The homeschool office for Arkansas is in Little Rock. PhotoXpress

The rules and regulations for homeschooling in the state of Arkansas do not vary between municipalities. There are very clear laws on what needs to be done in order to homeschool your child.

First, a Notice of Intent and a Waiver Form must be filed with the local superintendants office. Parents of homeschoolers that will be driving must get the Notice of Intent form notarized for DMV purposes. If this is the first year you are homeschooling, then these forms must be hand delivered to the superintendants office. All others can mail the forms in. All forms must in the office no later than August 15th of the school year.

Mandatory testing occurs for all homeschooled children in grades three through nine every spring. The state will send you a schedule and you must show up at the selected testing center on time. Alternative testing is allowed with approval. Homeschoolers using the alternative option must pay for the testing. Going to the state testing centers is free.

Books and materials are needed to teach children. These can be purchased or borrowed from the local library. The amount of curriculum choices is staggering. There are online options as well.

Request a passcode for Discovery Streaming Education available from Arkansas IDEAS. This gives you free access to a wonderful educational resource that is very expensive otherwise. Read more about this here.

Get organized and read a book or two about homeschooling if you are new to this. Teach your Own is a great book by John Holt.

Visit the Education Alliance and request a free homeschool packet. They are a faith based organization but they provide fantastic information about homeschooling. In addition they provide a graduation ceremony for home schooled high school seniors and they sponsor a Homeschool Honor Society.

Join a homeschool support group. There are many to choose from.

Finally, bookmark my examiner homepage or join my email list  to stay on top of what is happening in Little Rock and surrounding areas homeschool communities.