Homeschool Tracker & Planner › Homeschool requirements by state › Illinois

Homeschool record-keeping

What does Illinois require homeschoolers to keep?

Days per year
None set
Hours per year
None set

Attendance log: Not required by the state
Portfolio: Not required by the state

Days and hours

No requirements for number of school days or length of school day (ISBE).

What to file and keep

Homeschools operate as private schools with no registration, testing, or record-keeping requirements; ISBE encourages but does not require good records.

A simple record that satisfies most requests

Whatever Illinois 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 Illinois records in the app

Homeschool Tracker & Planner has the Illinois 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 Illinois require?
No requirements for number of school days or length of school day (ISBE).

Do I have to keep attendance records to homeschool in Illinois?
Illinois does not require an attendance log by statute. 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 Illinois?
Homeschools operate as private schools with no registration, testing, or record-keeping requirements; ISBE encourages but does not require good records.

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 Illinois 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.isbe.net/Documents/Illinois-Homeschooling.pdf
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 hoursCalifornia: 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 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