Home Schooling Laws in Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state with lax homeschooling regulations, which means you are not required to register or initiate contact with the board of education or your local school district. No specific homeschool statute exists in the state, but an alternative legal statute allows for homeschooling. The Oklahoma Constitution states you can provide "other means of education" for your children, and this "other means" includes home education.
  1. Required Days of Instructions, Compulsory Attendance Ages, and Required Subjects

    • If you teach your children at home, you must hold class for 180 days a year, the same number of days public school children receive instruction. However, you are not limited to lessons on Monday through Friday, nor are you required to homeschool during traditional school hours. You should teach the required number of days, and if your children are over the age of 5 and under the age of 18, they must attend school unless they are educated at home.

      Technically, you don't have to teach your children certain subjects, but teaching the basics is strongly recommended by Oklahoma courts. If you do this, your homeschool will be considered a valid one; the basics are language arts, math, science and social studies.

    Home School Alternative Statute

    • Unlike some states, Oklahoma law does not address homeschooling specifically. In the state constitution, Article 4, Section 13, you receive an exemption to public school if you provide "other means of education," which is interpreted as homeschooling. Oklahoma has the distinction of being the only state with a constitutional provision that guarantees homeschooling.

      Homeschools are not required to register, but this does not mean children can be truant. If the state questioned whether you are homeschooling your children, they would have to prove it. However, if you are asked for evidence that you are homeschooling, you should have records available, including a portfolio of school work, attendance records or projects your children have completed.

    Teacher Qualifications, Standardized Tests, and Religious Freedom Act

    • In Oklahoma, you do not need a college degree, and are not supervised by a certified public school teacher as a homeschooling parent. Your children do not have to take standardized tests either. Yet, some parents choose to have their children tested.

      Along with your constitutional right to homeschool, the Religious Freedom Act of the Oklahoma Statutes, Section 251 of Title 51, assures your legal right to homeschool.

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