CA State Homeschool Organization
California Homeschool Network (CHN)
CHN was founded in 1994 by a statewide homeschooling families.
Christian Home Educators Association (CHEA)
CHEA was established in 1982 to provide information, support, and training to the homeschooling community across the state.
CA Homeschool Law
Homeschool families have 3 options for homeschooling in the state of California. They can homeschool as a home-based private school, homeschool with a private school satellite program, or homeschool via instruction by a private tutor. For more information about these options as well as other helpful information on homeschooling in California can be found on the California Department of Education website, the Home School Legal Defense Association, Christian Home Educators Association of California, and California Homeschool Network.
CA Homeschool Events
CHEA Annual Homeschool Convention
La Mirada, CA – Since 1984, CHEA has been hosting the annual homeschool event featuring workshops for homeschoolers at all stages, an exhibit hall with curriculum, resources, and services, children’s and teen conventions, high school graduation, and much more. Join other homeschool families from across the state as you are encouraged and equipped for the school year ahead. This is an event you don’t want to miss!
Great Homeschool Convention California
Ontario Convention Center in Ontario, CA – This truly is a fun, friendly experience packed full of resources, workshops, and exciting speakers. Attendees come from dozens of states!
Northern California Homeschool Convention
Destiny Community Center in Rocklin, CA – NCHC inspires families to find freedom in homeschooling. This annual event is held at the
Homeschool Connection Conference
Santa Ynez Valley, CA – HCC is a HYBRID Conference event! Streaming In-Person Keynotes and Select Sessions live from our event plus additional Online-Only Keynotes and Featured Speakers.
All Streamed content will be recorded and available for viewing for 3 months post-conference.
San Luis Obispo, CA – Henry David Thoreau wrote, “All good things are wild and free.” This quote is the inspiration for the Wild + Free community. Join 900 Wild + Free mamas for two days of insight, inspiration, encouragement, and community with main-stage keynotes, great music, guest artists, a Wild + Free storefront, and access to the charming sights and sounds of the city outside the door.
Sonesta Irvine-Orange County Airport Hotel Irvine, CA – Yes, this is homeschooling too! Board games, role-playing, active games, and video games are all fantastic ways to learn! Visit this full weekend of family fun and learn what Gameschooling is all about. There’s plenty to do for little kids, teens, and parents.
LEAP is a San Diego Homeschool Conference with an appreciation for our ability to Learn, Explore, Advocate, and Play together with a mission to create space for open dialogue in the diverse homeschooling community while supporting parents, students, and the San Diego homeschooling community.
APLUS+ The Association of Personalized Learning Schools & Services Conference
For those educating at home using public charter schools, this conference brings a plethora of charter school resources into one space.
CA Homeschool Field Trip Destinations
Discover your love of science and exploration through fun and dynamic learning experiences with animal touch pools and over 100 exhibits. They also have some nice FREE virtual learning tools.
Enjoy hiking, biking, and horseback riding at Big Basin Redwoods State Park, which preserves more than 18,000 acres. This unique ecosystem of ancient coast redwood trees has captured the interest and dedication of many people throughout time. Visit the Redwood Loop Trail – see some of the biggest and oldest trees in the park on this 0.6 mile (1 km) flat loop trail, marvel at their many adaptations that helped them survive the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex Fire, and feel the inspiration this grove holds that led to its protection.
Lots of field trip options here. Museum, IMAX theater, Endeavour: The California Story, and Big Lab for pre-K-8th grade science activities focused on physics, biology, chemistry, earth science, and more!
From solo visits to docent-led group and school tours, the Castle Air Museum is the perfect venue to immerse yourself in military aviation history.
A fun place for hands-on field trips!
The Mystery Box Challenge is a way for kids to become inventors through designing, engineering, innovating, and prototyping using a box of completely random recycled materials and their imagination.
They also have Create@Home resources.
Children’s Discovery Museum of the Desert
The museum is undergoing renovations.
The Children’s Discovery Museum of the Desert is a valuable community resource for children and families to experience the joy of learning about themselves and the world around them. The museum inspires personal growth by engaging curiosity and creativity through hands-on explorations of exhibits and programs.
Crystal Cove State Park’s rolling surf, sandy beaches, tidepools, gently sloping hills, and deeply wooded canyons and ridges provide a delightful contrast to its urban surroundings. Crystal Cove is one of Orange County’s largest remaining examples of open space and natural seashore.
The park’s Mediterranean climate is characterized by moist, foggy summer mornings, sunny days, and cool evenings. Crystal Cove State Park has 3.2 miles of beach and 2,400 acres of backcountry wilderness, which is popular for outdoor enthusiasts and an offshore underwater area. Crystal Cove is used by mountain bikers inland and scuba and skin divers underwater. The beach is popular with swimmers and surfers. Visitors can explore tidepools and sandy coves. Crystal Cove offers sand and surf, rocky reefs, ridges, and canyons – plus recreational opportunities that appeal to everybody. State Park staff and docents conduct interpretive programs year-round including guided hikes, tidepool walks, and geology talks.
The hottest, driest, and lowest national park, Death Valley is vast with with over three million acres of designated wilderness and hundreds of miles of backcountry roads. Enjoy sightseeing, stargazing, guided tours, hiking, biking, and even a self-guided Star Wars Driving Tour.
The park contains an amazing variety of terrain, historic sites, plants, and animals for outdoor adventurers to explore in this below-sea-level basin. Steady drought and record summer heat make Death Valley a land of extremes. Towering peaks are frosted with winter snow. Rare rainstorms bring vast fields of wildflowers. Lush oases harbor tiny fish and refuge for wildlife and humans. Despite its morbid name, a great diversity of life thrives in Death Valley.
The museum offers FREE educational tours throughout the year at no charge. Tours are free for grades K-12, Wednesday–Friday mornings, and reservations are REQUIRED. Please note that unguided school groups are not permitted in the museum.
Homeschool students will have a front-row opportunity to see the massive container ships in action and learn about international trade, ship terminology, sailor’s art, and the history of the working people who built Los Angeles Harbor into the nation’s busiest container port.
The Port of Los Angeles Boat Tour program has returned! To combine a museum tour with a boat tour must schedule the boat tour at www.portoflosangeles.org/boat-tours AND book a museum tour by calling or emailing.
The perfect field trip for budding aviators, the March Field Air Museum exists to promote an understanding of humanity’s reach for the skies and connects this still-unfolding story to March Field and its pivotal role in the development of flight. Several options are available to help make your visit more meaningful, including resources for educators. Homeschool families are sure to enjoy the museum’s exhibits and its numerous historical aircraft.
Add behind-the-scenes tours, animal feeding, or inspiring auditorium shows to maximize your visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Home educators can book a field trip, inspire with project-based science examples, or make use of their curriculum, FREE online learning courses, and other learn-at-home resources (parent-led activities, crafts & printables, video lessons).
There are online courses specifically for teens, teen programs, and teen career resources.
Who doesn’t love a yo-yo?
The National Yo-Yo Museum features the world’s largest public display of yo-yo, yo-yo memorabilia, and contest awards.
It is free to enjoy as a self-guided tour. Docent-led guided visits are available to groups by special arrangement.
Their centerpiece is Big-Yo. At 256 pounds, Big-Yo made it into the 1982 Guinness Book of World Records claiming the title of ‘World’s Biggest Working Wooden Yo-Yo’. And, yes, it does really work; with the assistance of a large crane and a skilled operator, Big-Yo can successfully make its way up and down the string.
Red Rock Canyon State Park features scenic desert cliffs, buttes, and spectacular rock formations. Guided nature hikes and campfire programs are offered during the fall and spring. Biking, horseback riding, ATVs, and camping are also allowed.
Historically, the area was once home to the Kawaiisu Indians, who left petroglyphs and other evidence of their inhabitation. The park now protects significant paleontology sites and the remains of 1890s-era mining operations and has been the site for a number of movies.
The floral displays are stunning with the beauty of the desert combined with the geologic features. Wildlife you may encounter includes roadrunners, hawks, lizards, mice, and squirrels.
The Sacramento Zoo offers special field trips and group reservations, providing a unique opportunity to learn about animal behavior, ecology, conservation, and more! There are evening programs, Girl Scout badge days, behind-the-scenes tours, Overnight Safari, Little Peeps Pre-K Classes, and home learning resources.
San Diego Air and Space Museum
The San Diego Air & Space Museum is dedicated to engaging the community with the past, present, and future of aerospace innovation. Hands-on, inquiry-driven programming inspires learners of all ages, highlighting the creativity and imagination in science, technology, and engineering.
The San Diego Air & Space Museum offers a variety of group and individual activities that are tailored to meet the needs of specific grade levels including workshops and outreach programs, Little Engineers, summer camps, Pilot Ground School, Mission Control Bus, and competitions, and scholarships.
Education programs and activities include field trips, student art workshops, docent-led tours, and more. The San Diego Museum of Art’s biennial youth exhibition Young Art features extraordinary youth works of art from the San Diego County and Tijuana regions.
“Memories at the Museum” is a collaboration with UCSD’s Alzheimer’s Research Center, the Timken Museum, Mingei International, and MOPA to offer tours to people with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s. This outreach program serves students, senior centers, libraries, and community organizations.
They also offer some nice at-home activities.
San Diego Natural History Museum
Their field trips, educator-led workshops, and docent-led tours are designed to inspire and connect students to the wonders of nature.
Lace up your hiking shoes and take in fresh air with the “Canyoneers,” volunteer naturalists who offer free, guided hikes throughout the county. They help you get to know San Diego County’s wild spaces like no one else.
Want the ultimate homeschool science experience? Join the Museum Whalers and museum-trained volunteer naturalists on an adventure watching gray and blue whales off the San Diego coast.
A world of fun and facts for wildlife explorers awaits San Diego Zoo Wildlife Explorers. Their education programs offer a wide range of wildlife experiences, from amazing summer camps to learning adventures for all ages—and anyone with a computer or smartphone can learn about conservation work through the Community Science programs. There are many opportunities to explore interactive web-based training courses in their “Conservation Education Lab.”
Art, science, history, forestry, and horticulture meet at Turtle Bay Exploration Park. All ages will enjoy permanent exhibits in the museum about the region plus changing exhibits that tell stories from all over the world. The McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens feature a wide range of native and drought-tolerant plants and trees with trails and garden areas. Animal programs inspire appreciation for wildlife through conservation education. Paul Bunyan’s Forest Camp at Turtle Bay invites museum guests to learn about forestry in outdoor playground areas, water features, amphitheater, wildlife exhibits, and more!
Be sure to visit the world-famous pedestrian bridge (free access year-round) that crosses over the Sacramento River and connects the north & south campus of Turtle Bay Exploration Park.
Education programs include a lending library, field trips, hands-on family programming on Saturdays, Discovery Camp, Little Explorers, and Famous Artist Portfolio.
The annual Redding Garden of Lights features over one million lights throughout 10 acres of outdoor illuminated gardens during the holiday season.
Is homeschooling for you?
The community of homeschool families is diverse. One study reports that 41% of homeschool students are Hispanic, Black, Asian, or other non-White/non-Hispanic groups (2). Homeschoolers come from all faiths – Christians, Jews, Muslims, agnostics, atheists. Teaching parents have a range of formal education, from high school diplomas to graduate degrees, and cover the array of household incomes.
How do you homeschool?
While laws regulating home education vary from state to state, homeschooling IS legal in all 50 states. Many states offer more than one option. One of the first steps in your family’s homeschool journey is to become familiar with the laws in your state. Then the fun begins!
Click on your state below for resources on homeschool regulations, state homeschool organizations, homeschool conventions in your area (here’s why these are amazing for new and experienced homeschool parents), as well as other homeschool perks in your state.
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Disclaimer: Please note that the information on this page is provided for your convenience as a research tool and resource as to where to find the information you need to homeschool in your state. The team at 3 Moms Blog are not attorneys. This content has not been reviewed by an attorney. It is not legal advice.
Brian D. Ray. (2017) A systematic review of the empirical research on selected aspects of homeschooling as a school choice, Journal of School Choice, 11:4, 604-621, accessed April 7, 2023 at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15582159.2017.1395638
US Department of Education. (2019) Homeschooling in the United States: Results from the 2012 and 2016 Parent and Family Involvement Survey (PFINHES: 2012 and 2016). Accessed 4/7/2023 at https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2020/2020001.pdf