MONTANA
Homeschooling in Montana: Requirements, Paperwork, and How to Start
Notify your county superintendent each year, keep attendance records you produce on request, and meet the hour minimums — 720 in the early grades, 1,080 from grade four onward.
Homeschooling in Montana, Summarized
The Seven Things Montana Asks of You
Legal in Montana
Yes
Compulsory ages
7 to 16
Funding available
Disability-based · blocked pending appeal
roughly $5,000-8,000 if upheld
Do I notify anyone?
Yes — once each school year
to your county superintendent
Paperwork load
Low
attendance produced on request
Parent qualification
None required
Standardized testing
Not required
Legal requirements last reviewed: June 2026 · Plain English · Not legal advice
Homeschooling is legal in Montana
What You Need to Know
Montana keeps it simple. Notify your county superintendent once each school fiscal year, keep pupil attendance records and produce them if asked, meet the statutory hour minimums, and offer an organized course of study covering the subjects public schools must teach. No testing and no credential.
What Montana Asks of You
One notice, attendance kept, and the hours met.
Must do
Notify the county superintendent for the county your home school sits in, once each fiscal year
Keep pupil attendance records and produce them to the county superintendent on request
Meet the aggregate hour minimums for each grade
Offer an organized course of study covering the subjects required of public schools
Dates that matter
Before or at the start of instruction each fiscal year, which runs 1 July to 30 June
720 hours a year in grades 1 to 3; 1,080 hours from grade 4 to 12; kindergarten 360 half-time or 720 full
Good practice — not required
Log hours as you accumulate them — 1,080 is a real total and no filing prompts you to check
Notify before instruction rather than after: it is the cleaner reading of the requirement
No statutory retention period applies to the attendance records, and there is no advance filing — they are produced only if the county superintendent asks.
Montana wants 1,080 hours and attendance on request. StudyPug logs both while your child works.
Funding for Montana Home Education
The key numbers before the details.
PROGRAM
Education savings account — disability-based
STATUS
Ruled unconstitutional and under appeal
AMOUNT IF IT SURVIVES
Roughly $5,000-6,000 elementary · $6,400-8,000 high school
WHO QUALIFIES
Students with a disability under federal law
How It Works
From registration to reimbursement, step by step.
1
Check the program still exists
A district court ruled the account unconstitutional in December 2025 over its appropriation. A stay let it pay through the 2025-26 school year; the appeal was undecided in August 2026.
2
Check eligibility
The account is disability-only, not universal. It needs a qualifying disability under federal law, plus a Montana public-school history, arrival from out of state, or entry at kindergarten.
3
Understand the amount
Awards follow the state's per-pupil aid formula and vary by district: roughly $5,000 to $6,000 at elementary and $6,400 to $8,000 at high school. The state retains a share.
Funding rules move faster than law. Amounts and eligibility can change every school year and every legislative session — always confirm with the official program sources below before you spend. Funding facts last reviewed: August 2026.
What StudyPug Handles for You
Not templates you fill in — records that fill themselves in.
Work-samples portfolio that assembles itself
Hours & attendance log that fills itself in
Progress reports you can download and share
Scope & Sequence across the subjects public schools must teach
One-click attendance package if the county superintendent asks
Every child in one account — up to 5
Questions About Homeschooling in Montana
Quick answers for homeschooling families.
Is homeschooling legal in Montana?
Yes. Families notify the county superintendent, keep attendance, meet the statutory hour minimums and offer an organized course of study. It is a low-regulation state with a small number of clear obligations.
Do parents need a teaching certificate?
No. Montana requires no teaching credential of a homeschooling parent, and nobody assesses the question at any point. What the state asks for instead is the hours, the subjects and an attendance record it can call for.
Does Montana fund homeschooling?
Only for students with a disability — and the program is in court. A district court ruled it unconstitutional in December 2025; a stay let it pay through the 2025-26 school year and the appeal was undecided in August 2026. Awards ran roughly $5,000 to $8,000 by district and grade.
How many hours do I have to teach?
It depends on the grade. Kindergarten is 360 hours half-time or 720 full-time. Grades 1 to 3 require 720 hours a year. Grades 4 to 12 require 1,080. The totals are aggregate across the fiscal year, which runs 1 July to 30 June.
Which subjects do I have to cover?
An organized course of study covering the subjects public schools are required to teach. Montana points to its public-school subject requirement rather than writing a separate list for home schools.
What records should I keep, and for how long?
Pupil attendance records, produced to the county superintendent on request. No statutory retention period is set and nothing is filed in advance — the record simply has to exist if asked for.
Who exactly do I notify?
The county superintendent of schools for the county where your home school is located, once per school fiscal year. It is a county rather than a district filing, which catches out families who assume otherwise.
Official Sources
Confirm the rules and apply directly with your state.
MCA 20-5-109
→The notification requirement and what a home school must do.
mca.legmt.gov — 20-5-109
MCA 20-1-301
→The aggregate instructional-hour minimums by grade.
mca.legmt.gov — 20-1-301
Education Savings Account FAQ
→The state office's own answers on eligibility and reimbursement.
opi.mt.gov — ESA FAQ (PDF)
Other States:
Homeschooling in Nebraska·Homeschooling in Nevada·Homeschooling in New Hampshire— each reviewed against its own official sources
See How Families Run Their Homeschool on StudyPug
Lessons, practice, and the records above — one family plan.
30-day money-back guarantee
StudyPug is a records tool, not legal advice. Homeschool rules, funding amounts, and deadlines change at least yearly — always confirm with the official sources above before you act. Requirements can also differ at the school-board or district level, so check with your local board or district too. We review every jurisdiction page and show you the date we last checked it; each requirement in your dashboard carries its own source and last-verified date.
Reviewed by the StudyPug curriculum team
3M+
students
92%
improve grades
30-day
money-back guarantee
Trusted
by US homeschool families