Are you Homeschooling a child with Dyslexia?

As parents, we all know our children will grow up and go to school. Just like we did as children. Most of us never dream that we will become our child’s teacher for one reason or another.

David and I weren’t prepared to Homeschool so if you’re like me; you may not think you can do it. Although there may come a day when you have no, choice but to Homeschool, your child for one reason or another. As a parent, you take on this challenge or journey with fear and trepidation that you will stumble and fall and you might even fail not only as a parent but as a child. Especially if your children have Special Needs like Charlie, who has Dyslexia and is also diagnosed with ADD not ADHD although he may have it as well as his sister suffered from both though she didn’t have Dyslexia although at times I wondered about it. But we couldn’t get the school to test her as they did for Charlie.

Bullying Goes hand in hand when a child has Special Needs like Dyslexia.

 

For my family, several factors went into Homeschooling our son. The main reason was Charlie Bullied in school, and he ended up getting hurt. Once the teacher brushed it off and didn’t call us, and we ended up in the ER with a child who begins to have nightmares and was afraid for us to be out of his site. I knew it was time to do something. Although before I could my husband went and checked our son out of school.

Before you ask if he did this without me no, we had discussed it, but I didn’t think it would be that soon. I am glad he did because once our son was home with us he was able to sleep through the night and he begins to laugh again. I could see my son as a child again he didn’t cringe at everything. The next step was telling our family, and yes, we had a lot of negativity and what about Socialization questions.

As a family, we answered them as good as we could and moved forward into schooling Charlie. Now, I didn’t have any formal training nor did I know what to use. So I just searched on Google for classes for Charlie to take. Then we picked up workbooks at the store and begin our journey. For a while, it worked, and I thought wow this is easy why didn’t I do this sooner. Then Charlie just quit doing his work, and he wouldn’t talk to us.

Finding Resources that would work when teaching a child with Dyslexia

Cause me to feel like a failure not only as a parent or teacher but also my child. So the question came up of should we put Charlie back into school and the answer was no. We had tried twice, and both times he was Bullied. So I sat at the computer and thought I am the worst parent ever. I didn’t know what to do so I searched Facebook for Homeschool moms and found groups I could join. I begin to ask questions, and they all let me know I wasn’t a failure. They had the same problems with there children at times.

Every one of them let me know to find things Charlie was interested in and to teach those things. If he struggles with something find a new way to explain it. Use Audio Books, Videos, and Movies. As well as Board Games as long as they are learning. Once I knew this, I sat down, and I looked through all the workbooks I had, and as I did, I knew if I had to use them every day that I would also have become bored and thrown in the towel and not wanted to do school either.

Charlie and I sat down, and we talked, and I was able to get to know my son better, and we have been able to get more done in school by learning about Sports and Wrestling and taking lots of Field Trips. Charlie goes grocery shopping with me, and he helps me cook dinner. As we do these things, Charlie is learning and isn’t bored. On a day he doesn’t want to do work we may take the day off and veg out on the Couch.

Now, I know that no, the school day is going to be perfect and there is no right or wrong way.  What I can say is Charlie happier and so, am I. I know I am not an ideal teacher, and I struggle every day. Charlie may not be learning everything he would learn in a regular school. But we are learning as a Family, and we are spending a lot more time together, and we go over things at Charlies pace.

He doesn’t feel stressed all the time, and I haven’t had to put him on Medicine for ADD as the school wanted. Charlie has been able to help his dad and other children learn to read. We Volunteer with older people in Nursing Homes and Charlie is building Life Skills. When Charlie struggles with things, we can go slower, and he doesn’t feel rushed. If he hates something, we set it aside and go back to it later.

Now, I am going, to be honest with you and say Homeschooling isn’t for everyone and there are days when I want to throw in the towel and send Charlie back to school. Then we will do something we watch the news, and there is another Shooting, and I take a step thanking God that I can teach my son at home. I grab a movie or the Soccer Equipment and I head outside for a bit.

I take some deep breaths, and I list the pros and cons of public school versus Homeschool and it always comes back to Homeschool is the only way for us to go at this time. Even though it may not be the right answer for David or I. Or it might be hard at times or it’s inconvenient. It’s the right choice for Charlie and as a parent that is all that matters.  I stumble along and Pray I am not harming my son as I work to teach Charlie the things he needs to learn.

Thank you,

Glenda, Charlie and David Cates