West Virginia asks for one notice when you start, then one academic assessment a year that you choose from four options. You keep the results, and you send them to the county only in grades 3, 5, 8 and 11.
Verified against primary sources November 2026. Laws change; sources are linked at the bottom of this page.
Give your county superintendent or county board a notice of intent once, when you begin. It lists each child's name, address and age, promises instruction in reading, language, mathematics, science and social studies, and promises a yearly assessment. Include proof of your high school diploma or equivalent, or a postsecondary degree or certificate. Each year, get an academic assessment for the year before: a nationally normed test, the public school state test, a certified teacher's review of a portfolio, or another assessment you and the superintendent agree on. Keep each one for three years, and send the results to the superintendent by June 30 in grades 3, 5, 8 and 11. West Virginia sets no days or hours for this route.
The route most West Virginia families use, under W. Va. Code 18-8-1(c)(2). You file a notice once, show your diploma, and get a yearly assessment. No approval is needed. The superintendent can only stop it by going to circuit court with probable cause, and the court may deny home instruction only on clear and convincing evidence that your child's education will be neglected or for other compelling reasons. This is what the rest of this page describes.
An older route under W. Va. Code 18-8-1(c)(1). The county board approves the request, and the instruction must be given by someone the county superintendent and county board judge qualified to teach the subjects required in public elementary schools. If the board says no, it must give its reasons in writing.
A separate exemption created in 2021 for children in the state's Hope Scholarship program who choose an individualized instructional program. It has its own notice and its own yearly assessment rules, set in the Hope Scholarship law rather than the home instruction law.
Give the county superintendent or county board a notice of intent to provide home instruction. It must include the name, address and age of each child of compulsory school age you will teach, an assurance that your child will be taught reading, language, mathematics, science and social studies, and an assurance that your child will be assessed every year. If your child is enrolled in a public school, the notice is due on or before the day home instruction begins. The state education department publishes a sample letter.
Notify the county superintendent when home instruction ends for a child who is still of compulsory school age. If you move to a new county, notify the superintendent of the county you left and send a new notice of intent to the superintendent of your new county.
The person teaching must submit satisfactory evidence of a high school diploma or equivalent, or a postsecondary degree or certificate from a regionally accredited institution or from a college authorized to award degrees or certificates in West Virginia. A teaching certificate is not required.
Each year, get an assessment of your child for the previous school year by one of four methods. One: a nationally normed standardized achievement test, published or normed within 10 years, given by someone qualified under the test's published guidelines, in reading, language, mathematics, science and social studies. Progress is acceptable if the average of the results is in or above the fourth stanine (a score band on a 1 to 9 scale), or below it but improved from the year before. Two: the state testing program used in public schools, taken at a public school in your county. Three: a certified teacher reviews a portfolio of your child's work and writes a narrative on the five subjects. Four: another assessment you and the county superintendent both agree to.
Keep copies of each child's academic assessment for three years. If an assessment does not show acceptable progress, start a remedial program. If acceptable progress is missing for a second year in a row, send the county superintendent additional evidence that appropriate instruction is being provided.
Send the county superintendent the results of your child's academic assessment in grades 3, 5, 8 and 11, as they apply to your child, by June 30 of the year the assessment was done. In other grades the results stay in your own files.
| When you begin | File the notice of intent and proof of your diploma with the county superintendent or county board. If your child is in public school, do it on or before the first day of home instruction. |
| During the year | Teach reading, language, mathematics, science and social studies. The notice route sets no days, hours or attendance records. If you plan a portfolio review, save samples of your child's work as you go. |
| Once a year | Get the academic assessment for the year just finished, by the method you choose. Keep a copy for three years. |
| By June 30 in grades 3, 5, 8 and 11 | Send that year's assessment results to the county superintendent. |
| If you move or stop | Notify the county superintendent. After a move, also send a new notice of intent to your new county. |
No. Since 2016 the notice is filed once, when you begin home instruction. You file again only if you move to a new county: tell the old county superintendent and send a new notice to the new one. You also tell the superintendent when home instruction ends for a child of compulsory school age.
Yes. A portfolio of samples of your child's work, reviewed by a certified teacher, is one of the four ways to do the yearly assessment. The teacher decides whether the year's progress fits your child's abilities and writes a narrative covering reading, language, mathematics, science and social studies, noting any area that needs improvement. If the narrative says progress fits your child's abilities, that counts as acceptable progress.
No. You get an assessment every year and keep a copy of each for three years. You send results to the county superintendent only in grades 3, 5, 8 and 11, by June 30 of the year the assessment was done.
You start a remedial program to help your child make acceptable progress. If your child does not make acceptable progress for a second year in a row, you send the superintendent additional evidence that appropriate instruction is being provided. The county board, if you ask, must tell you in writing about services that can help check whether your child qualifies for special education. A disability does not stop you from homeschooling.
With the county board's approval, a homeschooled child may attend any class the county board offers, under the normal registration and attendance rules. County boards must also let homeschooled students take classes at the county's vocational schools, if the county has them and there is room, at no more cost than public school students pay.
No. Since 2022 the law has a separate exemption for learning pods and microschools. Its duties look much like home instruction (a notice, a diploma requirement for the instructor, and a yearly assessment), but the statute says plainly that this does not make learning pods and microschools the same as homeschooling.
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Make a free parent accountReference information reviewed August 2026 against primary sources (statutes, NCAA and Common App published requirements). This is general information, not legal advice; requirements change, so verify anything load-bearing for your family against your state's current law.