Homeschooling in Montana— an annual county notice, then 720 or 1,080 hours and a record you keep.
Montana asks little: file an annual Notice of Intent with your county superintendent each school fiscal year (July 1–June 30), teach the seven subjects required of public schools, and log the hours — 720 a year in grades 1–3, 1,080 a year in grades 4–12. There is no testing, no evaluator, and no teacher-qualification rule. Keep attendance and immunization records on hand, because the county superintendent can ask for them. The light footprint is a gift, but the hour log and records are the proof your future self — a transfer, a college, a return to school — will want. Lightstead files the annual notice and keeps the hour log and records ready.
What Montana requires, at a glance.
- Notice
Annual · county
Notice of Intent filed with the county superintendent each school fiscal year (July 1–June 30). No fixed calendar deadline beyond 'each year.'
- Hours · grades 1–3
720 / year
Grades 1 through 3 require a minimum of 720 hours of pupil instruction per school year.
- Hours · grades 4–12
1,080 / year
Grades 4 through 12 require a minimum of 1,080 hours of pupil instruction per school year.
- Subjects
Seven required
An organized course of study covering the seven subjects mandated for Montana public schools under § 20-7-111.
- Assessment
None
No standardized testing, evaluator letter, or subject-test mandate. The hour log and records are the proof of instruction.
- Teacher qualification
None
Montana sets no parent education, license, or qualification requirement to homeschool.
- Attendance records
Maintained
Attendance records kept and made available to the county superintendent on request.
- Immunization
Records or exemption
Immunization records — or a filed exemption — maintained and available to the county superintendent on request.
§1
File a Notice of Intent with your county each school year.
Montana requires a homeschool to file an annual Notice of Intent with the county superintendent of schools. The notice is filed during each school fiscal year — July 1 through June 30 — and there is no specific calendar deadline beyond filing 'each year.' The notice goes to the county superintendent, not a state agency or your local district office. The annual cadence is the only recurring state-facing obligation Montana imposes. There is no approval to wait for, no portfolio review, and no acknowledgment required before instruction begins — the notice is a filing, not a request for permission.
Mont. Code Ann. §§ 20-5-102(2)(e), 20-5-109
The filing wizard generates your Montana Notice of Intent for the county superintendent and remembers it as an annual task. Because the deadline is 'each school fiscal year' rather than a fixed date, Lightstead surfaces the renewal as a dashboard card at the start of each July 1–June 30 year so a quiet requirement doesn't slip.
Notice of Intent wizard
§2
720 hours in grades 1–3, 1,080 in grades 4–12.
Montana sets a minimum of pupil-instruction hours per school year: grades 1 through 3 require 720 hours, and grades 4 through 12 require 1,080 hours. These are the same minimums Montana applies to its public schools. The hours are the substantive instructional obligation — Montana does not impose a minimum number of days. There is no state form to report hours and no submission deadline for them. The hours are something the family tracks and can show on request, which makes a running log far simpler than reconstructing a year from memory if the county superintendent ever asks.
Mont. Code Ann. § 20-5-109
The hours log totals instructional time toward 720 (grades 1–3) or 1,080 (grades 4–12) and shows progress against the right minimum for each child's grade band. Nothing gets filed — but the year-end total is one tap away if the county superintendent, a future school, or a college ever wants it.
Attendance & hours log
§3
An organized course covering the seven required subjects.
Montana instruction must be an organized course of study that covers the seven subjects mandated for Montana public schools under § 20-7-111. The statute names the subject areas a public school must offer; a homeschool's program is expected to span the same seven. Beyond covering those areas, Montana does not prescribe a curriculum, a sequence, or specific materials. The word that matters is 'organized.' Montana isn't asking for a particular textbook or method — it's asking that instruction be a deliberate course of study across the seven subjects rather than ad hoc. The choice of curriculum within that frame is entirely the family's.
Mont. Code Ann. § 20-7-111
The subjects list lets you name your course of study across the seven required areas and keep the curriculum you chose for each beside it. It doubles as the at-a-glance answer to 'is this an organized program?' — useful for your own planning now and for anyone who reviews the year later.
Subjects & curriculum list
§4
Attendance and immunization records, kept and available.
Montana requires the homeschool to maintain attendance records and immunization records — or a filed immunization exemption — and to make them available to the county superintendent on request. These records are not submitted on a schedule; they are kept by the family and produced if the county superintendent asks to see them. Because the trigger is a request rather than a filing, the practical rule is simply to keep the records current. Attendance pairs naturally with the hour log, and the immunization record (or exemption) is a one-time document to file away where you can find it.
Mont. Code Ann. § 20-5-109
The records packet keeps your attendance log and immunization record (or exemption) in one place, so a 'please provide your records' request from the county superintendent is a download rather than a scramble. The same packet is what a future school or registrar will ask for if a child ever transfers in.
Records & portfolio packet
§5
Little is required — but the record outlives the requirement.
Montana imposes no standardized testing, no evaluator, no annual report of results, and no teacher-qualification rule. The state-facing footprint is genuinely small: an annual notice, the hour minimums, the seven subjects, and records produced on request. Nothing about the year's quality has to be proven to the state. That lightness is the reason to keep a record anyway. A transfer back to public school, a move to a higher-oversight state, or a college application will all ask for the hours, subjects, and a transcript that Montana never required you to assemble. Building it as you go is far easier than reconstructing it later.
Mont. Code Ann. §§ 20-5-109, 20-7-111
Because Montana asks for so little, Lightstead's value is the record you'd otherwise skip: a daily lesson log, the running hour total, the subjects list, and a transcript builder that turns the year into the document a college or a move will need. The compliance is light; the keepsake is the point.
Transcript builder
What people search for when they look up Montana homeschooling.
Do I have to register my homeschool in Montana?
You file an annual Notice of Intent with your county superintendent of schools, not a registration with the state. It goes in each school fiscal year (July 1–June 30) and there is no fixed calendar deadline beyond filing 'each year.' It is a notice, not a request for approval — you do not wait for a response before teaching.
How many hours does Montana require?
Grades 1 through 3 require a minimum of 720 hours of pupil instruction per school year; grades 4 through 12 require 1,080 hours. These match Montana's public-school minimums. There is no minimum number of days and no state form for reporting the hours — you track them and can show them on request.
Does Montana require homeschool testing?
No. Montana imposes no standardized testing, no evaluator letter, and no subject-test mandate. There is no annual report of results either. The hour log and your records are what demonstrate instruction if the county superintendent ever asks.
When is the Montana Notice of Intent due?
It is filed during each school fiscal year, July 1 through June 30. Montana's statute does not set a specific calendar deadline beyond filing it 'each year,' so the practical rule is to send it to your county superintendent at the start of each school year and renew it annually.
Who do I file my Montana homeschool notice with?
Your county superintendent of schools — not a state department or your local public-school district office. Montana's homeschool oversight is at the county level, which is why the notice and any records request both run through the county superintendent.
What subjects does Montana require homeschoolers to teach?
Montana requires an organized course of study that covers the seven subjects mandated for Montana public schools under § 20-7-111. The statute names the subject areas; it does not prescribe a curriculum, sequence, or specific materials. Within those seven areas, the choice of curriculum is yours.
Are there teacher qualifications to homeschool in Montana?
No. Montana sets no parent education level, teaching license, or other qualification requirement to homeschool. Any parent may provide the instruction.
What records do I have to keep for Montana homeschooling?
Attendance records and immunization records — or a filed immunization exemption — maintained and made available to the county superintendent on request. They are not submitted on a schedule; you keep them current and produce them if asked.
Does Montana require immunizations for homeschoolers?
Montana requires you to maintain immunization records, or a filed exemption, and to make them available to the county superintendent on request. The record (or exemption) is a document you keep on hand rather than something you submit each year.
Is homeschooling hard to comply with in Montana?
Compliance is light: an annual Notice of Intent to the county superintendent, the 720 / 1,080 hour minimums, an organized course across the seven required subjects, and attendance and immunization records available on request. There is no testing, evaluator, or teacher-qualification rule. The main discipline is simply keeping the hour log and records current as you go.
Do I need a transcript to homeschool in Montana?
Montana does not require one. But a transfer back to public school, a move to a stricter state, or a college application will all ask for the hours, subjects, and a transcript that Montana never required — so building one as you go is far easier than reconstructing the year later.
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