Homeschooling in Mississippi— one form a year — a certificate of enrollment by September 15, then teach.
Mississippi asks for almost nothing: an annual certificate of enrollment filed by September 15 with your county's school attendance officer. The certificate carries the child's and parent's names, your address and phone, the child's date of birth, and a simple description of the education you'll provide — and that's the whole state-facing obligation. There are no required subjects, no teacher qualifications, no minimum days or hours (the 180-day rule applies to public schools only), and no testing. Because the bar is so low, the real work is keeping a record your future self will need — for a move, a college application, or a return to public school — and Lightstead keeps that record without you having to think about it.
What Mississippi requires, at a glance.
- Notice
Sept 15 · annually
File a certificate of enrollment each year by September 15 with the local school attendance officer (later if the child was enrolled in public school that year).
- Filed with
Attendance officer
The certificate goes to the school attendance officer for the school district in which you reside — not the state DOE.
- Certificate contents
Names, address, DOB
Child and parent/guardian names, your address and phone number, the child's date of birth, and a simple description of the type of education provided.
- Days / hours
Not specified
No minimum instructional days or hours for home instruction. The 180-day rule applies to public schools only.
- Subjects
None required
Mississippi prescribes no subjects for home instruction. You choose the scope, sequence, and curriculum.
- Teacher qualification
None required
No diploma, license, or other teacher qualification is required to homeschool in Mississippi.
- Assessment
None required
No standardized testing, evaluation, or portfolio review is mandated by the state.
- Recordkeeping
Keep your copy
The statute requires you to retain a copy of the enrollment certificate. Beyond that, records you keep are for your own future use.
§1
A certificate of enrollment, by September 15.
Mississippi's only state-facing requirement is an annual certificate of enrollment, filed by September 15 with the school attendance officer for the district in which you reside. The certificate must include the names of the child and the parent or guardian, your address and telephone number, the child's date of birth, and a simple description of the type of education the child is receiving. If the child was enrolled in a public school during that school year, the certificate may be filed later — within a reasonable time of beginning home instruction. There is no fee, no approval step, and nothing the attendance officer has to grant; filing the certificate is the act of compliance itself.
Miss. Code Ann. § 37-13-91(3)(c)
The Mississippi filing wizard pre-fills the certificate from your household profile — child and parent names, address, phone, and date of birth — and prompts you for the short description of the education provided, then outputs a copy ready for the attendance officer. The September 15 deadline shows on your dashboard from the start of August.
Mississippi filing wizard
§2
There is no day count or hour count to hit.
Mississippi sets no minimum number of instructional days or hours for home instruction. The 180-day school-year rule that governs Mississippi schools applies to public schools only, not to nonpublic or home instruction, per HSLDA. There is likewise no required start or end date for your school year beyond the September 15 certificate deadline. That freedom is real, but it cuts both ways: with no state-defined calendar, the only record of how much school happened is the one you keep. For most families an informal attendance or hours log is more than the state asks — but it is exactly what a future district, evaluator, or college may want to see.
Miss. Code Ann. § 37-13-91 (per HSLDA — 180-day rule public-school only)
Even though Mississippi requires no day or hour count, Lightstead's attendance and hours log lets you keep one effortlessly — tap to mark a day, or log hours by subject. If you ever move to a state that counts days or hours, the record is already there.
Attendance & hours log
§3
You pick the curriculum; the state checks nothing.
Mississippi prescribes no required subjects, no teacher qualifications, and no assessment for home instruction. You are not obligated to teach a particular list of courses, to hold a diploma or license yourself, or to have your child tested, evaluated, or reviewed by anyone. Nothing about the content or outcome of your school is reported to the state. With no external benchmark, the curriculum you choose and the work your child produces are documented only if you document them. A simple subjects list and a portfolio of representative work are not required, but they are the artifacts that make a transcript credible and a transfer or college application straightforward.
Miss. Code Ann. §§ 37-13-91(2)(e), (2)(i)
Lightstead's subjects list and daily lesson log let you record what you teach and when, building an at-a-glance picture of the year. When it's time for a transcript or a portfolio, the entries are already organized — you're not reconstructing a year from memory.
Subjects & lesson log
§4
Retain your certificate — and the record your future self needs.
The statute requires one thing of you after filing: keep a copy of the enrollment certificate. There is no other mandated record. The law also provides that a home instruction program may not be instituted to avoid or circumvent the compulsory school attendance law — homeschooling must be a genuine educational program, not a cover for non-attendance. Because Mississippi asks so little, the practical risk is not a state penalty but a gap in your own paper trail. A move to a stricter state, a return to public or private school, or a college application can all turn on records the state never required — attendance, a subjects list, a portfolio, a transcript. Building them as you go is far easier than assembling them years later.
Miss. Code Ann. § 37-13-91(3)(c) (retention); § 37-13-91 (anti-circumvention)
Lightstead stores your filed certificate alongside attendance, subjects, work samples, and grades, then assembles a records packet or transcript on demand. The records you'll wish you had kept are the ones Lightstead keeps by default — ready the day a district or college asks.
Records & portfolio packet
What people search for when they look up Mississippi homeschooling.
Do I have to register my homeschool in Mississippi?
You file an annual certificate of enrollment by September 15 with the school attendance officer for the district where you live. It's a simple form — child and parent names, your address and phone, the child's date of birth, and a short description of the education provided — not an approval process. There is no registration with the state Department of Education and no fee.
When is the Mississippi certificate of enrollment due?
By September 15 each year. If the child was enrolled in a public school during that school year, the certificate may be filed later — within a reasonable time of beginning home instruction. You file a new certificate annually.
What information goes on the Mississippi certificate of enrollment?
The names of the child and the parent or guardian, your address and telephone number, the child's date of birth, and a simple description of the type of education the child is receiving. The statute does not ask for curriculum details, lesson plans, or test results.
How many days or hours does Mississippi require for homeschool?
None. Mississippi sets no minimum instructional days or hours for home instruction. The 180-day school-year rule applies to public schools only, not to homeschooling, per HSLDA. There is no required calendar beyond the September 15 certificate deadline.
Does Mississippi require homeschool testing?
No. Mississippi mandates no standardized testing, evaluation, or portfolio review for homeschooled students. Nothing about your child's progress is reported to or checked by the state.
What subjects does Mississippi require homeschoolers to teach?
None are prescribed by statute. You choose the subjects, scope, sequence, and curriculum. A subjects list and samples of work aren't required, but they're useful records to keep for transcripts, transfers, and college applications.
Do I need a teaching degree or certification to homeschool in Mississippi?
No. Mississippi imposes no teacher qualifications on homeschooling parents — no diploma, license, or certification is required to provide home instruction.
Who do I file the Mississippi certificate of enrollment with?
The school attendance officer for the school district in which you reside. The certificate is filed locally, not with the Mississippi Department of Education.
What records do I have to keep as a Mississippi homeschooler?
The statute requires you to keep a copy of the enrollment certificate. No other records are mandated. In practice, families keep attendance, a subjects list, a portfolio of work, and grades or a transcript — not because the state asks, but because a future district, evaluator, or college may.
Can I be denied permission to homeschool in Mississippi?
No. Filing the certificate of enrollment is the act of compliance — there is no approval the attendance officer has to grant. The one limit in the law is that a home instruction program may not be used to avoid or circumvent compulsory school attendance; homeschooling must be a genuine educational program.
What happens if I move to or from Mississippi while homeschooling?
Mississippi's requirements end at the certificate of enrollment, but the state you move to may ask for attendance records, a subjects list, a portfolio, or a transcript that Mississippi never required. Keeping those records as you go — rather than reconstructing them after a move — is the main reason a low-oversight state still rewards good recordkeeping.
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