Homeschooling  with Autism

There is no perfect curriculum. 

 

The standard school system is very limited in individualized resources and services for autistic students and follows a practice for all children (with or without autism) where a child’s “grade” level is not only constrained by time, but is determined by their age.  Regardless of how well or unwell a student is performing in their subjects at school, children are pushed forward in the Ontario curriculum with a “one-size-fits-all” approach to keep them within the same age range as their peers.  Not even their curriculum is perfect.   No curriculum is. 

 

 

 

In Ontario, you do not need to follow the “standard” school curriculum or use any packaged or store-bought curriculum at all when homeschooling. If you wish to use one that's fine, but do take the time to research several of them to find out what you think you could be adapted to work well for your child. You can also ask the company that you are looking to purchase from if they have any samples to offer so you can try it before you buy it. You can find curriculum materials by searching online, at your local library or book store, local homeschooling support groups or homeschooling conferences.

You have the freedom to change, add or remove things from it and use it as a tool in your homeschooling. When creating your curriculum specifically for your child, your goal should be education overall. You have the complete freedom to customize and design the learning experience specifically for your child to educate them accordingly to your ideals and your child’s abilities. The best way to plan out your homeschooling and your curriculum is to know your child’s abilities and challenges. By focusing on putting a curriculum in place that pinpoints and addresses your child's challenges and passions, you will head in the right direction knowing all of the tools that you will need to approach which will work best for both you and your child to have a successful homeschooling year. You can sort out your curriculum materials and services based on your child’s unique learning style, academic level and goals. 

 

So always remember, you do not need to follow any specific curriculum.  You can customize their curriculum to suit their needs and their abilities.  You will know exactly what they are learning and experience it with them first-hand.  Homeschooling allows for a flexible schedule with learning and time to schedule medical or therapy appointments. It allows your child to take breaks when they are needed.  You don’t need to follow regular school hours or regular school calendar.  You can spread things out to a way that it can work around scheduling conflicts.

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Main Homeschooling Curriculum Plan

 

I create a Main Homeschooling Curriculum Plan for the year. This is an outlined list of our curriculum for what we intend to cover for the year. For each subject or activity of what we are going to do, I break that down into sections for our homeschooling days. I also base and coordinate our activities related to the theme of the holidays of each month. This helps give me an idea of how many activities or lessons we will need to cover each week to wrap things up by the end of our 3rd term in May. Once I have our Main Curriculum outlined, I plan out the basics and I print everything off weeks in advance of anything we need for the entire homeschooling year. All of the pages are filed by each focused month and stored until they are ready to use. Have your teaching materials and documents in a file drawer or a specific place where they are always at your fingertips and easily accessible to you.

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