How to Homeschool in Delaware (2026): Registration, Annual Reporting, and What the Law Requires

Delaware's Home School Law

Delaware Code Title 14 Section 2703A treats home schools as nonpublic schools and runs the system through registration and reporting. You register your home school with the Delaware Department of Education, then file two reports each year: a statement of enrollment in the fall and an attendance report at the end of the year. Delaware does not require standardized testing, a portfolio, or a parent credential.

Delaware's compulsory school age runs from 5 through 16. A child in that range who is not enrolled in a public or other nonpublic school must be enrolled in a registered home school. Registering and reporting are the two steps that place your home school within the law, and they are the recurring tasks that define what Delaware asks of you each year.

The law is more streamlined than it first appears. The registration is a one-time setup in the state's online system, and the two annual reports are short submissions through the same portal. Once you understand the calendar, compliance comes down to two dates per year.

Registering Your Home School

Delaware home schools register with the Department of Education through its online home school system. Delaware recognizes several home school types, and most families register as a single-family home school. That registration identifies your home school, the grade levels you will cover, and the children enrolled. Setting up the registration is the first step before your first year begins.

All of your annual filings go through the same online portal you use to register, so the system stays familiar from year to year. Keep your login credentials and a copy of your registration confirmation. Because everything runs through the state system rather than your local school district, your reporting relationship is with the Department of Education directly, not with your neighborhood school or district office.

The type you choose at registration matters beyond the initial setup. A single-family home school means you issue the diploma when your student graduates. A coordinated arrangement that works with a local reorganized school district changes how the diploma and certain services work. Before you register, decide which type fits your goals. A free reading assessment can help you see where your child stands so you can build your curriculum plan before the first enrollment report is due.

The Fall Enrollment Report

Each year, Delaware asks for a statement of pupil enrollment. You report your home school's enrollment as of the last school day in September and submit the statement by early October through the Department of Education's online system. The report is a count of the students enrolled in your home school for the current year.

The timing is what trips families up most often. The report is tied to a specific point in September and due in the first days of October. If you begin your school year in late August or early September, the enrollment count reflects who is enrolled as of the end of September. Put the early-October deadline on your calendar at the start of each school year and submit as soon as the September count date passes. Keep a copy of your submission confirmation.

This report and the year-end attendance report are the two recurring compliance tasks for Delaware home schools. Neither is long or complex, but the deadlines are fixed. Filing on time each year keeps your home school in good standing with the Department of Education.

The Year-End Attendance Report

At the end of the school year, Delaware requires an attendance report. You submit it through the online system by July 31. The report covers attendance for your home school over the year that just ended, and it closes out the annual cycle until the next fall enrollment report is due.

The attendance report is straightforward once you have kept a simple log through the year. Recording the days your home school was in session as you go, even in a basic spreadsheet or a dated notebook, makes the July report a matter of entering totals you already have rather than reconstructing the year from memory. A column of session dates or a tally sheet is enough to support the report without creating a heavy documentation burden through the year.

File by July 31, keep a copy of your submission, and your annual reporting for Delaware is complete. The window between the end of your school year and July 31 gives you some time to gather your records, but do not let the summer slide until the final week. Our planning guide covers how to set up a simple record-keeping routine from the first week of school so your year-end report is never a scramble.

Subjects and What Delaware Does Not Require

Delaware does not publish a strict home school subject checklist, but the law expects regular and thorough instruction in the subjects taught in the public schools. That means covering the core academic areas, reading and language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies, at a level consistent with your child's grade. From grade 8 through high school, Delaware also expects courses that include the United States Constitution, the Delaware Constitution and government, and the free enterprise system.

What Delaware does not require is just as important to understand. There is no standardized testing. There is no portfolio review, no annual evaluation by a qualified professional, and no parent education credential. The state does not approve your curriculum before you begin, and it does not send an inspector to review your teaching. Outside the two annual reports, the teaching is entirely yours to run.

Keeping your own records of subjects covered, materials used, and samples of your child's work is a good practice even though Delaware does not require it. Those records make building a transcript far easier when your student reaches high school and give you something concrete to draw from when applying to college or for professional licensing.

Home School Types and the Diploma Question

Delaware's home school types matter most when your student approaches graduation. A single-family home school is fully independent, and you issue the diploma when your student meets the requirements you set. A multi-family home school works similarly. Delaware also offers a coordinated arrangement in which a home school works with a local reorganized school district, which affects how the diploma and certain services are handled.

For most families, the single-family home school is the right fit. The parent-issued diploma from a Delaware single-family home school is accepted by the state's public universities, employers, and licensing bodies. If access to a district diploma or specific district services matters to your family, look into the coordinated option before you register, since the type you choose at registration shapes those outcomes.

Choose your type deliberately at registration rather than discovering the difference at graduation. Most families who want full independence over curriculum and schedule choose the single-family type, while those who want access to district resources or the district diploma path consider the coordinated option. The choice is not permanent for all time, but changing types after registration requires additional steps with the Department.

Withdrawing from a Delaware Public School

If your child is currently enrolled in a Delaware public school, register your home school with the Department of Education and notify your child's school that you are withdrawing. Keep copies of both. The registration and the withdrawal notification together close out the public enrollment and prevent absences from being recorded as truancy while records are updated at the school and district level.

Request copies of your child's academic records, report cards, and any assessment results before you complete the withdrawal. Getting those records during the withdrawal process is faster than requesting them after the fact, and you may want them when you plan your curriculum for the first year.

If your child has an Individualized Education Program, the mandatory special education services provided through the public school end when you withdraw to a single-family home school. Delaware districts may make some services available to home school students on a limited basis, but the IEP entitlement that applies to enrolled public school students does not carry over. Contact the school's special education office before withdrawing if services are in place.

High School, Transcripts, and Diplomas in Delaware

For a single-family home school, Delaware does not set graduation requirements or diploma standards. You establish the requirements, track credits through grades 9 to 12, and issue the diploma when your student meets them. A parent-issued Delaware home school diploma and transcript are accepted by Delaware's public colleges, employers, and professional licensing boards.

The University of Delaware, Delaware State University, and Delaware Technical Community College all review home school applications. Most ask for ACT or SAT scores alongside the transcript, so plan for your student to sit for a college entrance test beginning in grade 10 or 11. A clear transcript that lists courses by name, credit hours, and grades by year is the standard document. The civics courses Delaware expects from grade 8 up fit well into a social studies sequence that runs from middle school through high school. Including them on the transcript strengthens the record and shows colleges that your student covered the relevant content.

Dual enrollment is available to Delaware high school students at several institutions; contact the specific school for its home school applicant requirements. The full high school planning guide walks through building a four-year curriculum, structuring a transcript your student can use for college applications and scholarships, and planning for the coursework that carries weight at Delaware's colleges.

A Note from Homeschool Teacher Guide: What This Really Means for You

Delaware is lighter than the word registration makes it sound, because there is no testing and no portfolio behind it. The whole rhythm is two reports a year, both through the state's online system. We would set up the home school registration once, then put two dates on the calendar: the early-October enrollment count and the July 31 attendance report. Keep a simple attendance log as you go and both reports become data entry rather than a scramble at the deadline.

The one decision worth making up front is the home school type, because a single-family home school means you issue the diploma while the coordinated option ties you to a district. Make that call before you register. Cover the public school subjects, add the civics courses from grade 8 forward, file your two reports on time, and Delaware runs smoothly year after year.