If you already know all the below info and just need the link to file, GO HERE.
- Jump to Step 2: Do you need to file an affidavit for your child yet? (And if so, When?)
- Jump to Step 3: Kindergarten or 1st grade?
- Jump to Step 4: Gather the Required Records
- Jump to Step 5: Filing the private school affidavit (Step-by-Step)
Take a deep breath…it isn’t as hard as it seems!
So you’ve read the legal options for homeschooling in California, and you decided that you are going to go with the private school option…That means you’ve completed your first step towards legally homeschooling:
STEP 1: Decide what legal option you will homeschool under
Now you are really overwhelmed because it seems so daunting, with legal paperwork to fill out and things you must keep on file…and you’re not really sure exactly how to do it all…And you REALLY don’t want to screw this up!
Don’t worry! It really isn’t that hard. I’ve got you.
My Experience with the private affidavit
I started my homeschool journey back in 2006 on a private affidavit with this cutie, my oldest:
I added my son (youngest) to the affidavit his kindergarten year. After 5 years on

Then near the end of the 2016/17 school year I pulled my 10th grade daughter from the 2nd homeschool charter we were in (first charter closed our wonderful local program, sigh) and filed the affidavit again for her. And here she will stay until she finishes, at the end of the 2018/19 school year.

My son is now 13 and in 8th grade, still in a homeschool charter (which I stay at solely for the funds they provide), but I’ll be pulling him and going affidavit again once he hits high school as well. (The hoops that are required for homeschool charters in high school just do not work for our family.)

My point
I’ve done this. And you can too! And the freedom you get from this option is very freeing.
Scary too, I know…especially for those that are starting out and really unsure of yourself because there’s no one to hold your hand with this option.
If you want help, you have to seek it out somewhere else. The government isn’t going to help you figure things out with the private school option.
But that’s also why it’s such a good thing in the FREEDOM we have in this! The government is also not going to meddle in our private schools and tell us how our schools should be run. WE get to decide how our children are educated.
OK, so on to the tutorial…click on page 2 below to continue…