- Texas law asks for no portfolio, no records, no notice and no standardized test.
- Leaving a public school? The Texas Education Agency (TEA) says a signed, dated letter saying your child is being homeschooled, and when you started, is enough.
- For UIL sports or academics, your child needs a norm-referenced test score in the average range or higher, then your written grade checks.
The paper on your table is this year’s folder of work: worksheets, a book list, the curriculum you teach from. Beside it may sit a copy of the withdrawal letter you gave your child’s old school, a district letter asking for assurance if one ever came, and a test score report if your child plays a UIL sport.
In Texas, a home school is treated as a private school. Homeschooling has been legal since the Texas Supreme Court’s 1994 Leeper ruling (TEA). Good news: the rules are short.
Does Texas require a homeschool portfolio?
No. The law exempts a child from public school who attends a private school that teaches good citizenship, and a home school counts (Tex. Educ. Code § 25.086(a)(1); TEA). It asks for no portfolio, log, records, notice or test.
TEA does not regulate, register or approve home schools. Since 2025, no state or public school rule may regulate a home school’s educational program (§ 1.010).
Here is what Texas does ask: follow a course of study that includes good citizenship (TEA). That is the one subject the law names (§ 25.086(a)(1)).
The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), an advocacy group, also advises using a written curriculum (online counts) and running your school in a “bona fide” way.
The attendance law applies from age six (or younger, once your child has started first grade) until your child’s 19th birthday (§ 25.085(b)).
Since the law asks you to keep nothing, what you keep is up to you. The rest of this page covers what’s worth keeping, and when someone will ask for it.
Leaving school, and the letter of assurance
To take your child out of public school, TEA says a signed, dated letter is enough. It states that your child is being homeschooled and the date you began. Keep a copy.
The school should withdraw your child once it has your letter or its own signed withdrawal form. TEA says you don’t have to meet anyone, show your curriculum or do anything else.
Later, a district that learns your child may be homeschooled can ask you in writing for a letter of assurance (TEA). It may ask you to confirm your curriculum covers reading, spelling, grammar, math and good citizenship. TEA says this letter is not required each year.
Keep the district’s letter and your reply with your withdrawal copy. HSLDA lists correspondence with school officials among the records worth keeping.
UIL sports and academics: the test and the grades
Public schools in the University Interscholastic League (UIL) must let homeschooled students take part on the same terms as enrolled students, unless the school board opts out (§ 33.0832(c), (c-2)). This is the one place Texas law asks you for records.
| What the school needs | Rule |
|---|---|
| A norm-referenced test score (such as the Iowa or Stanford test) in the average range or higher, for the first six weeks. It counts that year and the next. | § 33.0832(f), (g) |
| Written word from you, on the school’s grading calendar, that your child is passing each course | § 33.0832(h) |
| Proof you live in the school’s attendance zone | § 33.0832(e) |
| The school’s usual rules for registration, fees, a physical and the same immunizations as enrolled students | § 33.0832(d), (m) |
| UIL’s Previous Athletic Participation Form | UIL |
If your zoned school’s board opted out, your child may play for the closest school that hasn’t (§ 33.0832(e-1)). UIL says a board can change its choice by August 1 for the next school year.
One catch: a child enrolled in public school earlier in the school year can’t join as a homeschooler for the rest of that year (§ 33.0832(i)). And joining gives the school no say over your curriculum (§ 33.0832(k), (l)).
What counts as a work sample?
Texas has no rule, because it requires no samples. But samples are what stand behind the grades you report to a UIL school, and behind any transcript you write. Texas awards no homeschool diploma, so that transcript is yours to make (TEA).
Our examples, not the law’s: a dated math page, a writing piece, a book list, a photo of a project, and any test you give.
The Texas homeschool year: what you send, and when
There is no statewide deadline. Your dates come from your own papers: the day you leave a school, a district letter, a UIL season.
How long to keep homeschool records in Texas
The law sets no period. Our advice: keep your withdrawal copy and any district letter for as long as you homeschool.
HSLDA advises keeping most records at least two years. It says to keep high school records, and proof you followed the law in those years, forever. That is advice, not law.
If your child goes back to school
Your child can enroll in public school at any time (TEA). Most districts test or review the courses your child took, then use the results for grade placement, credit or both. TEA says districts should treat your child like a student from an unaccredited private school.
TEA says credit can come from a review of your curriculum and your child’s work, or from tests such as released STAAR exams or credit by exam. That is where a folder of dated work pays off.
College counts too. Texas public colleges must treat a completed homeschool education like a public high school diploma, with the same standards and no GED required (§ 51.9241). Since 2025, they must also admit homeschoolers to dual credit on the same terms as everyone else (§ 51.9675).
Will a school or college accept digital records?
The law doesn’t say what form your records must take. For UIL, a school must accept test results that a third party, such as the testing service, gives or reports (§ 33.0832(f)).
So whether a school, college or coach takes a digital homeschool portfolio is their call. Ask first. A printed copy works for anyone who wants paper.
What changes in 2026 and 2027
2026
The homeschool exemption did not change. Texas held no regular legislative session in 2026, and § 25.086 was last amended in 2021.
Three 2025 laws now shape the year, each covered above: § 1.010, the UIL opt-out rule and equal dual credit.
2026-27 is also the first year of Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA), created by Senate Bill 2. It’s optional. A homeschooled student in the program gets up to $2,000 a year for approved costs, such as tests and tutoring (§ 29.361(b-1)). TEFA’s schedule set July 1, 2026 as the day 2026-27 homeschool awards are paid in full.
2027
The next regular session opens January 12, 2027 (Tex. Gov’t Code § 301.001), and any bill filed for it is not law until it passes. TEFA has an interest list open for 2027-28.
Keeping the year’s work in KidsFoldr
The stack of worksheets can go, and the year stays organized with no sorting and nothing to type. Snap each page as you teach, and KidsFoldr files it by child, grade and type, with schoolwork and tests by subject too. It’s a homeschool record keeping app that does the filing for you.
- The paper goes, with no guilt. Scan a page for peace of mind, then toss it: no pile on the counter, no shelf of binders. Keep the originals that matter, though: your withdrawal letter copy, any district letter, test score reports, and high school work a school may need for credit.
- You keep up as papers arrive. Forward a district letter or a score report from your email, and it files the same way.
- Dates land on the calendar. Snap the district’s letter or the UIL sign-up sheet, or forward the test center’s email, and each date goes on your family calendar, linked back to its paper, with nothing to type.
- The year is ready when someone asks. Start a New portfolio, pick your dates or grades, and get one PDF with a cover and contents. Share or print it from your phone, or share your child’s Portfolios folder read-only.
- Keepsakes stay safe, artwork and projects 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.
You pick the portfolio’s sections and their order. For Texas, you might switch on:
- Work samples, grouped by subject, behind the grades you report.
- A reading log (title, author and date) for the year’s books.
- Test results for a UIL test score or any test you give.
- Letters and notices for your withdrawal letter and any district letter.
Common questions
Do I have to keep a homeschool portfolio in Texas?
No. The law doesn’t require one. It’s still worth keeping dated work, a book list and test results in case your child returns to school, joins UIL or applies to college.
Do I have to tell the state or my district that I’m homeschooling?
No. There is no notice to file. If you’re leaving a public school, TEA says a signed, dated withdrawal letter is enough, and a letter of assurance is only needed if your district asks.
Does my child have to take a standardized test?
No. The one exception is UIL: to take part, your child needs a norm-referenced test score in the average range or higher (§ 33.0832(f)).
How long do I have to keep homeschool records in Texas?
The law sets no period. HSLDA advises at least two years for most records, and high school records forever.
Can my homeschooler play UIL sports?
Yes, unless your zoned school’s board opted out. Then your child may play for the closest school that allows it, with a test score and your grade checks (§ 33.0832).