Homeschool Record Keeping in Pennsylvania

Required hours

900 hrs/year

School days

180 days/year

Required subjects

11 subjects

Notice

Required

Testing / evaluation

Professional evaluation

Portfolio

Required

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

What to keep in Pennsylvania

Good records are your best protection if anyone ever questions your homeschool. In Pennsylvania, keep an organized set: a running log of what you teach and when, samples of your child's work, and any assessment or filing documents the state asks for. Depending on the rules you'll keep some at home and file others, so keep everything organized and dated.

Attendance and hours

Pennsylvania requires a minimum of 900 hours of instruction per school year. This must be spread over at least 180 school days.

Portfolio and work samples

Under 24 P.S. § 13-1327.1(e), families keep a contemporaneous log of reading materials by title plus samples of the student's writings, worksheets, workbooks, and creative materials. Standardized tests in math and reading/language arts are included in the portfolio in grades 3, 5, and 8.

Assessment and evaluation records

Pennsylvania requires a written annual evaluation by a qualified evaluator — a licensed psychologist, certified teacher, or nonpublic school teacher with recent experience — based on a student interview and portfolio review. The evaluator also certifies that an appropriate education is occurring, and the certification is filed with the superintendent by June 30.

Filing documents and deadlines

Pennsylvania has filing dates worth putting on your calendar: Affidavit (August 1); Annual evaluation (June 30). Keep a dated copy of everything you file and note when you sent it.

How to organize your records

Keep one folder per child per school year: a running activity log, a stack of work samples, any test or evaluation results, and copies of anything you filed. Homeschool Fox does this automatically, logging hours by subject from your phone, tagging core versus non-core, and generating the Pennsylvania reports and year-end summaries you may need.

Free Pennsylvania printables

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

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

What Homeschool Fox tracks for Pennsylvania

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

• Hours toward your 900-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 Pennsylvania guides

• Pennsylvania Homeschool Requirements Hours, notice, assessment, and subjects at a glance.
• How to Start Homeschooling in Pennsylvania A step-by-step guide from withdrawal to your first logged day.
• Homeschooling High School in Pennsylvania Credits, GPA, transcripts, and graduation.