Homeschool Hours Required in Montana

Montana requires a minimum of 720 hours of instruction per school year. Older students carry a higher target of 1,080 hours. Check which grades that band starts at before you set a goal.

Hours per year

720

Older grades

1,080 hrs

Required hours

720 hrs/year

Required subjects

7 subjects

Notice

Required

Testing / evaluation

Not required

Recordkeeping

Recommended

Jump to the full Montana requirements for plain-English detail on each of these.

What Montana requires

Montana sets an annual hour total and leaves the calendar to you. No minimum number of school days applies, so a four-day week, a year-round schedule, and a standard September-to-June year all work as long as the total lands. Older grades carry a higher target of 1,080 hours. Montana sets where that band begins, so a household with children on both sides of the line tracks two numbers at once.

What counts as an instructional hour

Desk time is one kind of instruction. The hour count takes in the rest of it too. Reading together, a museum trip, a science documentary you talk through afterward, music practice, and a co-op class all count the same as a workbook page. Unstructured free time with no educational purpose does not. Montana will never ask you to defend a single entry, so hold yourself to a simple test: could you explain it to someone who asked?

The daily and weekly math

Montana doesn't set a day count, so the pace is yours to choose. Over a typical 180 day year, 720 hours is about 4.0 hours a day. Compress it into 150 days and it's 4.8 hours a day instead. Year round schedules spread the same total thinner, which is why some families prefer them.

When your school year starts and ends

Your count resets with your school year, so the dates you pick carry as much weight as the total. Set your start and end dates before you log anything, then keep them steady from one year to the next. Montana has its own wrinkles here, covered in the notes on the main Montana requirements page. Homeschool Fox asks for your school year once in settings and measures your totals against it from then on.

If you fall behind

Montana has no formal shortfall process, so you fix a gap yourself: extend your year, add days, or count instruction you have been doing without recording it. Field trips, read alouds, and life skills work are legitimate hours that families forget to log. A gap you spot in February is a small schedule change. The same gap found in June means teaching through the summer.

Work out your Montana pace

Montana requires 720 hours/year. Enter how far you've come and we'll show you the daily pace to finish on time.

Common mistakes in Montana

• Missing the jump at grade 4

  Montana asks for 720 hours in grades 1 through 3 and 1,080 hours from grade 4 on. That is a 360-hour increase in a single year, and families who set one target for the household undershoot for the older children.

Your Montana hours checklist

Five habits that keep the number honest without turning record keeping into a second job.

1. 1

   Write down your target

   720 hours for the year.

2. 2

   Pick your school year dates

   Decide when your year starts and ends before you log anything. Your hours count is measured against that window.

3. 3

   Log the same day you teach

   Most records fall apart when a family tries to reconstruct a month of hours from memory. A minute at the end of the day keeps that from happening.

4. 4

   Check your pace monthly

   One look a month tells you whether your current average still lands you on target, while there is time to adjust.

5. 5

   Keep the log as long as Montana expects

   Even where you submit nothing, the log is what answers the question if a question comes.

What this looks like in Homeschool Fox

Homeschool Fox counts every logged activity against your Montana target, so a gap shows up while you still have time to close it.

Free Montana printables

Two ready-to-use PDFs for Montana homeschoolers. No account needed.

Templates, not legal advice. Confirm the current rule with your state or district.

What Homeschool Fox tracks for Montana

Everything Montana expects you to keep, in one place — no spreadsheets, no lost notebooks.

• Hours toward your 720-hour goal
• Required subjects & core hours
• Daily activity logs
• Attendance records
• Notes & portfolio records
• Printable PDF reports
• High school transcripts
• State-specific progress tracking

More Montana guides

• Montana Homeschool Requirements Hours, notice, assessment, and subjects at a glance.
• How to Start Homeschooling in Montana A step-by-step guide from withdrawal to your first logged day.
• Homeschooling High School in Montana Credits, GPA, transcripts, and graduation.
• Record Keeping in Montana What to document, how to organize it, and staying compliant.
• How to Withdraw From School in Montana The steps, the letter, and timing to avoid truancy issues.
• Moving to Montana What to file when you arrive and whether your records transfer.
• Public School Sports in Montana Whether homeschoolers can play, what it takes, and who to ask.
• Required Subjects in Montana The list, how much time each needs, and proving you taught them.
• Montana Letter of Intent Who to file with, when it's due, and a free generator.