What is the first thing I do to homeschool in Florida?

File a Letter of Intent with your county superintendent within 30 days of starting home instruction. Then choose curriculum and begin keeping records.

Do Florida parents need a teaching certificate?

No. Florida does not require parents to hold teaching credentials to homeschool their own children.

Can I work full-time and still homeschool?

Yes. Families use open-and-go curriculum, batch subjects into focused blocks, and share teaching with a spouse or caregiver when possible.

How do I withdraw from public school?

Follow your district’s withdrawal process, then file your homeschool Letter of Intent. Keep copies of both.

What records should I keep?

Work samples, a reading log, attendance notes, and your annual evaluation results. A portfolio folder started early saves stress.

What if I feel overwhelmed?

Shrink the plan: one legal step, one curriculum trial, one support connection. Our overwhelm guide walks through a one-week reset.

Homeschool Parent Guides

Nobody gives you a manual when you decide to homeschool. The school office has a withdrawal form. Facebook has opinions. Your mother-in-law has questions. This section is the manual we wish existed when Florida parents start out — organized by your actual situation, not by education theory.

Florida legal basics (read this once)

Homeschool in Florida is parent-directed home education. You are not applying to a school. You are notifying the state that you will educate your child at home.

The three things Florida requires

Letter of Intent — File once with your county superintendent when you begin. Include your child’s name, birthdate, and address. Official FLDOE page →
Portfolio — Keep samples of work, a reading list, and documentation of what was taught. You maintain this all year.
Annual evaluation — Each year, your child is evaluated by a Florida-certified teacher (portfolio review) or via a nationally normed standardized test. You keep the results.

You do not need:

District approval of your curriculum
A teaching degree
A dedicated schoolroom
Six hours of seat time per day

Full walkthrough: Florida homeschool requirements · First year in Florida

Pick your guide (start here)

First year homeschool

You are new. You need a week-by-week plan for the first 90 days — filing, curriculum, routine, and evaluation prep — without reading fifty blogs.

On that guide you will find: filing timeline, how to pick curriculum fast, what a normal week looks like, and when to join community support.

Working while you homeschool

You have a job, a commute, or a business that does not pause for unit studies. This guide covers batching subjects, open-and-go curriculum, and schedules that survive real life.

On that guide you will find: sample split-day schedules, which subjects need you present vs. independent, and how to drop guilt about not doing school at 9 a.m.

Leaving public school

Your child was in a classroom last month. Now they are at your table. This guide covers withdrawal, academic placement, decompression time, and building a home routine.

On that guide you will find: district withdrawal steps, how to assess reading/math level without panic, and when to ramp up to full workload.

Feeling overwhelmed

You are not failing — you are overloaded. This guide cuts everything down to three tasks for this week.

On that guide you will find: a one-week reset, permission to simplify, and links to one checklist instead of ten.

Florida parent hub

All guides plus Florida-specific links to curriculum, Step Up, and community in one place.

First 90 days: the timeline most families follow

Weeks	Focus	Action items
1–2	Legal + mindset	File Letter of Intent; tell your child what is changing; pick a start date and daily window
3–4	Curriculum live	Start teaching with a real program (not random printables); observe what times of day work
5–8	Rhythm	Settle into 4 core days + review; start portfolio folder with dated samples
9–12	Adjust + connect	Fix what is not working; join community; note evaluation date on calendar

Download the first-year checklist and tick boxes as you go.

Records: what to save (and where)

Create one folder per child at the start:

Photos of whiteboard work count. PDFs of online programs count. Evaluators want to see growth over time, not a scrapbook.

More: homeschool evaluations explained

Curriculum: the decision you cannot avoid

You need something that answers “what do I teach tomorrow?” Options:

All-in-one — One publisher, daily lesson plans, subjects integrated. We recommend Homeschool Complete for K–5 (faith-based or secular, Ocala-based).
Subject-by-subject — More customization, more planning burden on you.

Roadmap: K–5 curriculum guide · How to choose curriculum

Middle school and scholarships

Elementary is covered in our curriculum section. For grades 6–8 and Florida Step Up funding, see Step Up planning.

Support that actually helps

Resource	What it is
Homeschool Complete community	Free parent forum — ask real questions, free signup
Community hub	How to use the forum + Florida local context
Blog	Deep dives on Step Up, working parents, curriculum

Common questions we hear

“Am I qualified?” If you can follow a lesson plan and care about your child’s progress, you can homeschool in Florida. Thousands of parents without education degrees do it successfully.

“Will my kid be socialized?” Co-ops, church groups, sports, library programs, and community forums all count. Homeschool does not mean home-bound.

“What if we hate the curriculum?” Switch. Mid-year changes happen. Keep portfolio samples from both programs.

“Can we travel?” Florida’s flexibility allows travel schooling if you maintain instruction and records. Many families school year-round.

Start today

Read Florida requirements
Pick your situation guide from the list above
Download the checklist
Browse K–5 curriculum when you are ready for daily plans

Explore Homeschool Complete → · About our partner

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