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Home Schooling Information

South Carolina law provides, in Section 59-65-40, that “parents or guardians may teach their children at home if the instruction is approved by the district board of trustees of the district in which the children reside.”  Section 59-65-45 of South Carolina law states that “in lieu of the requirements of Section 59-65-40, parents or guardians may teach their children at home if the instruction is conducted under the auspices of the South Carolina Association of Independent Home Schools.”  Section 59-65-47 of South Carolina law states that “In lieu of the requirements of Section 59-65-40 or Section 59-65-45, parents or guardians may teach their children at home if the instruction is conducted under the auspices of an association for home schools which has no fewer than fifty members and meets the requirements of this section.”

The South Carolina Department of Education has distributed a list of organizations that are recognized as legitimate home schooling associations.  These organizations have provided documentation that they meet the requirements of Section 59-65-47 of the South Carolina Code of Laws.  Click here for the most recent copy of that list.

Under South Carolina law, home schooling associations are charged with the responsibility for helping families meet the requirements of the law.  They must provide a membership application process with the authority to deny membership to a proposed home school setting if it does not meet the law’s requirements.  Home schooling associations must also provide a review process to ensure that home school settings continue to meet the law’s requirements.  Home schooling associations must also assist parents and guardians meet the state’s testing program requirements for the students who are home schooled.

Parents and guardians who are considering home schooling are advised to understand the law and to become members of a legitimate home schooling association.  Those parents should remember that the purchase of instructional or curriculum materials does not, in and of itself, meet the requirements of the law and that some vendors of such materials do not meet the law’s requirements to qualify as a home schooling association.