The Short Answer
Illinois homeschools operate as private schools under 105 ILCS 5/26-1. No registration with the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is required or permitted. No notice to your local school district is required. No standardized testing, no portfolio, and no third-party evaluator. You must teach an adequate course of instruction in six branches of study in English. Compulsory attendance age runs from 6 (by September 1) through 17 or graduation. No state funding program for homeschool families.
Verified June 2026 against the Illinois School Code (105 ILCS 5/26-1) and People v. Levisen (1950). Illinois law for home-based private schools has remained stable; confirm there have been no legislative changes at ilga.gov before relying on this for legal decisions.
Illinois Home Instruction at a Glance
| Registration | None. ISBE does not register home-based private schools. |
|---|---|
| Notice to district | Not required |
| Required subjects | Language arts; math; biological and physical sciences; social sciences; fine arts; physical development and health |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Testing | Not required |
| Portfolio | Not required |
| Evaluator | Not required |
| Parent credential | Not required |
| Compulsory age | 6 (by September 1) through 17 or graduation |
| High school diploma | Parent-issued |
| State funding | No ESA or voucher program in Illinois |
Illinois and the Private School Framework
Illinois law does not have a separate homeschool statute. Instead, the Illinois School Code (105 ILCS 5/26-1) exempts children from compulsory public school attendance if they are "attending a private school." In 1950, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in People v. Levisen that a home qualifies as a private school under this exemption, provided the instruction is in the required subjects and in English. That decision is the legal foundation for homeschooling in Illinois, and the framework has been stable for 75 years.
What this means for your family: you are running a private school from your home. You do not register this school with ISBE. You do not notify your local public school district. ISBE does not register or recognize home-based private schools under current policy, and there is no mechanism for registration even if you wanted to pursue it. You begin teaching your children, cover the required subjects, and conduct instruction in English. That is the full scope of what the law asks of you.
The Six Required Subject Areas
Illinois requires an "adequate course of instruction" in six branches of study. The law names them as: language arts, mathematics, biological and physical sciences, social sciences, fine arts, and physical development and health. ISBE treats biological and physical science as a single combined branch, and physical development and health as another combined branch.
The law does not define what "adequate" means in hours, grade levels, or specific topics. It does not list approved textbooks or require any curriculum to be submitted to any authority. You decide what counts as language arts, how much time to spend on each subject, which materials to use, and in what sequence to teach. The requirement is that you cover all six areas and teach in English. Beyond that, the choices are yours.
Most families cover language arts through reading, writing, spelling, grammar, and composition. Mathematics runs from arithmetic in early grades through algebra, geometry, and higher math in secondary years. Biological and physical sciences cover life science, earth science, chemistry, and physics at levels suited to the child's age. Social sciences include history, geography, economics, and civics. Fine arts covers music, visual arts, drama, or other creative disciplines. Physical development and health addresses fitness, physical education, and health education. You do not need to cover all of these topics in a single school year; the requirement is that your program addresses each branch over time.
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No Notice, No Filing, No Approval
One of the most frequent questions new Illinois homeschool families ask is where to send their paperwork. The answer is that there is no paperwork to send. Illinois does not require a notice of intent to the district, an annual affidavit to the superintendent, or any other filing with a government body. You do not need the district's permission to begin. You do not need to wait for any approval from ISBE. You begin teaching when you are ready.
This simplicity surprises families who move to Illinois from states like New York or Pennsylvania, where the paperwork requirements are real and annual. The absence of reporting requirements in Illinois is not a gap in the law; it is the law. The private school framework has never included mandatory reporting for home-based schools. Public school districts may occasionally send attendance notices to families they believe have school-age children not enrolled anywhere. A brief written response explaining that your child is enrolled in a home-based private school under Illinois law and the Levisen precedent often resolves this without further contact. You are not required to provide curriculum materials, lesson plans, or any other documents to the district in response to such a notice.
Calling It a Private School
Illinois law treats your home as a private school, and HSLDA advises that you use that language when dealing with government officials. If someone from a school district, a government agency, or another official body asks about your child's educational situation, the accurate and legally sound answer is that your child is enrolled in a private school.
There is one important exception. When filling out a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) for college financial aid, identify your child's education as homeschooling, not as private school attendance. Federal financial aid rules treat homeschool students differently from private school students for purposes of aid eligibility, and using the private school designation on the FAFSA can create complications for your child's aid application. On every other document and in every other context, private school is the right term.
What Records to Keep and Why
Illinois law does not require you to submit attendance records, portfolio materials, or any other documentation to the district or to ISBE. You are not legally required to keep any records at all. That said, maintaining basic records is worth doing for practical reasons that have nothing to do with state compliance.
A simple set of records for each school year includes a log of instruction days or hours, a list of the subjects and materials covered, and samples of completed student work. These records matter in specific situations: a minor applying for an Illinois driver's permit needs documentation of school enrollment or graduation from a parent; military enlistment requires education documentation; college applications ask for transcripts; and some employers or licensing boards verify educational credentials. Records you build each year are far easier to produce than records you try to reconstruct years after the fact.
The simplest system that works is a dated log updated weekly, a folder of completed work organized by subject, and a short year-end summary listing what each subject covered. You can maintain all three in under 10 minutes a week. The year-end summary becomes the course description document that selective colleges ask for, and the completed-work folder gives you material to scan or photograph when you need to show evidence of instruction. Set up the system at the start of each school year and update it as you go, not at the end of the year when memory is unreliable.
For high school, the records matter more than at any earlier stage. A transcript listing courses by name, credit hours, and grades by school year gives your child a document that college admissions offices and employers can read clearly. Start tracking credits at the beginning of grade 9. A student who arrives at the college application process in grade 12 with four years of tracked coursework is in a much stronger position than one whose family tries to piece together a transcript from memory. The reading assessment is a good starting point for language arts placement when you are setting up a new school year, since it gives you a concrete skill level rather than a grade-level guess.
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Pulling Your Child Out of an Illinois Public School
Send a written notice to the school stating that you are withdrawing your child to enroll in a home-based private school. The school updates its enrollment records. Illinois does not require any notice to the district superintendent or to ISBE, and no confirmation or approval from the district is needed. Keep a copy of your withdrawal letter for your own records.
If your child has an IEP, mandatory special education services through the public school end at withdrawal. Illinois does allow school districts to make services available to private school students, but access and scope vary by district and are not guaranteed. Contact your district's special education office before withdrawing if this applies to your child, so you understand what services may continue and what will stop.
High School, Transcripts, and Diplomas in Illinois
Illinois does not set graduation requirements or diploma standards for private schools, including home-based private schools. You set your own graduation requirements, issue a diploma when your student meets them, and create whatever transcript documents the coursework completed. A parent-issued diploma and transcript are standard for Illinois homeschool graduates and are accepted by most colleges, employers, and licensing bodies without difficulty.
For college admissions, homeschool graduates from Illinois apply like any other applicant. Most Illinois colleges are familiar with home-educated applicants and have processes in place for reviewing non-traditional transcripts. A clear, well-organized transcript listing courses by name, credit hours, and grades by year is the foundation of the application. Many Illinois homeschool graduates also submit ACT or SAT scores, which give admissions offices a standardized reference point for academic performance alongside the parent-issued transcript. Some colleges request a course description document as well; prepare one if your student is applying to selective schools.
For the University of Illinois system and other state institutions, check each school's admissions page for their specific home school applicant documentation requirements, since they can differ across campuses and change from year to year.
No State Funding for Illinois Homeschool Families
Illinois has not passed school choice legislation. There is no education savings account program, no voucher, and no state financial support for families homeschooling under the private school framework. All curriculum and material costs are the family's responsibility.
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A Note from Homeschool Teacher Guide: What This Really Means for You
Illinois is as close to a hands-off state as you will find in the country. The freedom that comes with that is real, and so is the responsibility. Without a required portfolio, quarterly reports, or an evaluator pushing you to document the year's work, it is easy to let record-keeping slide. That is a mistake, not because the state will ask for records, but because your child will eventually need them. Start a simple log on day one and add to it each week. Do the same with work samples. When your child applies to college in a few years, you will be glad you did. The guide covers how to build a documentation habit from the start without it taking more than a few minutes a week. The Levisen decision from 1950 has held for 75 years and shows no signs of being challenged. Illinois is a good place to homeschool.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do we need to register or notify anyone to start homeschooling in Illinois?
No. Illinois does not require home-based private schools to register with the Illinois State Board of Education or notify the local school district. You begin teaching your children, cover the six required subjects in English, and no filing or approval is needed. ISBE does not register home-based private schools, and no mechanism to do so exists.
What subjects am we required to teach in Illinois?
Illinois requires an adequate course of instruction in six branches of study: language arts, mathematics, biological and physical sciences, social sciences, fine arts, and physical development and health. The law does not specify textbooks, hours per subject, or a defined curriculum. You choose the materials and structure.
Does Illinois require standardized testing for homeschool students?
No. Illinois has no testing requirement for home-based private school students. There is also no portfolio requirement and no requirement for an annual evaluation by a third party.
Should we call our homeschool a private school or a homeschool?
When dealing with government officials, HSLDA recommends calling your program a private school, which is the accurate legal description under Illinois law. The one exception is the FAFSA for college financial aid. Identify your child as homeschooled on that form, since federal aid rules treat homeschool students differently from private school students.
Does Illinois offer any funding for homeschool families?
No. Illinois does not have an education savings account program, voucher, or any other state financial support for families operating a home-based private school. All curriculum and material costs are the family's responsibility.