Last Monday, I cried. I cried because I have the opportunity to homeschool my son. I feel wonderful and so lucky.
Sam has been in school since the age of 2 when I sent him off to an early intervention preschool. It was overwhelming for me to let him go. Due to his global delays, he wasn’t able to walk yet. I remember leaving the classroom, running to my car, and crying.
Since that time I kept him in public school. Sam had various services, such as Adapted Physical Education, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy and Speech. Then he was in Special Education classes until he was 9 years old, receiving resource services after that.
As he gradually developed and caught up to his peers, Sam’s need for additional services reduced, as did his IEP goals. So with his promotion to middle school, I decided I was ready and confident enough to be able to homeschool him. I signed up with a local charter school to offer Sam and I assistance on our journey. That was a wonderful decision. Our charter provides an education specialist for parents to consult with and plenty of curriculum choices to choose from. I decided to play it safe and stay with the charter school’s recommended full curriculum of lesson plans.
On the first day of homeschool, we studied from the comfort of our couch. Sam loved Math the most. I am amazed by his enthusiasm for homeschooling. After all, it’s a lot of work! We worked on Math, Language Arts, Spelling, Life Skills, P.E., and Science. Needless to say, by the end of the school day we were exhausted.
Sam looked at me beaming and said, “I love homeschooling with you, Mom. It’s so fun!” This was all the payoff I needed.
I know there will be days when things will be challenging but my goal is to foster a love of learning in Sam. Also, to show him that just because some concepts take longer to understand, doesn’t mean he’s not good at it, and sometimes it has nothing to do with his skills. For example, a map that we were working on was too small, thus making land masses hard to identify, a fault of the curriculum publisher. Sam then muttered, “I’m not any good at Language Arts!” I was able to address that concern immediately!
We just completed week one of our homeschooling journey. I look forward to exciting, unique, and sometimes crazy adventures ahead!
Read More About School and Children with Special Needs:
- Why I’m Choosing to Homeschool my Child with Special Needs
- Dear Sam: A Father’s Letter to His Special Needs Child on Graduation Day
- Tube Feeding at School: 8 Tips to Prepare Your Child and School Staff
- Back to School for Your Special Needs Child: How to Be Ready
- Moving With Special Needs – Part 1: Schools
