By Susan Wight, Bendigo, Victoria
One of the meanings of the term “socialisation” is the process by which the accepted culture is passed on to the next generation. For centuries this process was a [...]
Archive for the 'Special Needs' Category
Does School ‘Socialise’ children?
The Down Syndrome Family
By Barbara Frank
Until 1993, we were your average homeschool family. We had been happily homeschooling our older two children for five years, and had an adorable little toddler who kept us busy and [...]
Effective Teaching Methods for Dyslexic Children
The following advice has been provided by Dr Gloria Thomas. lrlen Dyslexia Centre, 74 Shady Grove, Forest Hill, Vic.
Dyslexic children are often auditory and kinesthetic learners. They learn best by hearing and [...]
Dyslexia and the obsession with literacy
By Roland Meighan A few years ago, I invited trainee teachers to visit home-educating families to see what they might learn from such an experience. One young woman visited a family where all [...]
Read the rest of this entry »But What if My Child is Dyslexic?
For many home-educating families and prospective home-educators the fear of dyslexia is a significant problem. “It’s all very well to wait for spontaneous reading, but what if my children are dyslexic?” they might ask, “Won’t they be better off in school where they will get proper help?”
Dyslexia is a type of specific learning difficulty in which the person has difficulties with language and words. The most common characteristic is that people have difficulty reading and spelling for no apparent reason. The person may be intelligent, able to achieve well in other areas and exposed to the same education as others, but is unable to read at the expected level. Common problem areas include spelling, comprehension, reading and identification of words. …
Read the rest of this entry »Unschooling With ADD
by Kathy Ward
In recent years there’s been a strong trend for parents to remove their children from school and bring them home to learn because many schools have been failing to provide a positive learning experience for their children. These kids have been bright, personable, competent in many realms, and yet they’ve found themselves existing [...]
Riding the Rainbow
By Cleve Elaine Richey
Long before my decision to pull my seven-year-old son, Alex, from public school, I was his teacher. But teaching him meant far more than “enrichment.” It meant reaching him. It meant his survival.
As a baby, he’d never wanted to be held, never cooed or babbled. Unlike his sister, who took such pleasure when we played with her, Alex didn’t seem to care what he did, where he was, or who was with him.
I’d seen these early warning signs and done my research. Still, I drifted into shock as the director of the prestigious diagnostic center gave us our two-year-old son’s verdict: autism. He drew a normal curve on his legal pad, then a second one underneath, explaining that, as an adult, Alex would function as a five year old. He would be a child forever.
Every night, our Child rocked himself to steep, banging his head on the wall until I moved his bed into the middle of the room. During the day, he twirled a ruler in his hands as he race-walked through our house, concluding his loop by a strange ritual of stamping his feet, grimacing and grinding his teeth. To his bemused six year-old sister, Bethany, “brother” came to mean “stranger.”
I dreamed of Alex running to hug me and talking just like any other boy, and I became determined to make this thrilling dream come true. …
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