In Nebraska, children between the ages of 6 and 18 must be enrolled in an educational program. Home schooling is one type of program. Parents can choose to delay beginning a formal program until the child is 7 if they fill out a statement with their school district. If the student completes his home school program before he turns 18, his parents may graduate him from the program. Once a student turns 16, his parents may exempt him from additional home schooling by completing a release form and having it approved by their school district.
Parents who home-school their own children in Nebraska do not have to have a college degree, teaching license or any other qualifications. A person hired to teach a child in the home, however, must be qualified to teach in Nebraska. According to the Home School Legal Defense Association, home-schooled children in Nebraska must complete 1,032 hours of instruction per academic year during the elementary-school years and 1,080 hours per year at the high-school level. Standardized tests are not required for Nebraska home schoolers.
Home schools in Nebraska are considered private schools. Parents can open a nonaccredited private school (home school), provided they submit paper work, called Form A or "The Parent or Guardian Form," indicating that they are opposed to becoming an accredited school. Parents who have a religious reason for home schooling must fill out a form that states that accrediting their school would be against their sincerely held religious beliefs. Parents without a religious reason for home schooling must fill out a form stating that they do not wish to have their school accredited because it may interfere with the education of their child. Home-schooling parents in Nebraska must indicate on the form that they are teaching the required subjects of language arts, math, science, social studies and health. They must also promise to follow the vaccination requirements for children, or attach a religious exemption to vaccination. Each year, an adult, who may or may not be the parent, must submit a "Parent Representative Form," or Form B, indicating that she vows to submit required information on the student and the school work that the student is doing. An attachment to this form, called the Informational Summary, should include the names of the instructors (usually the parents), when the home schooling program began, the number of hours completed and the scope and sequence of the program that the home school is following.