How to Homeschool in California: The Four Legal Paths
Homeschooling is fully legal in California, and the state is friendlier to it than its reputation suggests. What confuses new families is that there is no law called homeschooling; instead there are four legal paths, and your first job is simply to pick one.
Path one: file your own private school affidavit
The classic independent route. California lets you establish your home as a small private school by filing the Private School Affidavit, a short online form filed each year in October (new schools can file any time). With it, your homeschool is legally a private school: you choose the curriculum, keep an attendance register and course list, and instruction must be in the subjects commonly taught in public schools. No state testing, no curriculum approval, no teaching credential required. Most fully independent California homeschoolers use this path.
Path two: enrol in a charter school programme
California’s distinctive offer. Homeschool-friendly charter schools enrol your child in public school on paper while you teach at home, and provide instructional funds, commonly $1,000 to $3,000 a year, spent through approved vendors on curriculum, classes, and activities. The trade: a supervising teacher checks in regularly, work samples are collected, state testing applies, and funds cannot buy religious materials. Families who want funding and structure choose this; families who want full independence file the affidavit instead. Popular charters carry waiting lists, so apply early.
Paths three and four: PSPs and credentialed tutors
A Private School Satellite Program is an umbrella private school that files the affidavit for you, keeps records, and often adds classes or community, for a fee. Same legal standing as path one with less admin. The fourth path, instruction by a credentialed tutor, applies mainly to families where a parent happens to hold a California teaching credential. Both are minority paths, and both are perfectly sound.
Withdrawing from your current school
Order matters: establish the new arrangement first, then withdraw. File the affidavit (or complete charter enrolment), then notify the school in writing that your child is transferring to a private school and where records should go. Do not simply stop attending, because unexplained absence starts truancy processes that are tedious to unwind. A short, polite letter closes the loop cleanly.
The records California expects
Affidavit schools must keep an attendance register and a list of courses of study, and it is wise to keep work samples and progress notes besides, both for high school and in case you ever move to a stricter state. Charter families follow their school’s requirements. Either way the habit is identical: capture a little as you go. Bowerstead keeps the register, courses, and records in one calm place, entered in seconds as the day happens, and assembles reports and transcripts from them later. Free for 30 days, then $9 a month or $79 a year. Start free.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a teaching credential? No, except on the rarely used tutor path. Affidavit and charter families need none.
Is there state testing? Not on the affidavit or PSP paths. Charter students take state tests like any public school pupil.
Can my homeschooler return to public school later? Yes. Schools place returners using your records, which is one reason record keeping earns its keep.
Which path should we pick? Want funding and support, and accept oversight: charter. Want independence: affidavit, with a PSP if you would rather not hold the paperwork. Then the universal steps in how to start homeschooling take over. Rules do evolve, so confirm details on the California Department of Education site the year you file.