American Home Schools

Colorado has declared that it is the primary right and obligation of the parents to choose the proper education and training for children under their care and supervision. They further state that "non-public home-based education is a legitimate alternative to classroom attendance for the instruction of children and that any regulation of non-public home-based educational programs should be sufficiently flexible to accommodate a variety of circumstances." Home education is "subject only to minimum state controls which are currently applicable to other forms of non-public education."

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Summary:

Every child who has attained the age of seven years and is under the age of sixteen years, except as provided by this section, shall attend public school for at least one thousand fifty-six hours if a secondary school pupil or nine hundred sixty-eight hours if an elementary school pupil during each school year; except that in no case shall a school or schools be in session for fewer than one hundred sixty days without the specific prior approval of the commissioner of education.
(1.5) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1) of this section and any other provision of this article relating to compulsory school attendance, the compulsory school attendance laws apply to a six-year-old child who has been enrolled in a public school in the first grade or in a higher grade level. In such circumstances, the courts may issue orders to compel compliance with the compulsory school attendance requirements of this article. However, this subsection (1.5) shall not apply to a six-year-old child whose parent or legal guardian chooses to withdraw such child.
(2) The provisions of subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to a child:
 (b) Who is enrolled for a minimum of one hundred seventy-two days in an independent or parochial school which provides a basic academic education. "Basic academic education" for the purpose of this article means the sequential program of instruction provided by an independent or parochial school. Such program shall include, but not be limited to, communication skills of reading, writing, and speaking, mathematics, history, civics, literature, and science.
 (i) Who is being instructed at home:
(I) By a teacher licensed pursuant to article 60.5 or 61 of this title; or
(II) Under a non-public home-based educational program pursuant to section 22-33-104.5;

Each child participating in a non-public home-based educational program shall be evaluated when such child reaches grades three, five, seven, nine, and eleven. Each child shall be given a nationally standardized achievement test to evaluate the child's academic progress, or a qualified person shall evaluate the child's academic progress. The test or evaluation results, whichever is appropriate, shall be submitted to the school district that received the notification required by paragraph (e) of this subsection (3) or an independent or parochial school within the state of Colorado. If the test or evaluation results are submitted to an independent or parochial school, the name of such school shall be provided to the school district that received the notification required by paragraph (e) of this subsection (3). The purpose of such tests or evaluations shall be to evaluate the educational progress of each child.