Special Needs By Joy Kita Homeschooling Your Special Needs Child
As a homeschooling mother of four children I have my “special days”—the kind where you wonder whatever
possessed you to teach your children
at home, days when you wish you had
the local school on speed dial and a
red “easy” button that was more than
wishful thinking. These days are fewer
than my successful ones, days when
all the pieces fall into place, such as
math without tears, writing without a
fuss, and the to-do list all checked off,
yet it bothers me that they exist at all.
I struggle with not being the perfect
woman who lives in my imagination—
getting it all done, doing it all right.
Sometimes my homeschool journey
becomes stale and rote and I can’t find
the energy to be creative. I approach
lessons with half-heartedness that my
children emulate, which only perpetuates the funk. It is in these times that
I need inspiration from another source
to keep me blazing my trail.
Julie’s homeschool goals
for her daughter are not
curriculum-based but all
about expectation and
progression.
after a few difficult days. Every day for
Julie is difficult, yet she embraces her
choices with a fiery stubbornness to do
the best by her children no matter the
personal cost—the very picture of the
Lord’s heart for us.
Julie’s eldest daughter is severely de-
velopmentally challenged; she does not
communicate except through beginning
stages of sign language. Her lack of ability
to communicate causes great frustration
for both mom and daughter, but with the
help of an incredible behavioral thera-
pist, they are learning together. Julie’s
homeschool goals for her daughter are
not curriculum-based but all about ex-
pectation and progression.
