- No portfolio. The law sets no tests, no required subjects and no teacher rules for a homeschool.
- File a certificate of enrollment by August 15 every year. (Until July 1, 2026, the date was September 15.) Keep a copy.
- The state’s education department recommends a portfolio anyway: work samples, a book log and any test results. That’s advice, not law.
The paper here is this year’s certificate of enrollment: the one-page form from the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE). Beside it sit the things you may choose to keep, like the year’s work, a book list and any test results.
This page covers a “home instruction program” under Miss. Code Ann. § 37-13-91, Mississippi’s one homeschool route. If your child attends a private school, the school official signs the certificate instead of you (§ 37-13-91(3)).
Does Mississippi require a homeschool portfolio?
No. Mississippi’s compulsory attendance law never uses the word “portfolio.” The only paper it asks a homeschool parent for is the certificate of enrollment (§ 37-13-91(3)).
| Paper | What the law says | Send it? | Keep it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certificate of enrollment | Due by August 15 every year | Yes, to your school attendance officer | Keep a copy (MDE’s advice) |
| Portfolio: work samples, book log | Not required; MDE recommends one | No | Your choice |
| Standardized tests | Not required | No | Keep any results (MDE’s advice) |
| Attendance records or a day count | Not required for a home program | No | Your choice |
| Subjects and teacher qualifications | None set by law | No | Nothing to keep |
Good news: the state stays out of your homeschool by law. Nothing in § 37-13-91 lets the state or any agency control, supervise or affect a home instruction program’s curriculum or operation (§ 37-13-91(9)).
The certificate of enrollment
Return it to the school attendance officer where your child lives by August 15, every year you homeschool (§ 37-13-91(3)). Attendance officers work for MDE, and MDE writes the form (§ 37-13-91(2)(g), (3)).
The law limits the form to a short list. It asks for:
- Your child’s name, address, phone number and date of birth
- Your name, address and phone number
- The school district where your child lives
- A “simple description” of the education your child is getting
- Your signature and the date
MDE’s form also has a box for a home program that uses an online course. Send it to your local school attendance officer, or email it to homeschool@mdek12.org. You can sign it by typing your name.
Keep a copy for your records, as MDE advises. And note MDE’s timing rule: wait until the current school year ends before you file for the next one.
Starting mid-year
You can leave a public school partway through the year. If your child was enrolled within the first 15 days of the school year, you can move to a home instruction program later and send the certificate then (§ 37-13-91(3)). MDE treats the signed certificate as the proof of the transfer.
If a letter comes from the attendance officer
Read it the day it arrives. If the officer finds you out of compliance and sends written notice, you have 10 days to comply (§ 37-13-91(3)).
What Mississippi leaves to you
Almost everything. The law sets no subjects, no tests, no teacher qualifications and no number of school days for a home instruction program (§ 37-13-91).
On days, the law is specific. A nonpublic school, which includes a home program, sets its own term: the number of days it requires to move up a grade. It must be “in session each school year” (§ 37-13-91(2)(e), (i)).
The law covers children who turn 6 by September 1 until the year they turn 17 by September 1. A 5-year-old enrolled in full-day public kindergarten is covered too (§ 37-13-91(2)(f)).
The new absence limits in the 2026 law are for public school students. They don’t apply to children in a nonpublic school (§ 37-13-91(4)(a)).
What counts as a work sample?
Mississippi law asks for no work samples at all. MDE recommends a portfolio for each child anyway: samples of activities, assignments, projects and assessments, a log of books and materials, and the results of any national tests.
MDE also suggests checking the state’s grade-level standards, for an easier return to public school, and asking colleges what they require for admission.
Examples, not rules: a dated math page, a writing piece, a science lab sheet, a photo of a project. One or two per subject each term is plenty.
The Mississippi homeschool year, date by date
Mississippi has one statewide date: August 15. Everything else runs on your own calendar.
| When | What | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| After your current school year ends | Fill in next year’s certificate | MDE practice |
| By August 15 each year | Certificate of enrollment to your school attendance officer | § 37-13-91(3) |
| The day you start, if mid-year | Send the certificate then | § 37-13-91(3) |
| Within 10 days of a written notice | Fix what the attendance officer flagged | § 37-13-91(3) |
| All year | Keep samples, a book log and any test results | MDE recommendation |
Until July 1, 2026, the deadline was September 15. Any older page or form that says September 15 is out of date, including the code excerpt linked from MDE’s own Home School page.
How long to keep homeschool records in Mississippi
The law sets no period, because it asks you to keep nothing. MDE suggests keeping a copy of each year’s certificate of enrollment.
Advice, not law: the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) suggests keeping records at least two years. It also advises keeping high school records, and proof you followed the law in the high school years, for good.
Can your records be digital?
Yes, as far as the law goes. Mississippi’s law doesn’t say paper or digital, and nobody reviews your records (§ 37-13-91).
MDE itself takes the certificate by email with a typed signature. If a school or college asks for records later, ask what format they want. A printed copy works for anyone who wants paper.
What changes in 2026 and 2027
2026
SB 2103 took effect July 1, 2026. Your certificate is now due August 15 instead of September 15, and the form now asks for your school district. Its other attendance changes (absence limits, chronic absence tracking, faster reports) are for public schools.
Other changes and bills:
- SB 2001, the Mississippi Youth Court Reform Act of 2026, passed in a July special session. It changed how the attendance law is enforced in court, and nothing about the certificate.
- MDE updated its home school rule (State Board Rule 30.7, a temporary rule from July 2026) and its certificate form (September 2026) to match.
- HB 2, a school choice bill, died. So did HB 609 and SB 2070, the “Tim Tebow Act” bills to open public school activities to homeschool students.
Nothing changed in 2025.
2027
No change to § 37-13-91 is scheduled, and no 2027 bill has been posted. Your certificate is due August 15, 2027.
Keeping your records in KidsFoldr
MDE’s suggested portfolio doesn’t need a shelf of binders. Snap each paper for peace of mind, and the paper can go. It’s filed by child, grade and type, with schoolwork and tests by subject too, and nobody sorts a thing or types a word.
Keep the originals of anything the state or a program may need on paper: official letters from your attendance officer or MDE, and high school work you may need for credit. Snap those too, so a copy is always at hand.
Dated papers take care of themselves. Snap a letter from your school attendance officer or a testing appointment, and the date lands on your family calendar, linked back to the paper, with nothing to type.
When a school or college asks, the year is ready. Start a New portfolio for your own school year or a grade, and print or share the PDF. You pick the sections. For MDE’s suggested portfolio, you might switch on:
- Work samples, which fill in from the schoolwork and tests you’ve snapped
- The reading log, for the book list
- Test results, for any score report
- Letters and notices, for each year’s certificate copy
- The activity log or a parent summary, if you like
Keepsakes stay safe, artwork included. 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, and every paper is searchable by any word on it.
Common questions
Do I need a homeschool portfolio in Mississippi?
No. The law asks only for a yearly certificate of enrollment (§ 37-13-91(3)). MDE recommends a portfolio of work samples, a book log and any test results, as advice.
When is the certificate of enrollment due?
By August 15 every year you homeschool (§ 37-13-91(3)). Before July 1, 2026, the date was September 15.
Where do I send the certificate?
To the school attendance officer where your child lives (§ 37-13-91(3)). MDE also takes it by email at homeschool@mdek12.org.
Does my child have to take standardized tests?
No. Mississippi law sets no testing rule for a home instruction program (§ 37-13-91).
How long do I have to keep homeschool records in Mississippi?
The law sets no period. MDE suggests keeping a copy of each certificate, and HSLDA advises keeping records at least two years and high school records for good.
Can I start homeschooling in the middle of the year?
Yes. If your child was enrolled in public school within the first 15 days of the school year, you can switch to a home program later and send the certificate then (§ 37-13-91(3)).