[Music]
Hi there, I’m Christine Ruderkoff, I’m one of the facilitators that works with families here at THEE. As I’m sure you all know, Alberta Ed requires two facilitator visits per year for each home education student. Three main aspects are part of these visits: one is looking at samples of student learning, one is talking with the student themselves, and the other is to have a discussion with the parent. So I’m going to go through those in a little bit of detail for you.
1. Samples of Learning
When we’re talking about samples of learning or evidence of learning, ideally we would like to see three or more samples of different types of work in different subject areas. There are lots of forms that this could take. It could include written work, worksheets, workbook pages, quizzes, tests, written work of any kind. It could be pictures or videos of the student engaging in learning activities. It could be digital documents, it could be slideshows, it could be physical objects that the student has built or created, such as artwork, posters, handicrafts, and so on and so forth. Your student’s learning may not be all conventional book work; it might not be any conventional book work. We support all approaches to home education here at THEE and will describe whatever form your student learning takes.
We facilitators put together a list of some examples of student learning, and I know that this is not exhaustive; it’s a long list and just gives you an idea of the diversity that we might be looking at.
Books that they’ve been reading or listening to
Audiobook and podcast listening
Video and movie viewing
Math skills development
Hands-on projects such as arts and crafts, Lego, baking, cooking, carpentry, sewing, and so on
Physical fitness or sports activities, martial arts, dance classes and performances
Musical instrument, voice, and theater classes and performances
Music history, music appreciation, music theory
Art appreciation, art history
Technical skills such as keyboarding, social media, photography, video design and production, and computer programming
Video games and board games
Writing projects, journal writing, spelling, vocabulary, and grammar lessons
Public speeches or presentations, oral recitations
Science experiments and other kinds of science learning
History and geography learning, including travel
Foreign language studies
Religious studies
Home decorating and interior design
Cosmetology, hair styling
Gardening or caring for houseplants
Animal care and training, riding lessons
Field trips and group classes
Outdoor education activities such as camping, hiking, hunting, fishing, canoeing, kayaking, and boating
Driver training and studying for the driver exam
It’s a long list and I’m sure that we have not covered all the possibilities that there may be.
2. Chat with the Student
The chat with the student is a key part of our visit. It’s a chance for them to show off their work and tell us about their learning activities. They might want to read to us, they might want to recite a poem they’ve memorized, play an instrument, present a special project, or simply show off some of their day-to-day work that they do. For me, it usually takes about five to ten minutes per student. Often these conversations just roll along quite naturally. I might ask some questions such as, “What’s the highlight of your year so far? What’s your favorite part of learning at home? What are you good at? What would you like to improve? What have you gotten better at this year? What books have you read recently? What job are you interested in doing when you grow up? What’s something you’re curious about that you’d like to learn more about?” Shy students usually warm up after they’ve been able to hear me talk with the parents for a little while, so don’t assume that your shy child won’t want to take part. Often I would just say, “We’ll just do them towards the end,” and then after I’ve been there for a little while and they’ve gotten comfortable, they’re often quite happy to say a little bit about what they’ve been learning. I’d just like to note here that to have the students be present at the visit is an expectation of Alberta Ed, so it is a requirement that the student be there.
3. Discussion with the Parent
The longest part of the visit is the discussion that I have with the parent. We discuss the record of the student’s learning activities, so we go through and we list the resources that you’re using subject by subject and what progress has been made. We’ll discuss areas of improvement that you’ve seen and areas possibly of concern where you might like some advice or suggestions or help, and I would really urge you to take advantage of your facilitator’s expertise and experience. Not only are we have we’ve been involved in homeschooling ourselves, but we work with so many families that we get different ideas from them all the time and we work with different challenges and strengths, and we just have a lot to offer you and we would like to invite you to take advantage of that.
There are the two visits during the year. The first is that we focus on capturing where the student is at now, and the second is where we’re recording the progress and achievement from the first visit. So we’re looking at that from the first visit to the second visit, what progress and achievement have we seen in the student? Other than that, the two visits are very similar. When we facilitators come to meet with you, we are describing the learning that the student is showing as communicated to us by you, the parent teacher, and by the student themselves. So we’re not there to assess, to test, or to prescribe, to say, “You ought to be doing that,” or, “You shouldn’t have done this other thing.” You, the parent teacher, are the teacher. You make the decisions, not us. We come to the meetings to encourage you, to support you and assist you, to record what you’ve been doing and to help you to teach your child as to the fullest of their potential in the way that you see fit.
Part of the report is to write a summary comment about the student’s progress, and this reflects what you have shared with us. If you have any questions before the visit, please feel comfortable to contact your facilitator and ask for some explanation or some more details about what it might look like with that particular facilitator because not everyone is going to do it exactly the same. The form is the same, but each facilitator will have their own personal touches to the visit. Please don’t be concerned about your facilitator visit; we are warm, friendly people, and we are here to support you. We want to see you and your children succeed. Once we finish the visit, we write up the report, and you will be able to read through it, and we strongly encourage you to do so. If you have any questions at that point, having read it, please again contact your facilitator for any clarification.
