How to Homeschool in Mississippi (2026): Certificate of Enrollment and What the Law Requires

Mississippi's Home School Law

Mississippi Code §37-13-91 is the legal foundation for home schooling in Mississippi. The law gives parents the right to provide home instruction as an alternative to public school enrollment, subject to two requirements: filing a Certificate of Enrollment with the school district superintendent each year and providing instruction in the required subjects for at least 180 days. Beyond those two requirements, Mississippi does not mandate testing, portfolio review, third-party evaluation, or a parent credential. The program you design, the curriculum you choose, and the daily schedule you set are entirely your own decisions.

Mississippi's compulsory school age runs from 6 through 17 under §37-13-91. Children in that range who are not enrolled in a public school, a legitimate private school, or a registered home school are subject to the attendance law. Children below age 6 and above age 17 are not subject to the compulsory attendance requirement, though most families continue home instruction through high school graduation regardless.

Mississippi does not license or accredit home schools. The certificate filing is an administrative notice, not an approval process. The school district does not review your curriculum, approve your program, or assess your child's progress as part of the filing. You file the form, they record it, and your home school year begins.

Filing the Certificate of Enrollment

Each year, file a Certificate of Enrollment with the superintendent of the school district where you reside. The deadline is September 15. If you begin home schooling after September 15, file within 30 days of establishing your program. The certificate asks for each child's name, age, and grade level, and confirms your intent to provide home instruction in the required subjects for the coming school year.

Mississippi does not have a universal statewide form, though many districts have their own version. Contact your local school district office at the start of each school year to obtain the current certificate form and confirm the submission method your district uses. Some accept email submission; others require delivery in person or by mail. Get the current form directly from the district rather than using an old copy, since formats can change between years.

Keep a copy of every certificate you file and any written confirmation you receive from the district. That copy is your proof of compliance. If the district later questions your child's enrollment status, a dated copy of the filed certificate is the document that closes the conversation. File the certificate, copy it, and put it in a folder with your school year records.

Filing on time is the most important compliance step in Mississippi. A late or missing certificate creates exposure under the compulsory attendance law. Mark September 15 on your calendar before summer begins, and set a reminder in mid-August to pull the form from your district, complete it, and submit it well before the deadline.

Required Subjects

Mississippi requires instruction in reading, language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. These five areas define the required content of your home school program. Mississippi does not specify which textbooks to use, which publishers are approved, how many hours to spend on each subject, or what grade-level content must be covered in a given year. The law names the subjects; you build the program.

Reading and language arts together cover the full literacy range: phonics and decoding in the early grades, comprehension and vocabulary through the middle years, and advanced reading, composition, and grammar through high school. Mathematics runs from arithmetic foundations in the early years through whatever level your student reaches by graduation. Science encompasses life sciences, earth science, physical science, biology, chemistry, or any combination the family chooses by grade and interest. Social studies spans history, geography, civics, and economics across the school years.

Many families supplement these five required subjects with additional content: foreign language, fine arts, physical education, logic, coding, or electives tied to a student's interests or college preparation goals. Nothing in Mississippi law limits what you can teach beyond the five required areas. The law establishes the floor; your curriculum can go well beyond it.

180 Days of Instruction

Mississippi requires at least 180 days of instruction per year. The law does not set a minimum number of hours per school day or specify how the days must be distributed across the calendar year. A school year running 36 weeks at 5 days per week satisfies the 180-day requirement. Families who school fewer days per week, take extended breaks, or use a year-round calendar should count their instructional days to confirm they are meeting the minimum by year's end.

Mississippi does not require you to submit attendance records to the district at any point in the year. Keep a simple log of school days for your own records. A calendar marked with school days, a lesson planner with completed entries, or a spreadsheet with dates and subjects all work. The purpose is to give yourself a running count of instructional days and to have documentation you can produce if questions ever arise.

No Testing, No Portfolio, No Evaluator

Mississippi imposes no standardized testing requirement on home school families. There is no annual assessment obligation, no minimum score standard, and no results to submit to the district or any state agency. There is no portfolio requirement and no annual review by a third-party evaluator. The compliance picture for a Mississippi home school family is: file the annual certificate by September 15, provide 180 days of instruction in the five required subjects, and keep basic records for your own use. Mississippi leaves everything else to the family.

Many Mississippi families choose to administer standardized tests on a voluntary basis. Nationally normed instruments like the Iowa Assessments or the Stanford Achievement Test are commonly used by Mississippi home schoolers to track academic progress and build documentation for college applications. But the decision to test, which instrument to use, and what to do with the results are entirely the family's call. Some families test every year; others test only in the middle and high school years as college planning approaches.

No Parent Credential Required

Mississippi does not require the teaching parent to hold any teaching certificate, college degree, or other academic credential. Any parent may provide home instruction under §37-13-91 regardless of their own educational background. The law's requirements are the certificate filing, the five required subjects, and the 180-day minimum. The parent's credential is not part of the legal framework.

This makes Mississippi more accessible than states like Virginia, Washington, or Minnesota, which impose parent qualification requirements as part of their home school laws. In Mississippi, the legal question is whether the program meets the filing and subject requirements, not whether the parent holds a particular credential. Parents from any educational background may home school in Mississippi.

Withdrawing from a Mississippi Public School

Send a written notice to your child's school that you are withdrawing them to provide home instruction. The school updates its enrollment records. Then file your Certificate of Enrollment with the district superintendent within 30 days if you are starting mid-year, or by September 15 if you are starting at the beginning of a new school year. Keep a copy of the withdrawal letter and your certificate filing together in your school records.

If your child has an IEP, mandatory special education services through the public school end at withdrawal. Mississippi may allow school districts to make certain services available to private school students with disabilities on a voluntary basis, but the mandatory entitlements under IDEA end when the child leaves the public system. Talk to your district's special education office before withdrawing if services are active and you want to understand what options, if any, remain after the child leaves.

High School, Transcripts, and Diplomas in Mississippi

Mississippi does not set graduation requirements or diploma standards for home school families. You establish the criteria, track credits through grades 9 to 12, and issue the diploma when your student meets them. A parent-issued Mississippi home school diploma and transcript are accepted by Mississippi's public universities, community colleges, the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning system, employers, and licensing bodies.

The University of Mississippi, Mississippi State University, and Mississippi's community colleges are experienced reviewing home school applications. Most ask for ACT scores alongside the parent-issued transcript. Mississippi is an ACT-focused state: most high school students sit for the ACT, and home school applicants should plan for it starting in grade 10 or 11. A well-organized transcript listing courses by name, credit hours, and grades by year is the standard document. For competitive programs, brief course descriptions that explain what was covered strengthen the application. A reading and academic assessment before high school gives you a factual baseline for planning the four-year curriculum.

Mississippi's community colleges are broadly open to home school graduates. Dual enrollment for high school students is available at many Mississippi community colleges; contact the specific institution for their home school applicant requirements. Some allow students to begin dual enrollment as early as 10th grade. The full planning guide walks through building a high school transcript, selecting dual enrollment courses, and preparing a competitive college application file from a Mississippi home school.

No State Funding for Mississippi Home School Families

Mississippi does not have an education savings account or voucher program for families providing home instruction under §37-13-91. All curriculum, materials, testing fees, and other educational costs are the family's responsibility. Mississippi families cover these costs entirely from their own budget with no state reimbursement or scholarship program available at this time.

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

Mississippi's law asks very little of home school families. The certificate is a one-page form filed once a year. The subject requirements -- reading, language arts, math, science, and social studies -- describe what a normal school day already covers. The 180-day count is a baseline any full-time program clears. The one thing we see Mississippi families miss is the September 15 deadline, not because the form is hard but because the summer break blurs into the new school year and the date passes unnoticed.

Set a reminder in mid-August to pull the form from your district, complete it, and file it before the 15th. Do not wait until September. That single step is the whole compliance job. Everything else -- curriculum, schedule, pace, testing or no testing -- is yours to decide. Mississippi gives you the room; the planning guide helps you use it well.