The laws in North Carolina do not require a home school family to have school a set number of days per year. Instead, they must only keep a nine-month school year schedule. Typically parents choose September to May, but any nine-month span is allowed. Parents can choose to take off days for field trips, holidays and vacations as long as a reasonable amount of time is dedicated to studies. The laws make no attempt to define what is considered reasonable.
North Carolina law requires that all children between the ages of seven and sixteen attend school. This can be a public school, private school or home school. Parents can begin teaching before age seven if they choose, but this is optional. Beginning at age seven, attendance records should be kept to show that the child is being taught for nine months out of the year.
Students must take standardized tests every year to show that they are proficient in math and language skills. Parents are allowed to administer the tests themselves. The tests must be kept on record for at least one year in case anyone has questions about whether or not the children are actually learning in their home environment. These tests are the only proof parents are ever required to present that their children are receiving a proper education.
Parents must report to the State Director of the Division of Nonpublic Education when they commence home school activities. They must choose between being considered a "private church school" or a "qualified nonpublic school" if the reasons for home education are not related to religious beliefs.
A parent who chooses to home school must have at least a high school diploma or a GED. Without either of these, there is no certainty that the adult has the knowledge and skills to pass on to a child. A parent wishing to home school who does not have either of these should sign up for a GED class and take the test the summer before beginning home school.
In North Carolina, parents can educate their own children as well as children from other families. However, a parent can only take on children from one other family. For example, a mother may home teach her own two children. She may also teach her friend's child or her sister's kids, but not both. The two families may split the teaching between them or one parent can take on the entire job.