homeschooling

[Guest guest]

Deanna,

The school is paying for in home private speech with my dau private speech

therapist.....(She is from Oregon ) she is great with my dau.

My dau just turn 4, but her sister is 5 and the Daisy group leaders / others

Mom are all homeschool Mom's.

I need to check into PDP maybe AZ has it.. I really don't like giving the

schools any info /or power over us. But, we need this service.

Hoping to drop all ties in a couple years or sooner.

Re: homeschooling

> >

> >

> > > Deanna,

> > > I see you are just beginning the odyssey of homeschooling.

> While we

> > > have only done it for one year, feel free to email me with any

> > > questions. I'd be happy to help.

> > > Peace,

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

[Guest guest]

I homeschool . We do not ask for services from the school. Where I live, it is less hassle! I use 's ACCESS(medicaid) to pay for the therapies that I need.

ElaineF

[Guest guest]

I homeschool . We do not ask for services from the school. Where I live, it is less hassle! I use 's ACCESS(medicaid) to pay for the therapies that I need.

ElaineF

[Guest guest]

Kathy -

I understand your position on your daughter " copying " what other kids

do.

We have a benchmark in my daughter's IEP that says " She will refrain mimicing

peers inappropriate behaviors by the end of the third trimester " (although

we are shooting for the 1st).

I can't begin to tell you some of the things I've had to stop her from saying...It's

very disconcerting, to say the least.

Penny-------------------------------------------------------- " Just remember this: Plenty of Horsepower, No Traction " - R. S. on

" If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away. " --Henry Thoreau

[Guest guest]

Deanna -

:-(

I hope those are NOT things that are being said to her.

I keep saying, the great thing about Autism is:

My child does not know how to be " mean'

She does not know how to be " cruel "

and when someone treats HER this way, she doesnt' get it.

Thank God.

Penny-------------------------------------------------------- " Just remember this: Plenty of Horsepower, No Traction " - R. S. on

" If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away. " --Henry Thoreau

[Guest guest]

Penny- I'm pretty sure those things were said to her. It would have

been by another autistic child, probably one of two boys (about 10-

12year olds)whom she likes to play with. I have decided to ask

(the teacher)what happens when things like this are said. I

know that Bridget does not understand but somehow, someway, someday

we will have to try to explain to our girls what verbal insults

are...won't we? How? I don't want her to say those things to anyone

else, she has already tried them out on her sister and at 2.4

gets that these are not terms of endearment. In some ways our

children are the 'higher' beings. I cherish her innocence. I fear

her naivete'. Does that make sense?

Deanna

>

[Guest guest]

I agree penny, I have been thankful on many occassions that hannah does not understand "teasing" like we do. unfortunately, her older sister does understand it, and when it happens Leah sticks up for hannah, and gets upset if they don't stop. there was one occassion where the kids started taunting hannah, saying their name was "Hannah", and of course hannah would say No, my name is Hannah!!!, not understanding that they were teasing. Leah told me what was going on, so a word in the teachers ear has solved that for now, but no doubt it will occurr again. i am very greatful to have my older daughter at this time in hannah's life. I don;t want her to have too much responsibility, but i have explained to her for now ,for the next couple of years her job is to care for hannah on the bus!!!, anyone else got some interesting stories???? bye for now, cheryl

-----Original Message-----From: Penny [mailto:nospam@...]Sent: Wednesday, 1 August 2001 1:54 PMAutism_in_Girls Subject: Re: Re: Homeschooling

Deanna - :-( I hope those are NOT things that are being said to her. I keep saying, the great thing about Autism is: My child does not know how to be "mean' She does not know how to be "cruel" and when someone treats HER this way, she doesnt' get it. Thank God. Penny--------------------------------------------------------"Just remember this: Plenty of Horsepower, No Traction" - R. S. on"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away."--Henry Thoreau

[Guest guest]

Kathy, I home educated all three of my children. Today my oldest are

18 and 19. Socially they are by far their peers superior. For many

years people told me what a mistake I was making by keeping my girls

at home. Now people want to know how they can get their kids to turn

out like mine! After so many years of hateful and caustic remarks by

virtual strangers, it's nice to get a few pats on the back.

Most people view home education as a kind of isolationism, of course

this is so untrue. And even though I'm a proponent of home ed. I

believe that when parents invest in their children they will have a

positive outcome.

[Guest guest]

Hi Shirley -- We homeschool our five children, ages 4-13. Our middle

child, age 9, is HFA/ADHD. She spent two years in public school, in an

LD unit, but started picking up too many negative behaviors. We've had

her home with the others for 1-1/2 years. We have had to let her

self-direct her learning, kind of a moderate " unschooling " approach.

She hates worksheets, loves fieldtrips and hands-on. We had a tutor

help sometimes last year, but that gets expensive. It is an adventure!

I belong to a good web group of people who homeschool autistic kids.

You may want to try it:

http://AUT-2B-HOMEMAELSTROM (DOT) STJOHNS.EDU

Please ask me any other questions I might help with. Kathy

PS There is no one right way to homeschool!

shirley wrote:

>

> I need some advice on homeschooling a PDD-NOS girl. My husband & I

> have become very disgusted with the public school system in our area

> and our 8 yr old is being allowed to fall " between the cracks " of

> the system. We want to homeschool but know nothing of the programs or

> the cost. Anyone else homeschooling their autistic child out there?

>

> Shirley ston

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Shirley and Kathy- I'm home schooling my 5.9 year old HFA girl. I

too belong to Aut-2B-home and also a list called

ASLearningatHome We attend a language clinic at a

local college and have had a very successful first term with our

Graduate Clinician. We also did Musikgarten this fall. We do

basically whatever works at the time. Sometimes we get alot done

following her lead and sometimes I have to step in and say 'hey, it's

time to get some work done'. We work on reading comprehension, math,

problem solving, geography(just got a post card from Italy-thank

you!), Health, Safety, Science etc. There are so many resources for

home schooling special needs kids, you would not be alone, Shirley,

you would be one of many. The home schooling laws in general vary

from state to state, so check those out to see what is required. It

will be no more difficult for you to extricate yourself from the ps

system than anyone else who wants to home school in your state. Feel

free to ask me any questions you may have! Good Luck, Deanna i

Oregon

> >

> > I need some advice on homeschooling a PDD-NOS girl. My husband & I

> > have become very disgusted with the public school system in our

area

> > and our 8 yr old is being allowed to fall " between the cracks " of

> > the system. We want to homeschool but know nothing of the

programs or

> > the cost. Anyone else homeschooling their autistic child out

there?

> >

> > Shirley ston

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

Hi, I'm , Mother to ie, 11. We home school and have found it to be

the best choice for us. I would like to interject that daily life skills at

an early age can be a very stimulating way to help a child understand WHY we

are working on skills. We make it a point to give our daughter plenty of

opportunities to see how we use what we learn. God Speed.

[Guest guest]

> I need some advice on homeschooling a PDD-NOS girl. My husband & I

> have become very disgusted with the public school system in our area

> and our 8 yr old is being allowed to fall " between the cracks " of

> the system. We want to homeschool but know nothing of the programs

or

> the cost. Anyone else homeschooling their autistic child out there?

>

> Shirley ston

Shirley...I've been away from the list and haven't read any of the

other post regarding your issue (please accept this as an apology if I

repeat what has already been stated). I'm a home-educator and as such

when our third child presented with major differences if never occured

to me to do anything different, ie., special ed programs, training,

etc. She's fifteen now and I've on my own stummbled across many of

the techniques that are in vogue. Some work. Some don't. And sometimes

the timing is wrong. In other words, what may not work today, will

work next week. Children grow and develop in such odd and peculiar

ways (and these are the normal ones). Our experience has been very

positive. My daughter is very well ajusted, with minimal stress

related behaviors. My single piece of advise would be to have a goal,

both short term and long term. Not a time-line, but just something for

you to work toward. Often it's hard to know if you're making progress

when you're down in the trenches. Good luck. Teri

[Guest guest]

I'll take a different kind of direction here with this issue. I know of many

parents who are opting out of public special education- for reasons that are

many and varied. These parents are home educating their children, not

necessarily using ABA, Verbal Behavior or a Neurodevelopmental program,

though some do with excellent results. We use curriculae that we choose

ourselves, that speaks to the individual needs and academic levels of our

kids. We teach them in an environment that is hopefully less stressful than

regular school and offer the kind of supportive, enthusiastic 1:1 help that

many fight the school district for, and that many never get, after periods of

utter chaos and stress beyond belief. Not everyone is geared to wrestle with

the school district day after day or year after year, some just opt out and

find it much less stressful even with the extra added responsibility of

educating the kids. I'm not making a pitch tho it may sound that way, I'm

just saying that some do it differently. Each and everyone of us is

interested in doing what's best for our child and family, whether they go to

public school, private school or are home educated. The severity of

disability ,per se, does not prohibit home educating, it does however make a

difference in what type of curriculum is chosen and what level is taught.

Speech Therapy can continue with the school district, depending on what state

you are in, be procurred through a local college or hospital etc. If your

child has Medicaid it can be paid for that way. Anyone who wants to hear me

babble on some more can e-mail me at DeeCGann@... I also belong to a

group called aut-2be-home which is a fabulous place to gather information if

you are considering home education your autistic spectrum child! Everyone

have a great day!! Deanna

[Guest guest]

Not sure what the age of your daughter is, but I know that many people have

forced the school district to pay for a homeschooling program (therapists,

materials etc) Our district is paying for 10 hours of ABA in-home therapy

to augment her schooling. The ST and OT is done there, but I know of others

that have that done in the home too.

My general recommendation is to not let the school district off the hook

that easily - if they have dropped the ball, make them pick it back up - if

that means a home program then they should pay for it.

I would also recommend the Competent Learner Model Curriculum. You can take

a look at it at www.tuccionline.com depending on where you life they may be

able to support with parent and support staff training as well.

Tucci manages our home program and also provides in-service training and

consulting for the teachers at school -the result has been a highly

integrated program that is doing wonders for .

Homeschooling

> This is what I really came here to do and got busy replying so here

> it is before I get distracted again....

>

> We are very disgusted with our local public school and have felt that

> they have 'dropped the ball'(so to speak) concerning our daughter's

> special needs' education. We have decided to homeschool but are

> concerned about the types of books to buy and about their speech

> therapy. Question 1: Does anyone out there know some good texts for

> Austistic/Dyslexic children? Question 2: Can we still have the coop

> that handled their speech therapy continue to give them ST even

> though they are being home schooled?

>

> Thanks,

> Aviv

> skj007@...

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

we used the dual enroolment for AEA services and for music class, im not very

music talented and didnt know how to teach those concepts. shawna.

[Guest guest]

Jo Ann:

How old is ?

" Basic Life Skills " depends on how old th echild is in my mind. I'vve been

challenging thi concept for quite a while. I have just begun teaching my

older son how to do his laundry (Ok, we're late in this, I know, but MY mom

never taught ME!), so I figure I don't have to begin teaching andy for 2

1/2 years--and I don't want to spend my tax dollars for someone else to do

it unless it's a huge issue.

So for my son who is in 7th grade, *I* think " lifeskills " is managing

" life " at school. What does that mean? It means learning to be safe,

learning to use the library, learning how to make a few friends, learning

what there is to do there, learning how to get lunch, learning how to

interact appropriately at lunch, learning that NO ONE can open themilk

carton, learning how to play four square with his friend, giving a report,

putting a report together, and so on. I'm just not all that concerned with

how well he pulls up his pants or buttons, or whatever, and I think it's a

crime that " life skills " means we don't even look at literacy experiences.

Usually folks follow me " ok " (but think I'm looney) until I get to things

about giving ar eport, putting a report together and so on. No one's taught

them about curricular adaptations. He can match same-to-same, sequence by

number, and use voice output and computers to give reports he may not fully

understand. But he's learning things on his IEP like matching (with some

literacy skills tossed in for good measure), number line sequencing (maybe

even more and less if we're lucky), how to use his voice output device or

PECS system in a new and different way, and how to use the computer. Is

that so bad? So what if he didn't get out the books from teh library

himself. Did he go to the library during " research time " and check out ANY

book successfully? That's a lifeskill!

When looking at jobs, the current school of thought is to look at what your

child is the most successful at, and what they are interested in and use

these same small steps of learning to build into competence of a job. The

school will tell you taht's what a workshop does. But if yoru daughter is

interested in fabric, it's not teaching her how to work in a fabric shop.

You can learn the skills (such as matching colors or sorting by color) in

the store, rather than discretely as the one skill. Say for instance, she

does like fabric and likes to carry the bolts around (good activity for

building shoulder & trunk strength--OT goal). The store can be set up with

color coding so she knows what section to take the bolt of fabric to and

put it away. First she learns where on the bold the color code is (on the

end of it as a " dot " ) then she finds the color in some fashion in the store

and takes the bolt there.

A girl I know who is now in her late 20's was not reading when she

graduated from sped. She worked wiht a friend of mine in her office. The

school transition place was teaching her to wash day care toys as her job.

SHE wanted to work in an office like her Dad. (does this make sense or

what?). So Essie set up the office so Gretchen could be successful. They

had these hand cut outs with photos of th eoffice supply and the words on

them (pens, pads of paper, paper clips, whatever), and marked the

" re-order " point by putting the hand at the reorder spot in the pile. (say

5 pads of paper from teh bottom). If the supply didn't make a good pile,

there was a picture of how many she needed. (say 2 photos of a box of pens

on the hand with the number 2 on it). She could match the number of boxes

to the number on the hand, and if she had more boxes than on the hand she

put the hand back in it's place until the next week. If the hand was at the

reorder point, then she took it with her to her desk to make the order.

Then she sat down with pen and paper (she can't read, but she can copy

words) and copied th ename of the item on th ehand to the shopping list and

gave it to the office manager. One day Gretchen announced this wasn't

really an office (it is in my friends basement) because it didnt' have an

In/Out board. So out they went to buy one. When I visited after that was

purchased, she couldnt' tell anyone's name or in from out. When I visited 6

months later, I moved all the names around and put the wrong people in and

out. She got all mad because I messed with her board. When I quizzed her

(by teasing that I didn't know where things went), she was able to

discriminate each person's name and also where their in/out marker goes. In

other words, she had learned sight words!

If you get Disability Solutions, the form on the back for subscriptions was

designed for Gretchen. She can match letter for letter, space for space

pretty well. She managed my 7000-9000 member mailing list for 2 years. Now

she works in a hospital entering data into a computer and making welcome

packets. She works enough hours to earn benefits, and is not using SSI at

this time. She lives wiht her parents, but she is very very fulfilled, so

what's wrong wiht that?

food for thought.

j

At 09:27 AM 7/22/2002 -0400, you wrote:

>Am joining the group of Moms not satisfied with the present school

situation. Sandy would you please send the address of the homeschooling

support group? I have thought about the problems that we have with the

teacher that has had over the last two years and her low expectations

for her. Also that she has not advanced any in the last two years with her.

The educational consultants from the ASM came out to visit us last week

and suggested that we schedule a meeting with out director of special

education and see what we can do aboult this " situation " . At the present

time he is out of his office and the recording says that he will check his

answering machine from time to time. I agree the stress of wanting what is

best for our child is getting getting to me also. My question is when home

schooling what do we do about jobs when they are older? Anything would be

better than putting them on a bus to go to a sheltered workshop. Which is

what " Basic Life Skills " ( my name for her present teacher) would be having

her do. I have told her that if that is alll we wanted for her we wouldn't

be spending all of this time and money on all of the extra therapies. Has

anyone had any experience with Vision Therapy? This is the new one that we

are now doing for the summer. Besides the GF/CfF diet we are also working

on the Yeast Free diet. There were good articles on Life Skills Do Not

Bring Happiness and also Pain in the Assesment in a newsletter from ASM a

few years back, which say just what I have been feeling for awhile.

Prayers for all, JoAnn Mom to in Michigan

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Joanne -

Sigh... you, Gail and I need to start a club or something.

Both of these e-mail lists, I *just* joined so I can only tell you that they all

seem nice and helpful. The autism one seems pretty high volume -

Aut 2B Home - http://www.weirdkids.com/autism/aut2bhome.htm

and

http://home.earthlink.net/~tammyglaser798/authome.html#sup

And the special- needs- homeschool is:

special-needs-homeschool/

Stolz (Hi - tyvm for all your help) and Kathy (Urthman) have helped me

tons and I plan on organizing myself (hah lol) and when I do, I will send you my

links if you'd like.

Here is another page where you can find email lists by state and category:

http://www.helmonline.com/pages/res/elists/index.html

We also have the problem of basic life skills / low expectations with these

school people. Don't get me wrong - I know exactly what Gabby's functioning

level is - it's low but there isn't one person who can tell me that their (sd's)

plan of action is going to assist her. This girl is *smart* - beyond what

they'll ever allow them to see. I really think she can " feel " that they aren't

really interested in her. I have been working with her since she's been on break

and am seeing some very nice progress and have told the sd and they pass glances

to each other as though saying " we don't believe you " . So.... que sera, sera.

They can watch their $$$ for my daughter's head pass them by bc I won't let her

education suffer for their mistakes and shortcomings.

I would be interested in reading those articles you speak of.

Sandy

mom to Gabby (6, ds-asd) and Adam (2)

rickvargas1@...

homeschooling

Am joining the group of Moms not satisfied with the present school situation.

Sandy would you please send the address of the homeschooling support group? I

have thought about the problems that we have with the teacher that has had

over the last two years and her low expectations for her. Also that she has not

advanced any in the last two years with her. The educational consultants from

the ASM came out to visit us last week and suggested that we schedule a meeting

with out director of special education and see what we can do aboult this

" situation " . At the present time he is out of his office and the recording says

that he will check his answering machine from time to time. I agree the stress

of wanting what is best for our child is getting getting to me also. My

question is when home schooling what do we do about jobs when they are older?

Anything would be better than putting them on a bus to go to a sheltered

workshop. Which is what " Basic Life Skills " ( my name for her present teacher)

would be having her do. I have told her that if that is alll we wanted for her

we wouldn't be spending all of this time and money on all of the extra

therapies. Has anyone had any experience with Vision Therapy? This is the new

one that we are now doing for the summer. Besides the GF/CfF diet we are also

working on the Yeast Free diet. There were good articles on Life Skills Do Not

Bring Happiness and also Pain in the Assesment in a newsletter from ASM a few

years back, which say just what I have been feeling for awhile. Prayers for

all, JoAnn Mom to in Michigan

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 7/22/02 2:49:34 PM Pacific Daylight Time,

rickvargas1@... writes:

<< Joanne -

Sigh... you, Gail and I need to start a club or something.

Both of these e-mail lists, I *just* joined so I can only tell you that they

all seem nice and helpful. The autism one seems pretty high volume -

Aut 2B Home - http://www.weirdkids.com/autism/aut2bhome.htm

and

http://home.earthlink.net/~tammyglaser798/authome.html#sup

And the special- needs- homeschool is:

special-needs-homeschool/

Stolz (Hi - tyvm for all your help) and Kathy (Urthman) have

helped me tons and I plan on organizing myself (hah lol) and when I do, I

will send you my links if you'd like.

Here is another page where you can find email lists by state and category:

http://www.helmonline.com/pages/res/elists/index.html

>>

Thanks for the sites Sandy!

Gail :-)

[Guest guest]

Why not consider joining OCDandHomeschooling@...? I have

learned a lot in that group, even though it is no where near as

active as this one.

mm

>

> Hello fellow tired parents!

>

> Looks like I'm going back to homeschooling, this time with the

> internet. It's been 10 years since I ended 10 yrs of homeschooling

> Amber's big sister/brother. Now I take on her little brother,

,

> who is 13. (My only normal, fun child!)

>

> Of course this is going to make Amber even less interested in her

> own school (peace this week as no classes because of snow).

> But to a degree she has to begin to 'own her own' problems.

>

> Anyone else here homeschooling? Recommend links? Email list,

> etc? Pray for me! Candace

>

> PS: We simplied xmas by drawing names & everyone is only

> expecting one gift!

> PPS: Amber said, " Don't you want to talk to me about anything

> except OCD? " I said, " Okay, let me read you a short story! " She

> said " Okay " and I read her CHOICE, the first story in Chicken Soup

> for Mothers. That was a first!

>

[Guest guest]

,

We homeschool, too. I have 6 kids (getting 5 more soon), and the 2nd youngest

is almost 6. She is interested in school because of her older kids, but she

does very little--Get Ready for the Code, a very early writing program, and

extremely simple math, just enough to make her feel like part of the gang.

With my first, we started a rather academic K, and spent most of the year just

reading library books. It is only necessary to enjoy them at this point! By

the way, i think it very wise to keep her out of the schools... far too

dangerous medically, and in other ways, too. One of the reasons we started

thsi way, was for our boys health, and now that isn't really an issue (might be

if they were in school, God knows!), but we are so thankful to miss all the

garbage of junior high now! May you find what is best for Meghan! Warmly,

maurita

[Guest guest]

Maurita,

I kept worrying about her all the time. I was getting stressed out. My stress

level has dropped all together. So I know it was a good decisionI kept worrying

about her getting pushed in the chest area in re: with her open heart surgery's,

her port. I finally feel i am able to sleep better at night.

Tony and Maurita Klement <tonynmoo@...> wrote:

,

We homeschool, too. I have 6 kids (getting 5 more soon), and the 2nd youngest is

almost 6. She is interested in school because of her older kids, but she does

very little--Get Ready for the Code, a very early writing program, and extremely

simple math, just enough to make her feel like part of the gang. With my first,

we started a rather academic K, and spent most of the year just reading library

books. It is only necessary to enjoy them at this point! By the way, i think it

very wise to keep her out of the schools... far too dangerous medically, and in

other ways, too. One of the reasons we started thsi way, was for our boys

health, and now that isn't really an issue (might be if they were in school, God

knows!), but we are so thankful to miss all the garbage of junior high now! May

you find what is best for Meghan! Warmly, maurita

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

There are four ways to legally homeschool in Los Angeles.

1. Hire a private tutor that has teaching credentials. This is not the typical way. I've only heard of it being done by child actors or athletes.

2. Work through a charter school that has a home education program. There are plenty in the Los Angeles area. If you want a list, just let me know. There are also satellite schools like CAVA that enable your child to school by computer. These are public school programs that allow you to homeschool. These charters are usually pretty flexible and usually only require monthly meetings with a teacher assigned to guide you. Some of them are flexible enough to enable you to buy your own curriculum and just reimburse you, or you buy through one of their vendors and it's billed to the charter school. It will also enable you to have things like karate, piano lessons or gymnastics, etc. paid for by the charter school. As long as you're staying within the spending allowance, you can get these lessons paid for.

3. A private school program that allows you to homeschool.

4. Homeschool independently. (This is what I do.) The way it works in California is each year, you must file a private school affidavit (PSA) to declare your own home a private school. It's a very simple form that you fill out online. As long as you are schooling your own child, there are no problems. There are no requirements, other than to keep attendance along with one or two other forms and to cover certain subjects required. But it covers "subjects" in the broad sense and does not stipulate curriculum. There are generally no home visits from school officials or anyone else.

Here is a link to a very helpful booklet that gives you EVERYTHING you need to know about homeschooling in California.

http://californiahomeschool.net/howTo/pdf/CHNJTF2010.pdf

In addition, there are tons of people in your area (including myself) that are homeschooling, so there are lots of options for socialization and support.

Please contact me off list if you would like more information.

Lora

Autism and Aspergers Treatment From: jb91604@...Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:59:16 -0700Subject: Homeschooling

Hi, Our son is aspergers and will be 15 next month. He is mainstream with additional support and will be in 10th grade. we want to home school. We are in the Los Angeles School district. does anyone know of any good programs and what is required as far as how many visits for testing or preferably a virtual school? Thanks.

-Son B 15,ASP Starting 10th grd in Sept

The New Busy is not the old busy. Search, chat and e-mail from your inbox. Get started.

[Guest guest]

Church groups, home school groups, challenger league sports. We were already

doing challenger league sports and church youth group when we started home

schooling. We joined a local home school association for more activities and

help.

I may post later about programs we used. Hope you find lots of good answers.

There is also a group called 'homeschooling and down syndrome' or

something like that. Josiah is 22 and finished with school, but the decision to

homeschool him for the last three years was a good one for us all.

Shirley

Homeschooling

Was hoping to get insights and info from those of you who decided to

homeschool your child with down syndrome. Programs you used, why you chose to

homeschool, how you provided interaction with other children, etc. Thanks!

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[Guest guest]

It sounds like you are already homeschooling her. Honestly, when my daughter was that age, we did pretty much the same type of things. I used a program called Five in a Row that was unit studies based on children's books. I added a hands on math program, and she was already reading so we just had family reading time in place of language arts. We did lots of park time, nature hikes, exploring, trips to the zoo and the wildlife reserve. It was really a very fun time, one that I miss. She's now 10 and things aren't nearly as laid back.

Good luck in whatever you decide,

Kiara

From: Lea <leamadea@...>Autism and Aspergers Treatment Sent: Thu, March 17, 2011 8:52:15 PMSubject: Homeschooling

I have been watching the posts on homeschooling and I guess I am asking for a little validation. My granddaughter, that I am raising, is 5 and will start school this next school year. hen they tested her, she tested at a second grade level but mentally she is a 2 year old. They have no clue what to do with her. She is well behaved but when she is around other children or adults she doesn't know, she closes up. I have homeschooled my kids when they were teens but have never taught one this young. I guess I have been doing something right for her to test so high achedemically but I am still unsure of myself. I thought we would try kindergarten to see how she developes socially but I feel that the first sign of trouble I should pull her out. She is a very outgoing child but the specialist said that anything could trigger her to turn introvert and totally change her personality.He also told us that her personality at this point was the best it would ever

get.I have been teaching her things like history and geography and some science but at a very layed back pace so she can learn. We do things like, if we study China, we will dress Chinese and decorate and learn things from China.Biology, we go watch dragonflies and collect butterflies. I know it may sound strange but it helps her to learn and we have fun with it. I worry about things like math and language, things like that. Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Lea

[Guest guest]

Hi Lea,

It sounds like you are doing an amazing job already. Most of the things you are

doing are fantastic for teaching because they engage the child in learning and

they learn without even knowing it.

As far as home schooling goes, there are so many teaching aids available that

you can find something that suits her abilities and expand on them. I don't know

where you live or the requirements you have to fulfill, so it is difficult to

tell you more specifics, but if you want to email me, I am happy to discuss it

with you.

Judy

>

> I have been watching the posts on homeschooling and I guess I am asking for a

little validation. My granddaughter, that I am raising, is 5 and will start

school this next school year. hen they tested her, she tested at a second grade

level but mentally she is a 2 year old. They have no clue what to do with her.

She is well behaved but when she is around other children or adults she doesn't

know, she closes up. I have homeschooled my kids when they were teens but have

never taught one this young. I guess I have been doing something right for her

to test so high achedemically but I am still unsure of myself. I thought we

would try kindergarten to see how she developes socially but I feel that the

first sign of trouble I should pull her out. She is a very outgoing child but

the specialist said that anything could trigger her to turn introvert and

totally change her personality.He also told us that her personality at this

point was the best it would ever get.I have been teaching her things like

history and geography and some science but at a very layed back pace so she can

learn. We do things like, if we study China, we will dress Chinese and decorate

and learn things from China.Biology, we go watch dragonflies and collect

butterflies. I know it may sound strange but it helps her to learn and we have

fun with it. I worry about things like math and language, things like that. Any

tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Lea

>