How to Homeschool in Maine
There are two ways to homeschool in Maine. Freedom Academy is often called "Option 2" or "REPS." Letter of Intent homeschoolers are called "Option 1." Here are the ins and outs of both.
Compulsory age of attendance: All children in the state of Maine must attend some type of school (public, private, homeschool) between the ages of 6 and 17. This is their 6th birthday to 17th birthday. So, if your child will be 5 during the school year, even if they were in already in Kindergarten, you do not need to submit a Letter of Intent or enroll in a REPS school. If your child is turning 6 mid-year, that is when you would submit your enrollment paperwork (either a Letter of Intent or enroll with a REPS school).
Compulsory age of attendance: All children in the state of Maine must attend some type of school (public, private, homeschool) between the ages of 6 and 17. This is their 6th birthday to 17th birthday. So, if your child will be 5 during the school year, even if they were in already in Kindergarten, you do not need to submit a Letter of Intent or enroll in a REPS school. If your child is turning 6 mid-year, that is when you would submit your enrollment paperwork (either a Letter of Intent or enroll with a REPS school).
Option 1
Option 1 or Letter of Intent (LOI) homescholing is the more common method. To homeschool this way you need to submit a Letter of Intent to the school district you reside in. Up until the 2020-2021 school year, you also needed to submit to the state as well, but that is no longer required. The state has waived the need for that notification in 2020.
The Letter of Intent is just that. It is a letter that states your intent to homeschool. You are not asking nor seeking anyone's permission. You do not need approval from the school district. Once the LOI is submitted, you have done your part, as per the law, to start homeschooling.
It may seem like I am reiterating this a bit. The reason is that in the last two years, the state of Maine has created an online portal to submit your LOI. However, the online form asks for two items not required by law. They are a date of birth and grade. The law only asks for the age of your child. Why is this an issue? They are minor requests surely.
The issue is simply this - they are not required by law. The state cannot compel you to give information not set out in the homeschool statute. You can read the statute, 5001-A (4) HERE. So, if you receive a letter from your school district stating your LOI does not have required information on it so your homeschool status is now "pending," be sure to educate them on what is required by law.
Once your LOI is filed, you can begin your homeschool instruction. By law, you are required to complete 175 days of instruction. A day is not defined, so be sure to be creative in your educational days. You do not need to have your children sitting at a desk for six hours a day to count it as a school day. Homeschooling should not look like public school. There is much more freedom involved to it. Enjoy it.
By law, you are also required to cover the following subjects: English & language arts (essentially the same subject), mathematics, science, social studies, physical education, health education, fine arts, library skills, Maine studies (at least once between grades 6-12), and computer proficiency (at least once between grades 7-12).
Finally, at the end of the year an assessment must be made on your child's progress. This can be done in a number of ways. One is through a portfolio review. This is a sampling of the child's work done throughout the year. Samples should be taken from the beginning of the year, mid-year, and the end of the year to show progress. Progress should be made on only what your child has done. They should not be compared to anyone else or any other type of standards.
This review is done by a Maine certified teacher. The teacher can be certified in any grade or discipline and can even be related to you. Contact me if you'd be interested in the name of the teacher I recommend. I also recommend you make sure whoever you use to do your portfolio review is homeschool friendly.
Your other option is to do some type of standardized test. The two most common are the California Achievement Test (CAT) or the IOWA Basic. There are pros and cons to both. The CAT test can be administered by anyone and done online with immediate results. You can purchase it through Christian Liberty. The IOWA Basic must be administered by someone with a bachelor's degree and they must register with them in order to administer it.
If you opt to continue homeschooling, every year after your first LOI you then submit a Subsequent Letter of Intent and include your year end assessment results. If you have a portfolio review done, the teacher should provide you with a short letter stating progress has been made. This is then included with your Subsequent LOI. If you do a standardized test, either the test results should be included or you can have a Maine certified teacher review the results and write a letter. Either should be included with the Subsequent LOI.
The Letter of Intent is just that. It is a letter that states your intent to homeschool. You are not asking nor seeking anyone's permission. You do not need approval from the school district. Once the LOI is submitted, you have done your part, as per the law, to start homeschooling.
It may seem like I am reiterating this a bit. The reason is that in the last two years, the state of Maine has created an online portal to submit your LOI. However, the online form asks for two items not required by law. They are a date of birth and grade. The law only asks for the age of your child. Why is this an issue? They are minor requests surely.
The issue is simply this - they are not required by law. The state cannot compel you to give information not set out in the homeschool statute. You can read the statute, 5001-A (4) HERE. So, if you receive a letter from your school district stating your LOI does not have required information on it so your homeschool status is now "pending," be sure to educate them on what is required by law.
Once your LOI is filed, you can begin your homeschool instruction. By law, you are required to complete 175 days of instruction. A day is not defined, so be sure to be creative in your educational days. You do not need to have your children sitting at a desk for six hours a day to count it as a school day. Homeschooling should not look like public school. There is much more freedom involved to it. Enjoy it.
By law, you are also required to cover the following subjects: English & language arts (essentially the same subject), mathematics, science, social studies, physical education, health education, fine arts, library skills, Maine studies (at least once between grades 6-12), and computer proficiency (at least once between grades 7-12).
Finally, at the end of the year an assessment must be made on your child's progress. This can be done in a number of ways. One is through a portfolio review. This is a sampling of the child's work done throughout the year. Samples should be taken from the beginning of the year, mid-year, and the end of the year to show progress. Progress should be made on only what your child has done. They should not be compared to anyone else or any other type of standards.
This review is done by a Maine certified teacher. The teacher can be certified in any grade or discipline and can even be related to you. Contact me if you'd be interested in the name of the teacher I recommend. I also recommend you make sure whoever you use to do your portfolio review is homeschool friendly.
Your other option is to do some type of standardized test. The two most common are the California Achievement Test (CAT) or the IOWA Basic. There are pros and cons to both. The CAT test can be administered by anyone and done online with immediate results. You can purchase it through Christian Liberty. The IOWA Basic must be administered by someone with a bachelor's degree and they must register with them in order to administer it.
If you opt to continue homeschooling, every year after your first LOI you then submit a Subsequent Letter of Intent and include your year end assessment results. If you have a portfolio review done, the teacher should provide you with a short letter stating progress has been made. This is then included with your Subsequent LOI. If you do a standardized test, either the test results should be included or you can have a Maine certified teacher review the results and write a letter. Either should be included with the Subsequent LOI.
Option 2
Option 2 or REPS is essentially a private school for homeschoolers. However, there are brick and mortar schools that also operate as a REPS. When created for homeschoolers, the following is how they are typically set up and, in particular, how Freedom Academy is run.
Instead of filing a LOI, you enroll with the REPS school. Each school will have this set up differently. To enroll with Freedom Academy (FA), you will need to use the contact button to request a form. It is not kept on the website.
Once enrolled, the chief administrator then files all necessary paperwork for you to the school district each year. Each school district is notified of all students enrolled that live in their district.
Then, throughout the course of the year, the REPS school will gather (or provide if they are brick and mortar) progress reports. FA asks for four progress reports a year. You can see them by clicking on the headers above. When FA is accepting enrollment, they are open. Throughout the year, they may be closed so here is a brief look at what FA requires in terms of progress reports.
First Quarter (usually mid-October) and Third Quarter (usually mid-March) are a checklist of subjects. All subjects being studied are checked off. Then a 3-4 sentence narrative on progress made is included.
Mid-Year Report (usually mid-January) requires a 3-4 sentence narrative (minimum) for every subject being studied. Grades are optional.
Year End Report (due June 30th every year) is the same as the mid-year but also asks for the number of days completed as well as a list of materials used. Grades are optional.
Samples can be seen under the "Sample Progress Reports" tab.
For Freedom Academy, all of this information is collected via online Google Forms. This information is then compiled into a PDF and sent back to the families. Copies are never shared with anyone else.
REPS schools follow these guidelines which are created by the Maine Department of Education. The subjects listed as needing to be studied should be covered at some point in the student's school career, not every year.
Instead of filing a LOI, you enroll with the REPS school. Each school will have this set up differently. To enroll with Freedom Academy (FA), you will need to use the contact button to request a form. It is not kept on the website.
Once enrolled, the chief administrator then files all necessary paperwork for you to the school district each year. Each school district is notified of all students enrolled that live in their district.
Then, throughout the course of the year, the REPS school will gather (or provide if they are brick and mortar) progress reports. FA asks for four progress reports a year. You can see them by clicking on the headers above. When FA is accepting enrollment, they are open. Throughout the year, they may be closed so here is a brief look at what FA requires in terms of progress reports.
First Quarter (usually mid-October) and Third Quarter (usually mid-March) are a checklist of subjects. All subjects being studied are checked off. Then a 3-4 sentence narrative on progress made is included.
Mid-Year Report (usually mid-January) requires a 3-4 sentence narrative (minimum) for every subject being studied. Grades are optional.
Year End Report (due June 30th every year) is the same as the mid-year but also asks for the number of days completed as well as a list of materials used. Grades are optional.
Samples can be seen under the "Sample Progress Reports" tab.
For Freedom Academy, all of this information is collected via online Google Forms. This information is then compiled into a PDF and sent back to the families. Copies are never shared with anyone else.
REPS schools follow these guidelines which are created by the Maine Department of Education. The subjects listed as needing to be studied should be covered at some point in the student's school career, not every year.
Option 1 vs. Option 2
What are the differences between the two options and how you can chose which one is right for you?
Option 1: The parent files all necessary paperwork.
vs.
Option 2: The chief administrator files all necessary paperwork.
Option 1: An annual assessment of some type must be made (portfolio review or standardized test).
vs.
Option 2: Two to four progress reports are supplied yearly by the parent to the school administrator (the number depends on how the REPS school is run - FA requires four)
Option 1: The subjects required to be studied yearly are set out in the law and must be followed.
vs.
Option 2: The subjects required to be studied yearly are set out in state guidelines and must be studied at some point over the student's career.
Students in both Option 1 and Option 2 may access the school during the day for classes (as long as they are not offered in your REPS school for Option 2). They may also play sports through the school. When accessing the school or playing sports, you must also comply with all public school rules and policies. You can read the law as it pertains to Option 1 or Option 2 online.
Option 1: The parent files all necessary paperwork.
vs.
Option 2: The chief administrator files all necessary paperwork.
Option 1: An annual assessment of some type must be made (portfolio review or standardized test).
vs.
Option 2: Two to four progress reports are supplied yearly by the parent to the school administrator (the number depends on how the REPS school is run - FA requires four)
Option 1: The subjects required to be studied yearly are set out in the law and must be followed.
vs.
Option 2: The subjects required to be studied yearly are set out in state guidelines and must be studied at some point over the student's career.
Students in both Option 1 and Option 2 may access the school during the day for classes (as long as they are not offered in your REPS school for Option 2). They may also play sports through the school. When accessing the school or playing sports, you must also comply with all public school rules and policies. You can read the law as it pertains to Option 1 or Option 2 online.