Field guide · Confirm with the authority before you file
Homeschooling in Arizona
Affidavit of Intent to Homeschool, within thirty days from the time the child begins to attend homeschool. The full list is below.
Notify, level 2 of 4
What Arizona actually asks of a family teaching their own children. Written plainly, and honest where the answer is that nobody asks for anything.
You tell
County school superintendent
By
Within thirty days from the time the child begins to attend homeschool. This applies to a child between the ages of six and sixteen.
Who reviews it
The county school superintendent, for filing only
No academic review.
If you skip it
A parent who does not file the affidavit of intent to homeschool is guilty of a petty offense. A parent who does not provide instruction in a homeschool, does not enroll the child in and ensure attendance at a public, private or charter school, and has not signed an empowerment scholarship account contract is guilty of a class 3 misdemeanor. If you do not provide proof of the child's identity and age within thirty days, the county school superintendent notifies you in writing, and if you do not comply within ten days the case is referred to the local law enforcement agency.
Who is in charge
County school superintendent
Who reviews your child is set out at the top of this page, in the authority's own terms.
The year
What you must file
No fixed dateYou file
Affidavit of Intent to Homeschool
Within thirty days from the time the child begins to attend homeschool. This applies to a child between the ages of six and sixteen.
Goes to: County school superintendent
The affidavit states that the child is being provided with instruction in a homeschool. It must include the child's name, the child's date of birth, the current address of the school the child is attending, and the names, telephone numbers and addresses of the persons who currently have custody of the child. The county records the child's name as it is printed on the birth certificate or other proof you provide. Use your own county school superintendent's form and sign it as that form directs; Pima County's form, for example, must be signed in front of a notary.
No fixed dateYou file
Certified copy of the child's birth certificate, or other reliable proof of the child's identity and age
Within thirty days after the home instruction begins. You can send it together with the affidavit.
Goes to: County school superintendent
Required by Arizona law (A.R.S. 15-828(B)). Give the county school superintendent of the county where the child lives one of these: a certified copy of the child's birth certificate; other reliable proof of the child's identity and age (such as a baptismal certificate, an application for a social security number or original school registration records) together with an affidavit explaining why you cannot provide a copy of the birth certificate; or a letter from an agency having custody of the child certifying that the child has been placed in its custody. The office keeps a photocopy and returns the document you present. If you do not provide it, the county school superintendent must notify you in writing, and if you do not comply within ten days the case is referred to the local law enforcement agency.
No fixed dateYou file
Notice that homeschooling has ended
Within thirty days after homeschool instruction ends, for example when the child enrolls in a public, private or charter school
How often: when home schooling ends
Goes to: County school superintendent
Tell the county school superintendent that the child is no longer being instructed at a homeschool. Ask your county office whether it has a form for this; Pima County's is called the Homeschool Discontinuation Form.
No fixed dateYou file
New affidavit of intent if homeschooling starts again
Within thirty days after homeschool instruction resumes, if it had ended
How often: when it happens
Goes to: County school superintendent
The affidavit of intent is filed once. If homeschool instruction ends and later resumes, file another affidavit of intent with the county school superintendent.
No fixed dateYou file
Affidavit of intent to wait until age eight to begin homeschool
When you decide not to begin home instruction until the child is eight. Ask your county school superintendent when to file it.
Goes to: County school superintendent
Applies only when the child has not reached eight years of age by September 1 of the school year and you do not want to begin home instruction until the child is eight. It is an affidavit of intent, with the same details as the affidavit of intent to homeschool, stating that you do not desire to begin homeschool instruction. Pima County's affidavit form has a box for this choice.
The words a reviewer uses
The affidavit is an administrative declaration; no learning language is assessed.
The part the paperwork does not cover
Filing on time is the easy half. The harder half is the year in between: showing what your child actually learned, in words the reviewer recognises, without turning your home into a school.
That is what this tool is for. You say what your child did, in a sentence. It maps that to the published standards we hold for Arizona, which today are English (338 of 383), Mathematics (495 of 574), Science (339 of 604), Social Studies (162 of 1631), Physical Education (8 of 106) and Arts (1 of 115). Those figures count the topics we carry for ages 5 to 12 that cite one of Arizona's published standards. A further 117 Social Studies topics are matched only to the national C3 Framework, which is guidance, not Arizona's own standard. Then it builds the record you can hand over the day someone asks. See how it works.
Sources
- Checked 11 Aug 2026
- Checked 11 Aug 2026
- Checked 11 Aug 2026
- Checked 6 Oct 2026
- Checked 6 Oct 2026
- Checked 6 Oct 2026
Sources last checked on 2026-10-06: Arizona Revised Statutes 15-828, Birth certificate; school records; exception. That is the date we checked, not the date the rule last changed.
Check it yourself: the source we used.
Guidance, not legal advice. Rules change and districts vary: confirm with the authority named above before you file.