Homeschooling in Arkansas: what the state requires
Parent files a Notice of Intent to Home School with the local school district superintendent every year (online or paper) and takes full responsibility for the child's education. No state testing, subject, day or hour requirements were found on official sources.
Checked October 1, 2026 against official Arkansas sources. State page: Arkansas DESE — Office of School Choice & Parent Empowerment, Home Schools.
Home school (annual Notice of Intent)
Parent files a Notice of Intent to Home School with the local school district superintendent every year (online or paper) and takes full responsibility for the child's education. No state testing, subject, day or hour requirements were found on official sources.
For every child
| Notice or registration | Required. By August 15 each year (forms accepted from June 1); otherwise before withdrawing, subject to a possible 5-school-day wait — Annual Notice of Intent (NOI) filed with the resident school district superintendent; online at noihs.ade.arkansas.gov (preferred) or on paper. Includes parent/guardian contact information, district, student legal name, date of birth, grade, prior school, and home school start date. Parent signs that they are responsible for the child's education while homeschooled. Forms accepted from June 1. If filed after August 15 for a child currently enrolled in public school, the district may require a 5-school-day waiting period before release (the superintendent or board may waive it; the online NOI has a waiver-request box). Parent must give written notice to the new district within 30 days after moving to another district, and notify the superintendent if homeschooling stops. Per ADE (June 2025), a student may be ineligible to be homeschooled while under disciplinary action for violating a written school policy (including excessive unexcused absences), with an open FINS/truancy case, if a registered sex offender resides in the home, or for failure to return school property. |
|---|---|
| Required subjects | — No required subjects found on official sources reviewed. |
| Days | No minimum found. |
| Hours | No minimum found. |
| Testing or evaluation | Not required. No testing requirement stated; DESE lists optional state-funded tests for homeschoolers: PSAT (grade 10), ACT (grade 11), AP exams (fees may apply), and the ATLAS exam (grades 3-10, from 2025-26). |
| Records | No record-keeping requirement found beyond the annual NOI. DESE can issue a verification letter confirming the years and grade levels a student was homeschooled, based on NOIs. |
| Teacher | No parent qualification requirement found. |
| Other | Districts maintain NOI records (per ADE memo citing Ark. Code 6-18-901). NOI confidentiality and a bar on extra district criteria are attributed to 6-15-503 but not officially confirmed. |
By grade
No rule in this option changes with the grade.
High school and graduation
No homeschool graduation requirements found on official sources.
Official sources:
- DESE — Home Schools: Notice of Intent
- DESE — 2026-2027 Notice of Intent to Home School Information
- DESE — Support for Home School Parents
- ADE Commissioner's Memo COM-25-076, June 3, 2025 (NOI process; ineligibility conditions; 5-day waiting period; quotes Ark. Code 6-15-503)
Not confirmed on an official state page yet: Text of Ark. Code 6-15-501 to 6-15-510 could not be read on an official site: the code is hosted by LexisNexis; arkleg.state.ar.us act PDFs (e.g., Act 832 of 2015) and DESE's rules/fact sheet/FAQ returned unreadable binary or robots errors. Ineligibility conditions and the 5-day wait are confirmed only through ADE's 2025 memo (which cites 'ACA 6-15-201' for the wait — likely a mis-citation). The memo says paper NOIs are no longer sent to DESE; districts keep them. Confidentiality of NOI information and the bar on districts adding criteria (attributed to 6-15-503) were seen only on a secondary site. Compulsory attendance ages (Ark. Code 6-18-201) not confirmed. Who issues a homeschool diploma not confirmed. Educational Freedom Account (EFA) rules for homeschool participants not reviewed.
High school: the public-school diploma as a guide
Optional for homeschools in most states, but the credit plan most colleges and employers recognize, and a sound default for a homeschool transcript. Shown in the subject areas this site uses.
| English English Language Arts 4; Oral Communication 0.5 | 4.5 |
| Mathematics | 4.0 |
| Science | 3.0 |
| Social Studies | 3.0 |
| Fine Arts | 0.5 |
| Physical Education & Health Physical Education 0.5; Health & Safety 0.5 | 1.0 |
| Electives Career Focus or Additional Content 6 | 6.0 |
| Total | 22.0 |
|---|
Social studies = US History 1, World History 1, Civics 0.5, Economics and Personal Finance 0.5. Also: pass the Arkansas Civics Exam (60%), complete CPR training, earn credit in a personal finance course; one computer science credit beginning with 2026 graduates; 75 hours of community service beginning with 2027 graduates (per DESE).
Source: DESE — Arkansas Graduation Requirements
After graduation: what to plan for
Suggestions from Homeschool Corral, not state rules. Most families keep the college path open through 10th grade, then narrow.
- 4 English, 4 math (through Algebra II, pre-calculus if they can), 3–4 science with 2 labs, 3–4 social studies, 2–3 years of one foreign language, 1 fine arts
- A one-paragraph description for every high-school course; the parent signs the transcript and diploma
- PSAT in 10th and 11th; SAT or ACT by spring of 11th; dual credit, AP or CLEP where it fits
- A log of activities, service and work from 9th grade; two adults who can recommend them
- A Scholarship Finder profile by 11th grade; FAFSA when it opens in the fall of 12th
- A diploma and transcript with 4 English, 3 math, 3 science, 3 social studies; applied math every year
- Dual-credit career and technical courses in 11th–12th; OSHA 10 and first aid/CPR; a driver’s license
- Real projects and a part-time job logged as credits, with references; visit the union hall about pre-apprenticeships in 11th
- A parent-issued diploma and full transcript, signed and dated; recruiters ask for both
- Strong reading and arithmetic for the entrance test; a practice ASVAB in 11th
- Physical fitness as a logged course; service and leadership; for an academy or ROTC, the college list plus the SAT/ACT early
- The diploma and transcript anyway; personal finance and business basics as credits
- Work experience logged with hours and a reference from 10th grade; typing, spreadsheets, a clear email
- Keep the college path open: a foreign language and Algebra II cost little now
My Homeschool turns these into a checklist for each child, with the credits recorded in Transcripts counted against the plan.
DESE's homeschool rules (ADE 262, 2020), Home School Fact Sheet and FAQ, and arkleg.state.ar.us act texts could not be fetched (TLS/robots errors or unreadable PDFs).
This is a plain-English summary of the state’s official sources, checked on the date shown. It is not legal advice, and laws change. Read the linked official pages, and check with the state or your local school district if anything is unclear.
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