Home Study Resources and Curricula

Home Study

Foreign Service families may choose to home study when a post offers limited educational facilities or because of personal or religious preferences. With a wealth of online learning options available, home study remains a popular choice for Foreign Service families. If they choose the home study option, families should be aware that they will have to abide by local education laws (which may have specific curriculum requirements for that country) and they will have limited outside support while instituting their education plans. Explore GCLO’s Home Study FAQs as a starting point for families considering home study.

Before choosing the home study option, families currently or planning on living abroad should understand that home study is not a legal practice in every country. Please check directly with post management and the CLO Coordinator. Additional, non-governmental, home study information can be found at the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) website, which tracks the status on home study worldwide. Visit HSLDA International for more information.

Families are not required to file an affidavit with the U.S. state from which they choose to follow the education standards.

Home Study Allowances

The Department of State offers employees with children a Home Study/Private Instruction Allowance if they decide to educate them at home while posted overseas. This is a reimbursable allowance. (Employees from other agencies should check with their certifying official on whether a similar allowance is available.) Families are encouraged to work with their Financial Management Officer at post or their agency’s certifying officer to ensure their planned purchases and education programs meet the respective requirements before purchasing.

Prior to committing to a particular home study/private instruction/virtual schooling program, employees/parents should review allowable expenses for Home Study/Private Instruction at DSSR 277.3 and contact the Financial Management Officer (FMO) at post to ensure expenses incurred will be reimbursed. Please note: Only allowable (non-third party) expenses are reimbursable. Program consultant fees and consultant-related fees ​charged by third party providers (also known as umbrella or cover schools) are the employee’s/parent’s responsibility and are not reimbursed under the Education Allowance with one exception – for a child under the Special Needs Education Allowance (SNEA) program (3 FAM 3280) and this requires prior approval from MED and is limited to locating an adequate school away from post. Please see the Office of Allowances FAQ’s 17a-d regarding this situation.

Allowance Resources

• Department of State Standardized Regulations- 270 Education Allowances Select 270 Education Allowance for current downloadable version
• Department of State Standardized Regulations – 277.3 Home Study/Private Instruction Allowance
• Frequently Asked Questions and Answers for Home Study/Private Instruction Allowance
• Post Support Unit’s (PSU) Home Study Expense Claims Sample Template

Home Study Resources and Curricula

Home study options tend to fall into two categories. A family can either buy a full curriculum for the school year or can create personalized curriculum from different resources. Some families have also used education consultants to construct personalized programs. GCLO collects information on the programs and resources Foreign Service families are using worldwide. Below is a list of curricula most recently used by Foreign Service families.

Listings of private entities on this page are provided as a convenience and should not be construed as an endorsement by the U.S. Department of State or the U.S. government of the entity, its views or the products or services it provides. The order in which names appear has no significance, and the links may be removed at any time at the discretion of the Department.

Home Study Resources

• Home School Facts.com
• PBS Parents Homeschooling Overview
• Homeschool-Curriculum.org
• Virginia Department of Education Approved Multidivision Online
• Independent Educational Consultants Association – The Department of State and the Global Community Liaison Office do not guarantee the reimbursement of any of these programs or services. Work with your Financial Management Officer at post or your agency’s certifying officer to ascertain whether you qualify for the Home Study/Private Instruction Allowance and what will be reimbursable.
• The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST) is dedicated to capturing, preserving, and sharing the experiences of America’s diplomats through their oral histories to strengthen public appreciation of diplomacy’s contribution to America’s national interests. Explore ADST’s educational materials and its rich collection of over 2,000 primary source oral histories by American diplomats that will inspire students and support a variety of world history, global studies, and civics projects. The history of their work can deeply engage students by fostering historical empathy and by bringing global competence to life in a unique way.

Home Study Curricula

Note: Prior to committing to a particular home study/private instruction/virtual schooling program, employees/parents should review allowable expenses for Home Study/Private Instruction at DSSR 277.3. Please note: Only allowable (non-third party) expenses are reimbursable. Program consultant fees and consultant-related fees ​charged by third party providers (also known as umbrella or cover schools) are the employee’s/parent’s responsibility and are not reimbursed under the Education Allowance. 

The following programs are reviewed annually and updated as needed but may include programs that charge non-allowable fees that are not reimbursable under the education allowance. Parents should contact the Financial Management Officer (FMO) at post with any questions on allowable fees.

Home Study in the U.S.

There are no homeschooling education allowances available to child dependents living in the U.S. Home instruction requirements and procedures vary by state and county. For more information, contact your state’s Department of Education.

Washington, DC Area Information on Home Study

• Fairfax County Home Instruction Guidelines/Online Campus – Fairfax County Public Schools offers online courses identical in content to those offered in traditional classrooms.
• Montgomery County, MD Public School System Home Study Information
• Maryland Homeschool Support Groups
• Washington DC Homeschool Support Groups
• Prince William County, VA – Offers online coursework for high school credit for students enrolled in an accredited high school.
• Virginia Homeschooling
• Washington, DC Homeschooling

Disclaimer

Listings of private entities on this page are provided as a convenience and should not be construed as an endorsement by the U.S. Department of State or the U.S. government of the entity, its views or the products or services it provides. The order in which names appear has no significance, and the links may be removed at any time at the discretion of the Department.