What a terrible feeling it must be to want, with all your heart, to complete the tasks given to you at school, and yet to be unable to do them. And how much more terrible a feeling it must be when teachers label you as unmotivated or tell you to pay closer attention when you are trying as hard as you can. Yet ever day, in public schools all over the country, there are children in this situation.
Putting a child in a homeschool program and removing him from the public school setting is liking stepping off the treadmill. It slows everyone down to the point where parents are able to look individually at the problems the child is having and, rather than just looking for a diagnosis, can begin to create a program tailored entirely to that individual child. Furthermore, it removes the child from a setting where he is more likely to develop psychological difficulties due to repeated failures, not to mention ridicule and criticism.
Since learning disabilities have nothing to do with intelligence, but rather are problems with the brain's ability to take in, process and analyze or store information, a parent who homeschools is in a unique position to offer a curriculum that takes into account those specific needs at the very start of the program, rather than a program that, from the beginning, must be modified and which makes the child feel "different" than other children. In the homeschool environment, there is the opportunity to focus on what the child CAN do rather than what he CANNOT do while providing a well-rounded education.
In public schools, due to the number of children, dealing with children with learning disabilities is often geared to minimizing the effect that the learning-disabled child will have on the other children, rather than finding a program that will maximize the learning experience for that child. In a homeschool program, all activities can be chosen in light of maximizing that particular child's experience.
If this is your first experience at homeschooling, be aware that if you try to mimic the public school setting, you will most likely fail. Remember that you are homeschooling your learning disabled child because the homeschool environment can offer alternatives to the public school setting. Therefore, rather than copying public school programs, be creative in developing a curriculum that will emphasize your child's strengths.
Some children with learning disabilities hyper-focus on one particular topic. Rather than fighting this, incorporate this interest into your curriculum. Realize that you can improve on the assembly-line environment of public schools by offering hands-on and real life experiences to your child.
Homeschooling can be challenging to parents of children with learning disabilities. However, public schools can be more challenging as you strive to fit your child into a rigid program in which he cannot find his place. By homeschooling your child, you will allow him to find his unique spot, and you will reap the rewards of watching him grow in confidence, self-esteem and joy.