Homeschooling in Illinois
Parents who choose to educate their children at home are under a legal obligation to meet the minimum requirements stated in Illinois’ Compulsory Attendance Law (Section 26-1 of the Illinois School Code). The branches of education taught to children of corresponding age and grade in public schools include language arts; mathematics; biological and physical sciences; social sciences; fine arts; and physical development and health. They are further obligated to offer instruction in these core courses in the English language.
Home Education Program & Curriculum
Parents who permit a child to attend a homeschool that is up to the standard of Section 26-1, as interpreted by Levisen, are free to decide the manner, time, and materials that best suit the learning needs of their children. Parents may determine what type of homeschooling curriculum is best for their students, what materials to use, how much homework to assign, how homework is to be assessed, and what records of the student’s accomplishments should be kept. Testing is not required in the state of Illinois for homeschoolers. There are private testing resources if parents choose to have their children evaluated. Parents who choose to educate their students in the home through the high school years may determine when their student has met the graduation requirements of their private homeschool and is therefore entitled to receive a high school diploma.
While the law affords Illinois parents a great degree of latitude in designing and/or choosing a program of home education that best meets the needs of their children, it also has the effect of placing near-total responsibility on parents for their student’s education while they are being homeschooled. In a 1974 decision, a federal district court stated that under Illinois law the burden of proof rests with parents to establish that the plan of home instruction that they are providing to their children meets state requirements.
