3 of 8

Write now Article Tools

"I can't do this!" The thought ricocheted around my head as I walked away from my son's IEP. There is NO WAY I can homeschool my two learning disabled children. Yet, my gut told me I had little choice.

In the past two years I had watched my now first grade son change from a happy, easy going little boy to an angry kid. To further complicate matters, my school's special education administrator acted more like their babysitter than their teacher.

The good news was the special education administrator had taken a sabbatical. The bad news was he was set to return next year. I had one year to decide what to do and how to do it.

During the next several months I read everything I could get my hands on relating to disabilities similar to those faced by my son and daughter. I scoured how-to manuals for teaching the basics - reading, writing, and arithmetic. I grilled the interim special education administrator - a wonderful woman who gave me the best teaching advise I have ever received.

In the years that followed, I used much of what I learned, but it was her advise which kept me on track. She said, If your student is not learning the subject, you are not teaching it correctly.' While this sounds simplistic and, in fact, can be misinterpreted as a license for a lazy student, this is advise to a teacher not a student.

Over the years this advise kept me from throwing in the towel, considering my children too difficult to teach, or believing myself unable to do the job. In fact, her advise helped me turn what looked like an impossible situation into a doable challenge.

Once I had an underlying philosophy and a cursory understanding of how to help my children overcome their learning challenges, I went looking for curriculum designed to meet their needs. Fourteen years ago there was little available. However, my stand-in advisor again proved her worth.

She directed me to curriculum she had come across in her years as a special education teacher. While it only covered the rudimentary subjects during the primary years, it gave me the basis for adapting my children's curriculum in the future.

While each learning disability is as unique as the child who struggles to overcome it, a homeshooling parent has the rare opportunity to not only teach their child but to learn their child. In my children's case, I learned they needed much more time to grasp a concept.

New concepts had to be given in mini-morsels, repeated over time, and practiced for days. As I grew to understand their needs,

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about Homeschooling and learning disabilities?
We want to hear your view. Write now!