We are coming down the home stretch, folks. Today, we look at the final item on that short list of things that Local Authorities can REASONABLY expect parents to demonstrate in order to prove they are providing ‘suitable education’ to their #HomeEd #LittleHuman.
3.15 In their consideration of parents’ provision of education at home, local authorities may reasonably expect the provision to include the following characteristics:
- consistent involvement of parents or other significant carers – it is expected that parents or significant carers would play a substantial role, although not necessarily constantly or actively involved in providing education
- recognition of the child’s needs, attitudes and aspirations
- opportunities for the child to be stimulated by their learning experiences
- access to resources/materials required to provide home education for the child – such as paper and pens, books and libraries, arts and crafts materials, physical activity, ICT and the opportunity for appropriate interaction with other children and other adults.
I have to admit…I have always gone for overkill with this one. Never more than since Cookie Monster and #HomeCrazzyHome. But…
- access to resources/materials required to provide home education for the child – such as paper and pens, books and libraries, arts and crafts materials, physical activity, ICT and the opportunity for appropriate interaction with other children and other adults.
This one seems a Duh! type thing. But before I jump into our provision here at #HomeCrazzyHome, let me remind you…you do NOT need to equip your home anything beyond the basics in order to prove this one. Yes, if there is not a single pencil, crayon, piece of paper, or that sort of thing in your house, you might have some issues. But you can honestly fulfil this one with a tenner at £Land or similar store.
Remember too that flashing a library card to show access to books and computers is valid. As is taking your #LittleHuman to the local park. When it comes to appropriate interactions with others, even if you do not have or cannot access a #HomeEd group in your area, maintaining old friendships, neighbors, or even those strangers in the park all count.
Now on to our #HomeCrazzyHome. One of the reasons that we are considering voluntarily submitting to a home visit is to get the lay of the land for other unschoolers. If as Kirsty Williams and her ilk contend this is not an attack on #HomeEd parents or about forcing the National Curriculum on others, then no one is better able or prepared to defend the ‘suitability’ of our provision than #HomeCrazzyHome.
Honestly, as anyone who has visited us knows…we have more resources than any early years provision and some schools. When renovations are finished, #HomeCrazzyHome will have…
- Two sensory facilities for the #neurodivergent…
- A playroom with more toys than a nursery…
- A computer/gaming room with three corporate type machines, 20+ inch monitors, high-speed internet, two printers, and two iPads…
- An art room with paints, paper, all types of writing and drawing utensils, plaster and molds, foam art, and more recyclables than you can shake a stick at. Oh, I forgot a selection of expensive Jumping Clay…
- A music room with an electric organ/keyboard, drums, acoustics guitars, bass guitar, variety of tin whistles and recorders, and even a harp…
- Outdoor life sciences lab with a frog pond, sensory garden, plants, bug gardens, grow your own, and butterfly kits…
- Oh, and a gymnastics room. Yes, I said a gymnastics/dance room. And a huge trampoline outdoors too. Pool too…I forgot the above ground pool.
Like I said…more equipment and better facilities than some schools. And PanKwake has unrestricted access to them 24/7. No waiting for it to be free (usually) or scheduling a time. No, when the teacher or TA has time. She can use them to self-soothe or educate as and when she sees fit. Even the middle of the night.
If that seems overkill, please realize too that we see #HomeCrazzyHome not just as our home, but as a stewardship for the #neurodivergent and #HomeEd communities. There is rarely a week goes by that we do not have close to half a dozen friends over at various times. This is a community resource too. For all our #LittleHumans but most especially the #neurodivergent ones.
PanKwake and I are exceedingly blessed to have Cookie Monster in our lives. A man who understands and firmly believes this meme as we do…
But here is something that most people don’t know…as a single mom on benefits in a cramped little two-bed flat in central London, I still provided PanKwake with access to most of those same things. She had…
- the airing cupboard and underneath her midi-bed as sensory areas…
- the reception area and her bedroom, one-half of the flat, were taken up with her toys…
- her own laptop and iPad…
- a huge Maker box full of arts supplies…
- a variety of toy and real instruments…
- three parks nearby, butterfly kits, and a patio garden for grow your own…
- a mini-trampoline and weekly trampolining lessons when she felt up to it.
I often did without to give her everything she needed. I still do…just in different ways now. So too does Cookie Monster. Sleep for one thing…peace and quiet another. But we are not and would not complain.
So NO, you do not need to live in a mansion like #HomeCrazzyHome or have lots of money to #HomeEd your #LittleHuman. But you do need to be willing to make sacrifices for him. Your time as much or more than your £££$$$$€€€.
Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that appropriate interaction…well, to specifically name it, but as I mentioned few weeks go by where we do not have at least a few of our friends around. And then only if we are sick or PanKwake is on her up all night and sleep all day routine.
Heck, we have monthly parties to celebrate different holidays in an educational and fun way. Yes, I said MONTHLY. Our latest was an Unschool Valentine’s Dance. PanKwake created the playlist on YouTube herself (ICT). Our next one will be a combi of spring equinox and Easter. It is a great opportunity to talk about how conquering cultures assimilate the existing ones as those holidays are deeply linked.
Like I said…if this is NOT a vendetta against #HomeEd and specifically #Unschool, then we have absolutely nothing to worry about when it comes to proving that we are providing PanKwake with a ‘suitable education’ within the law and existing case law. Without a single workbook or schedule…or literacy/numeracy…as Ms. Williams contends.
Those things are woven seamlessly into everything we do without placing demands upon PanKwake’s that would create anxiety and lead to meltdowns and ultimately Cognitive Death.
And if this is an attack on our #RadiCoolUnschooling life, then #HomeCrazzyHome is the front lines for the rest of you. Because what we have shared with you this week does not even scratch the surface of what we do for PanKwake through #RadiCoolUnschooling…the ONLY kind of education that works for our #LittleHuman.
Tomorrow, we will finish up this series on ‘reasonable expectations’ of ‘suitable education under the law and case law with a few final thoughts.
Self-Directed Learning & Neurodiversity 