Maryland Homeschooling Info
Hi, my name is Stephanie, and I am the Maryland state representative for Time4Learning!
I am a mother of three. My son John, serves in the Navy and is 28 yrs old. I also have a son Angelo, who is 17 and a daughter, Talia Dawn that is 12. I moved here to Maryland from Pennsylvania a year ago, and I love it! I have been homeschooling for several years now and find it very rewarding. I presently work at home creating arts and crafts and ,do workshops representing a company called Stampin-Up. I am a Former Mrs. Pennsylvania and have a wonderful husband of 21 years, Anthony.
If you have more questions about homeschooling in Maryland, or want to learn more about our experiences in the state, you can contact me in the Parent forum at: stephanielemma
Hi, my name isJzua, and I am one of the Maryland state representative for Time4Learning!
We've been homeschooling (on record) for two years. We have two children ages
seven and one. Our seven-year old never attended public school. We always knew that
we'd homeschool. We started researching when he was an infant. Our
homeschool program is based on our children's interests and abilities.
| They lead the way in what they want to learn and we provide the guidance |
Legal disclaimer: This section is two family’s story and how they meet the mandatory school attendance laws in California. It is not intended and should not be used as definitive legal advice. In most states, parents find a variety of legal methods to pursue the educational approach that they prefer for their child.
Homeschool Laws in Maryland From Stephanie
To find out more about the legal requirements of homeschooling in Maryland, visit one of these sites: Maryland Homeschool Legal Requirement by HSDLA (Homeschool Legal Defense Association); Home-Ed Magazine’s MD resource page -with information, articles, and state-specific resources; and info on Home Education in Maryland by Ann Zeise.
The basic legal requirements in Maryland are that you need to first file your homeschool affadavit. After that - - sit back, relax, and enjoy your homeschooling experience! Your state coordinator for your area will contact you to let you know what is next. You meet 2-3 times during the year just to let them take a look at what you have been doing. You need to touch on each required subject - - but in your own way.
I love to take field trips with my daughter because there is so much history in Maryland! We cover our physical education with a local bowling league, and Talia loves to play basketball, so on her breaks she will go outside and shoot a couple of hoops. We fill our art requirements with arts and crafts at home. Talia loves to create greeting cards to send to the troops. As for our other subjects, I use Time for learning to touch on each subject and follow up with whatever she learned that day with a little project to make it fun. What is great is the resource pages that you can print out to complete your lesson for that day.
Homeschooling in Md has been very impressive. Coming from a state that had very strict with paper work, Maryland has been a breeze! The state is very informative and cooperative about homeschooling.
Stephanie's Favorite Resources in MD
My favorite resource for getting information about homeschooling is straight from the Maryland Homeschooling website and through our homeschool group. We are part of the Anne Arundel Homeschool group which covers our area. They hold science fairs, history fairs, potlock dinners, and I could go on and on. This has been a great source for socialization. You can also go to Homeschool.com and click on the Support goups link to find a support group in your county. Homeschool.com is also another great resource to getting started in homeschooling. We have also used our public library for different activities, whether it be research or chess class libraries in md. have been very supportive of homeschoolers.
Other helpful groups and websites are:
North County Home Educators (Pasadena, MD)
Christian Home Educators Network (Ellicot City, MD)
Homeschooling in Southern Maryland
Maryland Home Education Association
The Home School Mom
Stephanie's Homeschool Day
Our day usually begins at 9am. Talia and I call this "our time." We always start our day with one-on-one conversation...this helps me to determine what kind of day this will be. After "our time", we move on to complete whatever chores we have - - making the beds, laundry, etc. - - so that our day is clear. Then we move on to our schooling. We start by reading a story from one of Talia's favorite books. I break down my schedule as follows:
math and reading everyday
science every other day
English and geography every other day
Time4Learning plays a very important role in our daily schedule. We use it on a daily basis for all of our subjects. It has given me a sense of confidence that I need to continue with my homeschooling. Time4Learning has made our school days run so smooth and my daughter looks forward to playground time after completing her lessons!
Choosing Curriculum for Your Homeschool (Stephanie)
Families new to homeschooling quickly discover a dizzying array of choices when it comes to selecting homeschool curriculum. There is no more popular discussion on the web than homeschool curriculum reviews by homeschool families. After sifting through the homeschool curriculum reviews, most parents end up mixing and matching homeschool curricula, trying to create the best match for their child.
For families with more than one child, choosing a homeschool curricula can even be more problematic. What works for one child, doesn't work for another. What works for one subject may not work on the next. What works one year, may not work the next. Time4Learning's experience shows that there is no single, best homeschool material. Rather than feeling torn between homeschool resources, parents should select a diverse blend of materials and activities.
Time4Learning is used by homeschool parents both as a primary curriculum and as a supplemental program to other materials such as Saxon, Alpha Omega, Five in a Row and A Beka. Some of the features that make Time4Learning so successful include:
- Time4Learning appeals to a wide range of learning styles. Our online learning materials are especially well-suited to children who are visual or kinesthetic learners. These children can take advantage of Time4Learning's interactive, multi-media materials.
- Children like using the computer to learn. It's a convenient, interactive homeschool resource that provides a welcome change each day to paper-and-pencil workbooks and textbook-based lessons.
- Parents like that it tracks progress and helps children advance by clearly presenting and reinforcing the each lesson.
- Time4Learning's self-paced, modularized lesson plans allow you to move forward and back through the materials whenever you want. You can skip lessons that teach concepts your child has already mastered and repeat those he or she has not. The choice is yours. With Time4Learning, you are always in control.
- Time4Learning is proven effective with homeschoolers, has a low monthly price, is easy-to-use, and provides a money-back guarantee so you can make sure that it works for your children, risk free! Sign up for Time4Learning as part of your overall homeschool program.
How Jzua Meets Maryland Home School Requirements
The only official program we use is Time4Learning. This is a good way to get the basics of reading, writing, math, etc. We supplement as the need arises with some workbooks but mostly with real life experiences. He develops his curriculum with a little guidance from us. We don't subscribe to any particular style. The closest style to label us would be unschooling and child-led learning. We change style as the need arises. For example, he is currently learning how to do subtraction with regrouping so we are doing more of a structured curriculum to help his understanding
We follow what MD requires of us, no more and no less. In the state of Maryland we are required to meet with the board of education twice during the school year for a review. We provide documentation on what our children are being taught outside of the public school system. They like to see that we have samples of what our son is learning, mostly in the areas of English, health, math, science, and social studies. Art, music, physical education, and other activities that we do are extras and at our discretion. We keep all that the state needs in a binder and take that to the review. However, there are several umbrella homeschool groups that one can join to avoid meeting with the school board. We prefer to meet with the school board.
Jzua's Home School Resources
There are a range of Maryland-specific homeschool groups. There are three statewide organizations:
Many counties in Maryland also have at least one local support group for homeschoolers. We've listed a few starting points for finding out more about homeschooling resources in Maryland:
To add your group, please introduce yourself on the Time4Learning forum under the Maryland state thread.
Jzua's Maryland Homeschool Contacts
If you have questions or suggestions, please contact me on the homeschool forum where there is a thread focused on homeschooling in Maryland. My username on the forum is: mdhomescool.
I'm involved with the following groups.
Maryland Home School Laws
Summary: The state of Maryland requires compulsory school attendance of children between the ages of 5 and 16. Parents who wish to homeschool their children must submit a “Home Schooling Notification Form” to their local homeschooling coordinator. No specific curriculum is mandated, but the state of Maryland suggests that the subjects of English, math, science, social studies, art, music, health, and physical education be covered. Yearly standardized testing is not mandatory when homeschooling in MD. Parents have three options for legally homeschooling in the state:
1. Portfolio Option – Maintaining a portfolio of relevant materials, such as instructional materials, reading materials, and examples of the child’s homeschool work and then providing this portfolio, as needed, to the local public school superintendent for review.
2. Church Umbrella Option – Operating under the direction of a church-affiliated umbrella school. The umbrella school, in turn, is required to supervise the instruction with pre-enrollment conferences, textbooks and lesson-plan review, an annual visit to the site of instruction, and periodic conferences with parents.
3. State Approved Umbrella School Option – Homeschool instruction is offered under the supervision of a certified non-public school, including supervision of textbooks, lesson materials, and an assignment of a school-based teacher to assist the home teacher. Assistance is also offered for progress reports, grading of papers, and testing.
For more information on specific homeschooling requirements in Maryland, you can visit the following sites:
Home-Ed Magazine’s MD resource page - With information, articles, and state-specific resources.
Home Education in Maryland – Helpful website by Ann Zeise.
Choosing MD Homeschool Curriculum
Maryland families new to homeschooling can be baffled by the array of homeschool curriculums available. Oftentimes, homeschool parents are thrust into endless discussions and shifting between different homeschooling programs as they mix and match trying to create the best curriculum for their child.
To get started, we recommend focusing on the core curriculum of language arts and math for K-8th grade students with the idea that you can layer in the other subjects after the first few weeks. We also believe that the best approach to homeschooling is eclectic, meaning that you construct the best program for each child often taking from different approaches.
Time4Learning is a popular and versatile online homeschool curriculum used by thousands of homeschoolers across the country. Click here to see some lesson demos.
Time4Learning is proven effective with homeschoolers, has a low monthly price, is easy-to-use, and provides a money-back guarantee so you can make sure that it works for your children, risk free! Sign up for Time4Learning as part of your overall homeschool program.
If you have any more questions or comments about homeschooling in Maryland, why not contact me on the Maryland Parent Forum at: stephanielemma
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