Monitoring and Accountability
These regulations apply to Garrett County, Maryland. If you homeschool or are thinking of homeschooling in some other area, your regulations may be different. However, browsing through these may give you a starting point of things to look for in your area.
Homeschool student work has to be monitored
Homeschoolers’ work must be monitored by either a homeschool umbrella, a private school, or the Board of Education. What does this mean? Well, let’s start with defining an umbrella. An umbrella is an organization that has met the legal requirements in the State of Maryland to oversee homeschooling students. Once students are enrolled in their umbrella, it becomes their responsibility to check the student’s work and progress and certify that it is being done according to legal requirements.
Another option is the private school. What you may not know is that some private schools allow students to homeschool while enrolled as a student at the school. The student homeschools as normal, with the school providing advice and support. They also check each student’s work in a similar manner to an umbrella.
The last option is the Board of Education, which is the public school’s overseeing authority.
All three of these overseeing authorities basically require the same thing with regard to accountability of a homeschooling parent because they have to follow the rules set by the State of Maryland. However, umbrellas and schools may offer added supports that are not found through the Board of Education, since in the State of Maryland, the Board of Education is prohibited from assisting homeschooled students other than to monitor them and offering standardized testing.
There are umbrellas here in Garrett County, however, most of them are strictly limited to homeschooling families that are already affiliated with their umbrella. For instance, they may be members of a particular church. Right now, we are not aware of any that are open to accepting new members that are not affiliated with them. However, if there are any out there, we would love to hear from you so we can post that information on this site for prospective homeschooling families.
With regard to private schools, Laurel Academy in Terra Alta, WV, (formerly Pleasant Valley Christian Academy), and Calvary Christian Academy (in Cresaptown) both accept homeshoolers in Garrett County.
More about homeschool umbrellas
Want to know more about homeschool umbrellas?
Time 4 Learning explains it on their site. Please note that we are not affiliated with this organization or website.