Home-made Schooling

By Rhonda Robinson in Atwood, IL

Five years ago we moved into our big OLD rented house. I knew in my heart God had brought us here to teach me. I had visions of quiet mornings on the porch with my Bible and a cup of coffee, where He would lead me to ponderous truths. Well, "teach me" He has, but not on my front porch.

About the time our sixth child was born we learned the answers to some of the questions we had about Chelsea, (who was then 2 ½ years old) such as, why is she so aggressive? So loud and frustrated? The answer was simple. Chelsea was deaf.

We had been homeschooling for almost 3 years at that time. Deaf children start school at the ripe old age of 3. The thought of sending her to school was like having her surgically removed from our home. But the thought of teaching her at home was equally as scary. It was one thing to teach reading, but speaking.....Besides, as my mother would point out, the laundry was growing out of every corner of the house. Where was I going to find the time she needed. I could nail the laundry to the floor and call it carpet! As I prayed for answers one by one they came. First it was a unit study on laundry. You would be surprised how much you can teach while doing laundry. Not only the obvious, colors and sorting but concepts such as IN, OUT, ON and OFF. Clothes go IN the basket, take the clothes OUT of the basket and put clothes IN the washer. (Turn the water "on" was a little too confusing at this point.) Math was fun. While hanging laundry on the line Chelsea was in charge of the clothes pins. "Give mommie one clothes pin, two clothes pins....OK, how many clothes pins did we need today? Let’s count them....." This study also gave way to talking about the weather as well as proper clothing for weather conditions, folding, neatness, one and two step directions, and so much more.

This is what I call Home-made Schooling. Because there isn’t a homeschooling curriculum on the market for specific special needs and hard to teach children, I have learned there are many ways to teach with the resources within your own homez