Getting Started on your Homeschooling Journey
What to do when you’re considering withdrawing your child from school.
TRANSCRIPT:
Knowing your state’s requirements is one key to successful homeschooling. But each state is different. So in this podcast, we focus on the state of Maryland. If you’re homeschooling in Maryland, you’ll need to know the following simple steps.
Submit a Homeschooling Notification form to your local county. This must be done 15 days before your homeschooling instruction starts. You can find this form on our website under the Resources tab.
The Maryland regulation includes several options for homeschooling:
- Maintain a Portfolio – Under this option you agree to maintain a portfolio of your child’s work and meet with school officials semi-annually for a review. You’re not required to use formal curriculum or a correspondence course. You can create your own program. Just make sure to keep good records.
- Approved Correspondence Schools – Home Study International in Takoma Park and Calvert School in Baltimore are two approved correspondence schools. You must use their teacher advisory in order to not be subject to public school reviews. The cost per child is about ~$950.00.
- Recognized Religious Satellite Schools – There are a lot of recognized satellite schools in Maryland. However, all but one or two are Christian based, and costs vary from $250 to over $1,000 per family. Enrolling in one of these programs will exempt you from public school reviews.
Withdrawing your child from public or private school is not difficult. Just be aware that there’s an adjustment period for children who have gone to public school before, and the more they’ve attended school, the longer the adjustment time they’ll need.
Even though Maryland offers several options on how you can homeschool your child, there’s one law that must be followed regardless of whether you report to the county for homeschool reviews, enroll in a correspondence school or a religious satellite; and that’s the required curriculum. While Maryland doesn’t prescribe a set curriculum for homeschoolers, it does require that your teachings include the following subjects:
- Art
- Health
- Music
- Physical Education
- English
- Mathematics
- Science
- Social Studies
Your child is not required to take state tests. However, if you’d like for them to take standard tests, please contact your local officials. Every year you’ll need to notify the state about which option you’re homeschooling under. This can be done in writing or over the phone. No special forms are needed.
Homeschooling your children can seem like a daunting task, but there are many groups and organizations in Maryland that exist to help. You can find a wealth of advice and support on our website, and learn about upcoming social events and field trips on our Facebook page and in our Meetup group.
If you’ve ever attended a social event, field trip or co-op class sponsored or organized by Howard County Homeschooling (HCHC), please visit our Facebook page and recommend us. We appreciate you and your feedback!
GEORGETTE – A mom who is 1 month into her homeschooling journey, speaks about her experience with notifying school officials of her intent to homeschool and the challenges she now faces.
