Detailed requirements
Homeschooling in Massachusetts
The only state where you need permission first: the local school committee approves your plan before you start.
Getting started (notice)
a proposed plan submitted to the superintendent or school committee where you live, and approved in advance, under the policy that committee has adopted. Care and Protection of Charles held the state cannot force a child to stay enrolled while approval is pending.
Required subjects
no fixed list in statute. The district reviews the proposed curriculum, the instructional materials, the number of hours and the frequency of instruction, your methods, and how progress will be evaluated. The test is whether instruction equals the public schools in thoroughness and efficiency and in the progress made.
Records you must keep
whatever your approved plan commits you to.
Testing / evaluation
periodic standardized tests, or another means of evaluating progress such as progress reports or dated work samples. The form must be mutually agreed between you and the superintendent or school committee.
Parent qualifications
the parents' competence may be considered, but no college or advanced degree is needed.
Where Letters & Devotion fits in Massachusetts
Whatever Massachusetts asks you to keep, keeping it should not be a job. Letters & Devotion logs instructional hours automatically while your child works, tracks mastery per skill as a ready-made portfolio record, and prints a transcript in one click, so notices, portfolios and evaluations start from records that already exist. The curriculum itself covers every core subject, K through 12.
Read all 84 courses in full before you pay anythingEvery unit, every skill, every objective. No account, no card.$29 a month after the first month. Cancel anytime, in one click.
This is a plain-language summary, not legal advice, and laws change. Last verified 2026-08. Always confirm current requirements with your state before relying on them. Sources:
- https://www.doe.mass.edu/homeschool/
- https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXII/Chapter76/section1
HSLDA also publishes a plain-language summary of Massachusetts's law, at hslda.org/legal/massachusetts, and sells a paid legal-defense membership built on top of it. It is an advocacy organization, not a legal authority: its leadership is explicitly Christian, and it lobbies on homeschool legislation, positions a family may or may not share. Read what membership actually costs and covers before joining anything.