Homeschooling in Maryland
What Maryland actually asks of a family teaching their own children. Written plainly, and honest where the answer is that nobody asks for anything.
United StatesFiling requiredWho is in charge
Local school system superintendent (Option A), or a bona fide church organisation / state-approved nonpublic school (Option B)
Who actually reviews your child
Local school system personnel, IN PERSON, twice a year under Option A.
What you must file
Home Instruction Notification
At least 15 DAYS before beginning home instruction; verified annually
Goes to: Local school system superintendent
The parent elects Option A (local school system supervision) or Option B (supervision by a bona fide church organisation or an approved nonpublic school).
Portfolio review - Option A
At a mutually agreeable time and place
How often: AT LEAST TWICE PER YEAR
Goes to: REVIEWED IN PERSON by local school system personnel
The portfolio must demonstrate that regular, thorough instruction is being provided in the required subjects, per COMAR 13A.10.01.01C, .01D and .01E.
Umbrella supervision - Option B
As set
How often: as set by the supervising organisation
Goes to: The supervising church organisation or nonpublic school, which reports to the state
COMAR 13A.10.01.05A(1) and (2).
The part the paperwork does not cover
Filing on time is the easy half. The harder half is the year in between: showing what your child actually learned, in words the reviewer recognises, without turning your home into a school.
That is what this tool is for. You say what your child did, in a sentence. It maps that to the published standards we hold for Maryland, which today are Mathematics (487 of 496) and Science (525 of 535). Those figures count the topics we carry for ages 5 to 12 that cite one of Maryland's published standards. We do not hold Maryland's own standards for English and Social Studies yet, and they are being added. Physical Education is not in the app for Maryland yet. A moment in any of those subjects is kept on the general map for your child's age and named that way in the record, so the record never cites Maryland's curriculum where we hold none of it. Then it builds the record you can hand over the day someone asks. See how it works.
Other places in United States
URL fix only, 2026-09-17: the notification form this record pointed at had gone 404 and was replaced with the live MSDE .docx. The Maryland REQUIREMENTS below were not re-read that day and remain corroborated, not verified. One check that was made and PASSED: 'at least twice per year' for the Option A portfolio review matches the form's own sentence, 'The portfolio will be reviewed by the local school system's personnel at least twice during the year at a mutually agreeable time and place.'
Check it yourself: the source we used.