You do not need specific certification or education in order to home-school your child under Louisiana's home-schooling policies. However, home-schooled children must receive an education at least on par with what is offered through the public schools. Louisiana does not require standardized testing to gauge your child's progress, but you will need to satisfy that educational requirement if you want to continue home-schooling. Although you are technically not required to document your child's attendance or progress in any way, doing so is vital to demonstrating your compliance with the law.
You are required to file an application with the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) once a year if you are planning to home-school your child. If it is the first time that you are applying for permission, you only need to send in the completed application plus a copy of your child's birth certificate. If you are applying for a renewal, you will need to send in evidence showing that you are meeting the state's educational requirement. Appropriate evidence consists of a topic outline, a list of resources used, a report card, samples of your child's work and a witness's statement concerning your child's progress. Standardized test scores and certifications from a school teacher of the appropriate grade level can also serve as alternative evidence.
Planning is important in determining the success of any home-schooling effort. You will need both a curriculum, a daily routine and an annual schedule if you want to achieve the best results. The ideal curriculum should contain all the topics that you consider necessary for your child to learn during the year, meaning that it is the nucleus around which your lesson plans will be built. Similarly, a set routine gives your daily lessons a structure to build around while an annual schedule gives you a way to measure the progress of your child in learning the curriculum.
A good curriculum is key to your home-schooling efforts because you will be basing your lesson plans around the topics included in your curriculum. If you are thinking about creating your own curriculum tailored to your child's needs, Louisiana's Department of Education has its curriculum for all years posted online, making it a convenient starting point for reference. Similarly, other curricula from a variety of sources are available either freely or for purchase through the Internet. Some even come with all of the textbooks and other resources that you will need for your home-schooling efforts.