OUT-OF-STATE FAMILIES

Maryland Homeschool Requirements: The Portfolio Review, and the Sentence That Caps What Your District Can Ask For

Maryland is a portfolio state. Someone from your school system will sit down with your materials twice a year, at a time you both agree to, and there is a hard ceiling on how often. There is also one sentence at the end of the regulation that most families never read, and it is the answer to almost every argument they will ever have with a district.

Maryland's entire home instruction law fits on two pages of regulation, and the two pages are unusually well drafted: they say what you owe, what the school system may do, and, at the very end, what the school system may not do. This guide quotes COMAR 13A.10.01 straight through, explains the umbrella route and the one word in it that decides who can use it, and is honest about the one place Maryland freedom actually costs you money.

The short version

Two ways to homeschool in Maryland, and you choose at the start

Everything below flows from one decision. Under COMAR 13A.10.01, a Maryland family either:

  1. Works with the local school system, which means the notice, the portfolio and the semester reviews described in this guide; or
  2. Works under a supervising nonpublic school or institution as described in Regulation .05, commonly called an umbrella, which replaces the district relationship almost entirely.

MSDE enumerates the second path as three kinds of supervising entity, not two: "1) a nonpublic school that holds a Certificate of Approval from the Maryland State Department of Education; 2) a church-exempt nonpublic school; or 3) an institution (education ministry) offering an educational program operated by a bona fide church organization." The church-exempt category is the one most often left out of summaries, and for many Maryland families it is the relevant one.

Whichever you use, it must be registered with MSDE to supervise home instruction, and the department publishes a searchable list of registered entities by county. Check that your umbrella is on it before you enroll, not after.

Most of what people mean by "Maryland is a high regulation state" describes only the first path. Most of what people mean by "Maryland is easy" describes the second. Both are accurate about the path they are describing and misleading about the other one.

Path one: the local school system

The notice, and the annual verification

Regulation .01B(1) requires a parent to sign a statement on a form prescribed by the State Department of Education which "indicates consent to the requirements set forth in Sections C, D, and E of this regulation" and which "shall be submitted to the local superintendent at least 15 days before the beginning of a home instruction program."

Then .01B(2), the part that keeps year two from feeling like year one: "Annually thereafter, before the beginning of the school year, a parent or guardian shall verify the continuation of home schooling for his or her child with the local school superintendent or with the supervising nonpublic school or institution."

And .01B(3): tell the superintendent, or your umbrella, if your home school status changes during the year.

Fifteen days is the number to plan around, and MSDE specifies 15 calendar days. It is not fourteen and it is not "before school starts." If you are pulling a child out mid-year, count the days, because the department attaches a real consequence to getting it wrong: "A parent can be held responsible for unexcused absences when a child has been withdrawn from public school but the notice of consent has not been filed and instruction has not been initiated."

And one sentence to know before you fill the form out. Local school systems use their own versions of it, and MSDE says: "Content on the form that is not prescribed by the Maryland State Department of Education will be marked as 'optional.'" If a field on your district's form is not marked optional and you do not recognize it as coming from the regulation, that is a fair question to ask. It is the same principle as .01F below, applied to paperwork.

The eight subjects

Regulation .01C requires that the program "provide regular, thorough instruction in studies usually taught in public schools to children of the same age," that it "include instruction in English, mathematics, science, social studies, art, music, health, and physical education," and that it "take place on a regular basis during the school year and be of sufficient duration to implement the instruction program."

Art, music, health and physical education are on that list, and families working with a district sometimes discover it at the first review rather than in August. There is no hour requirement attached to any of them. There is a requirement that they be genuinely part of the program, which means the portfolio should have something in it for each.

MSDE adds the sentence that makes that manageable: because the subjects only have to match "the studies usually taught in the public schools to children of the same age," they "need not be offered more frequently than would be expected in the public schools." Public schools do not teach art every day. Neither do you.

Two more things the department settles plainly. You do not need a teaching certificate: "The home instruction regulations do not require the parent, guardian, or other instructor to have teacher certification in order to deliver home instruction." And you are not bound to the state standards: "The home instruction program is not required to be aligned with Maryland's College- and Career-Ready Standards." The curriculum is yours to select.

The school year, and the coordinator's calendar

Your program does not have to mirror the district's. MSDE: the regulation "only requires that the home instruction program take place on a regular basis during the school year and be of sufficient duration to implement the instruction program." Families adjust around religious holidays or a parent's work schedule, and year-round schooling with shorter, more frequent breaks is expressly contemplated.

One practical note from the department that will save you a scheduling fight: coordinate with your local home instruction coordinator, "who is often a 10-month employee, so that both parties are aware of when required reviews of the home instruction program will occur." MSDE publishes a list of local coordinators by school system. If you school year-round, raise the review timing early rather than in July.

The co-op line, and it is a real one

Maryland draws the same boundary Wisconsin does, and states the consequence more sharply. A co-op may supplement your program, but MSDE warns that "a co-op cannot provide regular daily instruction to an organized group of students who are not in the same family because this may constitute an unapproved nonpublic 'school,'" in which event "the Nonpublic Approval Branch of the Maryland State Department of Education may take action against the operator(s) of the co-op."

Hiring a tutor is fine, and another adult may teach siblings in the same family on a regular daily basis. The line is regular daily instruction of an organized group drawn from multiple families. Weekly co-op classes, shared electives and enrichment sit comfortably on the safe side of it.

The portfolio, item by item

Regulation .01D is the heart of Maryland home instruction, and it is specific enough to be useful. You maintain a portfolio of materials which:

"(1) Demonstrates the parent or guardian is providing regular, thorough instruction during the school year in the areas specified in Section C (1) and (2);
(2) Includes relevant materials, such as instructional materials, reading materials, and examples of the child's writings, worksheets, workbooks, creative materials, and tests;
(3) Shall be reviewed by the local superintendent or the superintendent's designee at the conclusion of each semester of the local school system at such times as are mutually agreeable to the local superintendent or designee and the parent or guardian."

Read the list in (2) carefully, because it is doing two jobs. Half of it is what you taught from: instructional materials, reading materials. The other half is what your child produced: writings, worksheets, workbooks, creative materials, tests. A portfolio that is all curriculum and no student work has only answered half the question, and a portfolio that is all student work with no indication of what it came from has answered the other half. Maryland wants both, and the word "such as" means the list is illustrative rather than a checklist you must complete item for item.

The review, and the three limits on it

Regulation .01E is where families most often feel uncertain, so here it is whole. A parent agrees to permit a representative of a local school system "to review the portfolio of educational materials, discuss the instructional program, and observe instruction," and then, immediately, three conditions that must all be met:

"(1) The review is at a time and place mutually agreeable to the representative of the local school system and the parent or guardian;
(2) The purpose of the review is to ensure that the child is receiving regular, thorough instruction as set forth in Section C;
(3) There are not more than three reviews during a school year."

Three things worth stating plainly about that paragraph.

Yes, observing instruction is on the list. We are not going to pretend otherwise, because you will find out at the first review and would rightly wonder what else we soft-pedaled. The regulation contemplates a reviewer watching some teaching.

Time and place are mutually agreeable, and that is a real word. Mutually agreeable is not "the district picks and you show up." It is a two-party decision, and it is the reason Maryland families routinely review at a library, a school office, or a district building rather than at home if they prefer. If a home visit is not agreeable to you, the regulation does not require you to agree to one.

The purpose is bounded. Regulation .01D(3) sets the rhythm at the conclusion of each semester, which is two, and .01E(3) sets a hard ceiling of three in a school year. The stated purpose is to ensure regular, thorough instruction. It is not to approve your curriculum, grade your child, or evaluate your teaching philosophy.

The sentence to memorize

Regulation .01F, the last line of the regulation, is one sentence:

"A local school system may not impose additional requirements for home instruction programs other than those in these regulations."

That is the answer to nearly every Maryland homeschool grievance you will read online. Attendance logs in a particular format, hour counts, lesson plans submitted in advance, grades, a specific portfolio binder, a required home visit, a mandated curriculum, standardized test scores: none of those appear anywhere in COMAR 13A.10.01, and .01F says a school system may not add them.

The practical way to use it is not as a weapon. Most reviewers are reasonable and many are homeschool friendly. But if you are asked for something and you cannot find it in the regulation, you are allowed to say, politely, that you would like to see where the requirement comes from, and .01F is why that question is a fair one.

If a reviewer finds a problem

Regulation .03 sets out what happens, and it is a process rather than a verdict. If the local superintendent determines on review that a child is not receiving a regular, thorough instruction program, the superintendent "shall notify the parent/guardian in writing of any deficiencies in the program." Then:

"(1) Within 30 days of receipt of notification of any deficiencies, the parent or guardian shall provide evidence to the local superintendent that the deficiency has been or is being corrected."

Only if there is no satisfactory plan to correct a deficiency, or the deficiency is not corrected, must the child be enrolled in a public or nonpublic school. Notice the wording of that standard: evidence that the deficiency "has been or is being corrected." A credible plan in progress satisfies it. Thirty days is enough time to fix a gap in art or health and document it.

Path two: the umbrella, and the word that governs it

Regulation .05 is the alternative, and it is a genuine one. A parent may provide instruction at home "without compliance with the requirements of this regulation, other than the requirements of Regulations .01B(1)(b) and .04," if the instruction is under the supervision of one of two kinds of organization.

Translate the exceptions first, because they are what you still owe: .01B(1)(b) is the 15-day notice, and .04 is the evaluation if your child later applies to a public school. Everything else, the portfolio, the semester reviews, the district relationship, moves to your umbrella. Under .05B the umbrella verifies your child's identity with the local superintendent annually, adds new students, and reports students who leave its supervision. You are still on the district's list. You simply are not the district's business.

The two kinds of supervising organization:

Now the word. Regulation .05A opens by describing instruction "offered through correspondence courses." That phrase was written for a world of mailed lesson packets, and it still sits in the operative sentence today. Whether and how it reaches modern online programs is a real question, and it is not ours to answer. What we can tell you is the practical version: Maryland families using this path work with organizations that have established themselves in this role, and MSDE maintains a registry of every entity registered to supervise home instruction, searchable by county. Before you commit to an umbrella, confirm it is on that registry and ask what its supervision consists of measured against the components named above.

Two things cut against reading "correspondence courses" narrowly, and you should have them. First, MSDE describes the tools available to any home instruction program in modern terms: a parent "may utilize traditional curriculum, textbooks, unit studies, online courses, and other instructional materials or delivery methods chosen by the parent or guardian that do not conflict with COMAR." Second, the umbrella entities operating in Maryland today plainly do not run on mailed lesson packets. That is not a legal opinion, and we are not offering one. It is a reason to ask your prospective umbrella how it satisfies Regulation .05 rather than to assume the phrase disqualifies everything modern.

Testing: not required, and available if you want it

Maryland requires no standardized testing of homeschooled children. Regulation .02 goes one step further in a direction most states do not:

"Upon request of a parent or guardian, a child receiving home instruction may participate in the regularly scheduled standardized testing programs that are administered in the public school the child is eligible to attend."

If you want a norm-referenced data point on where your child stands, you may ask for the one your local school already gives. MSDE puts the legwork on you: "It is the responsibility of the parent or guardian to contact the public school that the child is eligible to attend to find out the testing schedule and to make arrangements for participation prior to the testing date." Whether you want that is a real question with reasonable answers both ways. The point is that in Maryland it is an option you hold rather than an obligation you carry.

What your district does not owe you, and this is where Maryland differs sharply

If you have read guides for other states, you may be expecting a section about playing on the high school team. Maryland does not work that way, and a family choosing between states should know it before they move. MSDE, asked whether a homeschooled child may participate in any other part of the local school system's instructional or extracurricular program:

"No. The home instruction regulations do not include a provision to allow children receiving home instruction to participate in courses or activities offered by the local school system other than the standardized testing programs."

No public school sports, no band, no single classes. Standardized testing is the entire list. Compare Wisconsin, where the statute says a district "shall permit" a homeschooled resident to play interscholastic athletics and may not question the parent's eligibility statement, and Illinois, where two courses a semester are available on request by May 1. Maryland gives you the lightest possible touch on your program and, in exchange, the district's door stays shut.

Two real doors do exist, and they are outside the school system.

Going back to public school

Regulation .04: on application for admission to a public school from a home instruction program, "the local superintendent shall determine by an evaluation the placement of the child and any credits to be awarded toward high school graduation. The evaluation may include administration of standardized tests and examinations and interviews with the child."

This applies whether you took the district path or the umbrella path; it is one of the two things the umbrella does not exempt you from. High school credit is the part worth planning for early. A family whose portfolio makes it obvious what was covered in Algebra I, and when, and from what text, is a much easier credit conversation than one that arrives with a folder of undated worksheets.

The money: Maryland has a real program, and it is not for you

Maryland runs BOOST, Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today, which awarded scholarships to nearly 2,800 low income students for the 2025-2026 school year and is continuing. It is a real program with real money, and homeschool families are outside it.

The reason is structural rather than hostile. BOOST requires a student to be enrolled or accepted at a participating nonpublic school, and a participating school must hold a certificate of approval from or be registered with the State Board of Education and be approved for the Nonpublic Textbook Program. A home instruction program under COMAR 13A.10.01 is not a nonpublic school and is not on that list. Maryland also has no homeschool tax credit and no education savings account.

One question we will flag and not answer, because it is genuinely open and it belongs to the state rather than to us: a family homeschooling under an umbrella is, in some sense, enrolled with a nonpublic school. Whether that ever satisfies BOOST's enrollment requirement depends on whether that specific umbrella is a participating school, and that is a question for the Maryland State Department of Education and for the umbrella itself. Ask both, in writing, before you count on anything.

The diploma, said honestly

You issue it, or your umbrella does, and MSDE draws a precise line about what it may say. A Maryland High School Diploma "can only be issued by public schools" after a child meets the COMAR 13A.03.02.09B requirements, so it "is therefore not available to students who complete their secondary education in a home instruction program." There is no rule against a parent or a supervising school issuing a diploma, but "it may not imply that it is a Maryland High School Diploma." Say what it is and do not dress it up.

The other route the department names: a Maryland High School Diploma by examination, through the GED, for which a child aged 16 or over who is in or has completed a home instruction program may register. If they have not completed the program and do not pass every subject, they continue in home instruction or enroll in school until the compulsory age.

Maryland does not accredit home instruction programs. Maryland homeschool graduates go to college every year on a transcript backed by test scores and a portfolio. The advantage Maryland families have here is real and worth naming: if you took the district path, you have already been assembling a reviewed portfolio every semester for years. That is a far better starting point for a transcript conversation than most states' graduates have, and it exists only because you kept it.

How an AI teacher fits into a state like this one

Start with what we are not. Kitchen Table School is not a school in Maryland or in any other state. We are not a nonpublic school with a certificate of approval from the State Board of Education, we are not a bona fide church organization operating an educational program, and we are not an umbrella. Enrolling with us does not put you on Regulation .05's path, does not replace your portfolio or your semester reviews, and does not satisfy your exemption. MSDE answers this directly for online programs generally, including accredited ones that award diplomas: "If the on-line school is not a Maryland public school or approved Maryland private (non-public) school, the student must be included as a home schooled student." We are not either of those. Using us means you are homeschooling, with every obligation on this page still yours. Your home instruction program is yours. We do not file your 15-day notice, we do not talk to your superintendent or attend your review, and we do not issue a diploma, because in Maryland that comes from you or from your umbrella.

What we do is the part that has to happen between the reviews. Before anything else, the teacher sits down with your child for a free placement conversation that feels like a friendly chat rather than a test, and tells you where they actually are in each subject, not where the grade label says they should be. From there your child gets a patient teacher working one on one at their real level, kindergarten through twelfth grade. Maryland families take the upload your own curriculum path: you choose the materials, and the teacher reads them and teaches from their actual pages, across the subject areas Regulation .01C names.

And every session writes itself down. The date, the subject, the book and unit, how long it ran, what your child worked on, and what they got solid on. Set that against what Regulation .01D actually asks a portfolio to do. It must demonstrate that regular, thorough instruction is being provided, which is a claim about consistency across a whole semester, and consistency is exactly what a running dated log shows and what a stack of undated worksheets does not. It must include instructional materials, and a session record that names the actual book and unit each lesson came from is a direct answer to that.

And here is the honest limit, because this is a portfolio state and you deserve the caveat before the review rather than during it. Regulation .01D(2) also asks for examples of your child's writings, worksheets, workbooks, creative materials and tests. Those are your child's own work products. We generate some of them and we do not generate all of them, and no records system substitutes for a folder of the things your child actually made. Keep the drawings. Keep the messy first drafts. What we can carry is the half of the portfolio that families find hardest to reconstruct in the week before a review, which is the account of what was taught, from what, and when.

Maryland asks you to show your work twice a year to a person sitting across a table. Somebody has to be writing it down in between. That is the job we are actually applying for.

This is general information for Maryland families researching home education law, current as of publication, and it is not legal advice for your situation. For authoritative detail see the regulation itself, COMAR 13A.10.01.01 through .05, and Md. Code, Educ. 7-301 at the Maryland General Assembly, along with the Maryland State Department of Education's home instruction pages, its Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Home Instruction in Maryland (revised June 9, 2022), which is the source of every departmental quotation here, and its list of approved nonpublic schools. MSDE also publishes a list of local home instruction coordinators and a searchable registry of entities registered to supervise home instruction, both linked from its home instruction page. Regulations and department guidance both change, and they do not always change together. Local school systems administer the reviews, so confirm scheduling details with yours, and consult an attorney about your own circumstances.

Curious how this works day to day? Here's the honest guide to teaching your own curriculum with us, written for every out-of-state family, Maryland included. Since Maryland is a portfolio state, our guide to homeschool record keeping is worth reading next; it covers the habit itself, and the principle travels. Or see the requirements for every other state.

See where your child stands first, free

Maryland asks you to demonstrate regular, thorough instruction. It never tells you where your child actually is. The free placement assessment does: it feels like a friendly chat, never a test, it takes about fifteen minutes, and it works the same in Maryland as anywhere else. No card.

Start with the free assessment
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