Time with your child! We lose so much valuable time with our children when we send them elsewhere to learn. Having them home gives us more precious moments, more wonderful conversations and stories. We have the privilege of knowing our children and allowing our children to know us. Spending more time with our children is a great benefit of home education, allowing us to get to know them better.  For a special needs child, know them better allows us to plan their education more effectively.

One-on-one is the best learning environment for most children, especially those on the autism spectrum. Even in a large family, Dad or Mom can still carve out time for individual learning. Classroom teachers with the best of intentions and organization rarely have time to focus all their attention on one child on a regular basis. You will be able to explain difficult concepts in your child’s “language”-using phrases and examples that are meaningful to them, thus making the learning more meaningful overall.

You are in control of your child’s learning and curriculum. You know your child better than anyone else. Fit your homeshcool to meet their needs. Your child can also have input into his/her curriculum by allowing your child to help choose curriculum, teaching methods, library days, etc. Homeschooling is as unique as the families who homeschool - we have the option to teach how we wish, using whatever curriculum we wish. If you prefer an organized approach, using textbooks and workbooks, there are many options for this traditional teaching method. However, if you want total freedom from textbooks and wish to teach based on life lessons, following your child’s trail of interest at the moment, you can spend hours in the library, on field trips, starting businesses, and more using the unschooling method. As your family discusses homeschooling, look into the variety of options available and work together to find the method that fits your family.

Flexibility with your lesson schedule. If your child is struggling or has to spend a few weeks in the hospital, you can alter the lesson plan to fit the season. One lesson may take three sessions, so the pace is slowed and you spend three sessions actually learning, free from a time-crunch frustration, the lesson. Also, if your child is very interested in a topic, you can spend extra time there, rather than needing to move on for the sake of the quarter’s lesson plan. Or if the topic is just too frustrating, you can set it aside for something easier, more pleasing, etc., and come back to it in a few weeks.