How to Start Homeschooling in South Carolina

Most parents who decide to homeschool in South Carolina hit the same wall within the first hour of research: three different legal options, references to obscure state code sections, and Facebook groups where everyone contradicts each other. The good news is that South Carolina is a genuinely homeschool-friendly state — but you do need to follow the right sequence. Getting that sequence wrong is how families accidentally trigger truancy investigations.

South Carolina saw homeschool enrollment grow by 21.5% during the 2024-2025 school year, one of the highest rates in the nation. The legal framework is well-established. Here is how to use it correctly from day one.

Is Homeschooling Legal in South Carolina?

Yes, fully and unambiguously legal. South Carolina Code §59-65-40 through §59-65-47 has explicitly authorized home education for decades. The state offers three distinct legal pathways — not one unified statute — and the option you choose determines your reporting burden, your testing requirements, and your degree of independence from the local school district.

There is no state approval required to start. You do not submit an application to the Department of Education. You do not ask permission from your school district. You choose a legal option, register within that option, and begin.

When Does Compulsory Attendance Apply in South Carolina?

South Carolina's compulsory attendance law (SC Code §59-65-10) applies to children between the ages of five and seventeen. If your child falls within that age range, they must be enrolled in a legally recognized educational program — which includes all three homeschooling options.

Kindergarten age: South Carolina requires school attendance beginning at age five (for children who turn five before the first day of the school year). This means if your five-year-old has not been enrolled anywhere, you still need to formally register under one of the three homeschool options to satisfy compulsory attendance. The common mistake is assuming that because your child has never been in public school, you do not need to register at all. That assumption is incorrect once a child turns five.

If your child is four years old or younger, you have no legal obligation to register or report anything. Preschool homeschooling is entirely private in South Carolina.

The Three Legal Homeschooling Options

Option 1: Local School District Oversight (§59-65-40)

Under Option 1, your local public school district's board of trustees approves and monitors your home school. This is the most restrictive path. Requirements include:

• Parent must hold a high school diploma or GED
• 4.5 hours of daily instruction (excluding lunch and recess)
• 180 instructional days per year
• Core subjects: reading, writing, math, science, social studies (plus composition and literature for grades 7-12)
• Annual state standardized testing administered by a certified district employee
• Semiannual progress reports submitted to the district

The most significant downside: if your child scores below public school promotion standards, the district can require enrollment back in the public school system. Legal advocates consistently advise against Option 1 for families who want to homeschool long-term.

Option 2: SCAIHS (§59-65-45)

The South Carolina Association of Independent Home Schools operates under its own statute. SCAIHS provides academic counseling, curriculum guidance, official transcript generation, and diploma services. The oversight is private — not governmental — which is a major advantage over Option 1.

The drawback is cost and compliance burden. SCAIHS membership typically starts around $425 per year for the first child, with additional fees for each subsequent child. SCAIHS has its own reporting requirements, internal assessments, and grade submission schedules.

For families who want significant administrative hand-holding and are preparing for competitive college admissions, Option 2 is worth considering. For everyone else, Option 3 is typically the better fit.

Option 3: Third-Option Accountability Associations (§59-65-47)

Option 3 is by far the most popular choice in South Carolina. Under this statute, you join an accountability association that has at least 50 members. The association is private, the oversight is minimal, and the state has no direct visibility into your records or curriculum.

Requirements under Option 3:

• Parent must hold a high school diploma or GED
• 180 days of instruction per year
• Core subjects: reading, writing, math, science, social studies (plus composition and literature for grades 7-12)
• Maintain a plan book or diary indicating subjects taught
• Maintain a portfolio of academic work samples
• Produce semiannual progress reports (kept at home — not submitted to the state)
• No mandatory state standardized testing

Fees for Option 3 associations range from around $35 per year for paperwork-only compliance groups to higher amounts for full-service associations offering field trips, co-op classes, and transcript preparation. By January 30 each year, the association reports only aggregate enrollment numbers to the district — individual student information stays private.

The Correct Sequence for Starting

Whether you are pulling a child from public school or starting fresh, the sequence matters:

Step 1: Choose your legal option. For the vast majority of families, this means choosing an Option 3 accountability association. Research associations in your region — the SC Department of Education maintains a list of active ones.

Step 2: Register with the association before anything else. Do not contact the school district or notify the current school until you have official membership documentation from your association. This documentation — typically a membership letter and a School Withdrawal Letter addressed to the current school — is your legal protection.

Step 3: Submit the withdrawal notification to the current school. Present the association's withdrawal letter along with your own written notification to the school's attendance clerk or principal. Once this is received, the student is legally withdrawn and you can begin home instruction the same day.

Step 4: Begin instruction and start your records. Open a plan book, set up a simple attendance log, and create a folder for work samples. These are your semiannual progress report materials.

If your child has never been enrolled in a public or private school — for example, a kindergartener you are homeschooling from the start — you skip Step 3 entirely. Simply register with an Option 3 association and begin.

What Subjects Are Required?

Regardless of which option you choose, South Carolina mandates instruction in:

• Reading
• Writing
• Mathematics
• Science
• Social studies

For students in grades 7 through 12, composition and literature must also be covered. Beyond these core requirements, the state is silent on curriculum, teaching method, and daily schedule. Option 3 does not specify how many hours you must spend on each subject, only that the subjects are addressed over the 180-day year.

A Note on the ESTF Scholarship

South Carolina introduced the Education Scholarship Trust Fund (ESTF), which provides qualifying families a $7,500 annual scholarship for educational expenses. If you accept ESTF funds, you cannot simultaneously be enrolled in an Option 1, 2, or 3 homeschool association. The two systems are mutually exclusive under state law. ESTF students operate under a separate legal mechanism (§59-8-115) and are subject to mandatory state testing requirements.

If you plan to use the ESTF, you are not technically a "homeschooler" under SC homeschool law. If you want the freedom that comes with Option 3 — no state testing, no curriculum oversight — do not mix these programs.

What Records Do You Need to Keep?

Under Option 3, you are required to maintain:

1. A plan book, diary, or written record showing subjects taught and activities completed
2. A portfolio of representative academic work samples from each subject
3. Semiannual progress reports documenting attendance and academic progress

These records stay with you. They are not submitted to the state or the school district. Your accountability association may request to see them periodically to verify compliance, but even that is typically a light-touch process compared to what Option 1 requires.

Getting the Withdrawal Right

The number one mistake new South Carolina homeschoolers make is contacting the school before securing their legal homeschool status. If you remove your child from public school without first establishing an Option 3 membership (or another legal option), you create a window of unexcused absences that can trigger truancy enforcement.

School administrators sometimes push back — asking for curriculum approval, requesting in-person meetings, or claiming they need to "verify" your homeschool status before releasing your child's records. Under Options 2 and 3, none of that is legally required. The district has no oversight role once you are registered with a recognized association.

The South Carolina Legal Withdrawal Blueprint provides the exact withdrawal letter templates, step-by-step chronology, and pushback scripts for handling administrator resistance — everything you need to make the transition legally clean from the first day.

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