I am passionate about home programs, as well as homeschooling. Starting a home program for your autistic child – everything you need to know.
What’s the difference? Homeschooling is making the choice to withdraw your child from the traditional school system and educate him or her at home. A home program can be a full-time educational program at home or an adapted program that supplements the traditional school program to help your child learn and progress according to his or her particular needs.
I think both homeschooling and home programs are a wonderful way to connect with your child, grow your confidence as a parent and help your child learn in the gentlest and most effective way possible.
When you learn to adapt your home to increase functional communication and learning, it can become the best environment for your autistic child to learn. You can learn to become your child’s best therapist and participate in every step of his or her progress.
[bctt tweet=”An adapted home program is a powerful way to help a child with autism progress” username=”lecheminaba”]
What you need to get started :
1. Confidence.
You need to feel in your heart that you have what it takes to become your child’s best teacher.
2. A dedicated space for learning.
You will be using your entire home for learning, as well as many places outside of your home, but you will also need a special spot for your child, where he or she can sit at the table and do organized activities. I call this special learning spot a “progress nook”.
3. Your Magic Bag.
This selection of toys and learning tools will help you motivate your child to come and learn with you! Increase motivation and increase learning opportunities.
(Simply download your free list, print it out, check off what you already have and immediately know what you are missing for your child’s playroom.)
4. Support.
You can go it alone, but the experience is going to be a lot more fun if you partner with someone to teach your child at home. This person can be your husband or wife, a mother or father, a sibling, a professional that will help teach your child in your home, a student in training or even your other children. You may also want to work with a professional who will assess your child’s current level across skill domains, help you create a plan and adapted curriculum for your child, teach you to decrease any difficult behaviors (or barriers) your child may have that may keep him or her from being able to learn and help you to put in place a system to collect data and keep track of your child’s learning and progress.
5. Resources.
The right resources will help you learn everything you need to know to create a home program that pushes your child forward and helps him or her learn to thrive. They will guide you to keep building your home program and to track your child’s progress.
I would love feedback from all of my readers and especially those of you who already have a home program in place or are planning on starting a home program. What is your favorite part of homeschooling or your child’s adapted home program? What is most difficult? What information would you like to share with parents thinking of taking the plunge? ♥
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