Adopted Children have Unique Educational Needs Met Best at Home
View PDF | Print View
by: SandraNardoni
Total views: 45
Word Count: 745
One of the biggest challenges (but also one of the biggest joys) I've ever attempted is home educating my three children. At the ages of 11, 9, and 8 a big mountain to climb is teaching not only to their intellectual ages, but also to their emotional ages, which can change from day to day and sometimes even hour to hour. My key phrase these last few years is "routines with flexibility" because that is the secret to teaching to a child's developmental needs without sacrificing academic content. I will be giving you a glimpse into what that looks like and sharing some curriculum choices we've made that have been integral in helping our special needs kids thrive.
Beginning with routines, let's break down what routines with flexibility looks like. It is tempting as an adoptive parent of children with attachment issues and special needs to go to one extreme or the other. Controlling the environment by dictating every move the child makes, or alternately, allowing them to run over the entire family. Neither of those choices brings a lot of peace or is conducive to emotional healing. In addition, when you are with your children as mother and teacher, 24/7 your kids' problems become very obvious and because you aren't sending them away to school, it's up to you to help them. Having a plan is a must.
Watch what your children naturally do during most days. If your kids like to get up early, make sure you are in bed at night early enough to be up before them! If your child is a late riser, don't force them to get up at the crack of dawn and be grumpy the whole morning (ruining your morning and theirs). These are tweeks you can make as a homeschooling parent--you don't have to follow the public school schedule. And remember, you have plenty of time to train them for the "real world". For now, your goal is to have a positive relationship with them first, and then to educate them.
So, how do you teach to a child's developmental age in the moment, without sacrificing content? Our family accomplishes this in several ways but the biggest is through unit studies. Unit studies are perfect for families because you can bring all the kids under one umbrella for everything accept Math and Phonics. When the younger members (physically or emotionally) get too overwhelmed to move further into a topic, they can "get off the bus" so to speak and you can keep moving with your older kids. The curriculum we use to do this is KONOS but there is also My Father's World, and Sonlight curriculum. Personally, I think the first two are the best choices for special need kids but that gives you a place to start. If you want more information about specifics of what we use, you can sign up for my free mini-course below.
Knowing what to expect generally is important to my children and we provide that. The pegs we hang our day on don't change much--breakfast, lunch and dinner, rest time, and bedtime routines. As long as those are not tinkered with too much we can usually add in other events and activities that aren't a part of our regular day--things like library visits and soccer practice. I wouldn't call what we do a schedule, but it does flow together in a predictable way.
Because we school year 'round, I don't stress if we have to snuggle on the couch for most of the day a few times a month. Having my kids in the right frame of mind for learning means I know when to push on and I know when to pack up the tough stuff for the day and call it quits. My main goal right now is to teach them to trust me, teach them character, and work consistently on reading. The other things will fall into place as their brains heal from the trauma they've experienced.
About the Author
Sandra Nardoni is the home educating, adoptive parent to three children. She also does private consultation with homeschool families educating adopted children. For more information on home educating attachment challenged children visit the link for a free 5 part mini-course. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service
Rating: Not yet rated
