Homeschool Tracker & Planner › Homeschool requirements by state › California

Homeschool record-keeping

What does California require homeschoolers to keep?

Days per year
None set
Hours per year
None set

Attendance log: Yes, keep an attendance record
Portfolio: Not required by the state

Days and hours

No statewide days/hours for home-based private schools filing the Private School Affidavit.

What to file and keep

Home-based private schools file the annual Private School Affidavit and must keep an attendance register showing every absence of a half day or more (Ed. Code 33190/48222), plus course and faculty records; no portfolio or testing.

A simple record that satisfies most requests

Whatever California asks for, a daily log covers it: the date, which student, minutes or hours of instruction, the subjects touched, and a line of notes. Add a photo of one piece of work a week and you also have a portfolio. Keep the log all year and the end-of-year form is a matter of copying totals.

Keep California records in the app

Homeschool Tracker & Planner has the California rules built in, logs a school day in a few taps, and exports the attendance and hours PDF with a signature line. Free for the first 14 entries.

Frequently asked questions

How many days or hours of homeschool does California require?
No statewide days/hours for home-based private schools filing the Private School Affidavit.

Do I have to keep attendance records to homeschool in California?
California requires attendance records. Most families keep one regardless: it is the fastest way to answer a district question, it feeds the year-end paperwork, and it settles any later dispute about days of instruction. A log with the date, hours and subjects for each school day is enough.

What do I file to homeschool in California?
Home-based private schools file the annual Private School Affidavit and must keep an attendance register showing every absence of a half day or more (Ed. Code 33190/48222), plus course and faculty records; no portfolio or testing.

What is the easiest way to keep the records?
Homeschool Tracker & Planner for iPhone logs each school day in a few taps (student, minutes, subject, notes and a photo of the work), tracks days and hours against the California target, and exports an attendance and hours PDF with a parent certification line, plus a portfolio PDF. Records stay on the phone; no account is needed.

Source

https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/ps/homeschool.asp
Verified against the official source, September 13, 2026.

Other states

Alabama: no set days or hoursAlaska: no set days or hoursArizona: no set days or hoursArkansas: no set days or hoursColorado: 172 daysConnecticut: no set days or hoursDelaware: no set days or hoursDistrict of Columbia: no set days or hoursFlorida: no set days or hoursGeorgia: 180 daysHawaii: no set days or hoursIdaho: no set days or hoursIllinois: no set days or hoursIndiana: 180 daysIowa: 148 daysKansas: 186 days or 1,116 hoursKentucky: 185 days or 1,062 hoursLouisiana: no set days or hoursMaine: 175 daysMaryland: no set days or hoursMassachusetts: no set days or hoursMichigan: no set days or hoursMinnesota: no set days or hoursMississippi: no set days or hoursMissouri: 1,000 hoursMontana: 1,080 hoursNebraska: 1,080 hoursNevada: no set days or hoursNew Hampshire: no set days or hoursNew Jersey: no set days or hoursNew Mexico: no set days or hoursNew York: 180 days or 990 hoursNorth Carolina: no set days or hoursNorth Dakota: 175 daysOhio: no set days or hoursOklahoma: 180 daysOregon: no set days or hoursPennsylvania: 180 days or 990 hoursRhode Island: 1,080 hoursSouth Carolina: 180 daysSouth Dakota: no set days or hoursTennessee: 180 daysTexas: no set days or hoursUtah: no set days or hoursVermont: no set days or hoursVirginia: no set days or hoursWashington: 1,000 hoursWest Virginia: 180 daysWisconsin: 875 hoursWyoming: no set days or hours