Special Needs Students

It has been brought to my attention that children with special needs are being missed over by all the new laws that are governing how to educate this population.
As a mother of a child with Autism it can be difficult to homeschool this child more so than a so called normal learning child. So many factors play a role and the school district wants to make sure that the way they interpret the law is the right way.
Well I beg to differ. School districts are to provide speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy services for your child at no costs to you. There should be a special program within each state that is for early childhood development.

In my state of Michigan it is called Early On. The link to this Early Childhood Development program in Michigan is; http://www.earlychildhoodmichigan.org/index.html

Another link to check out is Bridges for kids at; http://www.bridges4kids.org

This organization will link you up with many special services in your area that you may not be aware that exist and are willing to help you for no fee at all since they are run by your local government.

Another link is Project Great Start and you can contact your Intermediate School District for this program and here is the link;
http://wwwmigreatparents.org

You local Early on Coordinator is for children ages birth to three years this program is for children with developmental delays, any type of disability or health conditions that your child might have. The link is;
http://1800earlyon.org/About/EOcordinator,php

Local Project Find Coordinator helps with the special education system in Michigan that helps children from birth to twenty-six years of age receive services and any other help they may need.
http://wwwprojectfindmichigan.org

Head Start is a program that is national program which provides comprehensive developmental services for America’s low income family’s ages three – five years old.
Http://wwwmhsa.ws/

The Michigan Zero to five advocacies Network will help younger children also receive services;
http://bridges4kids.org/ZFAN.htm also you might want to check out http://www.bridges4kids.org/counties/Wayne.htm this is the link for Wayne county Michigan

All of these links can be found off the main link site at the top of the blog.
I know that it may seem to be a bit overwhelming to check out all the links that I have provided but these services are not being used as much by the homeschooling community and they are also available to us. These government programs are not just for children that are in school. If they say they are then find an advocate in your school district that will help you out.
Most of the services are being offered and need to be taken advantage of. All children with special needs have issues that need to be addressed. So many parents feel they can do everything themselves. Well I know that feeling but at some point you will need help or you can crazy.

Homeschooling a child with any type of disability can be emotionally draining and time consuming especially if you have other children you are also teaching. These are things I used to do with my children. I would teach certain subjects together like handwriting, math and art. These subjects seemed to flow better for our family together. Even though the age’s difference posed an issue I was able to do both at the same time. Then when I worked with my autistic son on reading comprehension I had my other child working on independent studies. Like reading history, science or religion and then answering questions. When I was done working with my son one on one I would go over and check on the work that my daughter was doing and how far along she was and if the work was correct. Then we would do something fun like play a game or something that pertained to phonics or puzzles.

It seemed to work smoothly for us and since I only have two children it was easy to go back and forth from child to child. I was unable to leave my son work independently but my daughter was more than capable of reading on her own and me helping with the questions. I also would try and alternate subjects matter each day and not have the same subjects every day. I really feel that alternating the subjects was a plus. I still continue that routine as of today. I also have used the topic of discussions that my son loved to talk about like NASCAR or basketball. We used the driver’s numbers, a player’s numbers or laps done for math. We used spelling names, terms related or any other words that pertained to that subject for spelling.

I will be posting a second part to this blog telling you how I worked on reading comprehension, main theme, word problems, sequencing problems, and many more!

Good Luck in your homeschooling journey and remember U2can Home School your child with any types of needs!

Neighbors Questions continued

Well the neighbor once again stopped by asking me more questions and has decided to use ABEKA. I thought that was a great choice knowing her child and the curriculum I thougth the fit was right. So know this what will be happening.

First, she needs to purchase and register with ABEKA. I explained that they come to different hotels in the area to register people and also if purchasing books at this time shipping and hadleing will be waived. Once she decides what grade level she will be working with her child, since her child is between two grades at present.

Second, she will recive the books in the mail and then look over the curriculum and start planning her days out for the course of the year. Each day does not need to be so planned out that things can't change but to have a plan will help to keep the year flowing with the school work in tact.

Third, digging in and starting to school her child. The plans are going to make this part much easier in order to complete this year smoothly.

Planning is the most important part of homeschooling and will help in order to keep your paper work completed.

I will be talking more about this topic in the upcoming weeks. Leraning how to make the most of your day will be the next topic that is being discussed.

Just a note I was happy to be able to help my neighbor make some clear and concise decisions about homeschooling and doing what is best for her family. I want to wish all those families that homeschool the best of luck in the upcoming year and to have a wonderfully fun-filled summer vacation!!

Neighbor's continuing Questions!

Well let's continue where we left off, I helping my neighbor to pick out a curriculum for her daughter. I had given her three suggestions for what I thought were great homeschool curriculum resources. First, Kolbe Academy, they are a Catholic based curriculum that allows you to register with them and they will keep your transcripts for any grade. They service all grades K-12 and will allow you also use their books or purchase the books of your choice for each subject title. If using their books then you will be receiving a daily course plan. The course plan is your map on how to homeschool, as well as the subjects name and what assignments need to be completed. In the course plan also called syllabus you will find what the requirements are for completing each quarter. A copy of the work is to be sent in for each subject for all four quarters. According to the grades that you place on your child’s report card, a proctor (counselor), will look over the work and make sure that the grade is appropriate and begin creating your child’s transcripts. With Kolbe’s registration fee you will receive your transcripts, counseling and your course plan but you will not receive any books. Remember you are able to purchase these where you like.

I am currently using this curriculum and have found it to be very cost effective and I like to ability to modify the course to fit the child in the event the child is not learning their particular course book. It has really helped us out with teaching subjects that my child is having trouble with. The modifications offer a great alternative.

The second curriculum was Seton Home Study, which is also a Catholic curriculum. They also have programs for grades K-12 and will keep transcripts for you. There is one difference and that is that you have to use the books that they supply to you for the registration fee. They also give you a course plan that you need to follow. There are also test and the end of each quarter that you must take and Seton will grade and average with the grades that the parent has given. You must follow their course plan and not use any other books. There enrollment fee includes all your books, the course plans, transcripts, and counseling for one price.

Seton also has a department that is strictly geared to children with special needs. This includes any and all types of learning disabilities that your child might have. I used this department for my autistic son and it has worked out wonderfully. The counselors even helped with getting books that accommodated his special needs of working with different grade levels that he was working on at the time.

Another thing that Seton did wonderfully was work with us being that we were international students at the time so they helped us with the grading and did all the counseling over the internet. Another plus for what we needed.

The last and final curriculum that I spoke to my neighbor about was ABEKA, a Christian based program that also has so many wonderful qualities. ABEKA is able to offer an on-line learning program where your child will do everything on line. No books required that I know of only a computer. They also have the traditional way of schooling that I have used in the past and are currently using to supplement my current program.

ABEKA will also provide you lesson plans, counseling and transcripts for your registration fee. They also cater to grades K-12 and you are able to purchase books from them or from other sources. They do have package deals for those children that are in the lower grades. Their books are wonderfully written from a totally Christian perspective. They are colorful, bright and interesting. They offer a wide range of material to cover. Each course has the main subject book, test book, quiz book, teacher key and all the answer keys. Each book is purchased separately for the upper grades; in the lower grades you have the ability to purchase the whole package for one set fee.

Each one of these homeschooling companies provides wonderful service as far as I am concerned and that is why I recommended them to my neighbor. Now she just needs to decide which one fits her lifestyle and that of her child.
I will keep you updated as more questions are asked and what will be the final outcome on her homeschooling journey.