General Information

Montana Homeschool Law Summary

By law, Montana homeschool parents are solely responsible for :

a. The educational philosophy of the home school;
b. the selection of instructional materials, curriculum, and textbooks;
c. the time, place, and method of instruction; and
d. the evaluation of the home school instruction.”

Homeschool students are not required to use accredited programs.

On the other hand, public schools have the right to determine the admission requirements for home school students transferring into public schools. It is my understanding that there are no requirements for homeschool students transferring into grades 1 – 8, but to be sure parents should contact their local school district.

A few years ago, I spoke with counselors from Columbia Falls High School, Flathead High School, Whitefish High School, and Glacier High School, and each one of these counselors told me that incoming homeschool freshman could transfer in without any problem. If a homeschool student transfers with high school “credits” (even one semester) these credits will not be accepted unless they were earned through a program accredited by the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools. This is the same organization that accredits our local public high schools. The only programs that I know of that are accredited by this organization are American School of Correspondence and Brigham Young University’s High School Correspondence course.

Colleges have various requirements for incoming homeschool students. Accredited transcripts are usually not required, but parents will want to contact potential colleges to find out what is required of incoming freshman. For example, one college that my daughter was considering required four years of math and three years of the same foreign language.

Many programs are “accredited” but they are accredited by different organizations. For example, local public high schools will not accept credits earned through A Beka or Bob Jones – not because of the Christian content but because these programs are not accredited by NAAS.

written by Lyn Campbell

Other related articles written by Mary Hood
The Dangers of Accreditation
Guarding Our Birthright – the Question of Accreditation

Every year, MTCHE prints 10,000 copies of The Montana Guide to Home Education , which is a homeschool reference guide to be distributed around the state. This is an excellent resouce for learning more about home education in Montana. Inside you will find:

Court Decisions

Facts and Statistics

Homeschool HIstory

Legal Requirements

Homeschool Law

Drivers Education

“What’s so Great?”

How Home Education has Benefited…

Support Network

Support Groups

Are You Sure?

High School?

College?

The Internet

Resources

You can find this publication at Connections in Education and the county superindent’s office:

Superintendent Marcia M. Sheffels
Flathead County
935 1st Ave West Suite SS
Kalispell, MT 59901

For information online go to MTCHE.org