![]() ![]() I didn’t want a primarily computer-based program, and Simply Classical is “old school” with books and paper worksheets. ![]() I read Cheryl’s book, Simply Classical, in the summer of 2020 (and then read it again before pulling him out of public school) and her approach appealed to me. It was developed by Cheryl Swope, a former special educator who homeschooled her adopted twin children who each had significant learning challenges. The curriculum I chose for Nathan is from Memoria Press called Simply Classical. How I Chose a Homeschool Curriculum for Special Learning Needs A few weeks into the school year, we withdrew Nathan, and I cried when we said goodbye to his virtual teacher…and most of the rest of that day. We continued virtual school but I also pulled out a lot of information on homeschooling I’d accumulated a year earlier at the beginning of the pandemic. I had been adding some extra work to his daily load – partly for reinforcement and partly to keep him from just playing with trucks for hours on end – and I started thinking maybe homeschooling wouldn’t be all that bad. The virtual group format just didn’t work for him. He did very well with the asynchronous work (i.e., done on his own time) and the sessions one-on-one with the teacher, but not as well in sessions that included other students. I absolutely LOVED Nathan’s virtual school special education teacher. Last August, at the beginning of Nathan’s short-lived virtual school experience The school system worked with us to make this change at the absolute last minute and also offered to hold an IEP meeting as soon as we felt safe about him returning so that he could potentially transfer back early. We spoke to Nathan’s pediatrician and another physician friend on the front lines and they both were concerned they felt that with Nathan’s history of hospitalization for pneumonia, we should consider virtual school temporarily, just until the wave had “washed over” our community. A year later, the Delta variant of Covid-19 was burning through our community, and I was frightened again. I was terrified but also overwhelmed and it seemed like the best choice at the time. When the 2020-2021 school year began, we sent Nathan to school. Why I Chose to Homeschool My Son with Down Syndrome Andi has declared quite a few times, “I’d have lost money on that bet!” I simply never had the desire and I was pretty sure I didn’t have the patience to be my child’s teacher, yet here we are. Two years ago, I would never have believed I would choose, much less enjoy, homeschooling Nathan. Last September, I fell accidentally into homeschooling my child with Down syndrome. ![]()
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