Starting now, not in September
Starting homeschooling in the middle of the year
Almost nobody plans this one. Something happens in October or February, and suddenly the question is not whether homeschooling is a good idea in the abstract but whether your child can stop going on Monday. The good news is that the calendar is a school's constraint, not yours.
Withdraw properly, in writing
Most states want a notice of intent, and some want it before you stop attending rather than after. Send it in writing and keep a copy, because the thing that turns a mid-year withdrawal into a truancy conversation is almost always a missing piece of paper rather than anything you did. We publish a plain-language summary of what each of the 50 states asks for, free to read.
Ask for the records on your way out
Request the cumulative file, any evaluations and any current plan before you leave. They are harder to get afterwards, and they are what a future evaluator, a receiving school or your own record keeping will want.
You are not picking up where the school stopped
This is the part that stalls people. A boxed curriculum starts at unit one in September and there is no honest way into it in February. Letters & Devotion has no enrolment window and no semester: you set a grade, and your child starts at whatever lesson makes sense. If they were lost since October, start where they were lost.
Read the whole year before you commit to it
All 84 courses are open in full with no account and no card. In an ordinary week that is a nice feature. In week one of an emergency withdrawal it is the only way to answer the real question, which is whether the thing you are about to buy actually covers what your child is supposed to be learning this year.
The hours start counting from day one
Instructional hours log automatically as your child works and a transcript prints in one click. If your state counts days or hours, you are counting from the day you start rather than reconstructing a partial year later.
Deschooling is normal and it is not lost time
Most families who withdraw mid-year need a few weeks where very little formal work happens, especially if the child left because school had become unbearable. Nothing here is timed or scheduled, so a slow February costs you nothing and no progress bar judges you for it.
What this is not
- It is not a school and it does not enrol your child anywhere. Withdrawing legally is still your job, and the rules are your state's.
- It is not accredited and it does not issue a diploma. It prints a transcript of what was taught and mastered, which is the record most receiving schools ask for.
- It will not tell you what grade your child should be in. There is no placement test. You choose the grade, and you can change it any time.
- Nothing on this page is legal advice. Notice requirements, deadlines and record keeping differ by state, and you should confirm yours directly.
Start 30 days free
Or read all 84 courses first. Both doors are open, and the second one needs nothing from you at all.
Look inside all 84 courses firstEvery unit, every skill, every objective. No account, no card.or start now
Questions parents ask
Can I start homeschooling in the middle of the school year?
Yes, in every state, though most require a written notice of intent and some want it filed before your child stops attending. Check your own state's requirement and send the notice in writing.
Do I have to wait until September to start a curriculum?
Not with a self-paced one. Letters & Devotion has no enrolment window and no semester structure: you set a grade and your child starts at whatever lesson fits, including going back to where they first got lost.
What should I ask the school for before I withdraw?
The cumulative file, any evaluations, and any current IEP or plan. Request them in writing and keep copies, because they are much harder to obtain once your child is no longer enrolled.
How do I know what grade to put my child in?
Read the courses, which are open in full with no account or card, and pick the grade whose material matches what they can actually do. You can change the grade at any time, and you can mix grades by subject.
What if we need a few weeks off first?
That is normal after a mid-year withdrawal and it costs nothing here. Nothing is timed or scheduled, there are no due dates, and lessons are units rather than weeks.
Also written up
What your state asks for
Plain-language summaries of the notice, subjects, records and testing rules in all 50 states. Free to read, and not legal advice.
This page is a plain-language summary and is not legal advice. Withdrawal and notice requirements are set by your state. Confirm yours before you act.