and midnight, pour yourself some extra-caffeinated coffee and go for it. (In rare instances, your state law may stipulate that you need to teach between the hours of such and such, but most states do not. See Appendix B for homeschool associations to locate your state law, or visit Chapter 3.)
Dealing with special learners
Parents of special needs students rarely settle into middle ground. Instead, they generally fall into two camps:
Those who can’t wait to bring their children home because they certainly couldn’t do a worse job with their child’s education.
Those who worry that taking a special needs child from the school setting would deprive her of the extra resources she needs.
One on one
If you think you couldn’t do any more educational harm, then you’re already on the right track. Homeschooling brings education back to one-on-one tutoring, which is what special needs education was supposed to be in the first place. In a homeschool, you have your own children, who are used to dealing with each other, and you, who is used to working with them. You can schedule your day so you work with only one at a time, or if you have more than one child, you can arrange to work with two or more at once. It’s completely up to you.
Continuing therapy
If you have a special needs learner, then you’re already used to the specialist roundup. Physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist, resource room teacher, medical specialists — sometimes they become almost like family because you see them so often. With time, you learn the jargon and even some of the solutions.
One option when you homeschool is to continue whatever therapy sessions your child previously attended on your own. Although speech therapy functions a little differently, physical and occupational therapists usually work on one goal for an extended period of time. Physical and occupational therapists use exercises specifically designed to reach that goal, whether it’s flexibility, relaxation, or muscle toning. If you know your therapists already, they may feel comfortable working with you on a consulting basis. You work on the exercises during the week or two between consultations, and check in with them to tell them how it’s going. They then redirect your exercise cycle if you need it.
Teaching a special needs learner requires creativity on your part. Whatever the need is, your job as a homeschooler is to present information so your child can understand it. Because this is your child, you’re much more interested in stretching his mind than anyone else would be. And he usually responds better to you than he would to anyone else because he knows that you love him.
Chapter 19 discusses homeschooling students with special needs.
Beginning the Journey
Some parents agonize over the right time to start homeschooling their children. Actually, there really is no wrong time. Like most other things in homeschooling, it’s totally up to you. Most families make their final decision to homeschool sometime in the late spring or early summer, when the thought of going through another year of public or private school makes them uneasy. (To get to the uneasy part, you’ve actually been thinking through situations and options for quite some time, although you may not realize it.)
They then spend the summer deciding on curriculum, detoxing from the school year, and reading up on homeschooling. Maybe they find other homeschoolers they know and talk to them about their decision. When August or September comes, these families begin school at home instead of sending their children on the bus. After mentally preparing themselves all summer and sketching a game plan in their minds, they’re ready for the adventure.
Choosing the perfect time of year
A good number of new homeschoolers begin in January after winter break. It gives the children two weeks away from school, and they simply don’t return. If a school situation deteriorates rapidly from September to December, these children usually benefit from the release of emotional stress they feel by staying home to school.
In an extreme situation, such as a child who becomes physically ill at the thought of getting on the bus or going to school in the morning, parents sometimes take their children out that week. They then spend a few weeks allowing the child to relax and get used to being at home all day, and then gently begin working school subjects into the schedule. The child would spend that time home ill anyway; his parents simply use it productively to help him adjust to a rather abrupt change in schedule. The downtime allows the frazzled parent time to gather thoughts together, research curriculum, and deal with her own emotions of anger and frustration.
Deciding at what age to begin
Many parents start homeschooling their children in kindergarten, but it’s not unusual for a family to begin homeschooling a ninth grader. Some parents begin with an idea of homeschooling long before the first child arrives on the scene. They research the idea, talk to other parents, find out what materials are currently available, and make the decision before they even have children. Then, when their family becomes bigger, they raise the toddlers and preschoolers with an expectation that they’ll be homeschooled until further notice.
Not all parents are this focused, however, and many begin to think of teaching their own children when they look into that sweet 5-year-old face and think of it being away from home all day. Perhaps kindergarten left a bad taste in your mouth and you want to look into other options. You suddenly realize you taught your child almost everything he knows to this point, so you may be qualified to continue the trend. Good for you!
Some families find out further along the line that public or private school doesn’t work for their children. You may be one of these parents. Perhaps your child comes home bored each day because she isn’t challenged. Maybe social or educational issues arise that make it difficult for your child to learn. Or perhaps your child learns things from other children that shock you.
When situations such as these arise, and you feel like homeschooling is the best option for your family, you can start whenever you like. Even tenth and eleventh graders come home to school if social pressures and threats of violence become overwhelming.
No one should have to learn in a place that they don’t feel is safe. If
