Colorado homeschool requirements: a plain summary (October 2026)

Colorado homeschool requirements, under the state's home-based education law (C.R.S. 22-33-104.5), are: send written notice to a Colorado school district 14 days before you start and every year after; teach at least 172 days averaging four instructional contact hours a day; cover reading, writing, speaking, math, history, civics, literature, science and the US Constitution; have your child tested or evaluated in grades 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11; and keep permanent records of attendance, test or evaluation results and immunizations. Peabody (peabody.kids), a free reading and math site for kids made in Colorado, wrote this summary. Peabody is free through the end of 2026.

This is a plain summary, not legal advice, as of October 2026. It uses only the Colorado Department of Education's (CDE) own pages and the text of the statute as CDE publishes it, all opened on 18 October 2026. CDE itself says that because homeschooling is a non-public option, it "is not able to advise on homeschool matters" and sends questions to the school district where you file. Laws change: read the sources linked below, and check your state's rules with your district before you rely on any of this.

Who has to be in school in Colorado?

CDE's page on non-public schools says a child in Colorado "who has attained the age of six years on or before August 1 of each year and is under the age of seventeen years shall attend public school; shall attend an independent or parochial school which provides a basic academic education, or shall be instructed at home" (CDE, Colorado Non-Public Schools).

The homeschool statute adds three age rules. A parent is not required to send the notice until the child is six, is not required to establish the program until the child is seven, and is not required to continue the program or send notice after the child is sixteen (statute (3)(e)(I)–(III)). If your child is near one of these ages, ask your district how they apply to you.

What are the options for homeschooling in Colorado?

The pages we read describe these routes.

1. A home-based program with a notice of intent. This is what CDE's homeschool pages and this summary cover: a "nonpublic home-based educational program", taught at home by a parent or an adult relative the parent designates, "not under the supervision and control of a school district" (statute (2)(a)).
2. Enrolment in an independent or parochial school. CDE's legal requirements page quotes the attendance law (C.R.S. 22-33-104): school attendance is compulsory unless the child "is enrolled for a minimum of one hundred seventy-two days in an independent or parochial school which provides a basic academic education" or "is being instructed at home" (CDE, Legal Requirements for Non-Public Schools). Some independent schools enrol children who are taught at home, which families often call an umbrella school. CDE's pages do not use that term or describe how such schools work, and CDE says it has no jurisdiction over the internal affairs of independent and parochial schools, so ask the school directly and confirm with your district.
3. A licensed teacher. You may read elsewhere that Colorado has a third route in which a child is taught at home by a licensed teacher. The CDE homeschool pages we read do not describe it, so we cannot summarise it here. Ask your district.

Separately, CDE describes part-time public programs for homeschool students, run by districts, charter schools and BOCES (CDE, Part-Time Programs for Families); ask your district what exists near you.

How to file a notice of intent to homeschool in Colorado

• When: 14 days before you start the home-based program, and each year after while it continues (statute (3)(e)).
• To whom: CDE's FAQ says notice "can be given to any Colorado public school district office". It adds that if you do not file with the district you live in, "it is advisable to notify the residing school district as well to avoid truancy action". CDE does not collect notices (CDE FAQ).
• What it says: the statute asks the parent to certify "only a statement containing the name, age, place of residence, and number of hours of attendance of each child" (statute (3)(e)).
• A template: CDE offers a Notice of Intent template (a Word file). It says "families are not required to use this specific form". It asks for parent and student details, a start date, the number of days of instruction (no less than 172), instructional hours per day (an average of 4), total attendance hours for the year, a signature and the district where you filed.
• A child who was habitually truant: if a child was habitually truant at any time in the last six months they attended school, the parents must also submit "a written description of the curricula to be used in the program" with the notice before the child may be enrolled in a home-based program (statute (3)(b)).

Days, hours and subjects

The program "shall include no less than one hundred seventy-two days of instruction, averaging four instructional contact hours per day" (statute (3)(c)). The statute does not define "instructional contact hours" on that page; if you are unsure what counts, ask your district.

It "shall include, but need not be limited to, communication skills of reading, writing, and speaking, mathematics, history, civics, literature, science, and regular courses of instruction in the constitution of the United States" (statute (3)(d)).

CDE's FAQ adds that curriculum is the parent's choice ("the state cannot offer any guidance in this area") and the parent's cost (CDE FAQ).

Who can teach?

The parent, legal guardian or an adult relative the parent designates. CDE's FAQ says "no other qualifications or licenses are required" (CDE FAQ; statute (3)(a)). The "qualified person" in the law is about who may evaluate a child, not who may teach.

Colorado homeschool testing and evaluation

• When: "when such child reaches grades three, five, seven, nine, and eleven" (statute (3)(f)).
• Two choices: a nationally standardized achievement test, or an evaluation of the child's academic progress by a qualified person. A qualified person is chosen by the parent and is "a teacher licensed pursuant to article 60.5 of this title, a teacher who is employed by an independent or parochial school, a licensed psychologist, or a person with a graduate degree in education" (statute (2)(c)). CDE's FAQ says this is at the parent's expense.
• Where results go: to the school district that received your notice, or to an independent or parochial school in Colorado. If you send them to such a school, you give that school's name to the district (statute (3)(f)).
• What the results mean: a composite test score above the 13th percentile keeps the child exempt from compulsory attendance. At or below the 13th percentile, the district must require the child to be placed in a public, independent or parochial school until the next testing period, but "no action shall be taken until the child is given the opportunity to be retested" with an alternate version or a different approved test. For an evaluation, the question is whether the child "is making sufficient academic progress according to the child's ability" (statute (5)(a)).
• State tests: homeschooled students are not required to take the state assessment (CMAS); a district may let a homeschooled child take it if the parent asks (CDE FAQ).

What records do you have to keep?

The parent keeps each child's records "on a permanent basis". They include, but need not be limited to, "attendance data, test and evaluation results, and immunization records". The district that received your notice can ask for them only "upon fourteen days' written notice if the superintendent of said school district has probable cause to believe that said program is not in compliance" (statute (3)(g)).

A calendar of school days and hours, a folder of results and a copy of immunization records cover the list; many families add work samples and a reading list. More in homeschool record keeping and portfolios.

Other things CDE's pages say

• Diplomas: there is no state diploma; a parent may graduate a student by issuing a diploma, and the GED is optional (CDE FAQ).
• Accreditation and funding: homeschooling is not accredited by CDE or districts, and the FAQ says that at the time of its update "there is no funding available".
• Activities: a homeschooled child "may participate on an equal basis in any extracurricular or interscholastic activity offered by a public school" (statute (6)(b)).
• Returning to public school: the district may test the child for grade placement, and must accept the homeschool transcripts for credit unless its testing does not verify them (statute (4)).

Using Peabody for Colorado's required subjects

Peabody can carry some of the practice in two of Colorado's required subjects, reading and math, and offers short starters in a few others. It does not cover them all, and it does not decide what counts toward your hours; that is a question for your district.

A simple week: 10 minutes of a library story read aloud to you and 10 to 15 minutes of a math part, four days a week, with writing, science, history and the Constitution from your own materials. Sample days for each age are in homeschool schedule: sample daily schedules by age, and the math week by grade is in the free homeschool math plan by grade.

Peabody gives no nationally standardized test score and cannot be the grade 3, 5, 7, 9 or 11 evaluation. A free family account has a Learning record page that prints the days and minutes Peabody counted, plus stories and math parts finished, for any range you pick, which you may find useful beside your own attendance calendar, but it is not a substitute for the records the law lists. A child can start from the front page with no account. For the bigger picture, see the homeschool hub and how to start homeschooling.

Learn more elsewhere

• CDE: Homeschool and Part-Time Programs in Colorado
• CDE: FAQ for Homeschool Families (PDF)
• C.R.S. 22-33-104.5, Home-based education, on CDE's site (CDE labels it an unofficial publication of the statute)
• CDE: Notice of Intent template (Word file)
• CDE: Legal Requirements for Non-Public Schools

Questions parents ask

What are the homeschool requirements in Colorado?

Under C.R.S. 22-33-104.5, a Colorado parent running a home-based program sends written notice to a school district 14 days before starting and each year after, teaches at least 172 days averaging four instructional contact hours a day, covers set subjects including reading, writing, math, history, civics, literature, science and the US Constitution, has the child tested or evaluated in grades 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11, and keeps permanent records. This is a plain summary as of October 2026, not legal advice.

When do I send a notice of intent to homeschool in Colorado?

Fourteen days before you start the home-based program, and again each year while it continues. CDE's FAQ says the notice can go to any Colorado public school district office, and advises also notifying the district you live in if you file elsewhere. The statute says a parent is not required to send notice until the child is six.

Do I need a teaching licence to homeschool in Colorado?

No. CDE's FAQ says the teacher must be the child's parent, legal guardian or an adult relative the parent designates, and that no other qualifications or licences are required. Licences matter only for who may evaluate a child's progress at the testing grades.

Do Colorado homeschoolers have to take CMAS?

No. CDE's FAQ says homeschooled students must take a nationally standardized test at the testing grades, not the state assessments, though a district may let a homeschooled child take CMAS if the parent asks.

Can Peabody count toward Colorado's homeschool hours?

Peabody does not decide that, and neither can we. The statute asks for an average of four instructional contact hours a day without defining them on CDE's page, so ask your district what counts. Peabody covers reading practice and math from Pre-K to 8th grade, free through the end of 2026, and is not a complete curriculum.