Homeschool Requirements in Maryland
Maryland asks for a few specific things. A handful of real requirements. None of them hard on their own. The dates are the part that catches people, so put them in a calendar the week you start. Here is the whole list.
What you file, and by when
File a Home Instruction Notification Form (MSDE form) with the local school system superintendent at least 15 days before beginning home instruction, and verify/renew annually each school year. If using an umbrella (Option 2-4), the supervising church organization or nonpublic school notifies/reports instead and the local system does not conduct portfolio reviews.
Days or hours
No day or hour count. COMAR requires instruction “of sufficient duration to implement the instructional program” during the school year.
Subjects you must cover
English, mathematics, science, social studies, art, music, health, and physical education.
Records you keep
Portfolio option (Option 1): maintain a portfolio of relevant materials - instructional materials, reading materials, and samples of the child’s writings, worksheets, workbooks, or creative materials - in each required subject. Umbrella options: records per the supervising school/church program’s requirements.
Those are the pages underneath the transcript rather than the transcript itself. The Records Pack has the attendance and hours log and the portfolio index as editable forms.
Testing or evaluation
No standardized testing required and no test scores submitted to the state. Under the portfolio option the local superintendent (or designee) may review the portfolio to confirm “regular, thorough instruction,” not more than three times per school year, with reviews normally at the end of a semester. Since August 2019 reviewers may not observe instruction. If a deficiency is found the parent has 30 days to correct it; there is an appeal path to the local board and the State Board. Umbrella-supervised families are exempt from local portfolio review.
Diplomas and transcripts
Maryland does not issue diplomas or transcripts to homeschoolers and awards no state credits. Parents issue the diploma and produce the transcript; homeschooled students are not required to meet Maryland public high school graduation/service-learning requirements. Maryland law does require public colleges and many employers to accept a homeschool credential, but keep detailed course descriptions and a credit-bearing transcript. High school students in the portfolio option are still subject to the same up-to-three portfolio reviews per year.
A diploma you signed yourself gets read against the transcript behind it. What a college actually does with a homeschool transcript.
Where this comes from
Statute: Md. Code Ann., Educ. 7-301(a) (compulsory attendance / home instruction authorization); COMAR 13A.10.01.01-.05 (Home Instruction)
Source: https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/13A.10.01
Last reviewed: July 2026. The day is not recorded.
Homeschool law changes, and a page like this goes stale without saying so. Before a filing deadline, read the statute above for yourself. If we are behind, we would rather hear it from you than have you find out at the district office.
All fifty states and DC, each with its statute cited.
Filing is one half of it. Keeping the records is the other, and that is what our Records System is for: the editable transcript with the GPA already wired, 131 course descriptions, and this same statute-cited summary for all fifty states and DC. Thirty-nine dollars, one household, however many children you have.