Which homeschool option is right for your family?
There isn't a one-size-fits-all answer to this question. Each family is unique – and, in Iowa, there are five distinct homeschool legal options, each with its own definition and set of requirements.
Homeschool Iowa offers an easy-to-understand presentation of these five legal options, and we continually advocate for homeschool freedom within them. We invite you to partner with us!
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As you scan through the five option descriptions and their requirements, you might still be unsure which homeschool option is right for your family. You are not alone. Homeschool Iowa receives lots of questions about this.
Here are the top seven concerns that we hear from families trying to decide which homeschool option to use:
• Freedom from Regulation
• Public School Access
• Senior Year Plus Access
• Special Needs Concerns
• Licensed Teacher Assistance
• Homeschooling Unrelated Kids
• Using Out-of-Home Resources
Freedom from Regulation
If you want to homeschool independently from the public school system, you’ll need to use one of the legal options that does not require paperwork filing at the beginning of the school year and does not mandate public school oversight of your children’s educational programs.
Those options are:
- Independent Private Instruction (IPI)
- Competent Private Instruction (CPI) with No Reporting
Public School Access
If you want access to the public school services, activities, or classes available to fully-enrolled students, you’ll need to use one of the Competent Private Instruction (CPI) options that require the filing of CPI Form A.
Those options are:
- CPI with Reporting & Annual Assessment
- CPI with Reporting & Supervision by Parent-Selected Teacher
- CPI with Reporting & Supervision by HSAP Teacher
On the CPI Form A, you'll select the dual enrollment option and indicate what services, activities, or classes you want at your public school.
Homeschool Iowa offers additional detailed guidance on dual enrollment.
Senior Year Plus Access
The State of Iowa offers high school students, including homeschooled students, access to no-cost college-level coursework through the Senior Year Plus program.
To qualify for any of the Senior Year Plus program coursework, you’ll need to access dual enrollment by using one of the Competent Private Instruction (CPI) options that require the filing of CPI Form A.
Those options are:
- CPI with Reporting & Annual Assessment
- CPI with Reporting & Supervision by Parent-Selected Teacher
- CPI with Reporting & Supervision by HSAP Teacher
In the dual enrollment section on the CPI Form A, you can list the Senior Year Plus coursework your student wants to take.
The one exception here is that students receiving Independent Private Instruction (IPI) instruction also have limited access – but only to one specific Senior Year Plus program: concurrent enrollment courses.
Homeschool Iowa provides additional guidance on Senior Year Plus for homeschooled students.
Special Needs Concerns
What if your student has been identified by the public school as requiring special education services? You will need to decide if you want to use the public school system to meet those special education needs or if you want to provide for those needs privately.
• If you want to continue to use public school special education services (including those through the AEA), you’ll need to use one of the Competent Private Instruction (CPI) options that require the filing of CPI Form A – using any of the CPI with Reporting options.
Again, those options are:
- CPI with Reporting & Annual Assessment
- CPI with Reporting & Supervision by Parent-Selected Teacher
- CPI with Reporting & Supervision by HSAP Teacher
When you file the CPI Form A, you’ll answer "Yes" on the questions in the Special Education item section and mark “Yes” on Dual Enrollment item.
• If you want to opt out of public school special education services (including those through the AEA), you can do that (using any homeschool option) in one of two ways, depending upon the legal option you've chosen.
1. If you've selected an option that requires CPI Form A filing, you simply mark “No” on the question in the Special Education item section that asks for your consent to continued evaluation and services.
2. If you've selected an option that doesn't require CPI Form A filing, send your resident public school officials a simple written notice that you will be providing for your child's special education needs privately and you no longer desire public school special education services.
Read more from Homeschool Iowa on homeschooling special needs students.
Licensed Teacher Assistance
Which option should you choose if you want some help from an Iowa licensed teacher?
Some homeschooling parents think that they have to select one of the CPI options that mandate teacher supervision in order to receive the assistance of an Iowa licensed teacher.
While those CPI options do require a specified schedule of oversight meetings with an Iowa licensed teacher, homeschooling parents using any legal option can make private arrangements to receive outside assistance or supervision from an Iowa licensed teacher.
Homeschooling Unrelated Children
Which homeschool option is right for your family if you want to homeschool unrelated children?
The Iowa Code specifies that up to four unrelated children can be instructed under the Independent Private Instruction (IPI) option. You may not, however, receive monetary compensation for providing IPI instruction for children of other parents.
Out-of-Home Resources
What if you are using resources based outside of your home, such as a co-op, a hybrid school, or an online program?
You can use any of the homeschool legal options. In each of these instances, you, as the parent, are still responsible for your student's instructional program. You're just using an outside resource to help you provide it – under any legal option.
One More Thing:
You Can Choose
Different Options
for Different Children
at Different Times
Throughout this post, we've given you guidance on choosing which homeschool option is right for your family.
Guess what? If you have more than one child, you can actually choose different homeschool legal options for each of your children – all based upon their specific needs!
And, if you want to homeschool a child under one option and then switch to a different option later on, you can do that, too.
If you have questions about this, or any other topic related to homeschooling in Iowa, we're here to help! Contact us.
© Homeschool Iowa
14 Comments on “Which Homeschool Option Is Right for Your Family?”
I am wanting to know how to get my daughter started in a homeschool program. I want to know if there is any cost and how I would go about getting it set up.
Hello, Brandi!
We’re happy to hear that you are considering home education for your daughter.
The cost involved in providing homeschool instruction varies widely depending upon many factors, including the age of the student, the instructional approach used, the educational materials selected, etc.
Please use our online guide to starting homeschooling. It will provide answers for many of the questions you might have. You’ll find it on our main website menu bar. It’s labeled “Get Started.”
If you have additional questions after you click through the guide, we encourage you to reach out to your Homeschool Iowa Regional Representative. You’ll find the representatives and their contact links listed on the Regional Representatives page, in our website’s “Resources” pull-down menu.
If I wanted to start a parent co-op in my town and teach my own student and more than 4 others, grades preschool -1st grade, could I teach under option 2 under the Iowa Code, or would we have to have a certified teacher under another option?
Hi, Cindy!
That is an interesting question — and one that is rather complicated to answer.
We sent an email with background information about the many considerations included in your comment.
Thanks for reaching out to us with your inquiry.
Looking to homeschool this year but have 0 knowledge and was looking for help on where to begin
Hi, Kelly!
We’re here to help.
Have you checked out our Start Homeschooling guide?
http://homeschooliowa.org/start-homeschooling/
We also encourage you to reach out to our Homeschool Iowa Regional Representative who serves your area. Find her here:
http://homeschooliowa.org/resources/regional-representatives/
Hi, I am also looking to home school this year( due to covid). Since this past spring my 4th grader has been working on 4th and 5th grade work till present time. I feel like we can work on the last part of 5th grade and 6th Grade this coming school year. which option allows me to do that and would the school system accept her as 7th grader come Fall 2021?
Hello, Tina!
We’re happy to welcome you to homeschooling! For parents like you who are planning to homeschool short-term and then re-enroll students, we encourage communication with resident school districts. Each school district will have its own re-enrollment processes and procedures.
You can homeschool under any of the legal options, but make sure you maintain good records of what your child accomplishes while being home educated. This will help the school district better determine grade placement.
I currently homeschool my 3 children under IPI. I’m considering homeschooling one more family member as well, also under IPI. Is this legal? Just double-checking since it is not my child. Thank you.
Hello, Lynette!
Iowa Code 299A.1(2)(b) defines Independent Private Instruction (IPI) as instruction that is not accredited, enrolls not more than four unrelated students, and does not charge tuition, fees, or other renumeration for instruction.
So, if you are providing IPI for no more than four unrelated students and you’re not charging your family member for instructing the child who is not your own, you can indeed move forward with your plans.
Hi,
I am wondering:
1. What the actual difference is between ipi and cpi option 2 with opt-in is. I’ve read about them, but I don’t see what the benefit of cpi 2 is over ipi.
2. What option do I need to choose to make sure my child doesn’t have issues getting into college? I was thinking in terms of transcripts/diploma/accredited vs. not.
Thank you!
We’d be happy to help you with those questions!
1. Here’s a blog post that addresses IPI and CPI Option 2 with Opt-Out. It explains why the two are so similar, but also lists the minor differences.
https://homeschooliowa.org/ipi-vs-cpi-with-opt-out/
2. Your homeschool option choice does not directly affect the college admission process. Of course, if you use a CPI option that allows for dual enrollment during high school, your child can take courses at your resident public school or postsecondary courses at a college, both of which would be accredited. You can also use an accredited correspondence school to obtain accredited coursework while homeschooling. However, most colleges welcome homeschooled students whose transcripts contain coursework completed under home instruction that is not accredited. Careful record-keeping and curricula selection can make college admission an easier process. Make sure to contact colleges your student is interested in attending well ahead of graduation to find out what their admission requirements are. You’ll find more information here:
Homeschooling High School: Answers to 10 Common Questions
Hello, We’re wondering if there is a homeschool option involving dual enrollment that will enable our family to work around Iowa’s strict truancy laws? My husband has been called back to his office job with an RTO mandate after years of remote work. His job is located out of state, and there are virtually no employment opportunities for him in Iowa. Our child has special medical and therapy needs that cannot be met in the state where he works. We also need the extended family support available here. We are also unable to afford family size housing on the west coast. My husband’s company is laying off thousands of workers now with continued layoffs expected next year. We anticipate layoffs being determined by work attendance, so he will be unable to travel back to Iowa to visit our child. We would like to figure out a way that I can take her to visit her father during the school year. He will be living 1800 miles away. In addition to visiting her biological father (parents are married and intend to remain so) who is also her legal guardian, she will miss school for many appointments this year. We are hoping to get her intensive treatment so that we can eventually move to a place where we can all live together. We like her public school in Iowa, and she benefits greatly from the school environment, so we would like to enroll her in public school as much as possible while still having the ability to travel and for her to get the therapies and treatment she needs.
Hello, Kristin! It sounds like you are in a diligent, but formidable, search to find the educational option for your daughter that best meets her special medical needs and family circumstance challenges. If, indeed, you are seeking to retain her participation in public school coursework and activities, you’ll find that home school dual enrollment does not sidestep the current attendance requirements in the truancy section of the Iowa Code. Both regularly-enrolled and dual enrolled-students must meet the minimum attendance requirements for coursework and programs offered by the public school. Because your situation is so unusual, you are welcome to ask us additional questions by using our website Contact Us form.
https://homeschooliowa.org/contact-us/