Homeschool funding & ESAs in Hawaii

Can I get paid to homeschool in Hawaii?

No. Hawaii has no ESA or voucher that independent homeschooling families can use. Nationwide grants are listed below, each with its own eligibility rules. Romeschool tracks and organizes what you spend, so a receipt is ready the moment a program asks for one — it never files or submits anything on your behalf. It runs the other way too: Hawaii's homeschool rules require a test or an evaluation each year. The reviewed rules also record: standardized test required at grades 3, 5, 8, 10. The accepted options, and who administers each, are in the testing line below. If the option you choose charges a fee, plan for it.

What does Hawaii require of homeschoolers — and what should I plan for?

Hawaii requires a test or an evaluation each year. That is the part of the year a family arranges ahead of time. The reviewed rules also record: standardized test required at grades 3, 5, 8, 10. Which options Hawaii accepts — and who administers each one — is in the testing line below, in the reviewed rules' own words. If the option you choose charges a fee, plan for it. What Hawaii asks for — notice, instruction time, testing and records — is set out below, straight from the reviewed rules.

Notice

Yes. Hawaii requires homeschooling families to file a notice. Where it goes: Principal of the public school the child would otherwise attend. How: Form 4140 (Exceptions to Compulsory Education) or a parent letter with the child's details and signature. When: Before homeschooling begins. You do not have to file again each year, so long as the child's annual progress report has been submitted (HAR § 8-12-13(c)). A new notice goes to the principal of the new school when the child would move to a different public school — because the family moved into another school's area, or because the child moves up a school level, such as sixth grade to intermediate. Also notify the principal when homeschooling ends. The principal and complex area superintendent acknowledge receipt; HAR Title 8, Ch. 12 governs, and the notice is kept on record so a family is not open to unfounded accusations of educational neglect or truancy. File before the school year in which your child is five by July 31 — since 2014-15 a child that age must be enrolled in kindergarten unless a notice of intent to homeschool is on file (HRS § 302A-1132(a), (c)). The age of six in HAR § 8-12-2's 'school age child' definition predates that change and is not the age the statute sets. Once the notice is on file and the annual progress report is going in, it does not have to be resubmitted each year — but a new notice goes to the principal of the new school when the child transfers to another local public school, which HAR § 8-12-13(c) illustrates with the move from sixth grade to intermediate school; the Department's guidance applies the same rule when a family moves into another school's geographic area. When homeschooling ends, the child is re-enrolled in the local public school or a licensed private school unless a new alternative educational program is presented within five school days after homeschooling ends (HAR § 8-12-16).

Testing or evaluation

Yes. Hawaii requires a test or another accepted form of evaluation. How often: Annual progress report; standardized test required at grades 3, 5, 8, 10. Accepted options: annual progress report, by one of four methods: a nationally-normed standardized achievement test score showing grade-level achievement; progress on such a test equal to one grade level per calendar year; a written evaluation by a person certified to teach in Hawaii finding grade-level achievement or significant annual advancement; or a written evaluation by the parent describing the child's progress in each subject area, with representative samples of the child's work and representative tests and assignments and standardized test scores, also required at grades 3, 5, 8 and 10, unless the principal has approved another means of evaluation at the parent's request. The annual progress report is due every year, in one of the four accepted forms. At grades 3, 5, 8 and 10 standardized test scores are also required: the child may sit the Statewide Testing Program test at the local public school, or the parent may arrange comparable private testing at their own expense, and HAR § 8-12-18(a) also lets the parent request, and the principal approve, another means of evaluation for those grades. That approval is the principal's to give and the Department of Education's own homeschool page does not mention it, so secure it before planning around it. In a testing grade a family may instead have the child sit the school's test and let the results serve as that year's progress report (§ 8-12-18(c)). Grade 10 remains the peg in the rule even though public-school testing moved to grade 11. The principal reviews whether a child's progress is adequate; where standardized test scores are used, adequate means scores or stanines in the upper two-thirds. If progress is not adequate the principal meets the parent to help set a plan for improvement and may ask to see the planned-curriculum record. Unless progress is inadequate for two consecutive semesters, measured on the child's norm-referenced test scores for that grade level or on a Hawaii-certified teacher's evaluation, the rule bars any recommendation to enroll the child in a public or private school and any recommendation to take legal action for educational neglect, and no such recommendation may be made for a child before third grade (HAR § 8-12-18(d)).

Days and hours

None. Hawaii does not set a minimum number of instructional days or hours for homeschoolers. No minimum hours or days specified.

Records

Hawaii requires these records: planned-curriculum record: the program's beginning and ending dates, a record of the hours per week the child spends in instruction, the subject areas covered, the method used to determine mastery of the materials and subjects, and a list of textbooks and other instructional materials giving author, title, publisher and date of publication. An annual progress report is submitted to the principal (see assessment). HAR § 8-12-15 requires the parent to keep the planned-curriculum record, and says the record should include the items above. If the principal finds a child's progress inadequate, the principal may ask to see that record and the parent shares it (HAR § 8-12-18(d)).

Full Hawaii homeschool requirements →

Nationwide grants

• ACT Today! Grant · Autism Care Today
  For U.S. families of a child with an autism diagnosis (priority to household income under $100k).
  Open to any family of a child with autism — not homeschool-specific, but useful for therapy costs.
• Dyslexia Services Foundation Grant · Dyslexia Services Foundation
  For low-income U.S. children with dyslexia who cannot otherwise afford treatment (need shown via free/reduced lunch, Medicaid, or SNAP).
  Typically identified through a teacher or provider; not homeschool-specific.
• HSLDA Compassion Curriculum Grant · Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA)
  For HSLDA members with significant financial need (legal custody of a child 6-19, homeschooling 3+ months).
  You must privately fund your homeschool (not receiving ESA or other public funds).
• HSLDA Disaster Relief Grant · Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA)
  For homeschooling families (child 6-19) with physical disaster damage in the past 18 months.
• MyGOAL Autism Grant · MyGOAL Inc.
  For the primary caregiver of a child under 18 with autism, with demonstrated financial need.
  Open to any family of a child with autism — not homeschool-specific.
• Our Military Kids Grant · Our Military Kids
  For children (1-18) of deployed National Guard/Reserve members (60+ days) or of post-9/11 combat-injured service members and veterans.
  Funds organized, provider-led activities (not parent-taught core instruction).
• UnitedHealthcare Children's Foundation Grant · UnitedHealthcare Children's Foundation
  For U.S. children aged 16 or under with commercial (non-public) health insurance, subject to income guidelines.
  Medical (not education) funding — useful for special-needs homeschoolers' therapy costs.

Full details, amounts and deadlines for every program →