Wisconsin statutes define homeschooling as a private program of educational instruction taught by the child's parent/guardian or a person chosen by the parent/guardian. Parents must submit Form PI-1206 to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction by Oct. 15 every year to indicate their child will be homeschooled. Children must be taught a minimum of 875 hours of instruction every school year. All children who are at least 6 by Sept. 1 must receive education until they are 18. Wisconsin does not require teacher qualifications of parents and does not require any standardized tests. Virtual charter schools, public online schools and public school independent study programs are not considered homeschooling.
Required subjects in Wisconsin are reading, language arts, math, social studies, science and health. Other subjects may be added. There are three basic ways to create or obtain a curriculum: it may be bought through several companies that create homeschool specific educational materials, teachers may create their own curriculum, or the child can simply live and learn from their parents who encourage their child's interests and personal projects. Teachers often combine several of the methods together.
Many homeschool parent associations across Wisconsin provide support and information for parents. According to the Wisconsin Department of Public Education, the two largest groups are the Wisconsin Parents Association (WPA) and the Wisconsin Christian Home Educators Association (CHEA). The Wisconsin Department of Public Education itself does not supply personal help or educational materials for homeschooling.
Wisconsin has two large annual conferences on homeschooling through the WPA and CHEA. Both conferences have workshops, used book sales, guest speakers, help with choosing a curriculum and the opportunity to meet other homeschoolers. There are also numerous support groups throughout Wisconsin that provide support and encouragement for parents. Some groups, such as Learning Alternatively in Racine/Kenosha Homeschool Group, have group activities for parents and children.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, 966 children were home schooled in Wisconsin during the 1984-85 school year. They accounted for .1 percent of total students. During the 2008-09 school year, 19,358 children were home schooled equaling 1.89 percent of total students.