Sunday, August 29, 2010

Switching educational style

Homeschooling two children with special needs is a real challenge. Both our sons are diagnosed on the autism spectrum. Our oldest also as been diagnosed with severe ADHD and he has massive impulse control issues. I'm just trying to say that each boys can be extremely different in how they want to do lessons that day. So I have been experimenting with learning methods. One boy prefers set work and is textbook oriented, while the other definitely craves the unschooling style. So I have been working hard at meeting in between.

So I already have tons of textbooks in various levels and now they are just collecting dust on the shelves. We have started incorporating more learning games to bring subjects to life and give Joey a hands-on ability to learn. I am using some Charlotte Mason style to give Brayden some of the "book work" that he craves. We will be using one textbook in our learning and that will be for Math. We are starting Teaching Textbooks. It allows Brayden to work independently and I can still help Joey and encourage his independence. I will admit to one other textbook for sure, it's in Science. Most of our science will be online research/living books from the library and lots of hands-on experiments. But I will use the Science book as a guide to keep myself on tract. They are getting older and I want them to definitely have a basic grasp on science skills. Neither seems interested in this as a career choice, but I just feel that they need to know.

This will be a different school year. It will be an adjustment for all of us. But I am so looking forward to the coming year.

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  3. You cannot expect someone to empathize with you when things are bad and let them pass. This is particularly because there are times when there is a need to take care of two children at home that have different education and learning needs. My cousin’s oldest has severe ADHD and impulse control and your oldest is as well, and your other boy is on the autism spectrum like my cousin’s other boy. They learned that they need a flexible system that can include some parts of the structured and unschooling approaches in order to meet the specific needs of each child. It resonates with my story when I searched for Cheap law dissertation help; the conundrum that cheap law dissertation help came from a tailored approach to learning. Juggling different methods is hard but the feeling when they jump with joy is amazing. Do not lose faith and keep repeating the process – it is awesome that you are doing it!

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