If you're wondering whether you can homeschool your special needs child or are looking for suggestions from moms who've been there, check out these articles:
Ten Reasons to Homeschool Your Child With Special Needs
Homeschooling Your Special Needs Child
Is Special Needs Homeschooling Possible?
And remember . . .
YOU are right where you're supposed to be. The Lord has set you on this journey, this beautiful path called Motherhood. Along the way, you will experience joy, pain, grief, sadness, delight, great laughter, satisfaction, sufficiency, contentment, gratification, hilarity, glee, fearfulness, trepidation, chicken-heartedness, dread, qualm, doubt, bliss, and absolute CLOUD NINE.
Take it all, Mama; these are individual threads in that great tapestry the Lord has designed for your life. Each is a small pebble in the cobblestone roadway you walk. And you older Mamas already know this. But we all can use the memo once in a while: joy comes in the morning. At the end of it all, may we be found faithful. May we race gladly towards the prize. The Lord is IN THIS LIFE of yours! He IS our life!
Take joy even in the trials. Embrace it all. It's not random! God is not aimless! There is purpose here. Do you trust your great God and Savior? Do you believe He will make all things good for our benefit, for His glory? Yes! You are on the right path, pretty Mama! Keep walking down that beautiful road of many stones. His hand is on your head today.
~ gena
|
|
|
Advertisement
Home of "Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek!" & "Latin's Not So Tough!" Stop By Our Website and Visit Our FREE Educational Pages!
|
|
|
Your child is struggling to read, or write, or learn math facts. You've tried everything you can think of, but nothing seems to help. You've seen your share of tears or resistance.
Kids struggle with schoolwork for a variety of reasons--anxiety, poor memory skills, learning disabilities like dyslexia, and ADD/ADHD. When children struggle, they can't sustain the focus they need, especially to learn things they don't understand. So what can you do? Relax, take a breath, and go back to basics: - Remember that acquiring any new skill requires practice, but to struggling kids, practice often feels like punishment. Even though they generally need more practice than others, the practice must fit their unique needs and personality, and you may need to adjust your expectations.
- Make sure when working with your child that s/he isn't hungry, thirsty, or sleepy. Choose a time when he or she is most alert, and distractions are few. If those adjustments still don't help, visit your pediatrician and ask for a referral for educational testing to rule out ADD/ADHD or other issues. You can't solve a problem until you've accurately determined what's causing it.
- MAKE IT FUN. Learning comes naturally when we're engaged, and we're never more engaged than when having fun. And rest assured--if your child is struggling, he isn't having fun.
Learning specialists Drs. Linda and Al Silbert have helped literally thousands of struggling students develop good study skills and find success in reading, writing, and arithmetic.
How did they do it? By going back to basics with every child--providing an emotionally-safe, fun learning environment, identifying the specific obstacles standing in the way for each child, and then customizing the learning approach to fit the child. They've worked with students of all ages using a variety of games, stories, plays, and other activities they developed to make learning fun, while providing the practice every struggling child needs.
Now they're making those games and activities available to you! Visit the website at www.HelpForStrugglingStudents.com and choose from card games, old-fashioned "lotto" games, activity kits, and more . . . and watch your struggling student soar.
Sponsored Article
|
|
|
Relational Homeschooling
Dear Friends,
One of the richest blessings of teaching our kids at home is the freedom it provides:
- We are free to slow down the pace;
- We are free to wrap the learning experience up in a blanket of love, assurance, and acceptance;
- We are free to give all of our kids a customized education that meets their specific needs;
- And, we are free to invest far more time and energy in each of our kids than any "professional" would ever dream of being able to do.
With that freedom, homeschool moms and dads have made astonishing sacrifices on behalf of their special needs children. I have had the privilege of meeting hundreds of these parents, and, honestly, they are heroes to me . . .
If this is your calling, if you have chosen to teach your special needs child at home, then know that your labor bears some of the sweetest fruit of all.
And, for all of us, may we renew our commitment to making home a special place!
Remember, stay relational!
Diana
|
|
|
Get Your Free eBook!
In Someplace Called Special you can discover practical help to assist you with your own child's unique learning abilities/disabilities. This eBook is FREE for a limited time. Get yours now!
|
|
|
The Familyman
A place called special . . .
I won't pretend to be a special needs expert, but I will say special needs kids do best in a SPECIAL place. And that place is called HOME.
The world tells parents of special needs children to get them out of the home and into a place filled with EXPERTS. I'm telling you that's a bunch of baloney! God gave your children the mother they need and placed them in your home to live, learn, and grow. HOME is the best place for your special needs child. In fact, there is no better place.
Fight the urge to ship them off, and allow the power of family and home to nurture them. Don't worry about test scores and how they measure up. Just love them . . . enjoy them . . . and keep them home where they belong (to steal Deborah Wuehler's line).
But, hey, it's still summer and you shouldn't be worrying about homeschooling and teaching . . . and blah blah blah blah blah. Instead you should let your children play, explore, be bored, and discover. And you should relax, putter, clean out, organize, and bask in the glory of summer vacation.
And all that happens at HOME . . . a place called special.
Be real,
Todd
|
|
|
FREE CURRICULUM for VOTING YOUR CHOICES:
It's time for the annual The Old Schoolhouse Excellence Awards, and we need your input! Please take a few minutes to vote in such categories as your favorite homeschool literature book, preferred online learning tool, and best app. The Old Schoolhouse will send you a FREE WannaBe series as a "Thank you," just for taking the time to vote! Click here!
|
|
|
Free
Click here and get your free ebook:
7 Things You Should Know When Choosing Homeschool
Curriculum from Excellent Quests.
|
|
|
Free
Share this newsletter with a friend, and be sure to let those CONSIDERING homeschooling know about the enormous FREE info-pack which awaits them here: www.TryHomeschooling.com.
|
|
|
A division of The Old Schoolhouse� Magazine
Did you know? Every class is INCLUDED for members!
No limits.
From resources on helping parents of special blessings refuel and recharge to practical tips for helping kids overcome sensory processing disorders, dyslexia, and other challenges, SchoolhouseTeachers.com provides members with a library full of resources at their fingertips. Learn from other homeschool moms and special needs experts and know that you are never alone on this journey.
Sign up and try us for 30 days for only $1. There are no per-child fees or additional fees for textbooks, and courses are not live, so you can start them at any time. If you or someone you know is interested in teaching a class on our site, please contact Executive Editor Bonnie Rose Hudson at bhudson@theoldschoolhouse.com.
|
|
|
Announcement
The Old Schoolhouse� Magazine.
|
|
|
Click here to get access to FREE back issues of
The Old Schoolhouse� Magazine.
|
|
|
Contest Corner
For the month of July 2016
Teach Your Kids to Code: A Parent-Friendly Guide to Python Programming, was written by Bryson Payne, and published by No Starch Press. Dr. Payne has been a computer science professor at the University of North Georgia for over fifteen years. In Teach Your Kids to Code, he has taken his thirty years of programming experience and helped make computer programming accessible to parents.
Obviously, you will need a computer to apply the coding lessons in this book. You will also need to download certain programs and modules onto your computer. The very first chapter instructs you to download Python so you can begin programming with the Python language in chapter two.
There are 308 pages divided into ten chapters, an introduction, three appendices, and a glossary. The appendices contain screen shots and step-by-step instructions for downloading and installing Python, Pygame, and other required modules on your computer. These downloads are all available free, so there isn't any additional cost. The instructions are individualized for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems and are very clearly explained.
Teach Your Kids to Code isn't specifically intended for homeschool use, but it is well-suited for homeschooling families. Teenagers can manage to work through it on their own. A ten- to twelve-year-old would probably need more parental help. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone under ten, unless you are ready to learn alongside the child.
My 14-year-old son is using Teach Your Kids to Code on his own, as part of his computer science credit for high school. It reminds me of the programming I learned in high school, creating simple games. With only ten chapters, this isn't really a semester's worth of work, unless the student spends extra time experimenting with the code to make changes to the original program after it's created. My son is using it in conjunction with another programming book, to make it worth a full credit--two semester's worth of work.
(Read the rest of the review.)
YOU can WIN this awesome book!
TO ENTER: Email Heather (hmader@theoldschoolhouse.com) with your name, mailing address, and phone number for contact purposes, with the subject line, "Teach Your Kids" for a chance to win* it for your family!
|
|
|
|
|
Read the article
or download the free mobile apps at
VIEW BACK ISSUES: Current subscribers go here to access all back issues.
|
|
|
Check out these resources:
Who We Are:
|
|
|
"I just wanted to thank you for the encouraging message of your email I received this morning. It is so nice to be reminded that God has called me to homeschool and I should stay the course."
--Tammy Mowell
|
|
|
"I am amazed at the number of times I open my Homeschool Minute newsletter and have the opportunity to read EXACTLY what I need that day! Thank you so much for putting a real face on homeschooling."
--Michelle Sager
Liberty Twp, OH
|
|
|
"Only just this past week have I seriously checked into the content of the SchoolhouseTeachers.com site ... May I just say wow?!"
--Janelle Chille
Mason City, IA
|
|
|
"I really enjoy reading all the THM articles. I learn a lot from Todd Wilson's column. [He's a] funny guy who speaks the simple truth! Thank you very much!"
--Charlene
Brandon, FL
|
|
|
"I look forward to THM every Wednesday. I really enjoy Deborah's articles. For some reason, it must be God, she always writes about what I am needing to hear. Her ability to put scripture and God in the middle of all her articles keeps me coming back. I recently have been enjoying the Youngs' [articles] because I have a young man (10) in my house. The encouragement of the Youngs is fabulous. I thank God for parents like them that pave the way for parents like myself and my husband."
--Racheal Fowler
Glen Burnie, Maryland
|
|
|
"So love reading TOS on my iPad from cover to cover every month!!!"
--Leigh Anne McGrady
Dunwoody, GA
|
|
|
"What I appreciate most about Todd's column is that he never assumes he knows what is best for me... but he KNOWS that God knows & encourages me to find that & follow that. Thanks for all the encouragement over the years!"
--CA
Kannapolis, NC
|
|
|
"...I appreciate them both so much. I love Diana's passion for teaching history in a fun and interesting way. And that she is all about relationships first. I love that about Todd as well, and that he always, always says it is okay to relax about the schooling."
--Mara Martin
Everett, WA
|
|
|
Have you been blessed by
The Homeschool Minute™?
|
|
|
The SUMMER issue of
Molly Green Magazine is available. Take a peek at our digital version below!
You can also get Molly Green Magazine on these free mobile apps:
|
|
|
|
 |
|
