Massachusetts Homeschooling

Get to know more about homeschooling laws in Massachusetts as you explore our website devoted to the needs of home educators in this state. Connect with other homeschoolers for support and socialization, learn how to incorporate different ideas and homeschooling methods into your approch to homeschooling, and read out dealing with special challenges you may face. We offer all this and much, much more!

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Chapter 71: Section 1 Maintenance; double sessions; subjects; twelve-month school year
Section 1. Every town shall maintain, for at least the number of days required by the board of education in each school year unless specifically exempted as to any one year by said board, a sufficient number of schools for the instruction of all children who may legally attend a public school therein. No town shall hold double sessions in any public school, if in any other public school of comparable grade levels in such town there are vacant spaces for more than thirty-five children, the number...
Homeschool Attorneys in Massachusetts
These attorneys have indicated that they are willing to provide legal information, consult with or represent homeschoolers on homeschooling or other legal issues they may have in their states. Most of these attorneys homeschool or have homeschooled their own children.
Cape Cod National Seashore
Cape Cod National Seashore comprises 43,604 acres of shoreline and upland landscape features, including a forty-mile long stretch of pristine sandy beach, dozens of clear, deep, freshwater kettle ponds, and upland scenes that depict evidence of how people have used the land. A variety of historic structures are within the boundary of the Seashore, including lighthouses, a lifesaving station, and numerous Cape Cod style houses. The Seashore offers six swimming beaches, eleven self-guiding nature ...
Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site
Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903) is recognized as the founder of American landscape architecture and the nation’s foremost parkmaker. Olmsted moved his home to suburban Boston in 1883 and established at “Fairsted” the world's first full-scale professional office for the practice of landscape design. Over the course of the next century, his sons and successors expanded and perpetuated Olmsted's design ideals, philosophy, and influence. Visitors may tour the recently restored “Fairsted” historic ...
Guide to Homeschooling in Massachusetts
This guide covers everything from socialization to special needs to testing and more. Published by the Massachusetts Home Learning Association (MHLA).
Getting Started: Homeschooling in Massachusetts
Learn all about getting started homeschooling in Massachusetts. Includes a discussion of the laws, how to get connected, and how to contact your local district.
Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Boston Harbor Islands national park area includes 34 islands situated within the Greater Boston shoreline. The islands are rich in natural and cultural resources. Imagine a place where you can explore tide pools, walk through a Civil War era fort, climb a lighthouse, hike lush trails and salt marshes, camp under the stars, or relax while fishing, picnicking or swimming...all within reach of downtown Boston. The 34 islands are managed by a unique, 13-member Partnership which includes the National...
Homeschooling and Special Education
Homeschooling a special needs child can be a gratifying, rewarding, and successful venture. While many families with special needs children homeschool in Massachusetts and receive approval with relatively little difficulty, sometimes the approval process can present greater challenges for special needs families.
Charles Decision: Care and Protection of Charles (1987)
The 1987 Care and Protection of Charles decision of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (SJC) provided parents and school officials with guidelines for the process of approval of home education. The town of Canton filed a petition for care and protection, with respect to education, of two homeschooled children. The details of the case are spelled out in the decision itself. The Court, after providing guidelines by which school officials might evaluate home education plans, required Canto...
Cape Cod Homeschoolers
Email list for Cape Cod Homeschoolers, a support group open to all homeschoolers from Cape Cod, Plymouth, and Wareham, Massachusetts. Cape Cod Homeschoolers is a cooperative of homeschooling families that organizes classes, clubs, field trips and other activities.
Appalachian National Scenic Trail
The Appalachian National Scenic Trail is a 2,180-mile footpath along the ridgecrests and across the major valleys of the Appalachian Mountains from Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in northern Georgia. It traverses the scenic, wooded, pastoral, wild, and culturally resonant lands of the Appalachian Mountains. Conceived in 1921, it was built by private citizens and completed in 1937. The trail traverses Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsyl...
Getting Started Homeschooling in New York
New York State LEAH (Loving Education at Home) provides this guide to getting started with homeschooling in New York. This list of common questions and straightforward answers will help prepare you for this new adventure!
MHLA and Legislation
The Massachusetts Home Learning Association lists its current and past lobbying issues and actions. Some years as many as 10,000 bills are filed before the Massachusetts State Legislature; typically only about 300 become law. Most simply die in committee. When evaluating news of threatening legislation, MHLA urges you to check facts and question everything. Once a volatile e-mail begins to move through a network, various assumptions and speculations appear in subsequent posts. These both get pas...
Boston Fire Museum
Located in an old firehouse, the Boston Fire Museum displays antique fire apparatus, fire alarms and artifacts, photos, and firefighting equiment.
Current News
Current News is a section of the AHEM website that offers information on current legislative issues.
Upcoming Events
Not Back to School Camp - Vermont
September 17-26, 2021
Farm & Wilderness, Plymouth, VT
Not Back to School Camp is a non-denominational, non-religious homeschool camp. The camp offers workshops, spontaneous events, and special evening gatherings, bringing together campers who are excited about life and willing to be themselves and to reach out and connect with the others. 
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Featured Resources

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Waldorf Education: A Family Guide
Waldorf Education finds itself catapulted from its humble beginnings 80 years ago into the midst of the central educational and social issues of this decade.What draws parents and educators toward Waldorf Education today? "Waldorf Education - A Famil...
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Pass Your New York DMV Test Guaranteed! 50 Real Test Questions! New York DMV Practice Test Questions
This book is written by a former DMV classroom instructor. He shares the 50 most common questions and answers to the New York DMV written test. A great guide to help your teen pass the DMV test on their first try.
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The Unschooling Handbook : How to Use the Whole World As Your Child's Classroom
Unschooling, a homeschooling method based on the belief that kids learn best when allowed to pursue their natural curiosities and interests, is practiced by 10 to 15 percent of the estimated 1.5 million homeschoolers in the United States. There is no...
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Choosing & Using Curriculum: For Your Special Child
Homeschooling a child with special needs can be challenging. This book lays out a discussion of different reading and math programs, how to adapt materials for special situations, resources for blind, deaf and speech/language, and curriculum types an...
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Children at Play : Using Waldorf Principles to Foster Childhood Development
Children at Play is an insightful exploration into the world of children's play and its tremendous significance in the shaping of each child's humanity. A mother and proponent of Rudolf Steiner's Waldorf system of education, author Heidi Britz-Crecel...
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Often it was not in school, but outside of it - in extracurricular activities or during time spent altogether away from school - that calling appeared. It is as if the image in the heart in so many cases is hampered by the program of tuition and its time bound regularity.

James Hillman
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