My Response to the LA’s Letter

Well, I summoned the courage to decline the LA’s request to come to our house to assess our educational provision for B. This resulted in a request from them that I complete a form detailing - ‘subject by subject’ – the ‘curriculum’ I will be using. *Sigh*… Here is my response:

Dear …

One of the reasons for home educating is to escape a curriculum and its negative associations. The form you attached with your email looks like something produced by a school, for a child studying at a school. Since we are engaged in autonomous learning – and enthusiastically so - the form just doesn’t seem relevant to our approach.

Please be assured, however, that B is a bright child and we do our utmost to facilitate his learning. His particular interest is anything related to science. In true autonomous learning style, this interest leads into all of the traditional subjects (including English and Maths), sometimes in the most exciting and unusual ways.

Below are my comments relating to other subjects on your list:

B has his own laptop and uses this both for research and as a communication tool.

In terms of music, B plays the guitar and enjoys learning about different instruments and musical styles.

Art (in the formal sense) isn’t something B shows an interest in right now, although he does enjoy designing and building model skate parks.

B is an incredibly active child; he is an avid and talented skateboarder, rock-climber, mountain-biker and snowboarder.

We have kept in contact with his school friends, a good number of whom he sees about four times a week. We have also joined CHEF this week and will be taking part in their meetings and outings.

I hope the above gives you a sense of how education provision for B has begun; it will without doubt develop as he does. Already he is a changed child with greater levels of confidence in his abilities and a hugely improved approach to learning. I have no doubt that the decision to home-educate with an auto-didactic approach was absolutely the right thing to do.

Kind regards,