To begin homeschooling in Arkansas, the only thing a parent (or legal guardian) is required to do is to fill out and submit a Notice of Intent (NOI). This can be done online or by printing out the paper form and taking it to the school. Arkansas requires the NOI to be submitted if the student has turned 5 by August 1^st of that school year. If you choose to wait until your child is 6 to start kindergarten, you must fill out a waiver form stating that you are not starting him or her that year.

You are not required to keep any type of records for Arkansas. You do not have to report grades or attendance. You just file the NOI no later than August 15, and then you're done!

Here are the specifics you will need to fill out on the intent to homeschool form:

• Name, birthday, gender, and grade of each child you will be homeschooling
• The name and address of the previous school attended (if applicable)
• The mailing address of the homeschool and a phone number
• The name of the parent (or legal guardian)
• Names of students that will be participating in public school interscholastic activities that year
• Names of students that will be pursuing their GED that year
• Signature of parent or legal guardian stating you are responsible for their education during the time period you will be homeschooling

If you are withdrawing your child from public school, you must file the NOI 14 days prior. The superintendent or school district board of directors may waive the waiting period. If you move into the state or a new school district, you must file in the new district within 30 days.

Here are some links you may find helpful:

Fact sheet on homeschooling in Arkansas
Electronic NOI Form
Printable NOI Form

You can find more information on the HSLDA website: https://hslda.org/legal/arkansas Feel free to contact me or another HomeWorks by Precept Consultant residing in Arkansas for support. Homeschoolhelp.com/map

Field Trips in Arkansas

There are so many fun things to do in Arkansas! Here are just a few ideas for some fun and educational homeschool field trips!

Go digging for diamonds at Crater of Diamonds State Park, located in Murfreesboro, AR. There are admission fees to get into the park, but any diamonds you find are yours to keep! They have a list on their website of recent finds, and it's pretty impressive. Their website states that more than 33,100 diamonds have been found by park visitors since 1972. (including the largest diamond ever to be unearthed in the US, a 40.23-carat “Uncle Sam") This place is on our family bucket list!





The Hemmingway Pfeiffer Museum and The Karl and Matilda Pfeiffer Museum in Piggott, AR These two museums are right next to each other!

At the Hemmingway Pfeiffer Museum you will find a historic home and a barn studio. The home belonged to the family of Ernest Hemmingway's second wife Pauline Pfeiffer. The barn was converted into a studio for Hemmingway as a quiet place for him to write while visiting Piggott. Some of his famous works were written in this barn.

The Matilda and Karl Pfeiffer Museum tour includes a 1930s Tudor style home and grounds, a display of rocks and minerals collected by Matilda Pfeiffer, a display of Native American artifacts collected locally, a suite of 10 diamonds from the Crater of Diamonds State Park, and much more. Both museums are rich in local history. Admission is free, but donations are welcome. Phone 870-598-3228.

We love this museum. They have one of the best curator/tour guides you'll ever meet, Teresa Taylor (I may be a little partial though since she is my mom). Be sure to tell her I sent you to the museum.

Parker Homestead in Harrisburg, AR The Parker Homestead is only open at certain times of the year for festivals and field trips. This is such a fun place that we try to visit every year. They have school field trip days (homeschoolers welcome) in September that cater to kids! On those days, they have demonstrations showing how things were done many years ago! The website isn't always up to date, but they are very responsive to emails.





Hot Springs, Arkansas There's so much to do in Hot Springs that I can't even list it all here! It's a great place to visit museums, a theme park/water park, spas, outdoor adventures, and more.  Great for a family vacation or a day trip. (but you might not be able to fit it all in, in a day!)





Eureka Springs is another town with a plethora of fun things to do. They have over 100 events and festivals throughout the year! Some of the attractions you can find here are museums, outdoor fun, The Great Passion Play, unusual tours, caves, tram tours, drive-through petting zoos and so much more.

The Little Rock Zoo is a great zoo to visit!

The Arkansas and Missouri Railway looks like a fun excursion! This passenger train will take you through the mountains and valleys of Northwest Arkansas.

Arkansas is known as “The Natural State,” and we have plenty of ways to get out into nature! Here are just a few:

Table Rock Lake  stretches from Branson, MO to Eureka Springs, AR, with nearly 800 miles of shoreline. This lake is over 43,000 acres.

Greers Ferry Lake is known for being one of the cleanest and clearest lakes. It is near Heber Springs, and it is over 40,000 acres.

Lake Ouachita, while secluded, is only 13 miles from Hot Springs Arkansas National Park. This lake is also around 40,000 acres.

Buffalo National River is a nice place to go, and it's near the Rush Ghost Town in Yellville, AR.

There's so much to do in Arkansas that this list doesn't even scratch the surface. Hopefully, it will get you started with some ideas though.