You started reading about homeschooling in Colorado and hit a wall of numbers: 172 days, four hours, testing in five different grades. It reads like a lot to track. It is less than it looks.
Colorado asks for a little more structure than the hands-off states, but every piece is spelled out and completely doable. You send one letter, teach a set list of subjects, and test or evaluate your child in a handful of grade years.
Here is how Colorado’s law actually works, the three legal paths you can pick from, and what those testing years really involve.
Is Homeschooling Legal in Colorado?
Yes. Homeschooling in Colorado is established under state law as a home-based education program, governed by C.R.S. 22-33-104.5. The statute describes homeschools as subject only to minimum state controls, and thousands of Colorado families run on it every year.
Colorado sits in the moderate range. There is real paperwork and there are testing years, but no approved-curriculum list and no one dictating how you teach. Compulsory attendance runs from age six to seventeen, so you have room before the rules apply to your youngest.
The Three Legal Paths (and Which One to Pick)
Colorado gives you three ways to homeschool legally. The large majority of families use the first; the other two exist for specific situations.
Path 1: Home-based education program (the standard path)
You file a Notice of Intent with a school district, teach the required subjects, keep basic records, and handle testing in the assessment years. This is the path this guide walks through, and the one most Colorado homeschoolers use.
Path 2: Enroll through an independent or umbrella school
Instead of filing with a district, you enroll your child in a Colorado independent school that oversees home instruction. The umbrella handles recordkeeping under its own policy, and you are not required to file a Notice of Intent with a district. Families who want records kept for them, or a lighter relationship with the district, often choose this.
Path 3: Teach under a licensed teacher
If instruction is provided by someone holding a current Colorado teaching license, the program falls outside the home-based education requirements. This path is uncommon, but it is written into the law.
For almost everyone, Path 1 is the answer, and the rest of this guide assumes it.
What Colorado Requires You to Teach
Colorado names both the subjects and the time. You provide at least 172 days of instruction, averaging four hours per day, which works out to roughly 688 hours across the year.
The required subjects are reading, writing, speaking, mathematics, history, civics, literature, science, and a course of instruction in the United States Constitution. There is no mandated curriculum and no vendor list; you choose the materials, as long as they cover that list.
If you start mid-year, you can prorate the 172 days against the time already completed. Everything you add beyond the required subjects is yours to design.
How to Actually Start
Starting comes down to one letter and a little timing.
File your Notice of Intent
Submit a written Notice of Intent to any Colorado school district at least 14 days before you begin, and again each year after that. It goes to a district of your choosing, not to the Colorado Department of Education, and it lists each child’s name, age, place of residence, and number of attendance hours.
If your child is currently enrolled
Have your Notice of Intent ready, then follow your current school’s withdrawal process so there is no truancy gap. Keep a dated copy of the notice and any confirmation the district sends back.
New to homeschooling entirely? Our guide to how to start homeschooling covers choosing curriculum and finding your rhythm in the first few weeks.
Do You Have to Keep Records in Colorado?
Yes, though Colorado keeps the list short. You maintain attendance records, the results of each test or evaluation, and your child’s immunization records or a filed exemption.
You do not submit these routinely. A district can request access only if the superintendent has probable cause to believe the program is out of compliance, and even then you get 14 days’ notice. Tidy records are less about inspection and more about making your own testing years and future transcripts easy.
The simplest system is one you keep up with all year instead of rebuilding it every spring. A wall-mounted file organizer near your teaching spot, with a slot for attendance, test results, and work samples, turns recordkeeping into a habit rather than a scramble.
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Everything for the Year, Records Included
The Attendance Tracker is one of five printables in our Homeschool Year Starter System: Year at a Glance, Daily Schedule, Attendance Tracker, Chore Chart, and 80 Routine Cards. A clean, print-and-go record for the whole year, plus the tools to plan and run it. Secular, no spreadsheet required.
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Get the Year Starter System on Etsy →What the Testing Years Actually Involve
This is the part that makes Colorado sound stricter than it is. In grades 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11, your child completes either a nationally standardized achievement test or an evaluation by a qualified person. In the years between, there is nothing to submit.
You choose which. A standardized test can be ordered and given at home or through a local group; an evaluation is a written assessment by a qualified person who reviews your child’s work and progress. Results go to the district where you filed your Notice of Intent, or to an independent or parochial school if you named one.
The bar is reasonable. Colorado only steps in if a composite score falls below the 13th percentile, and that triggers a re-evaluation rather than an immediate end to homeschooling. For most families the testing year is a checkpoint, not a threat.
Colorado Homeschool Law: Common Questions
Do I have to notify anyone that I am homeschooling?
Yes, if you use the home-based education path. File a written Notice of Intent with any Colorado school district at least 14 days before you start, and refile every year. The umbrella-school path removes that district filing.
Does my child have to take a standardized test?
Only in grades 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11, and even then you can choose a written evaluation by a qualified person instead of a test. There is no testing in the years between.
Which school district do I file with?
Any district in the state; it does not have to be your resident district. You send your Notice of Intent to one district of your choosing, and that is where your test or evaluation results go too.
Do I have to teach a certain number of hours?
Yes. Colorado asks for 172 days of instruction averaging four hours a day. The hours are flexible day to day, so a lighter Monday can be balanced by a fuller Wednesday.
Other States and the Big Picture
Colorado lands in the middle of the national map, lighter than the states that want portfolios reviewed and heavier than the ones that ask for nothing. Our overview of homeschool laws by state shows how far the rules swing from one border to the next. For contrast, Washington also pairs a notice with annual testing, Missouri asks for logged hours and no notice at all, and New Jersey sits at the hands-off end with almost no requirements.
The Bottom Line for Colorado Families
File your Notice of Intent 14 days out and again each year, teach the required subjects across 172 days at about four hours a day, keep attendance and test records, and handle the assessment in grades 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11. Do that and you are fully compliant, with complete freedom over how you actually teach.
Then get on with the good part. Start with planning your homeschool year, and grab the free weekly planner above to keep the daily rhythm calm.
Last reviewed: August 2026. Homeschool law changes, and the details above are a plain-language summary, not legal advice. Before you make decisions for your family, confirm the current rules with the official source: Colorado Department of Education. The governing law is C.R.S. 22-33-104.5, Home-Based Education Programs.
