Planning homeschool for the struggling learner takes some getting used to! If your child isn’t functioning at grade level, or is on various grade levels in different subjects, it can be even more challenging. I have had to learn (the hard way) how to plan for a struggling learner. My younger daughter struggles in multiple subjects, and I can’t buy a solid curriculum for her and just do a lesson a day until we’re finished. (I do that with my older daughter, and it’s great!) I have to piece together her curriculum and plan specifically for her needs.
Tips for Planning Homeschool for the Struggling Learner
- Identify what your struggling learner really needs to learn. You want to focus on the critical objectives so you can maximize your time. Some resources for finding out what children should learn include What Your Child Needs to Know When by Robin Sampson and your state’s educational objectives for each grade. (A Google search should pull those up.) Remember that these are guidelines. Your struggling learner may also be ahead in some areas and behind in others. That’s okay. You’re providing a customized education for your child’s needs.
- Find out more about your child as a learner. Observe your child while he does school work and while he plays. If you’ve had evaluations (speech, occupational therapy, neuro-psychological, learning disabilities) done for your child, read the reports carefully and look specifically for your child’s strengths and weaknesses. Use a tool like Kidzmet.com’s free assessment and learning profile or order a Playbook for a wealth of information. There are a host of other places to study learning styles and multiple intelligences. Use them to figure out how your child learns best!
- Develop a list of goals for the week. I tend to plan by the week because that’s what works for me. I think about what objectives I want to work on with my daughter that week, and I develop a loose plan for what we’re going to do each day. Be sure to include any therapy-related goals you need to focus on that support your academic goals. (For example, if your child struggles with fine motor skills that cause poor handwriting, work some hand strengthening exercises into your school day.)
- Plan activities for each objective. Use the information you learned about your child’s strengths to plan an activity that will help your child learn the information for each objective. Take into account your child’s special learning styles when you plan the activity. Homeschooling doesn’t have to mean workbooks every day. Play games, do craft projects, use lots of manipulatives! Do what works for your child.
- Mark progress. You cross objectives off your list and write them in your lesson planner. Your child needs to see progress too. One of my friends provides her child with a checklist that allows him to mark off each task as it’s completed. You can use pictures to represent each subject or objective if your child is a struggling reader.
- Be realistic. You know your child better than anyone else. My child struggles in multiple subjects. If I really push her to her limits in reading one day, we may go lighter in math. If math is the area where I push hard, reading may be review that day. If she wakes up and has experienced a neurological “glitch” during the night, all plans (loose or otherwise) may have to be revised. We had an episode in March this year where she regressed quite a bit academically. I had to back up to where she was and help her relearn the things she lost. It took us a couple of months, but we made it back to where we’d been and moved forward again before we ended our school year. Be prepared to go with whatever happens.
- Wait to write out the “official” plans for the day. When I do my “loose” planning, I write it out on a legal pad or notebook paper to refer to throughout the week, cross off the objectives we have accomplished, and see what still needs to be done. I don’t document the day’s plans in my lesson plan book until after the day is over. Then I can write everything we’ve done for the entire day, and I don’t have to go back and try to erase or white out things that didn’t get done because of a glitch, illness, or something else unexpected.
- Stay the course. If you don’t get some of your objectives accomplished one week, roll them over to the next week and add to them. Stay focused on your goals, and you and your child will get there—together.
My friend Becky at This Reading Mama did a planning post for reluctant readers. Please visit her site for some great ideas!
Want more help with homeschool activities for your struggling learner? Check out these posts:
- 5 Things I Learned Not to Do in Our First Month of Homeschooling from Our School at Home
- Struggling Readers Series: 10 Things Struggling Readers Need from This Reading Mama
- The Unschooled Version of a Seventh-Grade-Ish Curriculum Plan for 2012-13 from Out School at Home
- Help for Reluctant Readers from Hodgepodge
- Tips for homeschooling an autistic child by Angie Lindsay at Helium
- How Did We Get Here? 10 Reasons We Chose Our Relaxed Homeschooling Style from Our School at Home
- Curriculum? from Special Needs Homeschool
- Create the Love of Learning from Special Needs Homeschool
- Better Late Than Never? Better Late. from Special Needs Homeschool
What’s your best tip for planning for your struggling learner?
This post is part of the Homeschool Planning Link-Up with the bloggers of iHomeschool Network. Click the graphic below to find all the other great posts!