Certificate of Enrollment (COE) forms are due by September 15th of the current school year. As of July 2020 they are available to fill out online and print and email/mail to your attendance officer. Click below to open the COE in your browser.
MS Certificate of Enrollment Form
For a list of Attendance Officers for your county click the below link. you may email your attendance officer to find out where to mail or if they will accept an emailed copy of the COE. Each one has a different preference so contact yours to find out.
Click the below link to read Mississippi’s Home Education law for yourself.
Feel free to share this page to your friends who need the COE links.
Mississippi Law has several provisions for homeschooling. Please see the FAQ below for answers to the most commonly asked questions.
*Can anyone home school in Mississippi?
Yes. Any parent is permitted by law to teach his or her own children in a home instruction program. The state has a minimal amount of regulation that families must follow to legally home school. A legitimate home instruction program is defined as one that is not “operated for the purpose of avoiding or circumventing the compulsory attendance law.”
*What kind of paperwork does the state require?
By September 15 of each year, parents are required to submit a certificate of enrollment for each child age 6-17 by September 1. (If you have children older or younger, you are not required to submit a certificate for them.) The certificate card should include names, address, and telephone number of parents and children, dates of birth of children, and a “simple description of the type of education the children are receiving.” You are not required by law to give your child’s Social Security number. The card must be returned to the school attendance officer. In the event the child has been enrolled in a public school he must file a Certificate of Enrollment with the local attendance within 15 calendar days after the first day of the school year for the school district where the child resides. If the decision to home-school the child is made during the school year, they may send the certificate of enrollment to the school attendance officer, even though they missed the September deadline.
*Do I have to wait until the beginning of the next school year to take my children out of their current public or private school to start home schooling?
If you wish to teach your children at home, you may begin at any time, but must always send the completed certificate of enrollment for each child. Also, as a courtesy, when removing your child from a public or private school system, write a letter of withdrawal or fill out the school’s form so they have a record of where the child went or what happened. This provides a historical document that protects both you and the school.
*Does the curriculum I use have to include state-approved textbooks?
No. You may choose the curriculum that best suits your children’s individual educational needs.
*What subjects am I required to teach?
Since repeal of the law in 1984, there are no state requirements for subjects that must be taught.
*What days are my children required to be in school? What hours during the day?
There is no state requirement for home school programs.
*Do I have to have a high school or college diploma, or teacher certification?
The state has no educational attainment or certification requirements for parents who teach their children in the home.
*Do my children have to take standardized tests?
State law does not require standardized testing. But you are welcome to add that if you desire for your children. It is not a bad idea to prepare them for that scenario before taking the ACT.
How do I choose a curriculum? How do I set up my home school?
There is a lot of information on the internet about and for home-schoolers. Browse the internet for these resources and don’t be scared to disagree with them. We home-school for various reasons and in various ways. What is important about setting up your home-school is to choose curriculum that fits the needs of your child and takes them in the direction of growth. When at all possible, try to read samples of books before you purchase. Read reviews and blogs of other moms who have used the curriculum. Most importantly build a support network of other home school families that you can connect with and ask questions about what they liked or didn’t like about the curriculum they’ve used.
Thanks to the internet we can also see reviews of curriculum that people from all over have used and their thoughts on it. Some links to home-school bloggers are listed below for your convenience. (These are just a few.)
www.focusonthefamily.com
www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com
www.homeschoolcreations.net
www.reallifeathome.com
www.welltrainedmind.com
There are many more out there, but the ones listed above are a good place to start!*The above FAQs were quoted from http://www.MHEA.net/Mississippi-Law/.
Mississippi Homeschool Info 