Homeschooling With Learning Challenges and Special Needs

Back when we shared with you our Days in the Lives of Curriculum Choice authors, our readers asked for a day in the life of a special needs homeschooler. Today, we bring to you experiences from our own homeschools as well as wonderful resources we’ve found around the web to provide support in homeschooling with learning challenges and special needs.

Special Needs Homeschooling: An Overview

As homeschoolers, we are familiar with adapting our approaches to meet our children’s individual needs.  Homeschooling naturally leans itself to that, so it can be ideally suited for our children with special needs. And we are up to the challenge!

One of the beauties of homeschooling is how easily it can be adapted to meet the needs of our children with special needs. Parents can give children who have ADD, for example, short lessons, frequent breaks, and set up a distraction-reduced environment within the home.

When given directions, these children can hold and manipulate a small toy – and does not need an individualized education program (IEP) to do it.  Children who have difficulty listening, can work with written instructions.  Listening skills can be practiced in a gradual way.

Children with sensory needs can work on an exercise ball, take sensory breaks by going outside and doing cartwheels, or swing slowly in a swing – to meet their  needs.  They can learn their multiplication tables through bean ball toss games or while jumping on a small trampoline!  And children on the spectrum don’t have to deal with the stress of a classroom full of stimulation.

Our children’s strengths can be promoted, while working on difficult subjects at a pace that meets our children’s needs.

Learning Challenges & Special Needs Homeschooling: The Homeschool Mom’s Perspective

Each author will bring you their experiences and knowledge in working with special needs. We’ve also included more wonderful resources from around the web.

• Kendra at Aussie Pumpkin Patch has a whole series of entries on their journey with Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome. “One of the videos showed a sentence jump forward & backwards. Morgan happened to walk by while I was reading the website, pointed to the video & said, “Is that a video? That’s what happens when I read.”

• Homeschooling Gifted Kids…Really? by Cindy at Our Journey Westward. “We’ve been able to meet each of their needs perfectly. Not just academically, but emotionally, physically, socially, spiritually…each of my children is growing and thriving.”
• Brain Training activities are FUN for my children and have been incredibly helpful for increasing cognitive skills – memory, attention, processing speed, comprehension and logical thinking.  They can (and should) be used with children who have learning disabilities, attention struggles and general frustrations with schoolwork.  Even children who have no real struggles can bump up their school performance with these activities!

• Tricia has a mix of learners, ages at Your Best Homeschool: auditory, visual, kinesthetic as well as two busy little ones. She tailors learning spaces and family learning times to meet individual needs. “For a kinesthetic learner with many ‘things’ this storage helps keep my child’s supplies handy. Plus helps keep this mama sane. This organization has been a big part of our homeschool planning. To meet needs. To make learning centers natural.” Tricia and her family are also constantly adapting in creative ways because of severe food allergies.
• Help for Reluctant Readers – our favorite helps including ways to have books within sight.
• 100 Helpful Homeschool Habits for all type of learners – Over the years with babies, toddlers, stacks of school books, hungry mouths and now towering teens, these are the basic routes I’ve discovered for seeing results.

• Betsy, from BJ’s Homeschool, shares resources for struggling writers. Tips and help for kids who have trouble grasping their pencil, or who struggle with hand strength or small muscle coordination. Here’s the first post in her series called Handwriting Helps: Handwriting Helps, part 1 – Small Muscle Activities This Handwriting Helps series includes four posts, and, in addition, covers teaching your kids to write, finding grasp aids or devices, and strengthening the hand muscles with clay!
• Does your child struggle with attention issues, ADHD, or sensory processing disorder? Here’s how I approached theses issues, when my daughter was young. – Homeschooling Kids with ADHD.
• Helping Struggling Readers with Reading Focus Cards – Do your kids get distracted by other words on the page, or just have trouble concentrating? Reading Focus Cards may help. I like how these work to eliminate distractions, helping the reader to focus on just the words at hand, at the time. This tool can help readers of all ages.

• How I Teach Writing to my Child with Dysgraphia – Over the years we have searched and researched, and through trial and error found a number of different approaches that have ultimately helped our son address his dysgraphia. Every child is different, therefore I’m not suggesting all of these will work for another child, but here are some of the resources I use to teach writing to my child with dysgraphia.
• How I Teach Keyboarding to my Child with Dysgraphia – Dysgraphia is a learning disability that affects writing.  My son has struggled with writing as long as he can remember and for years we have searched for solutions to help him with his writing. We have found it is easier for him to get his thoughts out when he can type them into a computer rather than write them on paper.

Learning Challenges & Special Needs Homeschool Resources From The Curriculum Choice

• Children’s Books in Dyslexic Font
• Dyslexia 101: Truths, Myths and What Really Works
• Sylvan Learning Center Assessment
• Handwriting By George – Review
• Why Can’t My Child Learn Multiplication?
• Practice and Test Spelling Words with the Spelling Bee App
• Pencil Grips and Aids from Draw Write Now – My Review
• Homeschooling Gifted and Advanced Learners
• The Ultimate Guide to Brain Breaks Review
• Spelling City Review
• Number and Patterns Kindergarten: Playing and Learning with Manipulatives 
• Sign Language Flash Cards – My Review
• Reading Focus Cards – My Review

Additional Special Needs Homeschooling Resources:

• Dyslexia, The Road I’ve Traveled – Don’t miss this from Kim at Little Sanctuary (mother of 8!). A post full of resources plus the encouragement you need in how to talk to your children about their learning challenges. The giftedness they have! “When my Dyslexic children have a hard day, I remind them that God has made them for His glory. Their Dyslexia was not an accident. It is part of His plan, and He will use it for His Glory if they will let Him.”

• Tabitha at Meet Penny has an Ultimate Guide to Autism Home Therapy
• Children’s Books in Dyslexic Font – Dyslexia is complex. It’s magnificent, colorful, bright, exciting. Exploding with possibilities. Dyslexia is also challenging. But the challenges can be lessened with the proper resources. Books with dyslexic font and large print are just one of the ways we can provide proper resources.

50 Awesome Activities for Kids with ADHD – A collection of 6 different types of activities for kids with ADHD (with more than 50 individual activities among them) that accentuate their strengths to help you create a fun and successful learning experience.

What resources have you come across for special needs homeschooling? Please share in the comments! 

~ originally published November 2012