Homeschooling in California— the private-school state — file an affidavit, teach the year.
California recognizes home-based instruction as a private school under § 33190. The PSA (Private School Affidavit) files annually between October 1–15 with the state Superintendent of Public Instruction. § 33190 does not set a statutory day or hour count for PSAs — most families track 175 days as the public-school benchmark — and a seven-subject scaffold plus an attendance register are the main artifacts. No standardized testing, no portfolio review, no district approval — Lightstead's CA profile keeps the affidavit, register, and curriculum log in one place.
The compliance shape, at a glance.
- Notice
Oct 1–15 · annually
Private School Affidavit (PSA) filed annually with the CA Superintendent of Public Instruction during the Oct 1–15 window.
- Days / hours
Statute silent (PSA)
§ 33190 does not impose a day or hour count on Private School Affidavit homeschools. 175 days is the public-school benchmark families often track in the attendance register; the charter ISP pathway is the one where 175 days is statutorily required.
- Subjects
7 subjects + driver training
English, math, social studies, science, fine arts, health, physical education — plus driver training where age-appropriate. Equivalent to the public school course of study.
- Assessment
Not required
No standardized testing required under PSA. No state assessment, no portfolio review.
- Pathway
3 homeschool + ISP
PSA (home-based private school) · PSP (private school satellite program) · credentialed private tutor. Plus charter ISP, which technically makes the child a public-school student rather than a homeschooler.
- Teacher qualification
"Capable"
Parent must be "capable of teaching" under PSA. Private tutor pathway requires valid CA teaching credential.
- Records
Attendance register
Attendance register, course of study, list of teachers + qualifications, immunization records. No standardized retention period.
- Compulsory age
6–18
Compulsory attendance ages 6 to 18 in CA. PSA filing covers each compulsory-age child in the household.
§1
Four legal paths — and the PSA is the most common.
California offers four pathways under different statutes. (1) Private School Affidavit (PSA) under § 33190 — file an affidavit annually, operate a small private school in your home, no district oversight. (2) Private School Satellite Program (PSP) — join an existing private school's satellite program for shared oversight and group activities. (3) Charter ISP — enroll in a public charter school's independent study program; this makes the child a public-school student, not a homeschooler, but provides funding. (4) Credentialed Private Tutor — a CA-credentialed teacher instructs your child 1-on-1. The PSA is the dominant choice — about 90% of California's home-educating families use it. The PSP route is a co-op-style support arrangement that families pick for community more than legal protection. The charter ISP route is technically not homeschooling under HSLDA's definition but is popular for families wanting curriculum stipends.
Cal. Educ. Code § 33190 · § 48222 · § 48224 · § 47605
Lightstead's CA profile defaults to the PSA pathway and surfaces the Oct 1–15 filing window on Today's dashboard from September 15 onward. The wizard pre-fills the affidavit (school name, address, teacher list, immunization attestation) and exports to the state's online form.
PSA wizard
§2
Eight required fields — and an attendance register on hand.
The PSA names your private school (you pick a name), gives the address (your home), states the number of students enrolled by grade, lists teachers and their qualifications, attests to required immunizations or exemptions, attests to course-of-study compliance, and lists administrators. The form is filed online through the CA Department of Education's portal during Oct 1–15. The state collects the affidavit but does not approve or deny it. There is no district review. The supporting records — attendance register, course of study, teacher qualification list, and immunization records — are kept by the family and produced only if compelled (which, in practice, almost never happens unless a complaint is opened).
Cal. Educ. Code § 33190
The PSA wizard pre-fills the eight required fields from your household profile. The attendance register lives in Lightstead and accumulates day by day — when the rare district complaint arrives, you have a date-stamped record going back years, not a notebook you reconstructed last weekend.
Attendance register
§3
Seven subjects, parent-defined sequence.
CA's course-of-study requirement is that home-based private schools teach English, math, social studies, science, fine arts, health, and physical education — plus driver training where age-appropriate — equivalent to the public school course of study. There is no state-prescribed curriculum, scope and sequence, or grade-level standards under the PSA pathway. In practice this is one of the lowest-friction subject mandates in the country: seven broad subjects plus a driver-training expectation at the appropriate age, no hours per subject, no required materials, no scope mandate. A family can use a classical curriculum, a unit-study approach, Charlotte Mason, secular structured, or eclectic — all satisfy as long as each subject area is genuinely taught.
Cal. Educ. Code § 51210 · § 51220 (course of study)
Lightstead's CA subject scaffold ships with the seven required subjects pre-pinned (plus driver training surfaces when a student reaches age-appropriate). Lesson plans, materials lists, and work samples are tagged to a subject (lessons inherit it from the schedule; work samples take it from a per-upload dropdown) and roll into a course-of-study summary you can produce in seconds if asked.
Course-of-study record
§4
Four records — keep them, never submit them.
Under the PSA pathway, four records are required to be maintained by the home-based private school: (1) an attendance register, (2) a course of study, (3) a list of teachers and their qualifications, and (4) immunization records. None of these are submitted to the state — they're kept on hand in case of audit. California's audit rate of PSAs is famously low. Most families go decades without their records being requested. But the absence of routine audit is precisely why the records matter when they are requested — they prove the affidavit's attestations were accurate from day one.
Cal. Educ. Code § 48222 (private school records)
All four records live in Lightstead: attendance register builds from the calendar, course of study from your subject scaffold, teacher list from household profile, immunization records from the health module. One audit-ready PDF on demand.
PSA audit packet
What people search for when they look up California homeschooling.
When do I file the California Private School Affidavit?
Annually between October 1 and October 15 through the CA Department of Education's online portal. The PSA window is fixed by statute and the form is the same every year. Families starting mid-year file within 15 days of beginning home instruction.
Is a Private School Affidavit the same as homeschooling registration?
Functionally yes, legally no. California doesn't have a homeschool statute — it has a private school statute (§ 33190) that home-based private schools file under. The PSA establishes your home as a small private school in the state's eyes. "Homeschool" is the colloquial term; the legal term is "home-based private school."
How many days of instruction does California require?
California's Private School Affidavit statute (§ 33190) does not impose a statutory day or hour count on PSA homeschools. The 175-day benchmark families often hear comes from the public-school code, and it is statutorily required for the charter ISP pathway (where children are public-school students). PSA families keep an attendance register and pick a calendar that fits the curriculum; family vacations, illness, and holidays are not counted as instructional days when the register is logged honestly.
Does California require homeschoolers to take standardized tests?
Not under the PSA pathway. No standardized testing, no state assessment, no portfolio review is required. Some families test for college admissions or self-knowledge; the state requires nothing. (The charter ISP pathway is different — public school rules apply.)
What subjects must I teach under the California PSA?
Seven subjects equivalent to the public school course of study — English, math, social studies, science, fine arts, health, and physical education — plus driver training where age-appropriate. No state-prescribed curriculum, scope, sequence, or grade-level standards under the PSA — the parent picks materials and methods.
Do I need to be a credentialed teacher to homeschool in California?
No, not under the PSA. The statute requires the parent to be "capable of teaching," which is interpreted as a self-attestation rather than a credentialing requirement. The private tutor pathway (option 4) is different — it requires a valid CA teaching credential.
What's the difference between PSA, PSP, and charter ISP in California?
PSA: file your own affidavit, your home is its own private school. PSP: join an existing private school's satellite program for community + shared oversight. Charter ISP: enroll in a public charter school's independent study program — your child is a public school student, not a homeschooler, but gets curriculum funding. Most CA homeschoolers use the PSA.
Can my California homeschooler play public school sports?
PSA families generally cannot under current CIF rules — public school athletic eligibility is restricted to enrolled students. Charter ISP students can (they are public school students). Many California homeschoolers play through homeschool-specific leagues or club sports outside the public school system.
Related state guides
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