Legal/Homeschool Laws
Laws that regulate home education vary from state to state. It is important to understand the legal requirements in your state and to be aware of legislative and other legal issues that affect homeschoolers in your community. We've compiled resources that will help you become informed. Although homeschooling is legal in all 50 states, and the vast majority of homeschoolers face no problems, you may find that you need legal assistance at some point in your homeschooling career. We've compiled a list of resources to help you find the support you need. And if you'd like to become more involved in working towards homeschooling freedoms, we discuss some of the issues facing homeschoolers that we hope you find compelling.
State Laws
Read the laws regulating home education in Michigan and browse through the case law and legal opinions relating to those laws, along with government publications relating to homeschooling and summaries of the laws.
Forms
Which forms do you need to fill out? Where can you get them? Here is a list of useful forms for homeschooling in Michigan.
Legal Support
If you need legal information or have run into a legal situation regarding your decision to homeschool, these resources will be helpful.
Lobbying Groups
A listing of local and national lobbying groups and information on how you can become involved in the political process to ensure the freedom to homeschool is protected.
Attorneys
When searching for an attorney, it is helpful to know whether he or she has experience working with homeschoolers and is interested in protecting the right to homeschool.
Legal Issues
Is homeschooling legal? Which laws pertain to homeschoolers and which don't? How do homeschoolers protect their rights to freely educate their children and to preserve their privacy?
Government Resources
A listing of local and state government resources, including your state's Department of Education, school districts, and Senate and House of Representative information.
What's Popular
Home Education Options Under Michigan Law
A basic summary of the options available to home educating parents in Michigan. Discusses Michigan's compulsory school attendance law, home educating under execption (3)(a) as a non-public school, home educating under execption (3)(f) as a non-public school, the Michigan Department of Education's position on the exemptions, and the role of local and intermediate school districts.
388.553 Private, denominational and parochial schools; teachers, qualifications, examinations.
No person shall teach or give instruction in any of the regular or elementary grade studies in any private, denominational or parochial school within this state who does not hold a certificate such as would qualify him or her to teach in like grades of the public schools of the state: Provided, however, That any person who shall have taught in any elementary school or schools of the standard specified in this act for a period of 10 years or more preceding the passage of this act, shall, upon fil...
Nonpublic & Home Schools
This information is provided by the Michigan Department of Education.
Protecting the Frontiers of Home Education
A look at the fight to preserve homeschooling freedoms in the state of Michigan. Contains suggestions to try to build bridges, not barriers, with the leadership of communities and government– so that the front lines of Christian liberties, which includes the right to homeschool, and Judeo Christian values are not only securely guarded, but “diplomats” are recognized should an “assault from enemy lines come our way.” Relationships like bridges are built over time, not overnight. We all bear a res...
Sheridan Road Baptist Church v. Department of Education (1984)
The Nonpublic School Membership Report (Form SM4325) is an annual report used by the Department. Information requested on the form includes the number of students in each grade, teacher qualifications, and the course of study offered. Use of the form is authorized by section 5 of the Nonpublic School Act, and was approved by the Michigan Supreme Court in Sheridan Road Baptist Church v Department of Education.
Michigan Home School Laws from HSLDA
The Home School Legal Defense Association provides a brief summary of the homeschooling laws in Michigan. Includes a link to a legal analysis of laws relating to homeschooling in Michigan.
388.551 Private, denominational, and parochial schools; etc.
The superintendent of public instruction has supervision of all the private, denominational, and parochial schools of this state in such matters and manner as provided in this act. The superintendent of public instruction shall employ assistants and employees as may be necessary to comply with the provisions of this act. The number of assistants and employees is subject to the approval of the state administrative board. The salaries and expenses shall be paid by the state treasurer from the fund...
Clonlara v. State Board of Education (1993)
In 1993, the Michigan Supreme Court in Clonlara, Inc v State Board of Education (442 Mich 252) ruled that the Nonpublic School Act did not require a nonpublic school to be in session for 180 days required for public schools.
Teacher Certification Requirements for the State of Michigan
This Department of Education document lists the basic requirements to become certified to teach in the state of Michigan.
Legal Issues in Michigan
A brief history of the legal situation regarding home schooling in Michigan.
Court Upholds Enrollment Requirement for Athletic Eligibility
The Michigan Court of Appeals has rejected a claim that home schooled students have a right to participate in extracurricular interscholastic athletic programs in the school districts where they reside. This decision by the Court of Appeals, Reid, et al. v Kenowa Hills Public Schools, et al., affirms that the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) and school districts can require students to be enrolled in and passing at least twenty credit hours (per week) in order to be eligible to ...
Information Network for Christian Homes (INCH)
Information Network for Christian Homes (INCH) serves families interested or involved in home education by providing the information, resources and encouragement needed to teach their children at home in the state of Michigan, and to work to ensure the continued freedom to do so.
380.1561 Compulsory attendance at public school; enrollment dates; exceptions.
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, every parent, guardian, or other person in this state having control and charge of a child from the age of 6 to the child's sixteenth birthday shall send that child to a public school during the entire school year. The child's attendance shall be continuous and consecutive for the school year fixed by the school district in which the child is enrolled. In a school district that maintains school during the entire calendar year and in which the sch...
388.555 School investigation and examination; failure to permit, cause for suspension.
The superintendent of public instruction by himself, his assistants, or any duly authorized agent, shall have authority at any time to investigate and examine into the conditions of any school operating under this act as to the matters hereinbefore set forth and it shall be the duty of such school to admit such superintendent, his assistants or authorized agents and to submit for examination its sanitary condition, the records of enrollment of pupils, its courses of studies as set forth in secti...
Instructions for Completing Form SM-4325
The Nonpublic School Membership Report, form SM-4325, is sent annually to all nonpublic schools, including home schools. This form is the Department of Education’s method of gathering information about the schools.
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Featured Resources
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More Charlotte Mason Education: A Home Schooling How-To Manual
After providing an important work in explaining the Charlotte Mason method for homeschoolers, Catherine Levison goes deeper into the use of this method in the home with her subsequent work. This book expands the information from the first book and of...
Noah Webster's Reading Handbook
This is the historic text (originally called the Blue-Backed Speller) that has been updated to teach phonics/beginning reading. The blends and words in this reader are arranged to correlate with the sequence in which the special phonics sounds are ta...
Unclutter Your Home: 7 Simple Steps, 700 Tips & Ideas (Simplicity Series)
Hundreds of practical ideas for sorting, evaluating, and getting rid of all those material items that get in the way of a simplified lifestyle.
Visual Brainstorms
Children who love word games, logic puzzles, secret codes, mazes, and math mysteries will stretch their mental muscles with Visual Brain Storms. This set of 100 cards, each of which includes a humorous, full-color drawing, promises "the world's best ...
A Catholic Homeschool Treasury: Nurturing Children's Love for Learning
This book reviews different approaches to learning and different homeschooling methods. Read parents' perspectives and learn more about homeschooling issues.