The report for the assessment they did for my kids home education - I'm telling you: these people are nuts!

in #familyprotection7 years ago (edited)

First of all: when they came for the initial assessment we told them (my daughter about 20 times) that we were going to Portugal for 8 days and they asked us when. They noted the dates in their little clipboards.
Guess what? They decided to send us the report, by registered mail, on the 1st of November...
The day they knew we'd be gone. Here in Ireland, if you miss a registered letter, they will hold it for three days and then return it back to sender. I only found out on the 8th that they sent it and couldn't get to the post office until the 9th.
They had no clue where the letter had come from, but I had my suspicions so after some track and trace I found out it came from Dublin. I called them, and yes, it had been them who sent it, and if I was going to be around to accept it this time?

So the letter came back here, today. There was a request to go through the letter and reply not more than 14 days after they sent it out to me. Dated the 1st. This pretty much showed me that this was done on purpose.
First there was a moment of panic, but then after I spoke to Pippa (homeschool advocate here in Ireland) who was here during the assessment, I now know the deal:

  1. They have NO business whatsoever to finalize a report yet, AT ALL!
  2. They should, according to their OWN guidelines, have contacted me to make an appointment, to discuss their findings.
  3. They obviously don't know their own guidelines or even consider them, but we as parents are supposed to be perfect.

So with that information in mind, I decided to call the assessor.
When I told him about my concerns, he apologized profoundly and made an excuse. He pretty much told me it hadn't been him, but his boss who did it this way. Of course, I could appreciate that, although I always have a feeling that he might be playing the good cop in my case, so I'm always weary. Never trust anything they say!
When I told him that I think that they sent this letter to me on this date on purpose because they knew I'd be out of town, he really had nothing to say.
Silence speaks a thousand words...

The report - what it said - no surprise here: They haven't got a clue what they're doing, let alone what they're talking about

First they gave me a 10 page long account of what had been discussed between us. 10 pages for each child!
Mentioned were all the things we have covered. The list went on and on.
Then their issue with it: "It is unclear if the children receive a minimum education because there is not a lot of WRITTEN evidence of this."
The thing is: with unschooling, as it is in our case, it is very hard to provide written evidence.
I don't sit the kids down to do tests. I don't ask them to slam down the times tables. I don't do spelling tests, or maths tests, or science tests.

What do we do?
We discover nature and take photos. We try to find out what kind of insect or bird or tree we've seen on those nature walks.
We make diners and lunches together and sometimes the kids will do it all on their own.
We read books, in Dutch and English and sometimes I'll even speak some German to them or try some French and Spanish, both know how to write their names in Katakana and they know pretty much all the curse words in Mandarin (that was a proud moment).
We do science experiments.
We explore the world map and learn as much as we can about different countries.
When we went to Portugal, we were constantly learning for instance. Best way to learn anything is to live it after all.

But do I have all this in writing? No, hardly anything.
I don't have to record anything on paper, because I KNOW.
When my 8 year old does maths problems for 10 year olds, I know he makes progress.
When his sister asks how to spell difficult, and he yells out the spelling, I know he makes progress and when he puts together a spreadsheet of all the countries he wants to visit and ads the continents without even looking at the map, I know too. That moment when he asks me to fix a problem with the computer and then tells me he fixed it already, I KNOW.

When my 9 year old cooks a full diner on her own and LOVES it, I know she makes progress.
When she sits next to me, acts like my financial adviser and tells me to buy a certain cryptocurrency and this coin is worth 4 times more the next day: I sure as hell know! (note: this is not something that happened only once, she's right about her 'hunches' 8 out of 10 times!).
When she sees my friends honeymoon photos in the Maldives, and yells: "That's in Asia!"
I just KNOW they are making progress and are learning more than anyone their age would if they are in school.
Just try it, ask a 9 year old child in school where the Maldives are and they probably answer America or 'dunno...'
To be honest, I think you could even get the same answer from a college student if you ask me..

http://www.esquireme.com/content/20933-cyber-security

But no, we don't have it in writing mostly. We have photos and we have their work done on the computer (which is a lot).
But in their opinion this doesn't count. Probably because their little minds don't go beyond reports written on paper.
The funny thing with this is though, that if I would have cheated and asked someone in the homeschool community who follows a curriculum to borrow their kids written work, I would have been OK.
But I didn't cheat, I showed them photo after photo and the diary I keep that covers what we've done and the work they do on the computer (like a computer program that SHOWS you that they are way ahead of their age group with maths).

Why I'm not worried - yet

All of this indicated even more than before that the social worker is involved in this from beginning to end.
The fact that I haven't seen her for weeks and that she never once asked me about my dealings with the home ed assessor, told me as well.
She acts all nice and friendly (as if we could be best friends...ya RIGHT) but I know she has a hidden agenda.
In our first meeting, she made it very clear that she thought my kids (and all kids for that matter) needed to be in school. I doubt that in the last few weeks she changed her mind on this subject.

Anyway, the assessor set an appointment for the beginning of December.
Pippa will be there because she'll have something to say too (very exciting, she is nothing you want to mess with).
At this meeting, he will tell me what the issues were and how to proceed from here.
They will then set a new appointment for a comprehensive assessment, which pretty much means that they will ask the kids to read something, write something and probably some maths and whatever else they have learned.

What I will do during this assessment?
Well, once they are done with their assessment of these topics, I will calmly ask them to assess my kids on the following subjects:

  1. Dutch. I would really like for them to ask my kids questions in Dutch to assess their progress with that language.
  2. German. Same as above.
  3. French/ Spanish...
  4. I would love for them to sit down with my kids and hear them explain about cryptocurrency, about the best times to buy and sell, about pump and dumps, trends, upcoming ICO's and the best of all: SHOW them the profits they've made with their little investments. I am pretty sure they won't be able to find a single child in any school in the area who invested 20 Euro in Antshares to turn it into 250 only weeks later with Neo!

What do I want for my kids?

First of all: I want them to be happy. If for one moment, I think they're not happy, I will change course and try something different.
Second: I want them to be free. Free of chains and limitations put on them by schools, teachers and social workers who think they know everything.
Third: I want them to question everything and everyone - even me. Thinking for yourself they call it.
Fourth: Be happy, be free, question everything and LIVE the way they want to live their lives.

Honestly, who doesn't want this for their children?

And what if?

Yes, I have thought about that too.
Before Portugal I was already trying to come up with an exit strategy.
Now that I started on a new job as a freelancer and combined with Steemit, it will be a lot easier for us to move anywhere really without having to worry about money.
After Portugal, a new world had opened up to me.
I loved the country and the people, or at least what I've seen so far.
So that is one option.

I have a friend who recently moved to Peru who says I would fit in really well and do well there.
So that's option 2.

I have another friend who asked me if we would like to spend some time with her and her daughter in Hawaii.
Option 3.

But who knows where the wind takes us?
What I do know is that there are always options. It might not seem that way at first, but there are.
For some it is easier than others, that's why I believe in the project @familyprotection because I know that one day it will be possible to help others just like me, but who don't have the means to just move or change direction because of whatever reason.
What I also know is that, however much I love Ireland (minus the rain) and its people, it is becoming a place where I don't want to be. Not for long anyway.
So the plans are on the table.
The rest will follow...

If you'd like to read more about my dealings with home education assessors and child protective services, you can find this here:

https://steemit.com/familyprotection/@misslasvegas/2azajs-the-dreaded-day-has-come-social-services-are-after-my-kids-i-m-making-an-exit-plan

and here:

https://steemit.com/familyprotection/@misslasvegas/the-child-protection-workers-now-overstep-their-boundaries-again

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Thank-you for mentioning @familyprotection
It is clear that these agencies are not really looking out for what is best for the child.
Governments around the world,
are using "Child Protection Agencies"
to take children away from loving families
and place them in foster care or group homes.
THESE FAMILIES NEED PROTECTING.

you're welcome. It's the least I can do. I'm hearing so many similar stories to the ones I've read here, happening right this moment everywhere. Here in Ireland we now have a big problem (like in lots of other places). Families have been evicted out of their homes because the banks repossess the home when they can't pay the mortgage (or rent after losing jobs). Just recently there was a woman and her 4 year old daughter sleeping outdoors in Dublin. These people face many more problems. CPS can step in and either demand they hand over the kids for their own good, or make it into a 'good' story when they 'offer help' and offer to take the child until they get back on their feet. Then when they do, they won't get their children back because they will tell them it would be too confusing for the child to go back now once they are settled. There is also another problem here and that is that since new laws came into place (they make us believe we actually voted for this act) that makes it easier for cps to decide if a child should and can be adopted without the courts. I find these situations very dangerous and it gives them even more power...Power they should never have. And neither should a judge really...

Thank you @misslasvegas for giving us an update on what’s been going on. Wow you have still been dealing with a lot. Your kids sound so amazing and so intelligent! It wouldn’t surprise me if the social workers were really intimidated by that. I hope they agree to ask your kids the questions you have for them. I’m thinking so they can keep their “claim” that your kids aren’t learning enough, they will deny you to prove to them any different. I hope that’s not the case though.

I can tell from your posts that you have gained so much knowledge and wisdom when dealing with them now. Experience does make us wiser and stronger. I love the way that you are standing up for what is right and continuing to believe in your kids by unschooling them. Remain strong, keep your head up and continue to stand firm. Many blessings your way~ ❤️

It sure sounds to me like your children are highly intelligent and are learning more than they would ever learn in school.
I really love the part about your daughter being the one showing you how to trade cryptos! Now that is certainly something that the schools are behind in ... lol ...

Isn't unschooling great?
If only more people could see that too.

I am always grateful that the province that I live in has perhaps the best laws in the world for homeschooling and leaving the education in the parent's hands. I know that there would sure be a lot more stress in my life if I had to deal with the type of regulations and jerks that you are dealing with.

Thanks so much for sharing this with us.

Yes!!! Unschooling is the best thing I could have done for them (and me too). I never really understood how child-led learning worked until we did. It is amazing to see what the kids come up with when you just let them be. Now, the kids and I are constantly learning, I learn as much from and with them as the other way around, maybe even more. That's why I always laugh when people ask me how many hours I spend on 'teaching'. I usually answer that I don't teach anything most of the time, they do it themselves and it's a constant thing, we don't really have set hours to do it. Most of the time people look at me like I have two heads, but then when they interact with the kids they always compliment them on how well they communicate. Lately I get a lot of parents (since we moved to a different county) that tell me that I'm probably right to do it this way, followed by the excuses why they wouldn't be able to...I usually invite them to come and see how we do it lol. And yes, my daughter just has a very good feel for cryptocurrency, but it doesn't surprise me either, they grow up with it. She loves to just sit and watch what I do, and I guess she just picked up on things and remembered. We were talking about the comprehensive assessment to come and I told her she would blow them out of the water with her knowledge. She replied that she knew very little about crypto and that she was nervous. When I asked her to name a few cryptocurrencies and the idea behind them she came up with about ten without even thinking! I want to see them try it! Thank you again @canadian-coconut for your kind words and support. It all does cause stress unnecessarily and to be honest, it would be so much harder without the support and love in this community.

@canadian-coconut, I am beginning to imagine how sweet it would have been if i were unschooled. The early time of me being in school made me feel like "a fish made to walk on land", it felt too generalistic and controlling. My mind was always distracted!...

I feel exactly the same way! I've always said that in all my life, I've learned more from my father than I ever have in school, and that includes two college degrees! He lived through WWII in Amsterdam, went on to work on a ship and traveled around the world. The stories that came with that taught us more than any school ever could. I never fitted in in school either. Even at a young age I was always going against the teacher and questioning things they said, often to their despair. I think in my whole time in school, I've had maybe three teachers who I learned from, and even they were bound by rules...

That's wonderful(your dad).
Well, I recently got a University degree and might be heading for a masters, but all of life's true lessons and values I learnt from my family and wise elderly folks around me. I always enjoy being around them, their wisdom and knowledge is Unmatched!. My age groups from other families who we always hanged out occasionally made life fun!. It is so unique that even centralised-schools don't cut it, not one bit!.

Good luck with your December assessment! They probably won't like it if you bring up how many things your kids know, as it is not on the curriculum and that's all they know. Also, I don't think they will appreciate your ideas - wanting your kids to be free!? These people are not free themselves, they're just little wheels in a system. If deep down they have a feeling they're not free, they'll hate you even more wanting to keep your children out of the system.
The good thing is you have your exit strategies ready in case their report won't be good for your family.
I couldn't provide any written proof of what my son is up to, either.

I think a lot of unschoolers have the same thing: their kids are learning all day long but nothing is in writing. And unschooling used to be perfectly fine when the former people were doing it, often times the assessors were even encouraging it! But that has changed into these bureaucratic rules and guidelines they ask us to go by, but at the same time throw them in the wind when it suits them. And all because they made one major change: It went into the hands of child protective services and that sounds more to Nazi Germany to me than anything else. And I think you're right, I felt an air of jealousy coming from the social worker when my daughter proudly told her that we were going to Portugal with money made with crypto. They can't even wrap their little heads around what freedom would feel like, let alone live it, because they are so desperately trying to hang on to the system that eventually will fail everyone that's involved with it.

Very "scheming" set of people, they had to send it so you miss the mail, then hold you responsible for refusing to accept the mail or use that against you.
I must say, your kids are learning a lot!.

Yes, indeed they are. But I kept the tickets, so I can always prove that I was gone in that time. I have two witnesses who were here when I told them AND the social worker that we would be gone and when, so I'm not too worried about that. It just shows their incapability to listen (and read their own notes) rather than anything they try to stick on me.

Many of these agencies are self-serving and could care less about the welfare of their clients. It is VITAL to document all they do in some form or another and be as complete as possible. In all respect I am sorry you had to go though this with your family. Now at least you can be a blessing to others by sharing your story and being a voice for the voiceless...making it safer for them to come forward. Thanks.

Thank you so much for your kind words. I truly hope it helps. And yes, you're right: they are self-serving. I tend to believe in the good in people, and I don't think ALL cps workers are evil, but they work for an evil agency and lose their humanity somehow. The agencies don't care no, to them, all kids and their parents are just a number in their system and they have all the power to do whatever they want. Thank you for reading and for your valuable comment.

I am sorry you're going through that. We are also unschoolers. Everyone in Belize thinks we are crazy, but they leave us alone.

Ah, Belize...used to be number 1 on our list :) Ireland was supposed to be a stopover to Belize haha. Thank you for reading and your kind words. It's a nuisance to say the least. I've been trying to keep my cool mostly, but they can only push a person so much. The thing is, taking risks with these guys is really like risking it all. So I try to keep my head down until this all resolves. I'm just getting tired of them at this stage, since it's not the first time we dealt with them here. Somehow they seem to think a single mother must not be coping and must be on drugs or something. When I was in an unhealthy relationship (it became unhealthy as time went by) they left us alone. But as soon as I decided to step out of that relationship for the health of all of us, they were all over it (the kids must be suffering over the break up...but no word how they could have suffered if I had stayed..). I'm taking one day at a time and in between try to plan my next move. That's all I can do really.

Well, I hope you'll find us if you come here. It's a terrible feeling to want to really tell someone what you think but not be able to. I just can't understand why they focus on the absolute wrong things. Kids are being abused, but they worry about children who explore the beauty of the world each day with the person who loves them most. It's nutty.

Very true. When my eldest was in school (she was about 9) we were running a bit late one day and just when we walked into the hall way of the building, a car stopped with a mother and her twins. The principal was standing right next to me and saw/heard exactly what I saw. The woman got out of the car, her daughter behind her. Her son however refused to get out, arms crossed and said he wasn't going (I wonder why? He had the right idea). She then ran around the car, pulled him out of the car by his ear so hard that he screamed. She then gave him a kick to make him walk, got back to the drivers seat, gave us the biggest smile and drove off! The child was crying and his sister was comforting him when they walked in to the building. I couldn't believe what I'd just witnessed and told the principal so. She told me that cps already had been involved but nothing was ever done! Later I heard from my daughter that the boy always had bruises and his sister came to school with a black eye! Till this day, she's gotten away with it! So yeah, they tend to pick on people who have done nothing wrong, but may be different and let those slide that are truly harming their children. And thank you, traveling and meeting fellow Steemians? Of course we will find you :)

Ugh. It just breaks my heart. We had a little girl here die recently. She had been abused physically and sexually on numerous occasions. Most likely the stepfather (from the US). Apparently CPS had been called on numerous occasions. Among other things, they regularly locked the girls outside in the rain when they were "bad."

That is so sad. Poor girls. This happens all to often unfortunately. It's a very sad reality. We had two cases in Holland a while back where cps was involved in the family and didn't see anything wrong with the kids situation. Two separate families with both evil stepfathers and mothers who did nothing. The referrals were flooding in with both of them. Bruises in school, broken bones, depressed children, etc. etc. Nothing was done. Until they found each of the girls, in pieces. And then if things weren't bad enough, one of those girls had a little sister and her dad tried to get her back, because he'd been telling CPS repeatedly that he was worried for the safety of his daughters: the judge ruled against him and the girl, who had no one left, was placed into care! So many lives detroyed, just because those CPS follow a manual, and are to lazy to live by their own rules. After those cases, they completely turned it the other way, and now all of a sudden, the CPS in Holland are like Gestapo. Even more families destroyed. They call it a liberal country, but I wonder what those girls would say to that!

It honestly appears like if you are an evil parent, CPS will like you and let you keep your children. And if you are a caring, loving parent, they will try their best to take your child away.
It is SICK!
It feels like a grand conspiracy involving some level of evil we do not understand. I know that sounds woo woo ... but that's all that I can surmise seeing case after case of good families broken up and dangerous families kept intact.

It sounds woo woo to some, but not to me. I've been researching several subjects believed to be conspiracy theories, and been linking the banks, people in power, governments, big pharma, institutions....and so on and so on. And there are MANY connections. The thing is, it has been this way for hundreds of years. History itself can't be trusted.

How can they be effective and "help" families who actually needs help when they are always busy tearing families without problems. Busybodies they are. I feel they counter-work so as to make the public think "that their job is relevant" since a few cases like this arouses the public

'It takes a village to raise a child'
-scariest phrase I've ever heard.

It is and it isn't. If it is meant in a way like what they originally meant with it, it's perfect. In some places and times it was normal for the whole family, street or even town to help each other out. That's community spirit. If one family had 4 young kids, and had too much work, they could call on others to help them. Nowadays, this sentence is turned into something nasty. If a person doesn't cope, instead of helping, they call CPS. That's what's wrong with society now.

What is happening in this present time is no "Help" at all!. Community spirit is different from governmental centralization of values and beliefs. Thank you @misslasvegas

Very true. You're welcome @kryptocoin

Wow, that is so crazy. I hope that you're able to get it all worked out. So crazy what kind of problems they are causing you. I'm glad there were really no surprises in the report. Is it legal to homeschool in Portugal? I haven't ever checked. Hawaii would be so nice - you could have a different adventure every day. Thanks for the update. I have been wondering about it.

I think Portugal is OK for homeschooling, but I think that once we leave here, we want to keep moving and travel a bit, so then it wouldn't really matter. Hawaii does sound nice. I've always wanted to go. In fact, I always wanted to live in Hawaii when I was a child. The downside of that is that it would only be for a short time (maybe a couple of months) and then we'd have to move on. Which can be fine, especially if we consider Peru as well. For now, I'm just gonna let it rest for a bit, because I don't feel like I have urgent decisions to make (yet). Usually, the answer will just show up once I let the issue go.

Makes sense. Travelling around would be amazing for your kids. Tons of culture and different life experiences. If you make your way to Peru and pass through Panama, keep me in mind in the future. :) Glad it doesn't feel like an immediate need to make a decision. I'm sure there was some panic involved at the beginning - I know I would have. Hopefully they leave you alone.

Haha, the steemit worldschoolers are the best! It would be so great to travel and meet fellow steemians and worldschoolers/unschoolers. My experience with the unschooled kids is that they hit it off right away and you won't see them until they're hungry. And you're right: of course there was panic. Humans respond to threat with a fight or flight rush. I believe these people know that and use it against us to get a response. If someone would be just a little more fiery than me, they probably would already punched one of them...so I always try to step back and leave emotions out of the equation. Thank you :)

Lol - yeah I can imagine that they do encounter some times when people put up a fight. If they come in with guns blazing, grabbing kids, I have no idea what I'd do but it wouldn't be pretty, that's for sure. I'm glad your situation isn't this way! So cool to see your kids hit it off quickly with others! :)

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