There are 2 laws that regulate compulsory education policies outside the public school and the private school laws.
One is the tutorial law which has a lot of criteria and requirements such as days of attendance, curriculum, teacher/parent certification by the state and hours of study. This is a strict law and most parents do not choose this law to work under as home educators.
Church School law is the one we-DSA- legally work under. It is set up so that a church school has a home education covering that parents are enrolled in. A church school can be on campus or off campus or a combination of both. Each church school can set their own policies and requirements on everything from curriculum used, required religious beliefs, approved teacher(such as only the parents), no single parents or grandparents, church attendance and even days of attendance required. They can also offer on campus classes, activities and testing days such as for SATs. But all of these are their own policies not state law.
The main thing to remember when talking to to the officials of Alabama is that there is a difference in homeschooling i.e. tutorial law and church schooling i.e. church school laws. When discussing the path you have taken with any school personnel or BOE office always ALWAYS state your are enrolled with a church school. It is NOT home schooling according to the state laws.
This is important because often even school officials don’t know the difference thus they will tell you wrong information for your enrollment requirements.
Church Schools can require anything they want and finding a church school that supports your choices in educating your children and encourages you to educate them as you see best without interference can be tough.
As a church school we are exempt from much of what private schools or tutors are required to follow—check out the Alabama laws and how many times it states “except for church schools”.