Remember WAY back at the beginning of the year when I wrote about my reporting and I promised to keep you updated on my progress...well I hadn't forgotten.  I was just waiting...and waiting...and waiting for the Home Ed Unit to process my paperwork.  Yes from January to almost August!!  So if you have just sent in your paperwork don't expect a hasty response. 

In their defense, there are only a handful of women processing all this paperwork so it is totally understandable that they are so far behind.  But it does make their suggestions and comments virtually redundant when you receive feedback on the upcoming year's program more than half way through the year.  Thankfully I didn't require their assistance and to me they are merely the people I lodge my paperwork with.   But if you rely on the unit for support and suggestions or worst still the paperwork to receive government assistance, my advice would be to ring them and hustle them along a little. 

Since I know you are all curious (I was) I have included a copy of the main page of the reporting document that I received in response to the reporting I sent in at the end of our first year.  It's not as detailed as I expected and I'm glad of that.  It's basically a checklist of requirements and whether you have complied.  Right at the end they indicate whether your child is working towards the expected level for their peer group.  While I don't like comparisions with peers, I can cope with this quick judgement....  It helps that Ethan is working where he should be.

This is only the first page of the report and I have cut off the top to delete identifying details.  Note that the Science/Integrated subject is the self-chosen subject so it would be different for each person. 

The second page is a comment page comprised of a support comment, a few suggested resources, a "for consideration" comment and concluding congratulations type stuff.  I'm not sure if this is the standard outline for all of them but it's what's included on mine. 

The third page has a tick box of whether they require more information or not and a comment box.  I didn't require further information so my comment box was just another "Congratulations" type comment.

Along with this report they included various photocopies of things that they thought might be helpful eg Copies of relevant syllabus documents, various sample unit studies on topcis I indicated we would cover (funny thing is that we covered them months ago and they are no longer relevant but the thought was nice) and a few printouts from helpful websites they suggested.  All of this paper is part of their role as resource and support people.  I felt a bit like I do when well meaning relatives offer us "stuff" they think would be helpful for school.  I just take it with a smile and thank them for their thoughtfulness.  One day I might actually receive something I love and find helpful. 

To have this report is such a relief.  I had expected something much more onerous and detailed.  I'm not sure if this is the standard approach but I did receive a phone call from my report processor in mid June.  It was a basic call apologising for the lateness, telling me that they were recommending my paperwork for approval at that point, and to ask any questions they had and I might have had.  The tone of the phone call was lovely but I was left feeling judged.  It's hard to explain as there was nothing negative said about anything.  We just discussed my son's weakness (handwriting and general dislike of school type writing) and she suggested a few approaches (which I deemed as way too schooly for my likings).  I explained my Charlotte Masony thoughts about writing and the lady suggested that it must be okay to do these sorts of schooly things as other registered Charlotte Mason type homeschoolers aren't opposed to doing them.  We agreed to disagree on this point...perhaps the fact that my education qualifications equaled hers helped (one occasion when that piece of paper is handy).  I also explained why I did not include any "draft" pieces of writing (which they had asked for) but only polished copies (there is no reason for my son to have errors in his work when I am watching him write.  Errors are corrected instantly so there are no mistakes left in my children's work, hence there are no drafts to share with them.).  She didn't really understand or agree with this philosophy either but was very gracious about it.  She actually suggested leaving the errors in there just to create a sample to send  ().  Like I said, there was nothing negative said at all in the phone call, but clearly we did not agree on some points and I was beginning to think the worst. 

I do feel annoyed that our children are "judged" by people who have never met them or seen them work.  How can anyone gauge how well a child is progressing based on 6 samples of work taken from three subjects!    It is also frustrating to have to work with non-homeschool minded people.  They really don't seem to understand or appreciate our alternate practises.  I just do their little dance to comply with the law but I don't have to like it. 

Thankfully the whole process has been relatively painless and I don't really have much to complain about...except the fact that this "peering over our shoulders" approach is necessary at all. 

But enough whinging...I am just thankful that homeschooling is permitted at all.  These annoying little things are nothing compared to what homeschoolers, in countries where homeschooling is outlawed, have to endure to educate their own children.

Okay just one more jab at the process ...isn't it interesting that if our children do not show educational progress, ultimately our children can be forced to attend school.  Does the same apply for children in classrooms who are failing to learn?  Are they forced to return home?  Hmmm... . 

As we complete an activity during the day I use a red pen to tick off our work.  I also note the topic that we covered in our textbooks to help jog my memory when I'm writing up my journal.  If we change something I cross it out and make the changes or if I move it I use an arrow to show when we ended up completing it.   If we don't complete something I leave it unticked or cross it out.  I don't beat myself up about it or insist that it's completed before the end of the week (which I had done in the past).  I also add in incidental learning activities in red pen so I can see how much and what the boys choose to learn in their own time.

Below you can see my completed planner for this week.   Lots of things were changed due to the bad weather and cancellation of most of our outings.   It's rather messy even though I worked neatly so you could read it (you can't imagine what they usually look like )

Oh and in case you're wondering, Brayden has a double page spread  of his own on the very next page of my planner.  There's just not enough space on one page to put both of the boys' work in a way that I can use easily.  So for me, two double page spreads work well.  Yes there is a lot of doubling up in writing as they do the same work in all subjects except Language and Math but for the moment it's working for me.  It also means that I can make little notes about progress on their pages and know who I'm referring to. 

Ahhh....it was a full and successful week.  We ended up doing more than we had initially planned since we were stuck indoors watching the torrential rains.  We're also getting more done now that there's no tv time allowed during the school week.  I was aked today how many hours we spend on school on an average day.  I would say about 4 hours from start to finish but in that time may be chores, meals, breaks and miscellaneous wasted time as there's no rush to be finished. 

So that's my weekly planner from this week.  I hope that there's a tip or two you can glean from my ramblings.