Sep. 13, 2007 - Homeschooling a Special Needs Child
Special Needs

This year I am beginning our "official" journey of homeschooling my littles.  Sir "C" is special needs (all of which haven't been defined but appts. are in the works).  Currently we know he is developmentally delayed and has sensory issues.  When I know more I will be sure to update. 

Needless to say school with the littles can be both a wonderful joy and terribly frustrating.  It is such a joy to watch little ones have such an eager desire to learn.  To see what new thing they will explore that day.  There is also the added bonus for mom as they try so hard to please you.  It is just the sweetest thing to watch.  I do have to admit there are definitely moments of frustration. 

Sir "C" has a hard time thinking for himself.  It is very hard for him to grasp ideas and concepts.  That in itself isn't frustrating- more heartbreaking than anything.  The frustrating part is he has figured out it is much easier to mimic others.  Needless to say, I spend much of our short school trying to get him to do his own thing and not just try and copy Lady "M". 

To help with the grasping of concepts and ideas I am finding that repetition works.  For instance, today they were to count linking cubes to 10 by color to create 10 sets.  Here is what I did:

1) dumped all the linking cubes on the table and roughly divided them in half and let the sort by color. (They were learning and didn't even know it!  I would name the colors at random as they were holding them in their hands.

2) after they were sorted by color I took one color at a time and started stacking them one at a time.  As I stacked each block I would count and have the littles repeat.  After the stack was complete I would put it back in the bucket. 

3)  After about 5 times I could see the confidence building so I stopped doing the counting first and let the littles count themselves and I would follow so they knew they got it correct.  I was also there to help them in case they forgot. 

It was such a joy to watch their faces light up.  Sir "C" lasted to the end ans was so proud of himself.  Lady "M" on the other hand got bored about half way through and just sat there and mumbled.  It did not dampen my spirits though becaause I was so pround of Sir "C".  This was the closest he has come to counting to 10!

The other thing I am doing to help him think for themselves is having them do their workbooks at different times.  By the time one finishes and the next begins they have forgotten what the other did and therefore have to use their own thinking skills to complete the assignment. 

We are using Sonlight Core B and they use the DEL (Developing the Early Learner).  I have found these books to be so valuable.  It is giving me great insight into both of my littles strengths and weaknesses.  Not only that, but when Cody goes in for his next evaluation in October, I will be able to take this additional information in and show him exactly what he is doing in very specific areas of learning.

Anyway, now that I am on this journey of having a special needs child I will start sharing things that I find are working in our homeschool. 

In His Strength!  b

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Sep. 18, 2007 - Hey There

Posted by MarineMama

I know this must be a trying time. My cousin who is 3mns older than Little Monkey was/is very delayed in speech, motor skills, etc.. It took the Drs and Therapist a long time, almost 4yrs, to find out what was wrong with him. He has had his problem fixed, it was his tonsules and he needed tubes in his ears. He was delayed b/c he couldn't understand what was going on. But he is still behind so he still has to do PT, OT, and ST every day at his preschool for "special needs" children. God Bless you for homeschooling a special needs child! Prayers!
Christian Love
MarineMama

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