Louisiana · Record-Keeping Guide

Homeschool Record Keeping in Louisiana: The Renewal Packet, Made Painless

Louisiana's BESE-approved home study option renews your approval each year on evidence: a packet of subjects, books, and samples of your child's work - or test scores. It's the rare state that literally asks for a portfolio. Here's how both Louisiana paths work, in plain English.

The BESE home study framework: apply, teach, and show the year

Louisiana's home study law (La. R.S. § 17:236.1) asks three things of BESE-approved families:

Apply for approval within 15 days of starting your program (the initial application includes a certified copy of the child's birth certificate), then renew annually by October 1 - or within 12 months of your first approval, whichever is later.
Run at least a 180-day session offering a sustained curriculum "at least equal in quality" to public schools at the same grade level.
Show the year at renewal, either way you like:
- The packet: an outline of each subject taught, a list of books and materials used, samples of the student's work - plus a report card, copies of tests, or a statement from a third party who has observed the child's progress; or
- Test scores: results at or above grade level (or showing a year's growth) on the California Achievement Test or another board-approved test, or a passing score on the state's competency-based exam for that grade.

Louisiana literally asks for the portfolio Most states only sometimes review a portfolio; Louisiana's renewal packet is one - subjects, books, and work samples, submitted every year. For the family that logs daily, the packet is a print job. For everyone else, it's an October scramble through a year of piles.

The other path: registering as a nonpublic school not seeking state approval - a simple annual registration and a 180-day session, with far less paperwork. Note the trade-offs (for example, TOPS scholarship eligibility runs through approved programs), and most registered families keep the same records anyway for transcripts, moves, and peace of mind.

What the renewal packet wants from your year

A subject-by-subject outline of what was actually taught.
The book and materials list - titles and curriculum used.
A sampling of the student's work, ideally dated across the year.
A report card, tests, or a third-party statement - one more voice or artifact confirming progress.

How The Homeschool Log maps to each requirement

🧾 Subject outlines, drafted from your own entries The renewal packet's outline of each subject is exactly what the app's per-subject summaries produce - narrative descriptions of the year, drafted by AI from your daily one-liners. See a sample report →

📗 The book list keeps itself Snap a cover and the title, author, and level fill themselves in - by October you have the complete, honest list the packet asks for.

🖼️ Work samples, filed as they happen Photograph the worksheet or project the day it's made; samples organize themselves by date and subject, ready to print into the packet.

✅ The 180-day session, counted Every logged day builds the session count quietly in the background - no separate tally.

Have October's packet ready in September

Log as you go and the renewal packet - outlines, books, samples, day count - assembles itself all year.

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Prefer paper for now? Take the free weekly log sheet. 🖨️

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This guide summarizes La. R.S. § 17:236.1 and BESE's home study guidelines in plain language for convenience. It isn't legal advice; verify current requirements with the Louisiana Department of Education or a group like HSLDA.