Special Needs Resource Reviews
Special Needs Resources

Homeschool Directory
Special Needs

Eclectic Educational Weblinks:

• Fighting for Her Son
  by Robin McDonald
  Recipe for success: take one very frustrated mom and one child with a hopeless situation. Add a smidgen of determination, along with a shake of prayer. What do you get? A success story encouraging to every mother of a learning disabled child, particularly those diagnosed to be unteachable in one fashion or another.
• Head, Heart, and Hands
  by Robin McDonald
  For parents who have children with special needs, a curriculum that may prove useful is the Waldorf curriculum, or at least some parts of a Waldorf curriculum. This therapeutic method of hands-on study is extremely helpful to children with any type of learning disability, says Donna Simmons, who founded Christopherus Homeschool Resources. "The healthy rhythms, the creative play, using a curriculum that meets the child's pace, that's what Waldorf is all about," she recently said in an interview.
• Identifying and Treating Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
  by American Institutes for Research
  You may think that your child is a little over active or disruptive, but is his behavior really a sign of ADHD? This article offers information about ADHD, how it is handled in the public school environment, and helpful tips and resources for your to explore the subject further.
• Is Testing Right for Your Special Needs Child?
  by Robin McDonald
  Is testing right for your special needs child? Will giving your child a label help you find a solution to his condition? These controversial questions start many discussions in the "teacher's lounge" at cooperatives and other homeschooling venues. Some homeschooling experts believe that labels only hurt a child, while others believe that they name a child's condition, giving a parent a better grasp on how to help him.
• Learning Disabilities & Special Needs Resources
  by EHO Staff
  Organizations, websites, and mailing lists dedicated to special needs homeschooling.
• Magic Pills and Special Needs
  by Beverly S. Krueger
  We all wish from time to time that we could give our kids a grammar pill or a fractions pill. After swallowing it, they would instantly know the when, where, why, and how of whatever pill they had swallowed. Parents of children with special needs have an even greater longing for a magic pill that would make everything right.
• Mystery, Intrigue, and Wholesome Fun From Alcazar AudioWorks
  by Robin McDonald
  If you love listening to classic books on audio CD, let us introduce you to Alcazar Audioworks. They’ve been producing audio classics since 1999 and have a particular affinity for homeschoolers and special needs students.
• Nature Study with Your Special Needs Child
  by Robin McDonald
  I find nature studies to be one of the best ways to introduce my 10-year-old learning challenged son to science. Not only does he see nature working firsthand on our farm with our domesticated animals, he also learns to observe its wilder aspects out in the woods, when deer creep up to our yard, or when a white owl flies away as we drive home from an evening church service.
• Nature Study with Your Special Needs Child Part 2
  by Robin McDonald
  With spring right around the corner and the weather warming up from a frosty cold to a more tolerable tepid, now's the time to take your children out for a nature walk. Enjoying nature can bring out the best of the five senses; most of all touch and taste. Children who learn kinesthetically will certainly appreciate the hands-on techniques that can be employed in learning about nature.
• Seeing Stars: Astronomy Part 1
  by Robin McDonald
  We all know the story of Chicken Little, who ran around the woods declaring "The Sky Is Falling!" Nevertheless, when you begin teaching astronomy to your special needs child, you needn't worry. The sky will definitely NOT fall down around you!
• Seeing Stars: Astronomy Part 2
  by Robin McDonald
  Robin finishes her series on astronomy for special needs kids by sharing some of the ways she brings science into her son's daily life and the resources she's found for creating astronomy curriculum suited just to his needs.
• TC Two Cents-Dyslexia
  by Cynthia McDaniel
  One mom's experience with a 14 year-old dyslexic and research which helped her advance from a 3rd grade reading level at the end of 6th grade to a 9th grade reading level one year later.
• Teaching Through the Year
  by Robin McDonald
  With a special needs child, I find that celebrating holidays all year round helps my son stay interested in his schoolwork because it opens up the opportunity for a unit study approach, giving his studies a personal meaning. In addition, it helps us identify with the tried and true traditions of the past.

Unit Study Articles - Special Needs

• Ultimate Homeschool Field Trip - Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
  by Robin McDonald
  How do you tie together animal rescue, homeschool unit studies, dyslexia, and television production? Would you believe Extreme Makeover: Home Edition? The McDonald family is now among the multitude of people shouting, "Move that bus!" with Ty Pennington, host of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. After attending two days of building and shooting for an upcoming edition of the show, if I wasn't already an Extreme Makeover fan before, I was sold after taking my children to watch the television production in progress.