The state says. •Offer at least 1,000 hours of teaching each school term.•At least 600 of them go to the core subjects.•They are reading, language arts, math, social studies and science.•Courses tied to those subjects count too.•At least 400 of the 600 core hours happen at your regular home school location.•These hour rules stop when your child turns 16.

You do. •Log your hours as you go.•The law does not ask for an hours log.•It is the easiest way to show the 1,000 hours.•Dashboard in the Lesson Planner keeps that log.

The state says. •Missouri has two homeschool routes.•They ask the same hours and the same records.•The usual one is called a home school.•The other is called an FPE school. FPE means Family Paced Education.•Of the two, only an FPE school may teach a child who uses MOScholars money.•A home school may not.•Both are mainly for private or religious teaching.•Both charge no tuition or fees.•No more than four of the children may be unrelated to you.•Relatives as close as a niece, nephew, aunt or uncle count as related.

You do. •Start teaching as a home school.•There is no form to file and no approval to wait for.•Want MOScholars money? Then you run as an FPE school instead.•You apply through a scholarship group and sign its FPE form.

The state says. •In Missouri, school age starts at age 7.•It ends at age 17.•It ends sooner if your child earns 16 high school credits.•For a homeschool, one credit is 100 hours or more in one course.•The St. Louis City school district has its own rule.•Its board may set the end at 17, or lower it to 16.

You do. •Is your child 5 or 6 and enrolled in a public school?•Your child must keep going to that school.•To stop, ask the school in writing to drop your child from its list.

The state says. •The home school law lists hours and records.•None of them is a notice to anyone.•There was an optional form called a declaration of enrollment.•It ended on August 28, 2025.•Is your child in a public school now?•Ask the school in writing to drop your child from its list.•The school must do it promptly.

You do. 1.If your child is in a public school, write to the school.2.Say you will use another legal school option.3.Ask it to drop your child from its list.4.Keep a copy.

Where. Step 1 of Do the steps

The state says. •The home school law says what a home school is.•It lists the hours and the records.•None of it sets a teacher degree, license or test.

You do. •Teach your child yourself.•You do not need to get anything first.

The state says. •The law names five core subjects.•They are reading, language arts, math, social studies and science.•Courses tied to them count too.•They must fit your child's age and ability.•They fill at least 600 of the 1,000 hours.•No state office may set a statewide curriculum for a home school.

You do. •Plan the five core subjects first.•Add any other subjects you choose.•The Academic Planner shows what colleges expect.

The state says. •The home school law names no test.•You send no scores to anyone.•For a child under 16, keep a record of evaluations.•That is a record of how you checked your child's progress.•Your own tests or a yearly standardized test can count.

You do. •Pick a way to check progress.•Keep the results in a folder at home.•There is nothing to schedule or send.

The state says. •The home school law does not mention shots.•The school shot law covers public, private, parochial and parish schools.•Another law covers child care with ten or more children.•A third covers students living on campus at a public college.

You do. •There is nothing about shots to file to homeschool.•Your child may join a school or child care later.•If so, bring the shot record or an exemption form.•For school, the religious form is Imm.P.11A.•For a medical reason, a doctor signs Imm.P.12.