Homeschooling In... {South Dakota}

Hi Everyone!

Today i'm continuing with my "Homeschooling In..." Series. I've already talked about Idaho, Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Arizona; so today i'm going to be talking about South Dakota.

Here are some things you should know about homeschooling in South Dakota.

1. All children are required to be educated once they are 5 years old (by September 1) and up until the age of 18 (or until graduation). Anything before 5 years old or after 18 years old is not required.

2. Required Subjects are: language arts and math.

3. You must give them standardized tests in grades 4, 8, and 11. 

4. You must annually submit an application for an excuse to a local school official and it must be notarized. You have to include the child's birth certificate when you file your application.

5. You must have your records (attendance & child's work) available for inspection anytime. 

6. You can use any curriculum you like.

7. You do Not have to have any special teacher qualifications.

8. You are required to teach them the same amount of days as public schools.

Here are some great resources for homeschooling in South Dakota:

1. https://www.homeschool-life.com/sd/sdche/  – South Dakota Christian Home Educators

2. http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/SD/ – HSLDA

3. http://www.homeschoolinginsouthdakota.com/ – Homeschooling In South Dakota

Once you have decided to homeschool your child and you have looked into all the laws/rules, what comes next is picking out what curriculum you are going to use.

Best place to start with that is by checking out what curriculum other homeschoolers are using (and loving). In other words Google search “homeschooling blogs” and start reading what all the other homeschooling families out there use. You can also check out my homeschool curriculum picks.

Another place you could go is HomeSchoolReviews, they offer reviews on all the curriculum out there and those reviews are written by other homeschoolers.

Keep in mind, when picking out curriculum, your child’s learning style!

After you have the curriculum all picked out, all that’s left to do is start planning your school year.

A lot of homeschoolers like to keep with the same school year outline as our public schools, (start at the end of August and go until the end of May), but you can do whatever you would like.  It’s really up to you to decide what will work best for your family.

Now all that’s left to do is dive right on into it. The first year is going to be full of bumps. You’ll make some mistakes, you’ll have some rough days/weeks, but *hopefully* you will learn from your mistakes and in the end it will all be worth it.

Good luck with the journey ahead of you!!

****None of this is intended to be legal advice (i'm not a lawyer), it's purely informational. So make sure you check out your states laws beforehand.****