- No portfolio, test or evaluation is required by law. Work samples are a recommendation from the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE), not a rule.
- Every year, within two weeks of the start of the school year, send your local superintendent each child’s name, age and address.
- Keep an attendance record (digital or paper) and scholarship reports, which show courses and grades. Both are open to inspection by the district’s director of pupil personnel and KDE.
Here are the papers. There’s the notice letter you send the superintendent each year. Then there are the two records you keep at home: the attendance record and the scholarship reports, the grade reports you write yourself.
Work samples are optional. Kentucky has no separate homeschool law. Your homeschool runs as a private school under KRS 159.030.
Does Kentucky require a homeschool portfolio?
No. KDE says plainly that keeping work samples “is not statutorily required.” No Kentucky statute asks for a portfolio, a test or an evaluation.
The reason is how Kentucky sets things up. A child in a private, parochial or church school is exempt from public school attendance (KRS 159.030(1)(b)), and KDE treats a homeschool as a private school. KDE also says it may not prescribe curriculum, teacher certification or accreditation for homeschools.
KDE’s first step is easy: give your school a name, such as your family name plus “Academy.” You don’t register it like a business.
What counts as a work sample?
Kentucky doesn’t define one, because it doesn’t require one. KDE recommends detailed records anyway. It says they may include work samples organized by year, independent assessment results and reports from digital learning platforms.
KDE gives the reason: samples help if your child later moves to another private school, a public school or a college. Examples, not rules: a dated math page, a writing assignment, a science lab sheet, a book list.
The two records Kentucky does require
Kentucky asks for two records: attendance and scholarship reports. Under KRS 159.040, a private school keeps attendance in a register and makes “attendance and scholarship reports” the way public schools do.
Attendance. KDE says the record shows “a bona fide school is in operation.” The statute mentions a register from the state board, but KDE doesn’t enforce a paper register. You can keep attendance “digital or paper,” any way you like.
Scholarship reports. KDE says these should show the courses your child completed and the grade earned. The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) calls them report cards and suggests updating them every six to nine weeks, as your district does. That’s HSLDA’s reading, not the statute’s words.
Who can look. The statute says private schools are open to inspection “at all times” by directors of pupil personnel and KDE officials (KRS 159.040). KDE says the same about your attendance records.
The yearly notice to your superintendent
Send it every year, within two weeks of the start of the school year (KRS 159.160). KDE adds that if you pull your child out of public school, the notice is due within two weeks of the withdrawal.
The statute asks for the names, ages and places of residence of your children. The superintendent may also ask for other facts needed for the attendance and child labor laws. KDE’s own list is shorter: each child’s name, age and home address.
KDE’s sample letter also gives the school’s name, the parents’ names and the school’s address. And KDE says the district “is required to accept” your letter. It can’t reject it.
KDE says to notify if your child is six by August 1. HSLDA reads the two weeks as two weeks after your local district starts school, usually by mid-August, and suggests certified mail with a return receipt. That’s advice, not law.
Days, hours and subjects: who has to meet them
Kentucky’s calendar and subject rule, KRS 158.080, names private schools that are certified under KRS 156.160(2). Certification is voluntary: a private school may meet the state’s standards and apply to be certified.
The sources read that rule differently, so here they are side by side.
| Source | What it says |
|---|---|
| KRS 158.080 | Certified private schools teach in English, offer the subjects public schools teach, and run at least 1,062 hours on at least 170 days (KRS 158.070) |
| KDE’s homeschool packet | Certified homeschools meet 1,062 hours on 170 days. Non-certified homeschools have no minimum term, but KDE recommends the same 1,062 hours and 170 days |
| HSLDA (advice) | Every homeschool should teach 1,062 hours over at least 170 days, in English, covering reading, writing, spelling, grammar, history, math, science and civics |
The “certified” wording was added in 2023, by Senate Bill 81. HSLDA’s guide predates that change.
Our advice: aim for KDE’s recommended 1,062 hours on 170 days, and let your attendance record show it. Then the question is answered if anyone asks.
The Kentucky homeschool year, date by date
Kentucky has one deadline a year: the notice. Everything else you keep as you go.
| When | What | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Within two weeks of the start of each school year | Notice to your local superintendent: each child’s name, age and address | KRS 159.160; KDE |
| Within two weeks of withdrawing from public school | The same notice | KDE |
| All year | Keep attendance (digital or paper) and scholarship reports | KRS 159.040; KDE |
| Any time | Records open to the director of pupil personnel and KDE officials | KRS 159.040 |
| End of the year | Nothing to file. No test, no evaluation | KRS 159.030, 159.040, 159.160 |
How long to keep homeschool records in Kentucky
Kentucky law sets no period. None of the homeschool statutes, and nothing in KDE’s packet, says how long to keep attendance or scholarship reports.
HSLDA advises keeping records for at least two years. It says to keep high school records, and proof that you followed the law in those years, forever. That’s advice, not law.
It matters most for high school. KDE notes that homeschools issue their own diplomas, so your scholarship reports are the record behind the diploma.
Can Kentucky homeschool records be digital?
Yes, for attendance, in KDE’s own words: you may keep attendance records “in any manner that [you] see fit, digital or paper.” Kentucky has no evaluator, so no one has to accept a digital portfolio.
The people who can look at your records are the director of pupil personnel and KDE officials (KRS 159.040). The statute and KDE say nothing about the format of scholarship reports. A printout covers anyone who wants paper.
What changes in 2026 and 2027
2026
No change to Kentucky’s homeschool rules in 2026. KRS 159.030, 159.040, 159.160 and 158.080 read the same as before the 2026 session.
Two 2026 bills, House Bills 275 and 298, would have opened the KEES scholarship’s base award to graduates of noncertified schools, homeschoolers included. Neither passed. KDE also put out a new homeschool packet, the one this page uses.
2027
No change to the homeschool rules is scheduled. The 2027 session runs January 5 to March 30, 2027.
Your notice is still due within two weeks of the start of the school year.
Keeping Kentucky records in KidsFoldr
The goal is a whole year of records with no binder to keep, no pile to sort and nothing to type. Snap a page as you teach, and KidsFoldr files it under your child, grade and subject. Then the worksheet can go: scan it for peace of mind, then toss it.
Keep the originals that matter on paper, though. That’s the signed copy of each notice, any letter from the district, and high school records.
When a paper has a date on it, such as a letter from the district, a test day if you choose to test, or a co-op calendar, snap it. The date lands on the family calendar, linked back to the paper, with nothing to type.
Attendance can start itself. The Attendance or hours log adds a day for every date your child has schoolwork, and you check it. Your own report cards file by subject. When someone asks to see the year, pick dates or grades, and it’s a PDF to share or print.
Turn on automatic backup, and every paper goes to KidsFoldr Cloud as it is filed. One tap on Back up copies every paper to your own Google Drive or iCloud.
Common questions
Do I need a portfolio to homeschool in Kentucky?
No. KDE says work samples are not required by law. You keep attendance and scholarship reports (KRS 159.040).
When is the homeschool notice due?
Within two weeks of the start of each school year (KRS 159.160). KDE says it is also due within two weeks of withdrawing from public school.
Do I have to keep attendance?
Yes. KRS 159.040 asks for an attendance register, and KDE lets you keep it digital or on paper.
How long do I have to keep homeschool records in Kentucky?
Kentucky law sets no period. HSLDA advises at least two years, and high school records forever.
Does my child have to take a test?
No. Kentucky’s homeschool statutes set no test or evaluation.