Homeschooling High School Students with Learning Challenges
By Maggie Dail, Academy Northwest Teacher Consultant and neurodevelopmentalist with a M.A. in Special Education.
Many parents are afraid to homeschool a high school student with special needs. However, a parent can give much more one-on-one time to her child than even special education teachers can in a school setting. There are two basic things to think about when preparing course plans for these students.
1. Look for ways to allow the student to learn and demonstrate learning that fit his ability. These are called accommodations.
Examples of accommodations include:
• Listening to audio books or watch video instead of reading a book.
• Telling story orally or dictating a summary to a “secretary.”
• Using a computer to record summary previously dictated to “secretary.”
• Having someone read a test to the student.
• Removing time limits on tests.
• Using educational software (Google Docs and others will transcribe oral dictation for helping the student to get his or her ideas down for a writing an essay.)
2. Work on weaknesses – for the sake of this discussion we will call it remediation.
For basic skills:
Find materials that allow student to learn missing pieces. For example, The StraightForward series of small workbooks from Garlic Press. They have Math and English series (2 books for all of the operations and word problems; fractions, decimals, percents through Calculus; parts of speech, capitalization and punctuation on two levels). Each book has a beginning assessment that you use to find the areas that the student needs to learn and then a final assessment. The student works on the tough areas and then continues through the series.
Also consider ALEKS math, an online platform that discerns weak math areas and continues to provide problems in that area while doing continuous review for mastery and new instruction in other areas. For info on ALEK go to www.aleks.com. Please note that Academy Northwest has a school subscription rate. Contact your teacher if interested for this better rate.
For reading:
Use a book with short stories or articles. Make vocabulary cards for words the student doesn’t know. Go through the flash cards several times a day saying the words for the student for input, not a test. Read the story/article once or twice to the child while he looks at the words. Then have the student read the story/article. Then discuss what the story/article is about. Math facts can be learned by input visually and auditorily.
For content areas (i.e. science, history, health):
Input should be in the dominant ear and/or eye. Occluding (covering) the eye/ear that should be subdominant will ensure that the information will go to the proper side of the brain for long-term memory. Unit studies are a good way to address these subjects.
Work on underlying causes to the difficulties:
Vision1, speech, occupational therapy has helped many. Others have found the Irlen1 method or the Brain Gym™1 very effective. Some students with special needs or just specific learning challenges use the neurodevelopmental approach which addresses all of the issues because they are interrelated and work with short and long term memory. (See “Appendix I & II” for more information the neurodevelopmental approach and screening.)
“Accommodations” represent the short-term solution and the “remediation” represents the long-term solution. Each family must decide whether to go for one, the other or a combination of both. Typically when we think of a course plan, we list tasks to do that will take 150 clock hours. Regular math courses require mastery of a certain amount of concepts. For example, the class, Algebra I, means a person has master certain concepts etc. For a special needs individual you may want to determine what the student can accomplish working approximately one hour a day per subject during the school year.
Sample Course Plan for Basic Math
Complete the following items each school day:
1. Do cross-patterning activities for 5 minutes.
2. Listen to a Math Facts on CD (without music) in the dominant ear for 5 minutes.
3. Take the beginning assessment and work in the appropriate book in the book on Fractions, Advanced Fractions, Advanced Decimals and Percent for 10 minutes. Student has subdominant eye/ear occluded. Parent visually works 3 problems while student watches. Student works 4th problem.
4. Do auditory digit spans for 3 minutes and visual digit spans for 3 minutes.
5. Work through a math book that has all kinds of problems that a student can do for 10 minutes. (Follow 75% input procedure in #3.)
6. Do an educational software program working on math facts or other math work for 10 minutes.
7. Repeat # 3 for 10 minutes.
8. Repeat #2 for 5 minutes.
Grading: Grades could be a point system requiring students to perform with a good attitude.
Sample Course Plan for Basic English
Complete the following items each school day. Student has subdominant eye/ear occluded during the entire learning session.
1. Do cross-patterning activities for 5 minutes.
2. Listen to an audio book in the dominant ear for 10 minutes.
3. Take the beginning assessment and work in the appropriate book in the book on Parts of Speech/ Mechanics for 10 minutes.
4. Do auditory digit spans for 3 minutes and visual digit spans for 3 minutes for 6 minutes.
5. Listen to an audio book in the dominant ear for 10 minutes.
6. Summarize the audio book. “Secretary” can record and student put on computer (10 minutes) or use a software program that transcribes oral dictations.
7. Work on spelling words from Spelling Power for 15 minutes.
Note: For more help, Maggie offers support services online including Fast ForWord and other help. See www.unlockinglearningpotential.net or call her at 253.581.1588
