Special Needs Strategies

A Common Reason for Homeschooling

Many parents, understandably, choose to homeschool their children because public and private schools are not meeting the needs of the child. Unfortunately, these same parents, myself included, find themselves incredibly overwhelmed when presented with the task of educating children with learning differences.

I have spent the past 5 years learning how to best teach my 3 daughters, 2 of which have developmental delays that would require special education in a public school. We recently discovered that several of the challenges we've been facing together involve their inability to cross the mid-line - in other words, both sides of their brain are not working together.

Sometimes this delay can be seen when a child hesitates or is clumsy during gross and fine motor tasks which require the arm or leg to cross over to the other side. Other possible symptoms include:

• difficulty writing (both handwriting and developing sentences)

• difficulty learning to read (i.e. skipping words, possible diagnosis or symptoms of Dyslexia, visual tracking difficulties)

• sometimes speech delays

• difficulty staying focused (possibly from fatigue)

• delayed hand dominance (not having a preferred hand or choosing a preferred hand after the age of 5)

• difficulty using scissors

Some of the clinical diagnoses these children might receive include:

ADHD

Autism

Asperger's Syndrome

Dyslexia

Dyscalculia

Dysgraphia

Dyspraxia

Sensory Processing Disorder

Auditory Processing Disorder

Visual Tracking Disorder

Some other descriptions might include:

Poor Memory/forgetful

Labored Writing

Clumsy

"Spacing Out"

Working too hard to learn

Unmotivated

Skipped crawling

Low Frustration Tolerance

Tantrums

Poor Self-Esteem

The good news is that there is a tremendous amount of hope for these students. Many of these issues can be addressed in occupational therapy. But even then, children still need to practice various exercises on a daily basis. That's why part of our Pillars of Peace Primary Partners program involves conducting various simple exercises as a class. These exercises benefit all students, but they particularly benefit those who struggle in the areas listed above.

We also have a separate program option for students who are academically behind by two or more years due to midline crossing issues. (This program can also benefit students who are behind for other reasons.)

We use Dianne Craft's Brain Integration Therapy Program to help students overcome midline crossing difficulties as well as specifically visual and auditory processing delays and writing challenges. The goal of this program is to help students make two years of progress in one year by giving them the strategies to not just cope with blocked learning gates, but by actually removing the blocked learning gates. This sets students up for a lifetime of success and an easier, more enjoyable learning experience.

Please feel free to contact us with any additional questions regarding our program for special needs students.