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By Suzanne Day
As a psychoeducational consultant working with homeschool, public school, and private school children, I constantly witness "unexpected" levels of achievement from children with learning difficulties being homeschooled, in comparison to the level attained with children presenting similar problems in different settings. God chose to bless my husband and me with a gifted child with learning difficulties which deepened our search for remedial solutions. More importantly, this has forced us to constantly re-examine our priorities and heart attitudes toward a person who learns differently. Through this exciting journey guided by God's Spirit, one sleepless night in the fall of 1998, God gave me ten reasons why homeschooling is, for us, the best option to educate a child who would qualify for "learning disabilities." As I shared my list with friends and clients my list grew and I hope one day to publish a little booklet to encourage more parents. Please feel very welcome to share your own experience with me in order to extend each other's "hope." I have tried, in vain, to present these twenty-seven reasons by degree of importance, to discover that they all have an important role according to what each reader needs to hear at a given time.
The expression "LD child" is used in this article to facilitate the flow of speech, and stands for "a child with learning difficulties" including the ADD, dyslexic, and others which are on a continuum from light to severe. Most children referred to me have symptoms of inattention. The symptoms of inattention and of impulsivity are often labelled ADD. However, according to my experience all these children have some types of learning inefficiencies and I have all these children in mind in writing this article. Some reasons described below can also be applied to special needs children, including giftedness. However, a future article should deal specifically on reasons for homeschooling a gifted child.
The first reason is that: an LD child needs an individualized program. Although experts do not easily agree on a definition of a learning disability, there are four points on which they do agree: these children are average or above-average in intelligence, the basic cause is neither a psychological nor a physical handicap, and they do not learn satisfactorily from standard methods of instruction. These children learn differently than the average children and should be taught with a specially designed program to fit their learning strengths and weaknesses. The classroom with 20 to 30 students cannot easily provide individualized programs. The homeschooling setting can.
Second: in a regular school setting, an LD child will have to leave the classroom several times per week to work with a remedial teacher. This singles him out in the eyes of the other students as somebody that "has something wrong." Every child dreads the shame in having to go to the remedial class and to be seen as "retarded," which is often the unconscious label in the little minds of the other students. Homeschooling allows the LD child to be shielded, while developing his strengths, from that spirit of mockery. Only mom and dad and sometimes siblings need to know that he works at different grades levels in different subjects.
Third: when his individualized program includes developmental and remedial activities, some may be difficult to do in a regular classroom like wearing ear plugs, or the patching of an eye for a few months. The homeschool provides the favourable environment without the fear of being mocked.
Fourth: this child will respond better one-on-one. I regularly read recommendations from psychoeducational assessment reports after the child has been identified with learning disabilities. I also have to write such reports and grow increasingly more aware that, in my estimation, 75% of these recommendations require a teacher that will work with the child one-on-one. The remedial teachers in the school can rarely afford the time to work with one child at a time, but homeschooling should be able to provide this one-to-one attention for at least an hour per day, even when the mother has other children to attend to. Dr. Steven Duval, a behaviourist psychologist who conducts research, has measured that home schools had children and teachers sitting side-by-side or face-to- face 43% of the time, while special education classrooms had such an arrangement only 6% of the time.
Fifth: an LD child most of the time has sensory integration inefficiencies which are an important part of their inattention problems. This child may be hyper or hypo sensitive to sound, sight, smell, and/or touch. He will, for example, benefit from a quiet atmosphere or a more stimulating atmosphere than what the classroom can offer. It may not be easy to establish this at home with many children but the home is still the best place to control the "reception" of information.
Sixth: the homeschool situation allows parents the flexibility they need to adapt the curriculum at any time, or to change it completely according to the educational progress of the child and their increasing understanding of his learning style and needs.
Seventh: he needs a lot of repetition. An LD child is often referred to as a "leaking bucket." His memory, short-term and long-term, is not as efficient as it should be because of the anxiety created by certain information or the way the information is presented. God will give the parents the patience to repeat the information in different forms. Repetition does not mean rote repetition but application of that information to different areas of the daily life: as you sit, as you walk, as you lie down. We need to remember that learning is better caught than taught. As homeschooling parents grow in that broader awareness they become more efficient.
Eighth: his need to increase his memory skills is usually not met in a regular classroom. His weakness will be identified without providing means to increase it except in the repetition of information facts. The homeschool child will have more occasions not only to work at enhancing his memory skills but will be provided the choice on the quality of the content of the memory work. Memorizing large portions of Scripture will broaden his memory skills and deepen his thinking skills. Colossians 1:9-11 has been powerful in our family to keep our mind focussed. We quote it to each other and to ourselves in the first person: "that I may be filled with the knowledge of Your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding . . . strengthened with all might according to Your glorious power . . ."
Ninth: he needs trained teachers to address his needs. One of the questions often asked by parents who are considering the homeschooling option for their learning disabled child, or by parents who are homeschooling and discover that their child has a learning disability is, "Wouldn't it be better for my child to be at the public school with the specialized teachers to work with these children?" Yes, and no. Being "trained" does not mean only at the university level. The university training is needed to prepare a person to teach different types of learning difficulties but parents have only to be trained to address the needs of their own child. Using the data from professional testing, the parents can be educated to recognize the learning strengths and the weaknesses of their child. Specific educational and developmental techniques can be taught to the parents, making them the specialized teacher that this child needs. God will use your prayers and other means.
Tenth: the LD child needs consistency and structure which is provided by parents who are the same teachers year after year. I regularly hear stories of LD children that change remedial teachers several times per year, not counting the change in their homeroom.
Eleventh: the LD child often feels frustrated and discouraged, which may lead to a pattern of "depression." He desperately needs to be constantly encouraged. Looking at the meaning of the two suffixes we find that "dis" means "apart, away, negative" and "en" means "to make, quality." The root word "cour" means "heart, desire" and the suffix "age" means "that which, state." The definition of courage from the Webster's dictionary is "that quality of mind which meets danger or opposition with intrepidity, calmness, and firmness; the quality of being fearless." The home provides an excellent ground to impart "courage" which is a heart-felt strength coming from a caring people. Our educational attitude is disproportionally filled with the finger pointing at mistakes in comparison to "positive" comments that lift up our spirit. The LD child, and really everybody, needs a ratio of four positive comments for each negative comment. The positive comments do not only need to include compliments on what he does right (which is often difficult to find!), but clear directions on "how to" and "why to" in order to direct his thinking and actions. The homeschooling situation with parents who are committed to support him and find solutions will be able to better control the quality of the interaction.
Twelfth: an LD child being vulnerable to low self-worth needs thoughtful educators who address their demands to him considering his strengths and weaknesses. When dealing with different educators, the LD child is confronted with different points of view in the way that he is seen. He has to adapt to these different angles as he tries to please. Because the LD child can do it some days but other days he cannot, he is often singled out as "lazy" by people who do not understand. This child leads us to believe that if ever he would "try harder" he would succeed!!! He is often surrounded by lack of understanding. The difficulties are real and rooted in the central nervous system functions. The homeschooling parents should make every effort to ensure that their child understands that his reading, spelling, and language difficulties are not related to his value as God's child and as a person, family, or church member. The LD child needs his parents', brothers', and sisters' help to discover his self-worth in God's eyes. Thomas Edison, who had great difficult with learning at school, was finally homeschooled. He was led to later say: "All that I am, all that I ever hope to be, I owe to my mother."
Thirteenth: most LD children need more interactions with the teacher because of their difficulty with expressive language. A large body of research proves that education is a function of the amount of time a child spends in educational interactions as opposed to the time the child spends merely sitting in class or in front of a computer. In this respect, home schools have an enormous advantage over public special education classrooms. Dr. Duvall's research points out that children in public school special education classrooms spent 74.9% of their time with no academic responses. Home-schooled children only spent 40.7% in this mode.
Fourteenth: often the LD child thinks more in pictures of concepts and ideas than in words. The nonverbal conceptualization is many times faster than verbal conceptualization which is thinking with the sounds of the language. The strong visualizer will need more time to transcribe his pictures into words and will often be frustrated and confused in a regular classroom which is primarily organized around verbal conceptualization. The homeschool can be adapted to accommodate him, providing that the parents understand these differences and discover tools to teach him. Teaching a visual learner does not only include the use of visual material but should allow him the time and the means to translate his pictures into words.
Fifteenth: the homeschool setting allows the control of three important components in the learning process: the frequency, duration, and intensity. These children need short duration (short periods), more frequency (more often), and a lot of intensity (energy level).
Sixteenth: as parents, we need to develop character qualities and God wants to use our children to force us to learn. While homeschooling magnifies our weaknesses, it also allows us to humble ourselves in searching for deeper grace (energy) from God to improve our attitude. Homeschooling parents can no longer put the blame on the "teachers" or the "school." They have more occasions to identify their " blind spots" which are in the way of spiritual growth. Children usually will not advance any farther along the pathway to maturity than where their parents are at any given time. Learning difficulties are inherited. The solutions that parents find for their child can also bring a healing process for themselves and vise versa, the solutions that they find for themselves will benefit their children. John Powel said, "The most magnificent opportunities come into our lives disguised as problems."
Seventeenth: research shows that an LD child performs better academically in an individualized instruction setting which the homeschool provides. This is especially so when the strengths and the weaknesses of the child are identified so the parents can deal with the learning inefficiencies accordingly. Our data over the years clearly confirms this fact with children increasing at least one year in one subject in just a few months. A report of these findings is available to interested readers.
Eighteenth: the LD child desperately needs more time in most activities: reading, writing, getting up in the morning, eating, etc. He needs more time to process information not because he lacks in intelligence but because of certain inefficiencies in the organization of his central nervous system and simply because of a different thinking process. He will need more time to mature in general. He will need more time to learn to organize "his time" which is a frustrating task as much for the teacher as it is for the student. The structured and yet flexible homeschool environment will allow him to take the time he needs while remediating weaknesses and learning strategies to organize himself.
Nineteenth: home is the most affordable "tutoring" service. Individualized teaching at $30.00 per hour (which is a low cost), for at least three hours per day, would cost you $450.00 per week, $1,800.00 per month, and $18,000.00 per year! However, parents should wisely consider investing in professional consultation to guide their teaching and character building efforts. Too often we meet homeschooling mothers who feel so guilty for not succeeding in bringing their child up to grade level. The mother who is teaching the child usually suspects that there are learning inefficiencies. By the time she seeks help, she has paid the high cost of frustration, defeat, and a battered self-esteem. The surgeon needs tests done, the home builder will look at his plans, and the marketing agent the data. It makes sense that the teacher of a child with learning difficulties assume that responsibility with a thorough assessment of the problems and specific techniques to guide her efforts. The homeschool parents have freedom to hire the professionals and teachers of their choice.
Twentieth: raising an LD child has the potential for the drain of a huge amount of emotional energy. Because of the need of deep commitment in the homeschooling family, the father needs to be more involved which creates a more balanced educational situation to benefit his maturity. The LD child will benefit from being more "pressured by wisdom" than by "peers."
Twenty-first: the LD child is more susceptible to physical and emotional exhaustion after a whole day in a regular classroom setting because a large portion of his day is spent being frustrated and confused. These children develop headaches, stomachaches, nightmares, and more. Many scientific studies have shown that long and continued emotional stress physically exhausts a person. Many parents who discover their child has learning struggles, will choose to work with their child after school hours which only adds to the emotional and physical pressure. In the homeschool, the parents will be able to use the morning as the optimal time for alertness, not mentioning the regular back rub and other physical touch that reassures and loosens the tension. I regularly hear parents' comments on the disappearance of these physical symptoms after a few weeks of homeschooling.
Twenty-second: an LD child will often have a weaker immune system with different manifestations like allergies and asthma. The homeschool will allow the parents to control the exposure to germs.
Twenty-third: an LD child will be significantly affected by the flickering of the fluorescent lights which are used most of the time in regular classrooms. This observation is often made by health professionals. Now this fact is confirmed by neuroscience research on dyslexia (which is the largest population of learning disabilities). Professor John Stein from Oxford University in London, explains that the "dyslexic" magno cellular system, which is responsible for the speed of processing, visual and auditory, is weaker in "dyslexic" brains. This weakness has consequences on the vision and makes the person very sensitive to the flickering of light. The homeschooling "classroom" can easily accommodate this child.
Twenty-fourth: the LD child needs to specifically learn social skills which are best learned in context with individualized attention provided by the homeschooling context. This child is not only learning disabled in the academic domain but socially he needs more guidance to learn to reason and to understand social rules. Some of these rules are explicit and some more subtle, part of a "hidden curriculum."
Twenty-fifth: the LD child needs to develop other gifts. The diagnosis of a learning disability refers to academic requirements. These children have gifts that are not measured by standardized tests. The parent-teacher who spends longer periods with their child will discover these specific abilities and will find the means to encourage their expression. It is wise to aim for at least one hour a day for the child to do something at which he excels in order to discover different talents and to strengthen his self-worth. The LD child will then have more opportunities at a young age to realize his career inclinations and to work early towards developing skills that he will need. Again, the flexibility of the homeschooling allows these opportunities to be included in the curriculum.
Twenty-sixth: parents of an LD child need to discover a deeper meaning of humility. God promises to give grace (energy) to the humble. Learning disability is referred to as the "hidden handicap" because there is no outward appearance of the disability. Children with learning disabilities appear to be no different than their normal peers and are confronted with demands that they cannot meet. They are often humiliated. As parents discover a deeper meaning of "humility" for themselves which is a sense of dependence on God, they will be in a better position to not be caught in the "act of humiliation" toward their child. It requires humility to work so hard at homeschooling a child who progresses slowly. It requires humility to face other people who do not necessarily understand why your child acts immature. The reality is that you cannot explain "why" to everybody.
Twenty-seventh: because God is asking us to homeschool His child. When I picture myself, at the end of my life, looking back . . . I know that I will be glad to have homeschooled my LD child.
Homeschooling is a high calling . . . homeschooling an LD child requires a larger dose of courage, determination, wisdom, initiative, flexibility, creativity, perseverance, honesty, resourcefulness, generosity, tolerance, orderliness, gratefulness, self-control . . . Father God has all these qualities in store for us as we give Him our hearts. Homeschooling is a process where we do today better than yesterday and less than tomorrow. The condition for success is to commit it to the Lord.
I pray that this article has been an encouragement to your hearts. I would be glad to hear from you and to further encourage you individually.
"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." 1Peter 5:6-7
Copyright 1999 Suzanne Day, Psychoeducational and Neurodevelopmental Consultant
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