Hope everyone is well, just wanted to ask about those who unschool/lean towards unschooling, how do you deal with your LEA (or perhaps I should say how do they deal with you!)  I’m not a true unschooler, we do workbooks here and there, however I find myself making the kids do project type things merely for *evidence*, which feels sooooo wrong. 

So, for those of you who haven’t managed to avoid the LEA for whatever reasons, how do you provide evidence?  Do you keep a diary/log etc?

Thanks in advance

I understand that lots of Home Ed families keep blogs online as documentary evidence of ‘learning’ in a formal setting. They also often keep journals and the work sheets or any written/flimed/recorded stuff that the kids create too. The LEA aren’t necessarily as frightening a prospect as they initially seem. Look at some of the other threads on here regarding this and you’ll see lots of people are left to it. I think Becks home eds her children, have a word with her, she’ll peobably be able to give you some pointers.

My LEA is unschooling friendly.    She just wanted to chat about what resources we use and whether we have all the support we want, what we tend to like to do day to day that might be considered educational.  But all of that conversation just took a few minutes of her taking notes and making encouraging noises, she wasn’t interested in testing us or asking piercing questions about our philosophy. 

I probably explained myself more than I needed to in fact, out of first-visit panic.  She kept telling me I didn’t need to be nervous (so I must have been coming across as terrified LOL but we had a terrible unwanted experience with Education Welfare before the nice LEA lady got involved)!  She also reassured Jenna that she doesn’t have to do ANYTHING that “looks like school” as long as she is happy and I feel that she’s learning and exploring.  I wasn’t asked for a philosophy OR any evidence.  And you don’t have to provide anything more than a statement and that only if they insist.  She stayed for about an hour after that just chatting about totally non-HE related stuff lol.  She is a serial crafter and a knitter and a closet hippy. 

We were discovered through Contact Point in the brief period between it going live in Derby and being cancelled a month later (drat).

Hi, We have refused to let the LEA visit or show them any work (we may show them a stack of paper or flick through without giving them the chance to actually read anything at some point).  Our LEA come across a bit heavy handed, I wrote a letter exlaining what there obligations actually were, then the OH put it langague that wouldn’t cause offence - I was blunt boardering on direct   We then sent them an educational philoshopy expaling how we were going educate, what our long term goals were and why we would not be showing them any work or letting them into the house.  One of the main reasons we took M (just turned 9 been out for nearly a year) was the pressure from school to perform and confrom and meet target, M is very hard on himself and his self critism is quite destructive so we refuse to allow anyone who will evaluate is work see it and he knows that what ever he does it is for himself and no-one else will judge it - he still has unreasitic expectations of himself but we are working on it.  This was why we will not let an authority figure into the house or look at his work - we have offered to meet them without the kids at the offices.

We wrote the educational philosophy so it fulfiled the ‘every child matters’ agender and was in line with the establishment aims for education, fulfil potential, futher education if he wants it, etc etc so they really couldn’t argue with our long term goals (I trained to be a secondary teacher before quiting as I decided school was as hateful as I remembered it from being 15).  I think that helped, plus we refused to speak to anyone other than the head of the department after one of them dropped by (when we were out at a home ed group) and left a card with a snotty note saying we had missed an arranged visit and impling we better be in next time, we were already cross at the tone of the first letter and the implications in it that thier remit when far beyond what it actually did.

Hmm we can be quite beligant and stubbon when we set out minds to it, the the OH has kept me in check enough that I haven’t sworn at them yet

And they have not been back in contact since we sent the Educational Philosiphy in