Presented by Shirley Minster
Benefits of Homeschooling for Children
- Curriculum tailored to the student
- Social skills develop naturally to be used with all ages
- Security in knowing that parents want to be with them
- Understand that an education is important
- Know how to work to understand new concepts and are rewarded with demonstration of the new knowledge
- Understand the teacher’s teaching style because it remains consistent year to year
- Multitude of teaching styles in a day is not an issue
- Consistency in the teacher’s values
- Can move on once concept is learned; no waiting period
- Know that adults don’t know everything and that’s okay
- Learn how to search for answers
- Okay it’s okay to get excited when learning
- Parents know what method is being used to teach concepts
- Children don’t have to explain purpose of assignment
- Learning is more efficient
- Health is better
- Inside when cold
- Exposure to germs lower
- Eat when hungry
- Sleep when tired
- Sit in sun
- Laugh when happy
- Use bathroom when necessary
- Sit and think when want to
Beginning the Homeschool Journey
Step1: Personal Preparation
- Read books by the Moores to get insight and facts about homeschooling. Be prepared!
- Visit our website for help: www.HomeEducator.com
- Read Home Educator’s Family Timesfor upto-date materials, experienced homeschoolers’ tips, and encouragement.
Step 2: Talk with Others
- Legalities in your state and/or city
- Available resources
- Homeschool support groups
- Classes for the children
- Curriculum they use
- Field trips
- Conferences
- Typical yearly cost
- Involvement in local public or private school
- Work options for teens
- How they filled out paperwork, if needed, to homeschool
Step 3: Talk with Your Children
- Their concerns
- Topics they want to study
- Interests
- Difficulties they have
- Study area needs
Step 4: Setting Up the Homeschool
- Decide where most of schooling will be done.
- Get ample supplies (pencils, paper, markers, etc.).
- Consider tables, shelving, and lighting.
- Purchase academic supplies.
- Consider having individual standardized achievement tests done for each child.
Choosing Curriculum
Think Before You Buy!
By taking the time to investigate either early in the school year or at the end of the year while preparing for the new year, you will save time and money. You will not end up trying to work with a curriculum is not a good.
I like this curriculum because…
- Its strengths are…
- One area that makes this curriculum difficult to use is:
- Its weaknesses are…
- Extra materials needed (science equipment, construction paper, audio-visual extras, charts, etc.)?
- Cost to buy the extra materials or are they included in a package deal?
- Enough supplemental materials and activities to stimulate a child who has special needs or is gifted?
- Overall cost of the curriculum?
- Possible to buy individual pieces as needed or must purchase a whole package?
- Do the children like the curriculum?
- Why / Why not?
- Can the teacher be flexible or is there just one way to use it?
- Are the materials consumable (workbooks)?
- Is a teacher’s book available? Is it a teacher’s guide with lesson plans, activities, suggestions or simply an answer key?
- Are pictures and illustrations colorful or black-and-white sketches?
- Are graphs, illustrations, and written examples clear or confusing?
- Are pictures helpful or distracting?
- Is the student book ‘user friendly’? Does it inspire success or does it seem overwhelming in its approach?
- Is the font size appropriate for the age of the child?
- What is your child’s learning style? Does the curriculum fit this style?
The Homeschool Schedule
- Organize the home for efficiency of time
- Consider the ages and stages of children
- Plan for changes in the family
- Make a schedule that fits everyone’s needs
- Change in chore assignments to fit child
- Decide which academic courses work best in what part of the day
- Decide on choice of monthly or seasonal studies
- Schedule vacation time
- Schedule ‘down time’ for tutors
- Include children’s personal interests
- Plan activities for individual children as well as family as a group
- Resist temptation to add too many outside activities (sports teams, private lessons, clubs, etc.)
- Remember the littlest ones need their special time, too, but to not infringe on older children’s study time
- Plan in break times (snacks, rest, outdoors, etc.)
- Limit computer time and television time
- Plan in arts and crafts
- Plan in quiet time for everyone
Homeschooling Children with Special Needs
My Advice to Parents
- Be practical.
- Be consistent.
- Be firmly gentle.
- Know your child’s rights.
- Keep a sense of humor.
- Keep a daily schedule …for sanity’s sake.
- Get into your corner, pray, reflect.
- Pick your support team carefully (family member(s), friend(s),other care givers, etc.).
- Read books about the special need.
- Go to conferences.
- Visit internet sites for encouragement, help, and updated information.
- Think about the future as well as the present.
- Realize that the present reallyis a present. Your child is a special gift to you.
A Bibliography for Homeschooling and Special Needs
Adee, Donna and Ellis Adee. God’s Special Child: Lessons from Nathan and Other Children with Special Needs. Harvest Publications, KS: 1996.
Alexander-Roberts, Colleen. ADHD & Teens: A Parent’s Guide to Making It Through the Tough Years. Taylor Publishing Company, Texas: 1995.
Amen, Daniel G. Healing ADD: The Breakthrough Program That Allows You to See and Heal the 6 Types of ADD. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York: 2001. *He has also written other books on this topic: A Teenager’s Guide to ADD, A Child’s Guide to ADD, A Sibling’s Guide to ADD, A Teacher’s Guide to ADD.
Andreola, Karen. A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal Reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning. Charlotte Mason Research & Supply: 1998.
Attwood, Tony. Asperger’s Syndrome: A Guide for Parents and Professionals. Jessica Kingsley Publishers Ltd, PA: 1998.
Barnier, Carol. How to Get Your Child Off the Refrigerator and on to Learning. Emerald Books, Washington: 2000.
Blakemore-Brown, Lisa. Reweaving the Autistic Tapestry: Autism, Asperger Syndrome and ADHD. Jessica Kingsley Publishers Ltd, PA: 2002.
Citro, Teresa Allissa, Editor. Transitional Skills for Post Secondary Success … Reflections for Students with Learning Disabilities. Learning Disabilities Association of Massachusetts: 2001.
Coleman, Jeanine B. The Early Intervention Dictionary. Woodbine House, , MD: 1999.
Davis, Ronald D. The Gift of Dyslexia. Ability Workshop Press, CA: 1994.
Dwyer, Kathleen. What Do You Mean I Have a Learning Disability? Walker and Company, New York: 1991.
Freed, Jeffrey and Laurie Parsons. Right-Brained Children in a Left-Brained World: Unlocking the Potential of Your ADD Child. Fireside, 1998.
Hartmann, Thom. Attention Deficit Disorder: A New Perception. Underwood Books, 1997.
Healty, Jane M. Your Child’s Growing Mind. Doubleday, NY: 1989.
Hensley, Sharon C. Home Schooling Children with Special Needs. Noble, WA: 2001.
Hoekstra, Elizabeth and Mary Bradford. Chronic Kids, Constant Hope. Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL: 2000.
Hollowell, Edward M. and John J. Ratey. Driven to Distraction: Recognizing and Coping With Attention Deficit Disorder from Childhood Through Adulthood. Simon & Schuster, 1995.
Hollowell, Edward M. and John J. Ratey. Answers to Distraction. Bantam Books, 1996.
Hyatt-Foley, DeAnn and Matthew G. Foley. Getting Services for Your Child on the Autism Spectrum. Jessical Kingsley Publishers, PA: 2002.
Kelly, Kate and Peggy Ramundo. You Mean I’m Not Lazy, Stupid or Crazy?! : A Self-Help Book for Adults With Attention Deficit Disorder. Fireside, 1996.
Kranowitz, Carol Stock. The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun: Activities for Kids with Sensory Integration Dysfunction. The Berkley Publishing Group, NY: 2003.
Kravets, Marybeth and Imy F. Wax. The K & W Guide to Colleges for the Learning Disabled. HarperPerennial, NY: 1993.
Martin, Katherine. L. Does My Child Have a Speech Problem? Chicago Review Press, IL: 1997.
McAfee, Jeanette, M. D. Navigating the Social World: A Curriculum for Individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome, High Functioning Autism and Related Disorders. Future Horizons, Inc., Texas: 2002.
Moore, Raymond S., Dennis R. Moore, and Dorothy N. Moore. Better Late Than Early: A New Approach to Your Child’s Education. Reader’s Digest Association, 1989.
Moore, Dorothy N. and Raymond S. Moore. The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook. Thomas Nelson: 1994.
Moore, Raymond S. and Dorothy N. Moore. School Can Wait II . Brigham Young University Press: 1989.
Murphy, Kevin R. and Suzanne Levert. Out of the Fog : Treatment Options and Coping Strategies for Adult Attention Deficit Disorder . Hyperion, 1995.
Nadeau, Kathleen G. Adventures in Fast Forward : Life, Love, and Work for the ADD Adult . Brunner-Mazel Trade, 1996.
Parker, Harvey C. Put Yourself in Their Shoes: Understanding Teenagers with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder . Specialty Press, Inc, Florida: 1999.
Saunders, Jacqulyn with Pamela Espeland. Bringing Out the Best: A Resource Guide for Parents of Young Gifted Children . Free Spirit Publishing Inc.. MN: 1991.
Sears, William and Lynda Thompson. The A.D.D. Book . Little, Brown, Boston: 1998.
Snelick, Richard and Karla Dougherty. Living with Brain Injury: A Guide for Families . Healthsouth Press, AL: 2001.
Solden, Sari. Women with Attention Deficit Disorder . Underwood Books, 1995.
Stevens, Suzanne H. The LD Child and the ADHD Child: Ways Parents and Professionals Can Help . John F. Blair, Publisher, Winston-Salem, NC: 1996.
Stordy, B. Jacqueline, Ph.D. and Malcolm J. Nicholl. The LCP Solution: The Remarkable Nutritional Treatment for ADHD, Dyslexia and Dyspraxia . Ballantine Books, New York: 2000.
Van’t Land, Marcia. Living Well with Chronic Illness . Harold Shaw Publishers, IL: 1994.
Walker, Sally Yahnke. The Survival Guide for Parents of Gifted Kids . Free Spirit Publishing, Minneapolis: 1991.
Weiss, Lynn. Attention Deficit Disorder in Adults . Taylor Pub, 1997. Wender, Paul. ADHD: Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Children and Adults . Oxford University Press, 2000.
Wender, Paul. The Hyperactive Child, Adolescence, and Adult: Attention Deficit Disorder Through the Lifespan . Oxford University Press, 1987.
Wood, Chip. Yardsticks: Children in the Classroom Ages 4-14 . Northeast Foundation for Children, MA: 1997.
Wright, Pam and Pete Wright. From Emotions to Advocacy . Harbor House Law Press, Virginia: 2004.
Zelinsky, Deborah. The Mind-Eye Connection: Open Your Eyes and Listen . The Mind-Eye Connection, P.C.: 2002.
Zimmerman, Marcia. The ADD Nutrition Solution : A Drug-Free Thirty-Day Plan . Owl Books, 1999.
