Homeschool Tracker & Planner › Homeschool requirements by state › Tennessee
Homeschool record-keeping
Attendance log: Yes, keep an attendance record
Portfolio: Not required by the state
Four hours per day for 180 days (T.C.A. 49-6-3050).
File an intent to home school with the district each year, keep attendance records and report attendance to the district, and present the student for testing in grades 5, 7 and 9.
Whatever Tennessee 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 Tennessee records in the app
Homeschool Tracker & Planner has the Tennessee 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.
How many days or hours of homeschool does Tennessee require?
Four hours per day for 180 days (T.C.A. 49-6-3050).
Do I have to keep attendance records to homeschool in Tennessee?
Tennessee 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 Tennessee?
File an intent to home school with the district each year, keep attendance records and report attendance to the district, and present the student for testing in grades 5, 7 and 9.
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 Tennessee 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.
https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/education/nonpublic/Frequently_Asked_Questions_Home_School.pdf
Verified against the official source, September 13, 2026.