Homeschooling in Indiana— no notice, no approval — 180 days of instruction, kept on your shelf.
Indiana is one of the lightest homeschool states in the country. A home school is treated as a nonpublic school: there is no notice to file, no qualification to meet, no required subjects, and no mandated testing. What the law does fix is 180 days of equivalent instruction per year, and attendance records that you keep and produce only if the state officially asks. Almost nothing leaves your house — which is exactly why the record has to exist. Lightstead logs the days and holds the attendance record so it is ready the one time someone wants to see it.
What Indiana requires, at a glance.
- Notice
None required
No notice, registration, or approval to begin. A home school is treated as a nonpublic school under Indiana law.
- Days / year
180 days
180 days of equivalent instruction per school year — the same number Indiana applies to public schools. Measured in days, not hours.
- Attendance record
On state request
Keep an attendance record. It is produced only if the Indiana State Superintendent of Public Instruction officially requests it — nothing is filed routinely.
- Subjects
Not prescribed
No state-mandated subjects, scope, or sequence. You choose the curriculum and what is taught.
- Teacher qualification
None required
Indiana sets no parent qualification, degree, or certification requirement to teach your own children.
- Assessment
Not required
No state-mandated testing, evaluation, or portfolio review. Any progress checks you do are for your own records.
§1
Nothing to send the state — so make sure the record exists at home.
Indiana treats a home school as a nonpublic school. There is no notice to file, no registration, no approval process, and no district sign-off required to begin. You do not tell a school, a superintendent, or the state that you are homeschooling, and there is no annual paperwork to renew. The trade-off is that the obligations live entirely in your own records rather than in a submission. The 180-day requirement and the attendance record apply from the first day of instruction — the state simply trusts you to keep them, and may ask to see the attendance record later.
Ind. Code § 20-33-2-28
There is no NOI to file in Indiana, so Lightstead opens your IN profile straight onto the things the law actually fixes — the day count and the attendance record — instead of a filing wizard. The dashboard tracks your school year and surfaces your running day total as a deadline-style card.
Open your Indiana dashboard
§2
180 days of equivalent instruction.
Indiana requires 180 days of equivalent instruction per school year — the same number the state applies to its public schools. The obligation is measured in days, not hours, and the statute does not prescribe a calendar, so the family decides when those days fall across the year. There is no minimum-hours-per-day rule and no required start or end date. What matters is that, across the year, the instruction adds up to the equivalent of 180 school days — which is why a simple running day count is the cleanest way to stay on the right side of the requirement.
Ind. Code § 20-33-2-28
Lightstead's attendance and hours log lets you mark instructional days as you go and shows your running total toward 180, so you can see at a glance how many days are left in the year. It works the way Indiana measures it — by the day — rather than forcing you into an hours model the state never asked for.
Attendance & hours log
§3
The one record the state can ask to see.
Indiana families keep an attendance record for the home school. Unlike most paperwork, it is not filed on a schedule — it is produced only if the Indiana State Superintendent of Public Instruction officially requests it. In practice that request is uncommon, but the record has to exist and be accurate if it comes. Because the attendance record is the one artifact the state may demand, it is worth keeping contemporaneously rather than reconstructing later. A day marked as it happens is a credible record; a year rebuilt from memory is not.
Ind. Code § 20-33-2-28
The attendance log doubles as the record Indiana can request — each instructional day is captured as it happens and the totals are always current. If the state superintendent ever asks, the record is already organized and dated rather than something you have to assemble under a deadline.
Attendance record§4
Indiana asks for little — your next school or college will ask for more.
Indiana sets no required subjects, no parent qualification, and no mandated testing or evaluation. The law fixes the day count and the attendance record and stops there — the curriculum, the subjects taught, and any progress checks are entirely the family's call. That light footprint is the appeal, but it also means the only records of the work are the ones you choose to keep. A move to a stricter state, a return to a brick-and-mortar school, or a college application will all want evidence Indiana never required — subjects covered, a transcript, samples of work. Keeping that record now is for your future self, not the state.
Ind. Code § 20-33-2-28
Lightstead keeps the records Indiana doesn't ask for but your future self will: a subjects and curriculum list, a daily lesson log, and a transcript builder that turns high-school work into a clean transcript. None of it is filed — the value is that the documentation exists and is organized if a college, a move, or a return to school ever needs it.
Subjects & transcript
What people search for when they look up Indiana homeschooling.
Do I have to register my homeschool in Indiana?
No. Indiana treats a home school as a nonpublic school and requires no registration, notice, or approval to begin. There is no office to register with and no annual paperwork to renew — you can start home instruction without telling a school, a district, or the state.
Do I have to notify anyone before I start homeschooling in Indiana?
No. There is no notice requirement. You do not file a notice of intent or otherwise inform a school district or the state before beginning. The obligations that apply are the 180-day count and the attendance record you keep yourself, not a filing.
How many days does Indiana require for homeschooling?
180 days of equivalent instruction per school year — the same number Indiana applies to its public schools. The requirement is measured in days, not hours, and the statute does not fix a calendar, so the family decides when those days fall.
Does Indiana require a minimum number of hours per day?
No. Indiana measures the requirement in days of equivalent instruction, not hours. There is no minimum-hours-per-day rule and no required start or end date — what matters is that the instruction adds up to the equivalent of 180 school days across the year.
What attendance records do I have to keep in Indiana?
Keep an attendance record for the home school. Unlike most paperwork it is not filed on a schedule — it is produced only if the Indiana State Superintendent of Public Instruction officially requests it. The record has to exist and be accurate if that request ever comes, so it is best kept day by day as instruction happens.
Does Indiana require homeschool testing?
No. Indiana mandates no standardized testing, evaluation, or portfolio review for homeschoolers. Any progress checks or tests you do are for your own records and are not reported to the state.
What subjects does Indiana require me to teach?
Indiana does not prescribe required subjects, scope, or sequence. You choose the curriculum and what is taught. The law fixes the 180-day count and the attendance record, but leaves the academic content entirely to the family.
Do I need a teaching degree or certification to homeschool in Indiana?
No. Indiana sets no parent qualification, degree, or certification requirement to teach your own children. There is no qualification step at all — being the parent is enough.
If Indiana requires so little, why keep detailed homeschool records?
Because the state's light footprint is not the whole story. A move to a stricter state, a return to a brick-and-mortar school, or a college application will want evidence Indiana never required — subjects covered, a transcript, samples of work. Indiana asks for little, but keeping that record now is for your future self.
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