Meetings
Don't hesitate to ask AQED's volunteers for advice to prepare you for these meetings and help you find solutions. You can be accompanied during any meeting with the Direction de l'enseignement à la maison (DEM).
We encourage you to remain respectful and to treat the DEM and other stakeholders cordially. Keep your children's well-being at the centre of every interaction.
If you have a child with special needs, please refer to the Special cases page.
Monitoring meeting
The purpose of this meeting is to verify that everything is going well with the implementation of the learning project and can take place at any time of the year.
Your resource person at the Direction de l’enseignement à la maison (DEM) will contact you at least 15 days in advance to schedule an appointment. You must find a mutually convenient time and means of communication. Your child is required to attend this meeting.
According to the interpretation of all lawyers we consulted on the matter, the phone is a means of communication that meets the regulation’s requirements. However, the DEM refuses systematically the use of the phone and treats insisting on its use as a refusal of the monitoring meeting. The DEM accepts videoconference and in-person meetings, either in a remote location (library, community centre, school, school service centre, DEM offices, etc.) or in the family home. In all cases, the choice must be negotiated. The parent can suggest a location that suits him.
It is important to report to AQED if a representative does not inform parents of the available choices for the meeting (especially if the only choice offered is at the family home), so we can correct this situation with the DEM.
Take advantage of this meeting to:
- seek advice from your resource person if you encounter problems implementing your learning project and you want help;
- communicate your needs regarding the resource person’s intervention (for example, if you need advice and support or if you are simply presenting yourself in order to fulfill your obligations).
Following some status meetings, it appears that families and their resource person (RP) may not have the same understanding of the purpose of their meeting. For example, while the families thought they were attending the required annual meeting, their resource person said that this was not the case, that it was in fact a meeting to enhance the learning project, and that the annual meeting would take place later in the year.
It is therefore important to confirm, ideally in writing, the reason for the meeting with your RP to avoid such situations.
Additional meetings
Three types of situations may result in a request for an additional meeting by the DEM.
The DEM normally tries to settle all questions with a phone call before starting official procedures. This can be useful, as much for the parent as the resource person, when a fast answer can solve a question. However, some parents can feel rushed when getting an improvised phone call from the DEM, being asked questions they have to answer without preparation. If you prefer, you can ask your resource person to send an official meeting request with their written inquiries.
1. Difficulty related to implementing the learning project
If your resource person feels there is a problem with the implementation of your project, he or she may ask you for another meeting to remedy the situation. Your child will be required to attend this meeting. You will be contacted at least 15 days in advance to arrange a date and means of communication.
As for the monitoring meeting, you must find a mutually convenient time and means of communication and they must be negotiated.
2. If a progress report is deemed inadequate
If your resource person finds that one of your reports does not adequately assess the child's progress, he or she will send you a written notice. You can adjust the report based on their recommendations or find other solutions. You may also request a meeting with your resource person to assess your child directly.
You will have 30 days to send the DEM either a new assessment or a request to assess your child.
3. Shortcomings in your child's progress
Your resource person will contact you to schedule a meeting if he or she feels, after reviewing your reports and any other documents you have sent, that there are shortcomings in your child's progress. The aim of the meeting is to better identify the cause of these shortcomings and to remedy them. Your child will be required to attend this meeting. You will be contacted at least 15 days in advance to arrange a date and means of communication.
As for the monitoring meeting, you must find a mutually convenient time and means of communication and they must be negotiated.
The word “shortcomings” is subject to interpretation. It is clear in the amendment to the regulation that “content to achieve the objectives included in the program of each subject must be taught to allow progress in learning equivalent to that applicable per cycle at school”.
Thus, if parents teach accordingly, aiming to achieve these objectives, the child, on his part, must progress at his own learning pace.The regulation does not specify that progress should be in all areas: evidence of overall progress should be acceptable.
If your child is not progressing at all, in any area, is it important to have a valid reason for this lack of progress, and to propose solutions to help the child.
If your child has made progress in some areas but little progress in others, be prepared to talk about it and suggest solutions for the following years.