Homeschooling in Maine

Welcome, Maine homeschool family. Maine’s home-instruction process follows a clear annual rhythm: notify, teach for 175 instructional days, complete an annual assessment, and submit that assessment with the next year’s notice. Here is each step in order.

Who this applies to

Maine’s compulsory-attendance requirement generally begins on a child’s sixth birthday and continues until the child’s seventeenth birthday.

A five-year-old who has been enrolled in public school is also subject to compulsory attendance until formally withdrawn. Maine’s home-instruction requirements do not otherwise begin before age six.

Your initial notice

Submit a written Notice of Intent to Provide Home Instruction within ten calendar days after beginning your home-instruction program.

The Maine Department of Education says families beginning in the fall should submit the notice within ten days after withdrawing the child from school or by September 1.

One submission notifies both the Department and the superintendent of your resident school administrative unit:

• Submit the notice through Maine’s Home Instruction Portal, or
• Send a paper notice to your resident superintendent’s office.

If you use paper, do not send a duplicate copy to the Department.

The Department provides a form, but neither the form nor the portal is mandatory. You may submit the notice in another written format if it contains all the information the Department requires.

• Compulsory age

• Initial notice

• Where to submit

• Instructional year

• Instructional hours

• Subjects

• Annual assessment

• Subsequent-year notice

• Records

• Final completed year

What you teach

Maine asks home-instruction programs to provide instruction in:

• English and language arts
• Mathematics
• Science
• Social studies
• Physical education
• Health education
• Library skills
• Fine arts
• Maine studies during at least one grade from six through twelve
• Computer proficiency during one grade from seven through twelve

Maine does not prescribe specific curriculum standards for home instruction. You select the courses, materials, and teaching approach your family will use to cover these areas.

Your annual assessment

For each completed home-instruction year, document your child’s academic progress using one of five options:

• A standardized achievement test administered through your resident school administrative unit or through other arrangements approved by the Commissioner
• A test developed by officials of your resident school administrative unit and appropriate to your child’s home-instruction program
• A review and acceptance of your child’s progress by an identified individual who holds a current Maine teacher’s certificate
• A review and acceptance of your child’s progress through a local homeschooling support group whose membership for that purpose includes a currently certified Maine teacher or administrator
• A review and acceptance of your child’s progress by a local advisory board selected by the superintendent and composed as the statute requires

Three options require advance agreement from your resident school administrative unit before you submit the notice: having the unit administer a standardized achievement test, using a test developed by the unit, or using the superintendent-selected local advisory board.

Your subsequent-year notice

If you continue home instruction, submit the next notice by September 1. Include the annual assessment from the year just completed.

The first-year notice does not include a prior home-instruction assessment. The assessment begins after your child completes the first home-instruction year.

If an assessment is missing or does not use one of the approved methods, the superintendent’s office will contact you for the missing information.

When home instruction ends

An annual assessment is still required after a completed home-instruction year, even if your child will not continue the following year. The Department asks parents to include a note stating that the child will no longer participate in home instruction and the date the child exited.

If home instruction ends during the year and your child remains within compulsory-attendance age, your child must continue through another lawful attendance or equivalent-instruction arrangement.

If your child enters or returns to a school, that school determines grade placement. At the secondary level, the principal determines the value assigned to the child’s previous educational experience.

Keeping your records

Keep copies of all information you file until your child’s home-instruction program ends. Maine law requires you to make those records available to the Commissioner upon request.

Good records help you document the 175 instructional days, subjects covered, courses completed, progress made, and assessment chosen each year.

The Department does not issue grades, credits, diplomas, transcripts, course-completion letters, or grade-promotion letters for home-instruction students. Families should therefore maintain the academic records they may need later.

Your home base: SchoolhouseTeachers.com

Maine asks you to plan the required subjects, complete 175 instructional days, document progress, and preserve the record. SchoolhouseTeachers.com gives you one HOME BASE for doing all four.

One online family membership gives every child unlimited access to hundreds of online, self-paced courses from preschool through twelfth grade, all from a Biblical worldview, with graduation and college-preparation resources.

You will also find Virtual School Boxes, self-grading iST courses, World Book Online, and thousands of family-friendly videos.

The Homeschool Records & Compliance Center gives you the tools to plan and document the year:

• Education Plan Builder for mapping each child’s subjects and courses
• Custom Schedule Builder for arranging the 175-day instructional year
• Gradebook and report cards for tracking work and progress
• Portfolio Builder for gathering work samples for review
• Transcript tools for organizing the high school years
• Applecore recordkeeping for grades, attendance, courses, and credits
• Certificates of Completion for documenting finished courses

Arrange Maine’s annual assessment separately under one of the five permitted options.

One family membership. Every child in your HOME. No fee per child. No fee per course. No limits.