Homeschool Information
Homeschooling in Illinois is considered to be a form of private education. Parents who choose to educate their children at home are under a legal obligation to meet the minimum requirements stated in Illinois Compulsory Attendance Law (Section 26-1 of the Illinois School Code).
How can IVS support the homeschool experience?
IVS is a state-approved online supplemental program for students in grades 6-12. IVS is very proud to provide over high quality courses with Illinois licensed teachers who support the learning process. Though IVS doesn’t award credit or issue a high school diploma, students completing IVS courses are issued a completion report that includes the course and percentage earned.
What does Illinois Virtual School provide?
- Highly qualified and Illinois licensed in their subject area teachers
- Expanded offerings that include Original Credit/Full-Service courses like Advanced Placement, World Languages, Core Courses, and Electives.
- Cost per semester course is $240.
- Multiple start dates throughout the course year (typically one start date a month, except July).
NOTE: Students can request to take a course for the 8/24 term through the end-of-the-day August 27.
- Flexible scheduling with 24/7 course access
- Completion Report with suggested grade after the course is completed.
Note: IVS does not issue diplomas. Homeschools award their own diplomas.
Students will create an IVS account and choose ‘Home School’ as their school organization, and then request to take a course. All course requests for Homeschool students are approved by the IVS Registrar, Lara Zink ([email protected]).
IVS can provide coursework for a complete homeschool schedule. Once completed, IVS adds the course to the Completion Report, which can be downloaded by the student and parent/guardian in the IVS SIS.
Do Teachers Provide Live Instruction?
At any given time, IVS serves thousands of students from hundreds of different schools with each student needing to access their course at a different time. For this reason, we do not provide or require students to attend “live” instruction.
Courses are asynchronous which means we do not require students to login at a specific time or attend a “Zoom” lecture at a specific time. Students choose when they log in and how they allocate their time in the course based on a pacing guide we provide. Teachers are available for 1:1 phone calls, instant chats, or video conferencing by appointment. All teachers respond to student questions within 24 hours and provide assignment feedback within 72 hours. Although teachers may hold virtual office hours, these will be optional for students with some exceptions depending on the course enrolled such as World Language.
How to Register with IVS
IVS Course List
IVS Materials Needed
Commonly Asked Homeschool Questions and Answers
Illinois Virtual School is a non-profit organization, and we do not have resources to offer financial assistance. If enrolling due to COVID-19, you may consider checking with your local school to see if they have ESSER funds they can use to support your remote learning needs.
IVS encourages families to consult with their student’s counselor to verify that the local school will accept the courses they complete at IVS for academic credit and grade progression prior to enrolling with IVS. If yes, upon completing an IVS course, we will provide you with a final grade completion report. When you re-enroll your student, you will share this report with your student’s local school registrar so the IVS courses will become part of your student’s official academic record.
If you need to change your school association to home school or another institution, please submit a ticket at our Help Center asking to make the change. We will respond by changing the association or we will discuss further if needed.
At any given time, IVS serves thousands of students from hundreds of different schools with each student needing to access their course at a different time. For this reason, we do not provide or require students to attend “live” instruction.
Courses are asynchronous which means we do not require students to login at a specific time or attend a “Zoom” lecture at a specific time. Students choose when they log in and how they allocate their time in the course based on a pacing guide we provide. Teachers are available for 1:1 phone calls, instant chats, or video conferencing by appointment. All teachers respond to student questions within 24 hours and provide assignment feedback within 72 hours. Although teachers may hold virtual office hours, these will be optional for students with some exceptions depending on the course enrolled such as World Language.
IVS averages a 96% course success rate. We define this as the total percentage of students who earn final grades above 60%.
Yes. You are welcome to send us a copy of your student’s current course transcript and we will help determine with you which courses your student needs. You may submit a ticket through our Help Center to make this request.
If your child is enrolling with IVS as a temporary solution due to COVID-19, we encourage families to consult their local school for guidance and academic course selection with IVS prior to enrolling with us.
There is only one voluntary ISBE Form related to homeschooling. However, the Illinois State Board of Education recommends that you notify your child’s current school, preferably in writing, that you are withdrawing them to homeschool or enroll in an online school. Your child’s school may have a withdrawal form that needs to be signed.
You may also choose to write a letter to the school stating your intent to homeschool, but this is not mandatory. The key point is to make sure your child’s current school knows they will not be showing up for class so that they are not reported missing or truant. You may begin homeschooling after you have enrolled your child with IVS and have withdrawn your child from their current school. There are no other forms, licenses, approvals, etc. that are required.
Yes, but there are several things parents should know. Public school districts are under no obligation to order and administer AP exams for home-schooled students. However, some public schools may still be willing to administer the exam. It is the responsibility of the parent or guardian to reach out to nearby AP Coordinators to find a school willing to administer the test. College Board’s description of homeschooled students are those who regularly and exclusively learn through a designated homeschool; this does not apply to students whose classes at their public or private school are being offered remotely due to the pandemic.
For other common questions related to the IVS program, please visit our general FAQ page.
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New to Homeschooling in general?
Illinois State Board of Education Homeschooling page provides a wealth of information on registration, requirements, resources, community, and more.