Virginia · Record-Keeping Guide

Homeschool Record Keeping in Virginia: What the Two August Deadlines Actually Require

Virginia's home instruction statute runs on two dates: your notice of intent by August 15, and evidence of your child's progress by August 1. Here's the whole picture in plain English, and how a daily record turns both deadlines into a formality.

The Virginia framework: notify, teach, and show progress

Virginia's home instruction statute (Code of Virginia § 22.1-254.1) asks families under the standard home instruction option to do three things:

File a notice of intent with your division superintendent by August 15 each year (or as soon as practicable if you start mid-year), including a description of your curriculum - in practice, a list of the subjects you plan to teach.
Teach your children - Virginia sets no statewide day or hour count for home instruction.
Submit evidence of progress by August 1 for the school year just ended: either standardized test results, or an evaluation letter from a qualified person - commonly a review of your child's portfolio of work - showing an adequate level of educational growth and progress.

The choice Virginia gives you You pick how to show progress each year: a standardized test, or an evaluation based on your child's actual work. Families who keep a steady record all year get to choose the portfolio-review route with confidence - the evidence is already sitting there, dated and organized. Children under six are exempt from the progress requirement.

Families homeschooling under the religious exemption or the certified tutor provision follow different rules; this guide covers the standard home instruction option most families use.

What an evaluator wants to see in a Virginia portfolio

Work spanning the whole year - dated samples showing growth from fall to spring, not a single end-of-year snapshot.
The subjects from your notice of intent - evidence that the curriculum you described actually happened.
Progress, not perfection - the standard is educational growth commensurate with ability, and a dated record shows growth better than anything else.
A reading record - book lists are the fastest way to show breadth across the year.

How The Homeschool Log maps to each requirement

📅 A year of evidence, built one sentence at a time A sentence or two per subject each day becomes a dated record of the whole school year - exactly what an evaluator needs to see growth, ready before the August 1 deadline instead of assembled against it.

📗 Reading, tracked automatically The book log keeps every title, author, and reading level; snap a cover and it fills itself in.

🖼️ Work samples that file themselves Photograph the worksheet, the project, the artwork when it happens; photos organize themselves by date and subject and land in the work-samples section of your reports.

🧾 August, assembled in minutes Pick the school year's date range and generate the packet: narrative subject summaries drafted from your own entries, the book list, and your work samples - ready for your evaluator. See a sample report →

Make both August deadlines a formality

Log as you go, snap the good work, and your evidence of progress builds itself all year long.

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Why records matter in every state →

This guide summarizes Code of Virginia § 22.1-254.1 in plain language for convenience. It isn't legal advice, and division practices vary; verify current requirements with your school division or a group like HEAV or HSLDA.