Comments on: Homeschooling Your Preschooler with Special Needs

By: pickel

pickel — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:46:49 +0000

Wow, great job. You certainly have found great resources to get you started…and I might have to snag a few. My son is also special needs but his place is in the classroom because he does better there than he would with me. I was a teacher myself and can help him with daily life skills and with his auditory and visual processing but he NEEDS socialization and teachers to really fulfill his life.

I also need a break.

Kudos for you for finding such a great option for your daughter!

By: McKenna

McKenna — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:41:55 +0000

@ Christine- Thank you so much for your encouragement! I love hearing successful stories. I shouldn’t have used the word “everyone” when I said people cringe at the thought of homeschooling because I have met some amazing people who are very supportive and encouraging. I have a very good friend who is homeschooling her son who has Down syndrome and is Darah’s age and am learning there’s a lot more of us out there than I once thought! I think finding local support is key to having the most success in homeschooling!

@ Sara-Please keep me posted on homeschooling Josh! You are such an amazing mother and I really look up to you…even though I’m much taller than you! LOL! You’re going to love HWT!! I know a lot of military families choose to homeschool and think it’s great!

@ Amanda Jo- We don’t have a private special ed schooling option for Darah where I live. I really wish we did, although it would probably be way too $$$ for us right now! We are planning on sending my son (typical developing…yes, I don’t like the word “normal” either!) to a private school…at least that’s the plan for now!

By: Amanda Jo

Amanda Jo — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:09:44 +0000

I’m so glad I stopped by today for this blog topic. My son is special needs and my husband and I are seriously considering homeschooling him. Ethan has some pretty severe behavioral disorders that would prevent him from functioning properly in a room with more than 5 people. He has ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Sensory Integration Dysfuntcion/Sensory Processing Disorder, and has some developmental disorders.

Your decision to homeschool is an encouragement to me! So many people try to tell us horror stories of homeschooling “normal children” (don’t you hate it when they use that term?) let alone one with special needs.

What’s so heart breaking is the fact that there are so many children who would benefit from the specialized private schools for children with speical needs but they are so expensive! We looked at three in our area and the least expensive one started out at $10K per year for pre-K and went up in price every year.

Anyway, thanks for the posting I’m going to love reading all the other comments!

By: Christine

Christine — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:23:14 +0000

I wanted to add… when I first started homeschooling, I went to a “Meet and Greet” meeting with a local support group. I talked to a teen who was on her way to college about her homeschooling experience. I asked “Would she want to do it again?” “Did she regret not going to public school?” etc. This articulate young lady made a lasting impression upon me. Her parents were not geniuses. They just provided opportunities for learning and experiences. She was actually unschooled. She had reading delays and was ADHD and dyslexic. Yet, now at 18, this girl was articulate, literate, and ready for college and the world. So, just a thought,,, to give you more confidence, contact your local support group and meet some veteran homeschoolers.

By: Sara

Sara — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:11:13 +0000

I agree with Christine. I just made the decision to homeschool my oldest (which will be in 3rd grade next year). I really felt led to this school year but because of my own fears chickened out. We are also lucky to have an amazing group of friends who homeschool and have been an awesome support group for us. Plus our local co-op is AMAZING, I have heard nothing but great news about them and can’t wait to get connected.

I think you hit it right on the nose, when you said that we are homeschooling the little ones at times and don’t even know it. I just had a meeting with the headstart program here because Xavier should be getting some type of Speech Therapy next year. Headstart will be coming to our home in addition to the therapist. When I started asking questions about what they did I was surprised to hear they do tons of hand on activities that we already do here at home. Like story time, arts and crafts etc.. So it was great to hear that the things I am doing as a parent with my preschooler are things that the “experts” are doing in the classroom.

I was at a friends house yesterday reviewing her homeschool curriculum and she showed me “Handwriting with out tears” she raved about it and I am excited to start it with Xavier soon.

Mckenna, I am sure you will do perfectly fine with Darah at home. You have probably already taught her more than some of those experts. I am also scared to homeschool but I think its just because this will be so new to us. But I am sure after I get it started everything will work out. I have not put any limits to myself or how long I plan on homeschooling. When people hear that I am pulling Josh out of school to homeschool I sometimes get those faces too. Or the question what are you going to do in high school? Right now I am just worried about teaching him 3rd grade basics. I will take it one step at a time and one grade at a time. But we are fortunate to have people in our area who have 20+ years in homeschooling and kids who got full scholarships to college while being home schooled.