Understand Illinois laws that allow for home schooling. A home school is considered a private school that is being run out of a home as long as instruction is occurring in English, and comparable subjects are taught in the home that would be taught in the public school. Parents who run home schools are not required to have specific qualifications.
Know the laws. Keep in mind that there are no notifications, forms or other paperwork that are required by law to be kept or turned in throughout the homeschooling process. The exception is if a truancy action has been filed. At that point it is the parent's responsibility to show compliance with attendance laws. Ultimately this means that the parent does need to prove that homeschooling is taking place.
Know that in the event of being contacted about truancy, it is a good idea for the parent to file a statement of assurance with the local school district, or form ISBE87-01 with the Illinois Department of Education. These forms are optional, but they are an easy way of verifying that homeschooling is occurring for your child.
Know the age requirements. A child is not required by law to attend school until age 7, so there are no kindergarten requirements for home schools.
Test the student at home. There are no standardized testing requirements for homeschoolers in Illinois.
Establish a curriculum. Subjects that should be taught in a home school include math, fine arts, health, physical development, social studies, physical science, biological science and language arts.
Read the state's homeschooling information on the website. Illinois complies with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, so homeschooling situations are allowed to align with the religious beliefs of the family involved. Any truancy investigations are to be conducted by the local school district instead of the state government. The local school district can expect home schools to offer a comparable curriculum to that used in public schools, the state's education website says.