The following is a brief recap of my talk at the 2022 Homeschooling Children with Special Needs Summit. You can access the full recordings here.
Children are born with an innate desire to learn
All children want to learn. They come into this world wired to touch, taste, explore, and investigate the world around them. Children with learning differences are just as curious and eager to learn as any other children. They soak information like sponges. But they need this information to be accessible to them. They need opportunities to learn differently.
Unfortunately, schools measure a student’s learning by their reading and writing abilities. In homeschooling, we don’t need to be stuck in the school paradigm. We can think outside the box and help our children learn in ways that work for them.
Seesaw parenting: maintaining the balance
Last year, I spoke about seesaw parenting for children with learning differences. There are two sides to it: helping our children in their areas of struggle and, at the same time, giving them opportunities to succeed and thrive in their areas of strength. As parents, we need to maintain the right balance. We can’t neglect either side. We need to provide our children with whatever support they need to learn reading, writing, and math. Meanwhile, we can provide our children with appropriate accommodations, so that they enjoy and succeed in other subjects.
Believe in your children
At times, our children might feel discouraged. Our job as parents is to believe in them. There is no reason to place artificial limitations on our children’s future. None of us know their full potential. Plenty of successful adults struggled as children. With hard work and perseverance, they can achieve their dreams.
At the same time, we need to acknowledge our children’s struggles and be there for them. Some things that are easy for their peers are truly difficult for them. At the moment, they have real limitations. They need our understanding and support, and they need to know that we truly believe in them.
Overcoming fear of failure
One of the biggest obstacles to success for children with learning differences is their fear of failure. Perhaps they’ve tried something and failed too many times. Or perhaps, a well-meaning relative or friend made a discouraging comment. But when children are afraid to fail, they don’t even try, and then they can’t succeed.
We must teach our children that failure is an inevitable part of any growth process. We all make mistakes before we get things right. That’s part of life.
We want to create an atmosphere in the home where mistakes are normal everyday occurrences. As we go through our daily lives, we can point out our own mistakes to our children. We can discuss how we learn from our mistakes. These conversations go a long way in helping our children succeed in the long term.
Find the appropriate help and accommodations
Every child is different and has different needs. There are many kinds of learning differences. It’s important to evaluate each child to determine what kind of support and what kind of accommodations they need. I spoke more about that in my talk.
Model joy in learning
Children learn best when they are motivated. As parents, we can create an atmosphere in our homes where learning is pleasant and enjoyable. The best way to teach our children is by example. When we ourselves are curious and excited about learning new things, our children catch our enthusiasm. Our genuine excitement in our own learning goes a long way in motivating our children to learn.
Purchase the recordings from the 2022 Homeschooling Children with Special Needs Summit
