Homeschooling in South Carolina
What South Carolina actually asks of a family teaching their own children. Written plainly, and honest where the answer is that nobody asks for anything.
United StatesFiling requiredWho is in charge
Depends on the option: the local school district board of trustees (Option 1), SCAIHS (Option 2), or a qualifying association of at least 50 member families (Option 3)
Who actually reviews your child
The district board (Option 1), SCAIHS (Option 2), or the association (Option 3).
What you must file
Option 1 - application to the district board
Before beginning; renewed annually
Goes to: Local school district board of trustees
The board must approve if the minimum requirements are met.
Option 1 - semiannual progress reports
As set by the district
How often: twice a year
Goes to: SUBMITTED to the district
Option 1 - annual statewide testing
As scheduled
Goes to: Administered by a certified district employee
Option 2 - SCAIHS membership
As set by SCAIHS
Goes to: SCAIHS
Membership and compliance with SCAIHS academic standards exempt the family from all Option 1 requirements including district testing.
Option 3 - association membership and records
Semiannual progress reports as set by the association
How often: continuous
Goes to: The association (not the district)
Statute prescribes a plan book or diary, a portfolio of the student's work, and semiannual progress reports documenting attendance and academic progress in each required subject.
All options - 4.5 instructional hours per day, 180 days
n/a
How often: continuous
Goes to: Recorded
The part the paperwork does not cover
Filing on time is the easy half. The harder half is the year in between: showing what your child actually learned, in words the reviewer recognises, without turning your home into a school.
That is what this tool is for. You say what your child did, in a sentence. It maps that to the published standards we hold for South Carolina, which today are English (286 of 288), Mathematics (493 of 496) and Science (502 of 535). Those figures count the topics we carry for ages 5 to 12 that cite one of South Carolina's published standards. We do not hold South Carolina's own standards for Social Studies yet, and it is being added. Physical Education is not in the app for South Carolina yet. A moment in any of those subjects is kept on the general map for your child's age and named that way in the record, so the record never cites South Carolina's curriculum where we hold none of it. Then it builds the record you can hand over the day someone asks. See how it works.
Other places in United States
Option 1 and Option 2 mechanics were not read off an ed.sc.gov page directly; treat the Option 1 semiannual-report detail as ASSUMED pending a district-level confirmation.
Check it yourself: the source we used.