert to the state. Families without an active IEP have no path into this program; for them, Mississippi's existing homeschool law (Certificate of Enrollment by September 15) remains the operative framework.
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.
Homeschool Fox tracks receipts and learning plans against ESA reporting requirements automatically.
Additional notes
No statutory hour or day minimum — homeschool exemption in § 37-13-91(3)(c) is silent on instructional time. Certificate of Enrollment due to the district attendance officer by September 15 each year.
Calculate your Mississippi hours
Mississippi doesn't mandate a minimum. Use 900 hours/year as a general guide to stay on pace.
Leave at 0 if you haven't started tracking yet
Enter an end date to see your targets
Target
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hours per day
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hours per week
Prefer a full-page version? Open the standalone hours calculator.
Sources
Verified May 2026
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to notify anyone to homeschool in Mississippi?
How many hours do I need to homeschool in Mississippi?
Does Mississippi require testing for homeschoolers?
Do I need to keep a portfolio in Mississippi?
What subjects must I teach in Mississippi?
Nearby states
View all statesWant the cross-state comparison? Homeschool laws by state covers the legal regime in every state side by side.
What we track
Stay compliant in Mississippi without spreadsheets
Log activities by voice or text and Homeschool Fox rolls them up against Mississippi's requirements automatically. Free for 14 days.
- Instruction hours per student
- Attendance days logged
- 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
14-day free trial. No credit card required.