Vermont Homeschool Required Subjects: MCOS, 175 Days, and Age-13 Rules

One of the most confusing aspects of Vermont homeschool law is the subject requirement that pivots at age 13. Many families either don't know the age-based split exists, or they find out about it mid-year and scramble to figure out what it actually means for their planning. Here is a clear breakdown of Vermont's Minimum Course of Study requirements, the 175-day rule, and how documentation works under Act 66.

What the MCOS Is — and Isn't

The Minimum Course of Study (MCOS) is Vermont's term for the set of subjects that home study students must receive instruction in during the academic year. It is drawn from 16 V.S.A. §906 and applied to home study programs through 16 V.S.A. §166b.

Since Act 66 took effect on July 1, 2023, parents no longer submit their MCOS narrative to the Vermont Agency of Education for review. Instead, you attest on the annual Notice of Intent that you have developed an MCOS. That's it — the AOE doesn't read it, doesn't approve it, doesn't evaluate it.

What the MCOS actually is, practically speaking, is your own planning document. It maps the subjects you'll cover across 175 instructional days. When your child's year-end assessment is conducted — whether that's a parent portfolio review, a Vermont-certified teacher evaluation, or a standardized test — your documentation needs to show that instruction happened in every required subject area.

Required Subjects by Age

Vermont's subject requirements change based on the student's age, not their grade level. The split point is age 13.

Students under age 13 must receive instruction in all of the following:

• Reading, writing, and mathematics
• Vermont and United States history, citizenship, and government
• Natural sciences
• English, American, and other literature
• Fine arts
• Physical education
• Health education (including the effects of tobacco, alcohol, and drugs)

Students age 13 and older must receive instruction in:

• Reading, writing, and mathematics
• Vermont and United States history, citizenship, and government
• Natural sciences
• English, American, and other literature

Fine arts, physical education, and health education drop off the mandatory list at age 13. They don't disappear from most families' programs — many continue teaching them by choice — but they are no longer legally required, and you are not obligated to document them for compliance purposes once your student turns 13.

This age-based distinction matters most in two situations: when a child is approaching 13 during the school year (you don't need to keep tracking PE and fine arts after their birthday), and when generic homeschool planners built for other states lead Vermont parents to document subjects that don't match Vermont's actual statute.

The 175-Day Requirement

Vermont requires the equivalent of at least 175 days of instruction per academic year. This matches the public school calendar minimum.

Vermont law does not specify a minimum number of hours per day. A "day" of instruction does not need to look like a six-hour school day. Families with flexible or project-based approaches still meet the 175-day requirement — they simply need to be able to demonstrate that instruction occurred across that many days.

The most defensible way to document 175 days is a simple attendance or learning log: a running record noting that educational activity happened on each date. This doesn't require elaborate detail. A weekly log format — recording the subjects covered and activities done each week — provides a clear 175-day trail without becoming a burden.

Vermont does not require you to submit this log to anyone. You maintain it privately. But if your child ever returns to public school, needs grade placement, or is the subject of a truancy inquiry, the attendance log is your first line of evidence.

What Goes in an MCOS Template

Because the MCOS is a private planning document, there is no mandated format. The AOE provides a basic template, but it's a blank form with subject headers and empty text boxes. It doesn't tell you what to write, how to structure your curriculum, or what counts as adequate coverage.

A useful MCOS template does the following:

Lists every required subject by age group. The under-13 list and the 13-and-older list should be clearly separated so you're tracking the right subjects for your child's current age.

Prompts with curriculum examples. What does "Natural Sciences" look like in practice? A family in Vermont might document it through garden science, maple sugaring, a nature journal, or a structured biology curriculum — all of these are valid. An MCOS template with example descriptions helps you write something concrete rather than staring at a blank box.

Includes space for resources. Book titles, curriculum programs, online courses, field trips — noting what materials you're using gives your MCOS substance and makes the year-end documentation process much easier.

Is age-specific. A single template covering all grades without flagging the age-13 threshold is a problem waiting to happen.

For students 13 and older, an MCOS template should also connect directly to transcript planning. The courses you're documenting in the MCOS become the course entries on your high school transcript. Getting that connection right from the start — labeling courses with credit values and subject areas that map to college transcript conventions — prevents the scramble that hits most families when dual enrollment deadlines arrive.

Documenting Non-Traditional Learning

Vermont's culture skews heavily toward outdoor, experiential, and self-directed learning. Unschooling families, Waldorf-influenced families, and nature-based homeschoolers all face the same challenge: how do you translate organic learning into the statutory language of the MCOS?

The answer is backward mapping. You document what actually happened, then identify which MCOS subject it satisfies. A child who spends weeks learning to tap maple trees and manage sap collection is doing Natural Sciences (photosynthesis, thermodynamics of evaporation) and Mathematics (calculating the 40:1 sap-to-syrup ratio, measuring density). Ski days at Stowe or Bolton Valley satisfy Physical Education for students under 13. A child building furniture satisfies Mathematics (measurement, geometry) and potentially Fine Arts.

The key is that you're the one doing the translation. No state employee is looking over your shoulder. Your documentation just needs to connect the activity to the statutory subject in a way that's coherent and could be explained to a Vermont-certified teacher or, in a worst case, a court.

Choosing Your End-of-Year Assessment Method

Your MCOS documentation feeds directly into the annual End of Year Assessment (EOYA). Vermont gives families five approved options:

1. Parent Report with Portfolio — The most popular option. You write a narrative summary of what was learned in each subject, supported by at least four work samples per required subject.
2. Vermont-Certified Teacher Assessment — A certified evaluator reviews the student's portfolio and writes a report affirming educational progress.
3. Standardized Testing — A nationally normed test administered privately, by the school district, or through a testing service.
4. Online Academy Grades — Official report cards or transcripts from an enrolled online program.
5. GED/HiSET — Passing the high school equivalency exam.

One important note on standardized testing: it does not cover all required MCOS subjects. Tests like the CAT or Iowa Assessments don't include Fine Arts, Physical Education, or Health. If you use standardized testing as your primary assessment, you still need separate documentation for any subjects the test doesn't address.

Keeping a clean MCOS from the first day of the school year is the single biggest factor in making the spring assessment painless. The Vermont Portfolio & Assessment Templates include age-bracketed MCOS planning sheets, a subject translation guide for non-traditional learning, and a parent report template built around Vermont's specific subject list — not a generic homeschool planner that doesn't know Vermont law exists.

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