Government visit to check on home schooling progress, how i prepare to ensure they leave me alone for another year

This is my second post about my family efforts to drop out of the system and take responsibility for our own life with as little conformity to the systems that bind us, and this post is a small sample of the daily battles we face as a family.  That said we have the yearly visit from the district council to check that my children are getting an education.

It is fair to say that this regular intervention serves a purpose to protect children to some degree from irresponsible parents who don't take the education of their children seriously and cant be bothered and although that seems like an inconcievable thought to me i know and so do you that somewhere that is the case.

However these are the hoops we have to jump through to keep them happy and more importantly the work i am doing and the presentation of a cohesive education plan with demonstatable evidence helps all of us in the long run because if we show we are competent and capable then the bigger government doesn't step in to ruin it.

  In the UK at least there was an article where there is a call for govenment to start checking for religious fundamentalism in families, anti government sentiment and wild notions of leaving the system.  

This is something that is very much dependent on what fundamentalism is, is it Christian fundamentalism, is it Muslim fundamentalism or is it geared more towards finding out if families are doing what we are doing which is finding an alternative way of living.  Either way it will be something they will define as it suits them and guaranteed not to help us so it is something i have taken seriously this time.  Additionally they want to change the hours of which the children must study which i believe is from 9-3pm 5 days a week.  Currently it is 12 hours minimum a week which i obviously cover in one way or another.  My objection to them insisting on longer hours and defining stict timings is why get out of a system of bondage and then be forced to do it at home, the idea is a more fluid approach that does not tie my child to a table for hours a day doing academic work, much of the learning is in the activities and self study and responsibility to actively involve themselves such as the camper rebuild, or breeding chickens.

What have i done to prepare you might ask?

I prepared all year for their visit firstly.  I kept a diary with dates of all the items we went through this year, it's not comprehensive but it does show intent and evidence that work was done and helps me to remember and consolidate information.

 I used age group related exercise books that they have filled in and dated which coincides with the dates in my diary.  I have a large box folder where the children have filled in pages of their own work and kept them neatly together so the education people can see their work and progress also backed up with dates and diary.  I make sure my book shelves only reflect subjects valuable to their learning so when they sit at the table and look to see what we read and make an assumption it is only positive and nothing to cause concern.  

(ignore Kung Fu Hustle that is not an educational book!  how did that get there)

This year we have done a lot of education about nature and growing using the grow beds we made, the veg was used in cooking with the children and preserving such as pickiling, and dehydration of fruit and veg.  These will be presented along with all the supporting work from their box folder on what they have learnt and it is physical evidence of what has been done.  Field trips to the museum and other social activities are also noted so that they can see interaction with other children.

(dehydrated pears, sun dried tomatoes and pickled onions)

We bought ourselves bikes and during the summer cycled to the town everyday and they were shown how to ride safely and fix punctures and to bond as a team when we all go out together, preparing a picnic and taking it with us for the journey. 

This is an example of how one subject can be related to the government to demonstrate teaching rationale we have learnt about water distillation and the purity of water, why it doesn't take the impurities through the process of distillation and why it doesn't conduct an electrical charge.  This was then related to the earth and how all the water on the earth is the same water from thousands of years ago as there is no new water on the planet and how the purity of the water is distilled through evaporation for the plants (they drew a picture of earth and the water cycle) and how chickens and animals should only drink distilled water to help purge their system of parasites.  This linked in to talking about minerals and what are live minerals and basic aggregate claimed to be minerals and how they damage the body even from bottled water, we then took samples of water acidity (using ph strips) and the minerals claimed, distilled it and looked at the sludge in the bottom. (see photo) We then built a distiller using two empty plastic bottles and tube and put it in the sun to see how much of the water turned to a gaseous state and rapidly cooled down and returned to a liquid to make pure water captured in the other bottle.

Although that sounds long winded, when the government person tries to write it all down they can't, they dont have the room and you are in control of the conversation, it also allows you to signpost from one subject to another of which shows how much you know and it isn't really questioned because you have the bottles, pictures, diary entry, phstrips and the children have written a page on it.

So that covered ecology, science, comprehension, writing skills, spelling, drawing, physics, practical exercises and then you are covering a lot of subjects in one.

Finally make sure that the house is tidy and neat because a disorganised house will pull up a flag, have your children already working on a project when they arrive and have everything laid out that you can to help you demonstrate with complete transparency what you have been doing and it helps you lead into subjects before they ask.  Leave nothing to chance and they will leave happy with a good report and less visits.

What i have written here is not a contrived method to deceive them over a lack of work but to promote whatever it is you are teaching your children and a tried method of communication to ensure that you are in charge of the meeting rather than giving them the chance to undermine anything.  The government person who visited us last year was really friendly and apologised for having to make the visit as i was clearly competent and organised.  I know if i was not then the impression of disorganisation and lack of evidence to support what i was teaching would lead to further intrusion or a request to visit again with recommendations or worse a court order to return the children to the school system or face imprisonment or a fine or both.   I know this to be true as it was just threatened to a friend of mine last week.   The government person may act like your friend but that wont stop him/her in their duties if they feels it is in the best interests of the children and they do have that power.

I almost wish i could film the meeting but i would have to ask for the agreement of the government person which she may not want.  Ill have a think about that if it is possible then i will and you can see how it goes.

I hope this helps if anyone is in this situation or looking for ideas on how to home school i am more than happy to help with anything i can.  

Thanks for reading.