Maryland asks for one consent form before you start and a portfolio of your child's work that the school system reviews at the end of each semester. Supervision by a church or approved private school umbrella replaces the school system review.
Verified against primary sources November 2026. Laws change; sources are linked at the bottom of this page.
At least 15 days before you begin, sign and submit the home instruction notification form to your local school superintendent. Choose one of two routes: keep a portfolio that your local school system reviews at the end of each semester, with no more than three reviews a year, or teach under the supervision of a church-operated school or institution or a state-approved private school. Teach English, math, science, social studies, art, music, health, and physical education on a regular basis during the school year. Confirm each year, before the school year begins, that you are continuing. Maryland requires no testing, no set hours, and no teaching certificate, and a school system may not add requirements beyond the regulation.
You teach your child and keep a portfolio of materials. A representative of your local school system reviews it and discusses the program with you at the end of each semester, at a time and place you both agree on.
A school or institution offering an educational program operated by a bona fide church organization supervises your program. The school system does not review your portfolio. The umbrella must provide, at a minimum, conferences with you before enrollment and at appropriate intervals, plus textbooks, lesson materials, or other materials your child can use at home.
A nonpublic school holding a certificate of approval from the State Board of Education supervises your program. At a minimum it provides instructional materials and assigns a school-based teacher who helps you run the program and helps your child with progress reports, marking papers, and grading tests.
Sign a statement on a form prescribed by the Maryland State Department of Education, agreeing to the home instruction requirements, and submit it to your local school superintendent at least 15 days before the home instruction program begins. Your local school system supplies the form. The state's sample form asks for each child's name, birthdate, and grade, your name and address, and which of the two options you choose. The state education department notes that a parent can be held responsible for unexcused absences if a child is withdrawn from school before the form is filed and instruction has begun.
Every year after the first, before the school year begins, verify that home instruction is continuing, either with your local school superintendent or with your supervising umbrella school. If your child's home school status changes during the year, tell the same office. Umbrella schools also report to the superintendent each year which students they supervise.
The program must provide regular, thorough instruction in the studies usually taught in the public schools to children of the same age, including English, mathematics, science, social studies, art, music, health, and physical education. It must take place on a regular basis during the school year and last long enough to carry out the program. There is no set number of days or hours, and you choose the curriculum. Part-time or full-time college courses may be part of the program.
If the school system supervises your program, keep a portfolio of materials that shows regular, thorough instruction in the required subjects, such as instructional materials, reading materials, and examples of your child's writings, worksheets, workbooks, creative materials, and tests. The superintendent or a designee reviews it at the conclusion of each semester of the local school system, at times you both agree on. You must allow a school system representative to review the portfolio and discuss the program, at a mutually agreeable time and place, no more than three times in a school year. For college courses, you may give a report card or transcript instead of portfolio materials for those courses.
If the superintendent finds after a review that your child is not receiving regular, thorough instruction, you get a written notice of the deficiencies. Within 30 days of receiving it, show that the problem has been or is being corrected. If there is no satisfactory plan, or the problem is not corrected, your child must be enrolled promptly in a public or nonpublic school.
A local school system may not impose requirements for home instruction beyond those in the state regulation. No teaching certificate is required of the parent or anyone else who teaches.
| At least 15 days before you begin | Submit the signed notification form to your local school superintendent, choosing portfolio review or an umbrella school. |
| Before each new school year | Confirm with the superintendent, or your umbrella school, that home instruction is continuing. |
| End of each semester (school system option) | Portfolio review with a school system representative, at a time and place you agree on. No more than three reviews in a school year. |
| Within 30 days of a deficiency notice | Show the superintendent that the problem has been or is being corrected. |
| If anything changes | Tell the superintendent or your umbrella school if your child's home school status changes during the year, such as returning to school. |
The regulation sets the review at the conclusion of each semester of the local school system, at a time agreed on by you and the reviewer, and it caps reviews at three in a school year. Families under a church or private school umbrella are not reviewed by the school system at all.
Materials that show regular, thorough instruction in the required subjects. The regulation gives examples: instructional materials, reading materials, and examples of your child's writings, worksheets, workbooks, creative materials, and tests. It is a list of examples, not a checklist, and it names no specific logs or forms.
No. Testing is voluntary. If you ask, your child may take part in the regularly scheduled standardized tests given at the public school your child would attend. The state's sample notification form asks you to say yes or no.
No. The regulation says a local school system may not impose additional requirements for home instruction beyond those in the regulation. The state education department adds that any content on a local form that the state did not prescribe is marked optional.
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Make a free parent accountReference information reviewed August 2026 against primary sources (statutes, NCAA and Common App published requirements). This is general information, not legal advice; requirements change, so verify anything load-bearing for your family against your state's current law.