Long story, short ... my kids inherited a little money for college from their great-grandfather. He was retired military, so there is a lot of VA red tape to get through before they actually see a dime of it. Today was our in-home interview with the field examiner to make sure the kids actually live with us, they're well cared for, their parents aren't likely to blow the money on drugs, etc. This guy is obviously clueless about homeschooling. He was here for only about 20 minutes, but he got an education. HA! First, he was very polite to the kids, and they were very polite to him... shaking hands and proving they're well-adjusted, socialized kids. He showed my 5 year old his credentials, and the 5 year old said he couldn't read it. When the guy jokingly asked why (assuming he couldn't read), he said it was because he couldn't read cursive very well, but the rest was fine. When we sat down to start the paperwork, he said we could use the money for whatever we wanted, because he assumed the kids weren't going to college. Um...? :| Because, they wouldn't actually graduate, ya' know? Then, he asked what grades they were in (loaded question when he found out the actual answer) and what they enjoyed doing (oh, you mean they actually get out of the house and DO things?) This is the point where he asked the kids why they were in the kitchen with us doing paperwork rather than watching tv. My younger one piped up and said, "we don't watch tv". (Well... yes... actually, we do, but that's beside the point. ) He said, "really? You don't?" "Yeah, mom just makes us do boring stuff and won't let us have screen time until all our school work is done." (Yes, Mr. V.A. Guy, we actually DO school work at home!) After the kids left the room, he said, "so you just teach the kids at home, right? But they can't really learn as much here, can they?" :roll: He very politely got an earful for that one, and then realized just how wrong he was. He couldn't believe how easy it is to do this in Texas and how smart the kids are. I have to wonder if he'd ever actually met a homeschooling family before.
A lot of people have never met a home school family before. Elle said when she first started school she got the "exotic bird treatment" where kids asked her a million things about home school and were shocked by her answers. Her eighth grade science teacher tiptoed around certain science topics for a while when speaking to her...afraid he'd offend our religious sensibilities. (which was actually very sweet of him!) LOL. He was surprised to learn we were NOT a creation science family and that she had a pretty advanced working knowledge of mainstream science for a kid her age. It's like any other stereotype. People don't have any experience (or a very limited experience), hear things, and get a fixed idea. Home schoolers are not interchangeable. I think we've proven on this board that we're a pretty diverse lot! LOL. As a community, regardless of our various backgrounds and methods....studies prove we do an amazing job educating our kids. That's a fact we should never miss an opportunity to share
If they came to my area and bumped into the wrong group, the stereo types might get shattered quickly. There are several secular groups and a group of Pagan religion practitioners who homeschool also. If its not a privacy intrusion, I am curious as to why the VA is involved in an inheritance from Grandfather to Grand Children, is a typical scenario? Seems a bit Orwellian to have the feds involved in an inheritance complete with checks of the home.
The whole family is honestly baffled. They said if his daughter (their grandmother, who was in charge of everything after he got old enough to lose his mind) had opted to keep the money for herself, and then split it among the grandchildren, it would be fine. Because the will stated that it was going directly to the grandchildren, split evenly between them (all minors), they had to step in and make sure the minors were going to be able to spend it... I suppose too many idiot adults have blown their minor children's inheritances in the past? Pretty sad, actually.
