How to Homeschool in Maine (2026): Notice, the Annual Assessment, and What the Law Requires

Maine's Home Instruction Law

Maine Revised Statutes Title 20-A, Sections 5001-A and 5021, set the rules for home instruction. The law asks for a Notice of Intent filed when you start and again each year, instruction in a defined list of subjects across at least 175 days, and an annual assessment of your child's progress submitted with the notice. There is no parent credential requirement and no approval step you wait on.

Maine's compulsory school age runs from 7 through 17. A child in that range who is not enrolled in a public or approved private school must be covered by a home instruction notice on file with both the local school unit and the Maine Department of Education. Filing that notice is the step that places your home school within the law.

The law runs on an annual cycle with two anchors that connect to each other. The notice comes first, and the assessment travels alongside it when you refile each September. Understanding how they connect before you start means the rhythm of the year is clear from the beginning rather than something you piece together mid-year.

Filing the Notice of Intent

Maine's Notice of Intent to Provide Home Instruction is the first administrative task. File it within 10 days of starting a home instruction program. For a continuing student, file again each year by September 1. You file with two places: your local school administrative unit and the Maine Department of Education. The Department provides the standard Notice of Intent form, and submitting to both is the step the law requires.

For a family starting mid-year or at the beginning of a school year, the 10-day window from your start date controls the first filing. After that first year, September 1 becomes your fixed annual date. Keep a copy of each year's notice and any confirmation or acknowledgment you receive. Some school units will send a response and some will not, but your copy of the filed notice is your record either way.

The notice and the assessment are filed together once you are past the first year. When you refile the notice in September, you submit last year's assessment with it. Putting September 1 on your calendar with a reminder two weeks before gives you time to confirm the assessment is complete before you file. Before your school year begins, a free reading and academic assessment can tell you exactly where your child stands so your plans for the year are grounded in a real picture of where instruction should start.

The Required Subjects

Maine names a fuller subject list than most states. Your home instruction program covers English and language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, physical education, health, library skills, fine arts, Maine studies, and proficiency in the use of computers. That is ten areas, but most fall into a normal year of instruction without extra planning.

The two that require deliberate scheduling are Maine studies and computer proficiency. Maine studies must be covered in at least one grade between 6 and 12. Computer proficiency must be covered in at least one grade between 7 and 12. Both are one-time requirements within those grade windows rather than annual, so you plan for them once and check them off when your student reaches the right grades.

Maine does not dictate which curriculum or textbooks you use, and the Department of Education does not approve your materials before you begin. You choose the approach that fits your child. If you build your own program from individual resources rather than a packaged curriculum, check the full subject list so each area is represented across the year. Our planning guide walks through how to map a subject list across a school year before you purchase materials, so your course of study is clear before instruction begins.

Instruction Time and the Annual Assessment

Maine asks for at least 175 days of instruction across the year, which aligns with a standard school calendar. If you run a four-day week or take extended breaks, keep a running day count to confirm the year clears 175 before your September 1 filing.

The bigger annual task is the assessment of your child's progress, and Maine gives you four ways to meet it. The first option is a written letter from a Maine certified teacher who reviews your child's portfolio, including the attendance record, lesson plans, and samples of the child's work, to confirm the child has made reasonable progress. The second option is a standardized achievement test such as the California Achievement Test, the Stanford Achievement Test, or the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, with the summary page submitted with your notice. The third option is participation in your school unit's own testing program, with prior permission from the school unit and according to local policy. The fourth option is review by a local advisory board or a home-school support group that includes at least one certified teacher, submitted in writing.

You submit the assessment with your annual September 1 notice, which is what ties the two anchors together each year. Choose your assessment method early in the school year so you build toward it throughout the year rather than assembling it at the deadline. If you use the certified-teacher portfolio review, saving attendance records, lesson plans, and a sampling of your child's work from the first week of school turns the assessment into organizing what you already have rather than reconstructing the year from memory.

What Maine Does Not Require

It helps to see what is not on the list. Maine does not require a parent teaching credential. The notice is a filing, not an approval, so you do not wait for permission from the school unit or the Department before you begin, as long as you file within the 10-day window. The state does not approve your curriculum before the year starts and does not send an inspector to your home.

Maine also gives you four assessment options rather than a single mandated test, which means you can choose the method that suits how you run your home school and what you have already been tracking. Outside the September 1 notice and the annual assessment, the teaching is entirely yours to run.

Keeping organized records, including your attendance log, lesson plans, and samples of your child's work, serves you well regardless of which assessment method you choose. Those records make building a high school transcript far easier and give you a clear picture of what your student has covered when it is time to apply to college or for professional licensing.

Withdrawing from a Maine Public School

If your child is currently enrolled in a Maine public school, file your Notice of Intent with both the school unit and the Department of Education and let the school know you are withdrawing to provide home instruction. Keep copies of everything you file. Filing the notice and informing the school closes out the public enrollment and prevents absences from being recorded as truancy while records are updated.

Request copies of your child's academic records, including report cards and any assessment results, before you complete the withdrawal. Those records are useful when you plan curriculum for the first year and are easier to obtain during the withdrawal process than after it is complete.

If your child has an Individualized Education Program, the mandatory special education services provided through the public school end when you withdraw. Maine school units may make some services available to home instruction students on a limited basis, but the IEP entitlement that applies to enrolled public school students does not carry over. Contact your school unit's special education office before withdrawing if services are in place.

High School, Transcripts, and Diplomas in Maine

Maine does not set graduation requirements or diploma standards for home instruction families. You establish the requirements, track credits through grades 9 to 12, and issue the diploma when your student meets them. A parent-issued Maine home instruction diploma and transcript are accepted by Maine's public universities, the Maine Community College System, employers, and professional licensing bodies.

The University of Maine system, including the flagship campus in Orono, and the Maine Community College System all review home instruction applications. Most ask for ACT or SAT scores alongside the transcript, so plan for your student to sit for a college entrance test beginning in grade 10 or 11. A clear transcript that lists courses by name, credit hours, and grades by year is the standard document. The Maine studies and fine arts requirements fit onto the transcript as social studies and arts courses, so covering them well also strengthens the record.

Dual enrollment is available to Maine high school students through state programs; contact the specific institution for its home instruction applicant requirements. Maine also has career and technical education programs that home instruction students may access; check with your school unit for the process. The full high school planning guide walks through building a four-year curriculum, structuring a transcript your student can use for college applications and scholarships, and planning for the testing windows that matter in high school.

A Note from Homeschool Teacher Guide: What This Really Means for You

Maine runs on a cycle, and the cycle has two anchors that connect: the September 1 notice and the annual assessment you submit with it. We would build the assessment as you go rather than at the deadline, especially if you use the certified-teacher portfolio review, because saving attendance records, lesson plans, and work samples from the first week of school turns the assessment into organizing what you already have rather than a reconstruction at the end of the year.

The subject list looks long, but a normal year covers most of it. The only two items to schedule on purpose are Maine studies in a grade from 6 to 12 and computer proficiency in a grade from 7 to 12. Note those once when you map out your homeschool career and check them off when your student reaches the right grades. File with both the school unit and the Department of Education so the notice lands in both required places. Mind September 1, choose your assessment method at the start of each year, and Maine's framework holds together year after year.