This fall, the local school district’s homeschool office decided to assign a reviewer to each family. This is not a new concept, just one that this county had not embraced before. In the county just to the north of us, …
Category: maryland
What is a school year in a homeschool?
It’s time for fall reviews and this time, the big controversy this time is that some reviewers in some districts are insisting that education only counts between September and June. Anything done in the summer cannot be possibly be used …
How do I start homeschooling in Maryland?
Welcome! I am glad you are considering taking the education of your child(ren) into your own hands. Since there are many ways to provide an excellent education outside of school, I have not included any advice on finding curriculum or …
Choosing Homeschool Oversight: School District or Umbrella
In Maryland, homeschooling families have two choices for oversight. They can either review with their county school district or they can choose to be supervised by a non-public institution (commonly known as an umbrella). In the local homeschooling Facebook groups, …
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Legislation to Increase Homeschool Oversight
In January 2018, David and Louise Turpin were discovered to have hidden horrific abuse of their children behind the guise of homeschooling. They utilized California’s law that allows parents to establish their home as a private school, which exempted them …
Recap of Spring 2018 Portfolio Review
Signing Up for the Review I was really glad last week when I got the email saying the school district is starting reviews early this year. For the last two years, they have used an online sign-up system that makes …
Prep for the Spring 2018 Portfolio Review
For this semester’s review, I initially was attempting to gather non-worksheet evidence of instruction. My goal was to test out how reviewers react to unschoolish types of portfolios. However, I failed! Not the review, but at pretending to be less …
Minimalist Portfolio
For this season’s portfolio review, I decided to present only 3 samples of work for math, English, science, history, and health. My reason, initially, for the experiment was for the future when I will have a kindergarten student who may …
Portfolio Review Craziness
It’s that time of year again! The first homeschool portfolio reviews of the year and my Facebook homeschool groups are flooding with questions about what to bring. First-timers are afraid of flunking the review. I understand the fear. My first review …
Spring 2017 Portfolio Review
When I had my semi-annual portfolio review with the school district this spring, I was trying to test my theory that first impression helps me breeze through the review. For prior reviews, I presented a look as if I was …
Secular Home Education 