Homeschool Record Keeping in Tennessee

Required hours

720 hrs/year

School days

180 days/year

Required subjects

Your choice

Notice

Required

Testing / evaluation

Standardized testing

Recordkeeping

Recommended

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

What to keep in Tennessee

Good records are your best protection if anyone ever questions your homeschool. In Tennessee, 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

Tennessee requires at least 4 hours of instruction per day over 180 school days, which works out to roughly 720 hours per year.

Portfolio and work samples

Tennessee's independent option requires attendance records (and immunization records), submitted at year end to the director of schools. A formal portfolio isn't required at the state level — church-related school families follow that school's records policy.

Assessment and evaluation records

Under Tennessee's independent home-school option, students are tested at the end of grades 5, 7, and 9. Since Public Chapter 912 (2026) the parent chooses between a self-selected nationally normed test covering English language arts and math — proctored by someone not related to the student, scored by the test's publisher, at the family's expense — and the state board-approved test public school students sit that year, which at grade 9 may not be an end-of-course exam. Results go to the parent-teacher, the director of schools, and the state board under § 49-6-3050(b)(5); families registered through a church-related school follow that school's assessment policy instead.

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 Tennessee reports and year-end summaries you may need.

Common mistakes in Tennessee

• Attendance records get submitted here

  Unlike most states, Tennessee independent home schools submit attendance records to the district at the end of the year. That turns the daily log from a private record into a filing, and reconstructing it in May costs you a bad afternoon.

What this looks like in Homeschool Fox

Every activity you log rolls into a compliance view for Tennessee, so the records exist before anyone asks for them.

Free Tennessee printables

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

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

What Homeschool Fox tracks for Tennessee

Everything Tennessee 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 Tennessee guides

• Tennessee Homeschool Requirements Hours, notice, assessment, and subjects at a glance.
• How to Start Homeschooling in Tennessee A step-by-step guide from withdrawal to your first logged day.
• Homeschooling High School in Tennessee Credits, GPA, transcripts, and graduation.
• How to Withdraw From School in Tennessee The steps, the letter, and timing to avoid truancy issues.
• Moving to Tennessee What to file when you arrive and whether your records transfer.
• Homeschool Hours Required in Tennessee The number, what counts toward it, and the pace to hit it.
• Tennessee Letter of Intent Who to file with, when it's due, and a free generator.
• Tennessee Year End Report What goes in it, when it's due, and who reviews it.
• Homeschool Testing in Tennessee What the state asks for, when, and low-score rules.
• ESA & School Choice in Tennessee Funding amounts, who qualifies, and the trade-offs.