Embracing Schooling “Outside the Box”

 

I talk to many parents who are interested in homeschooling, but they don’t know where to begin.  Many of these parents have kiddos with significant intellectual, behavioral, physical and emotional special needs.  These are parents who have been advocates for their children their whole lives.  They have gone through countless doctor appointments, therapies, IEP meetings and accommodations to help their child to succeed.

 

Once we get to the bottom of their fears, the underlying issue isn’t that they are incapable of teaching their child, it is that they aren’t sure how to create “public school at home.”  

 

 

 

In our homeschool, the world is our classroom.  Because of the way that most of us were educated, we have a picture in our minds of what school is supposed to look like.  The picture may include things like lined-up desks, an American flag,  textbooks, workbooks, tests with fill-in-the-blank bubbles.  However, as homeschoolers we are free to let go of these constraints.  We have the privilege of teaching our child in their learning style and at their level.

 

 

 

We don’t tackle every subject every day, but here are some things I choose from:

 

 Math

Numicon math 

Touch Math

Rod and Staff

Teachers Pay Teachers

Lakeshore

Learning Resources

and many other places.  Sometimes we even tackle math by going around the house counting, adding and subtracting.  We also incorporate math into our cooking and shopping.  Math is everywhere!

 

 

English/Reading

This year we are trying to see how language rich we can make our home by using read-aloud books!  We have a couple hundred picked out for a variety of topics and some small units.

We absolutely loveRead Aloud Reviva 

To target phonics and sight words, I have made my own books (which I  offer on Teachers Pay Teachers) 

Traditional curriculum like Abeka 

And more creative curriculum like Happy Phonics 

 

 

Science/Social Studies

We are learning some of this through our fabulous read-alouds.  We are also enjoying nature walks and are going to attempt some nature journaling this year.  My girls also love videos and tend to remember things with catchy songs or tunes. My girls love:

Rachel and the Treeschoolers 

Sid the Science Kid

The Magic School Bus

Liberty Kids

For Social Studies I purchased “.” They are not quite interested yet, but I’m holding out hope for it.  We also do a lot of map puzzles geared toward geography and use some iPad apps.

 

 

Sign Language

We love Signing Time 

While one of my daughters uses it for communication, my other daughter is learning it as a second language.

 

 

Occupational Therapy

Right now we do OT at home with things that I set up for the girls.  We  work with clay, painting, push-pin work, and coloring. This year I’m going to introduce some felt sewing and embroidery.  The girls love to watch me crochet and they want to learn, so we may attempt that as well.  

 

Last year was a monumental year for fine motor improvement.  I fell in love with coloring again and they wanted to join me.  I cannot pay them to do handwriting worksheets for more than 15 minutes,  but if I get out my coloring books they will color for 3-4 hours at a time.

 

 

Physical Education

They play outside!  They run, they swing, they jump on the trampoline.  We explore different parks when we have good weather and they love it.  

 

We target many skills and goals by shopping, cleaning, running errands and visiting with friends.  Life is about learning.  If you look at your daily activities, you will find that your children are learning so much from you.  Don’t be afraid to jump outside your box, try something natural, fun and child-led and see how your children blossom.