The officer (Ms L) from MOE Compulsory Education Branch came to our place for a home visit today. It was nerve wrecking to have someone from the ministry in our home, observing and taking note of every possible detail of our private lives. I took a week to put away the unsightly stuff that I usually need for craft or some teaching purposes. I suppose I felt a need to impress, to show that we are a orderly and purposeful family who is, in a nutshell, suitable for homeschooling our children. I'm not sure if we did impress her, but I know we weren't pretending to be what we were not.
Ms L came with a checklist of things we need to acknowledge and understand about homeschooling regulations. After we cleared that, we talked about my plans and curriculum a little. Basically she wanted to know if I am sincere and if I actually know what I am doing. Then she requested to see some of the work I have been doing with Sophie. Fortunately, we are currently working on 'apples' unit study so I could show her some of Sophie's work. We also had a mini tour around the house and she was quite happy we have space for activities and learning. She also talked a little about my background as a teacher and my professional training in counselling. I also shared with her my understanding of Sophie and how I see homeschooling as a good option for her.
Finally, she interviewed Sophie. I almost forgot to breathe as Sophie answered her in a quiet and unassuming manner. She asked Sophie to talk about herself and prompted her to say what she likes to do. Sophie told her she likes reading (which confirms what I told her earlier) and she likes science (also what I told her). She then continued that she likes to read about volcanoes, storms and weird creatures. She also say she enjoys art. At times, I felt that Ms L is verifying what I say or write in my application. And that made me very nervous.
At one point, she asked Sophie to show her what she has done in art. I was worried. Sophie took the freshly painted hands and spread it out on the dinner table to show Ms L. We did this while waiting for Ms L to arrive in the morning. Imagine that! Ms L took one look at the hands and didn't know how to respond. The hands were very attractive at all. I could almost see "so?" in her imaginery speech bubble.
Then Sophie did me proud. She went on explaining that I drew around her hands and she painted them brown. They are the trunks of apple trees and she is making four trees, each in one season - Spring, Summer, Fall (Autumn) and Winter. Sophie told Ms L that in Spring, there will be apple blossoms (not flowers!), in Summer there will be sour, green apples, in Fall the apples will be red and juicy, and in Winter the tree will be bare. Immediately, Ms L said she's very good! And I beamed with pride. It didn't matter she just learnt that yesterday and I didn't care if she cut of part of the branch on her 'hand'. I was glad she could ace her interview.
It takes 2-3 weeks for Ms L to inform us if the application is approved, but I have a feeling it's going to be fine. I know she was skeptical when she first saw our work, thinking Sophie couldn't possible understand what I have taught her. But I think she was pleasantly surprised at the end of her visit that a barely 6 year old could speak to a total stranger without much problem and describe the seasonal change of an apple tree in a coherent and meaningful manner. When she was leaving, Sophie perked up (obviously more relaxed) and shouted "Bye bye Ms L!" before running off to play with her dolls.