Required Homeschool Subjects in Missouri

Missouri counts 600 core hours across reading, math, social studies, language arts, and science, or academic courses related to them, without requiring time in each one. Beyond the list you're free to teach whatever else fits your family.

Missouri's required subject list

• Reading
• Math
• Social Studies
• Language Arts
• Science

Required hours

1000 hrs/year

Required subjects

5 subjects

Notice

Not required

Testing / evaluation

Not required

Portfolio

Required

Jump to the full Missouri requirements for plain-English detail on each of these.

The subjects Missouri names

Missouri names 5 required subjects: reading, math, social studies, language arts, and science. The statute stops at the subject names and leaves the teaching to you. A boxed curriculum, a set of programs picked one at a time, and a shelf of library books can each satisfy the same list.

How much time each subject needs

Missouri counts 600 core hours across the listed subjects or academic courses related to them. The statute doesn't require time in each one, and nothing says math and reading have to come out even.

Choosing curriculum for each one

Missouri law requires no approved or accredited curriculum. Take a math program from one publisher, a reading program from another, and cover history through library books if that works for your family. Instruction has to happen and you have to be able to show it. Switching curriculum mid year is fine as long as the subject keeps getting taught.

Showing you taught them

Missouri law asks for three records kept at home: a plan book or daily log of subjects and activities, a portfolio of the child's work samples, and a record of evaluations of academic progress. RSMo 167.012.2(1)(b) accepts "other written or credible evidence equivalent" to those three instead, and none of it applies to a pupil 16 or older. Records aren't submitted unless there's a formal investigation.

Adding subjects beyond the list

Treat the required list as your starting point. Art, music, a second language, coding, shop, and whatever else your family cares about all count as instructional time on top of the requirements. In Missouri those hours count toward your totals the same as any other.

Your Missouri subject checklist

Set this up once at the start of the year and the rest falls out of logging.

1. 1

   Set up a subject for each requirement

   One subject per item on the Missouri list, named the way the statute names it, so your records line up with the law without translation.

2. 2

   Mark the core subjects

   Missouri counts core hours separately. Flagging which of your subjects are core is what turns the 600 hour requirement into a number you can watch.

3. 3

   Attach each activity to a subject

   A generic "school" bucket leaves you with a pile of hours. Tagging the subject turns the same hours into evidence that each requirement got covered.

4. 4

   Watch for a subject going quiet

   One requirement can drift for a month before you notice. A per-subject breakdown surfaces it while you can still fix it.

5. 5

   Save a work sample per subject

   Two or three dated samples per subject per term covers you, and pulling them as you go spares you a hunt through a year of paper in June.

What this looks like in Homeschool Fox

Set up one subject per Missouri requirement, flag the core ones, and the core hour total tracks itself.

What Homeschool Fox tracks for Missouri

The records Missouri asks you to keep, plus the rest of your year, in one place. No spreadsheets, no lost notebooks.

• Hours toward your 1000-hour goal
• Required subjects & core hours
• Portfolio records
• Daily activity logs
• Printable PDF reports
• Progress tracking
• High school transcripts

More Missouri guides

Comparing states? See how all 31 states that name required subjects compare.

• Missouri Homeschool Requirements Hours, notice, assessment, and subjects at a glance.
• Homeschooling High School in Missouri Credits, GPA, transcripts, and graduation.
• Record Keeping in Missouri What to document, how to organize it, and staying compliant.
• How to Withdraw From School in Missouri The steps, the letter, and timing to avoid truancy issues.
• Moving to Missouri What to file when you arrive and whether your records transfer.
• Public School Sports in Missouri Whether homeschoolers can play, what it takes, and who to ask.
• Homeschool Hours Required in Missouri The number, what counts toward it, and the pace to hit it.
• Missouri Homeschool Portfolio What belongs in it, who can ask to see it, and a printable checklist.
• ESA & School Choice in Missouri Funding amounts, who qualifies, and the trade-offs.