*Social Services Assessment Tomorrow!*

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My son is not doing a correspondence school course this year. We decided to go it alone, after discovering in April this year that children following correspondence courses are no longer exempt from Academic Inspection controls/tests in certain regions, ( which test my son passed ok in June, despite only having done, laboriously, about an hour's hyper-tedious "school"work a day throughout the year, the minimum necessary for the course assessment) .

Last week I sent off declarations to the Local "mairie"/mayor/Administration and the Academic Inspection telling them so, as required by the law.

Yesterday we got the first reply, a letter from the person on the local admin who oversees children's welfare etc, asking for the mandatory meeting with "us" to establish our reasons for homeschooling, and prove/argue that this does not adversely affect our son's health or socialising etc.

Just ( five minutes ago) had call ( in response to my phone call yesterday when the man was out), to make the appointment, and it is for tomorrow at 11 o'clock, in his office. I am going with my son, having asked if the presence of the father was necessary, which it is not.

Aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! ! Heart thumping, trouble breathing, vice like feeling in my head, hollow feeling in my guts, ............ If this doesn't go well ( if they think that he is being isolated, deprived, that I am deranged, that our reasons are unhealthy, etc) they can demand that he go to school.

This is the unusual/exceptional contact with "the law" predicted by some planetary movement at this time, ( i forget which )! ! Seriously, for someone who has had almost no experience of dealing with anything to do with the law this whole procedure is totally strange for me, and a planetary transit at this time specifically refers to such a contact.

I am just blowing off steam of sheer fear here; I know that there is nothing to do but relax as far as possible, focus, get clear in my head what to say, and make sure that my son is as clean and relaxed as possible too, but somehow this Social Services "control"/exam seems harder than the Academic one where it was IQ skills in question.

AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! I am totally freaked out!! What will most convince them/him that we are not lunatics, weirdos, dangerously neurotic hermits, that I am not endangering my son's mental/psychological health by homeschooling?

I decided not to include the father this time because he so definitely didn't hit it off with the Academic Inspector at a first meeting in May ( when he went on his own to see the Education Advisor/ consultant) , which I am inclined to think would be the case again. The father does not react well to the generally well educated/middle class privileged people in bureaucratic/admin positions of power over him.

Perhaps I even know the guy who we'll be seeing ( by sight if not by name) ; this is a small village , and most of the "delegués"/local council representatives live locally. Yikes!! !

I mustn't go along frightened though, which will inevitably show and provoke suspicion. I must seem serenely confident, very sane and reasonable, and my son must not seem like some wild boy from the woods... ...

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ouinon, I really hope this interview goes well for you. This sort of thing makes me extremely nervous as well. It is overwhelmingly frustrating to think that someone outside of one's family has any sort of say over what one does with one's children. I hope that you arrive at the interview, and your son is calm and feeling good, and you are calm and feeling good, and the whole situation ends up being just a good conversation about education!

Thank you very much, schleppenheimer. That would be wonderful, if it went like that. I'm hoping for that sort of outcome too.

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Best of luck, Ouinon. You know what to do, you know you have made the best choice for your child, and all that is left is for this person to "see."

As much as I would never make so many of the choices you have, I have read enough from you to know that forcing your child into school would NOT be good for him. I really, truly, believe that.

And, hopefully, so will this official

Thank you, DW_a_mom.
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Phew. Turned out to be a mere formality, over in 10 minutes. Super sympathetic guy who seemed to have no difficulty with the concept of homeschooling at all, none of the widespread prejudices about its "terrible pernicious" effects on children ( along the lines of "oh no he won't get enough socialisation "etc) , and just had to make the contact because of the law.

Over so fast that I am having trouble believing it's done!!

Yay! That must have turned out WAY better than you expected! What a relief. So glad that everything turned out so well.

Kris

What state do you live in? At least in Texas there is a homeschooling group that helps parents and specilizes in special needs kids...You might want to do some research on the internet...The schools and crazy CPS will harass you and tell you many, many lies because they want your kid in school so they can get extra money...remember they get much more money for a special needs child...Please check the internet for special needs homeschool associations, etc...good luck!

In France, Europe, and I already belong to such an association, which is very useful for legal advice, moral support, and general hints and tips.

But I was completely stunned, after all the horror stories that I had read about awful social services visits to other homeschooling families, to find myself face to face with someone who actually had respect, rather than suspicion, for the choice a parent makes for their child, and who seemed to have no preconceived, uninformed, negative ideas about homeschooling This was such a relief, and so refreshing, it was almost shocking.

To have our family choices treated with respect was amazing, and very affirming.