To homeschool your children in Tennessee, you must first register with your local education agency, according to the Tennessee Department of Education. By Aug. 1, before the school year begins, submit a notice of intent, containing all required information, to the local school superintendant. You are not seeking permission with this notice; it just informs. You must also send in your children's vaccination records. You need to declare your intent again at the beginning of every school year, but you only need to send the health records once.
Only children's parents or legal guardians can legally teach them at home. In Tennessee, the homeschool teacher must have graduated from high school to teach elementary and middle school. To teach your child through high school, you must have earned a college degree. If you lack a college degree, you can petition the Tennessee Commissioner of Education for an exemption; however, the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) warns that as of 2011, the commissioner rejects most of these requests.
A homeschooled student must attend school for 180 days each year, and each school day must last at least four hours. Parents must keep daily records of attendance, marking which days their children attended school and for how many hours. At the end of the year, the parents must mail in these attendance records to the local school superintendant.
For elementary and middle school, the parent or guardian can choose and oversee the subjects taught. The student should learn all expected materials, and the standardized tests will test all standard subjects. However, the U.S. Department of Education notes the parents have complete independence to select the specific curricula they will use. In grades 9 through 12, homeschooled students must take general education or college prep classes. Again, parents can choose the curricula.
Homeschooled students must take some of the same standardized tests that the Tennessee State Board of Education requires public school students to take. A student must score at or above his grade level on the standardized tests. If the student falls beneath his grade level for two years, he may be forced to stop homeschooling and attend public or private school.