Kentucky asks for a few specific things. Kentucky sets out a handful of real requirements. None of them are difficult, but the deadlines are genuine and worth putting in a calendar. Here is the whole list.

What you file, and by when

Annual written notice of attendance to the local board of education (superintendent) within the first two weeks of the start of the public school year, typically mid-August; also within 10 days of withdrawing a child from public school or of establishing a homeschool mid-year. Contents: the name, age, and place of residence of each child of compulsory school age attending the homeschool. It is a notice, not a request for approval. Kentucky has no dedicated homeschool statute, homeschools operate as private schools.

Days or hours

Ambiguous, and this is the weakest point in Kentucky guidance. KRS 158.070 defines the student instructional year as at least 1,062 hours of instructional time delivered on not less than 170 student attendance days, and KRS 158.080 requires private schools to be in session for a term at least as long as the public schools. KDE's own homeschool packet states that non-certified (i.e., ordinary) homeschools have no state-mandated minimum term but recommends meeting the 1,062-hour/170-day standard; HSLDA and many districts state it as required. Some sources cite 185 days (the full public-school calendar including non-instructional days). Practical guidance: plan and log at least 1,062 hours across at least 170 days.

Subjects you must cover

Reading, writing, spelling, grammar, history, mathematics, science, and civics, taught in the English language (KRS 158.080, applied to private/home schools).

Records you keep

Kentucky is one of the more record-heavy low-notice states. Under KRS 159.040 (applied to private schools via KRS 159.030), homeschools must keep an attendance register and make attendance and 'scholarship' reports (i.e., report cards / grade records) in the same manner required of public school officials, in practice, grades recorded every six to nine weeks. Records are kept by the parent but must be produced to the local board/director of pupil personnel on request.

Testing or evaluation

None. Kentucky requires no standardized testing, portfolio review, or state evaluation of homeschooled students. (The recordkeeping requirement above is the substitute for testing.)

Diplomas and transcripts

No state rules governing homeschool credits, transcripts, or diplomas; the parent issues the diploma. Kentucky does not accredit homeschool diplomas, and the KEES (Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship) is calculated from high school GPA reported by certified schools, homeschool graduates generally do not earn KEES GPA awards and instead qualify only for the ACT-based supplemental award, so plan around that. Keep the scholarship/report-card records from 9th grade forward: they double as the transcript and are the documentation Kentucky law already requires you to keep. Compulsory attendance is ages 6-18 (a 16/17-year-old may withdraw only with the statutory parent-consent process).

Where this comes from

Statute: Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 159.030(1)(b) (private/home school exemption and notice); § 159.040 (attendance and scholarship reports); § 158.080 (school term and required subjects); § 158.070 (1,062 hours / 170 days); § 159.010 (compulsory attendance).

Source: https://www.education.ky.gov/federal/fed/documents/kentucky%20homeschool%20information%20packet.pdf

Last reviewed: July 2026 · our confidence in this entry: medium

Homeschool law changes, and a page like this goes stale without announcing it. Check the statute above against your own reading before a filing deadline. If we are out of date, we would rather hear it from you than have you find out at the district office.

Keeping the records is the other half of this. Our Records System has the editable transcript with the GPA already wired, 131 course descriptions, and this same statute-cited summary for all fifty states and DC. Thirty-nine dollars, one household, however many children you have.