South Carolina · Record-Keeping Guide

Homeschool Record Keeping in South Carolina: What Option 3 Actually Requires

South Carolina's law is unusually specific about records: a plan book or diary of what you taught, a portfolio of your child's work, and progress reports twice a year. Here's the whole picture in plain English, and how those three records can keep themselves.

The South Carolina framework: 180 days and three named records

Most South Carolina families homeschool under "Option 3" (S.C. Code § 59-65-47), joining a homeschool accountability association with at least 50 members. Under Option 3 you:

Provide 180 days of instruction per school year in reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies (adding composition and literature in grades 7-12).
Keep a plan book or diary outlining the subjects taught and the learning activities - a running record of what actually happened.
Maintain a portfolio of your child's work samples - core subjects, spaced through the year so progress is visible.
Write semiannual progress reports - typically at the 90-day and 180-day marks, including attendance. Most associations ask you to confirm twice a year that these records exist; you keep them at home.

The law literally describes a daily log A plan book, diary, or written record of the subjects taught and the activities you and your student engaged in - that is what the statute asks for. South Carolina does not just reward daily record-keeping; it names it as the requirement.

Options 1 (district-supervised) and 2 (SCAIHS membership) have their own procedures; this guide covers Option 3, the route most families use.

What your association expects you to have on hand

The diary, kept as you go - a running, dated account of subjects and activities, not a reconstruction.
Attendance toward 180 days - a count that should build itself from your daily record.
Samples across the core subjects - spaced through the year so growth shows.
Two progress reports - honest summaries of how each subject is going at midyear and year-end.

How The Homeschool Log maps to each requirement

📅 The plan book, writing itself A sentence or two per subject each day IS the diary the statute describes - dated, organized by subject, and impossible to lose.

🗓️ 180 days, counted for you Every logged day counts itself toward your 180, with holidays and sick days tagged and excluded properly.

🖼️ The portfolio, assembled from photos Snap the worksheet or the project when it happens; photos file themselves by date and subject into the work-samples section.

🧾 Semiannual reports in minutes At 90 and 180 days, pick the date range and generate the report: narrative summaries drafted from your own entries, attendance, book list, and samples. See a sample report →

Let the three records keep themselves

Log as you go and the diary, the portfolio, and the progress reports assemble themselves on schedule.

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Why records matter in every state →

This guide summarizes S.C. Code § 59-65-47 in plain language for convenience. It isn't legal advice, and association standards vary; verify current requirements with your accountability association or a group like HSLDA.