Home Schooling is an option for parents who elect to withdraw their child(ren) from the public school system. Students who participate in homeschooling do not have access to any of the educational resources provided to students enrolled in public school. Instead, parents are responsible for providing materials and delivering instruction.
Parents who elect to homeschool are legally mandated by the Maryland State Department of Education to “provide regular, thorough instruction in the studies usually taught in the public schools to children of the same age.” Home-schooling students do not receive grades, credits, or a diploma.
A portfolio is usually a 3-ring notebook with a tab for each subject. A portfolio may also be an accordion folder divided by subject, or an electronic presentation displaying slides that show student work.
A portfolio contains samples of student work completed over a semester. The homeschooling semester may vary depending on when the parent submitted the required notification form. Parents should read the educational materials section of the Code of Maryland Regulations for Home Instruction and the Maryland State Department of Education Frequently Asked Questions for Home Instruction before creating a portfolio.
Organized parents take approximately 15-20 minutes per student.
Parents use a variety of methods to demonstrate regular, thorough instruction in art, physical education, health, and music. Some parents use a pen-and-paper curriculum, while some parents pay for classes at local community centers or online to cover these subjects. Parents may show pen and paper tasks, pictures of the student regularly participating in the activity, logs, and receipts displaying the amount of time the student participated in the activity. Logs and receipts are documentation of regular, thorough instruction in the subject area.
No. If this is your first year homeschooling, you should complete a virtual review with a portfolio reviewer. If you have been homeschooling for more than one year and your previous reviews were compliant, you may submit a digital upload review.
COMAR states portfolio materials include relevant materials such as instructional materials, reading materials, and examples of the child's writings, worksheets, workbooks, creative materials, and tests. If your child's curriculum is partially or completely online, ensure your documents display regular, thorough instruction in the online curriculum. Most online curriculum skill reports include: dates, a detailed list of all skills/tasks, the amount of time the child was engaged in each skill/task, the grade the child received on each skill/task, and/or tests that may be printed.
The Code of Maryland Regulations for Home Instruction states:
A parent or guardian who chooses to provide a home instruction program for his or her child shall maintain a portfolio of materials which:
(a) Demonstrates the parent or guardian is providing regular, thorough instruction during the school year in the areas specified in §C(1) of this regulation defines relevant materials as: instructional materials, reading materials, and examples of the child’s writings, worksheets, workbooks, creative materials, and tests.
A parent or guardian who chooses to provide a home instruction program for his or her child shall maintain a portfolio of materials which: (a) Demonstrates the parent or guardian is providing regular, thorough instruction during the school year in the areas specified in §C(1) of this regulation;
(b) Includes relevant materials, such as instructional materials, reading materials, and examples of the child’s writings, worksheets, workbooks, creative materials, and tests
(2) COLLEGE STUDENTS-A parent or guardian who chooses to enroll his or her child under §C(2) of this regulation may elect to provide to the local superintendent or the superintendent’s designee a copy of a report card or transcript from the accredited or unaccredited college at the conclusion of each semester of the accredited or unaccredited college in lieu of a portfolio of materials for the courses in which the child is enrolled under §C(2) of this regulation
Parents that teach students with special needs must show instruction in English, mathematics, science, social studies, art, music, physical education, and health.
Parents may make any necessary work modifications to show the child is being instructed regularly and thoroughly. For example, a parent may decide to teach a child older in age at a lower grade level because of the special needs of the child.
Parents may include work done in therapy: such as speech, physical and occupational.
The Code of Maryland Regulations for Home Instruction does not define the number of work samples it takes to show evidence of regular, thorough instruction. Each parent selects his or her own curriculum and regular, thorough instruction may look different for each curriculum program. Most compliant parents show the reviewers multiple work samples and many different skills for each COMAR-required subject the child has been taught for each month of the semester they have been homeschooling. Sharing multiple work samples and many different skills in the subjects required by COMAR, demonstrate the child is being instructed regularly and thoroughly.
Curriculum
Instructional Programs
Example Curriculum: Houghton Mifflin
COMAR Required Subjects: English, Math, Social Studies, Science, Health, Art, Physical Education, Music
What a Portfolio Reviewer would see in a compliant review:
Example Curriculum: Time 4 Learning
COMAR Required Subjects: English, Math, Social Studies, Science, Health, Art, Physical Education, Music
What a Portfolio Reviewer would see in a compliant review:
Example Curriculum: Parent-designed curriculum with some pen-and-paper tasks, project-based learning, and online skills
COMAR Required Subjects: English, Math, Social Studies, Science, Health, Art, Physical Education, Music
What a Portfolio Reviewer would see in a compliant review:
Parents supervised by a nonpublic entity registered with the Maryland State Department of Education do not need to participate in the PGCPS Home Schooling Office portfolio review process. Click to view registered programs.
Nonpublic Entities Registered to Supervise Home Instruction of Maryland Students
