Learning Individualization needs to be our foundation of learning for all children. Yet, when it comes to special needs children, learning methods should be as varied and unique as the child you teach.
If we want to help our kids learn to the best of their ability, we need to meet them at their ability.
Hi, I am Karen, a former public school teacher, who has taught everything from PreK 3 to Eleventh grade. I have taught both regular education children and special education. Plus, I homeschooled my children, one of which is special needs.
One of the things that has kept children from learning well is the need to pass the test. While I understand the need to pass the test for school funding, it has negatively impacted the learning of all children. No, it isn’t the teachers or even the parents. It is this squelching of the natural inclination to learn.
In order for children to thrive in their learning, they need to have a structure in the direction of the curriculum, but they also need the room to learn, grow and research independently as learners. When this occurs, children want to learn and they grow more curious.
Using thematic units works well in assisting children in this process, as well as using different ways to teach kids.
We need to feel free to use computers, art, videos, music, or outdoor activities to help our kids discover what it means to learn.
We Need To Meet Them Where They Are
If you want children to learn, but especially neurodivergent learners, you need to meet them where they are. When you do, you slowly alter their lack of ability to learn in a normal way into a more cooperative process.
Pushing too hard and too fast only becomes a meltdown with a neurodivergent person, because they are only doing what their brain tells them to do. They have no idea why you want them to accomplish tasks the way you ask them to. They think you are the one doing it wrong!
This is why pushing them hard causes a meltdown. I will say it again, you need to meet them where they are for real learning to occur.
Neurodivergent And Special Needs Go Hand In Hand
If you have a child on the autism spectrum, you probably already know this. The reason that autistic kids struggle so much in school is that they think and process information differently.
If we teach them using traditional methods and curriculum, then we will get poor results. We must adapt our teaching style and methods to fit neurodivergent and/or special needs learners. If you constantly push them the wrong way, you will get meltdowns for your efforts.
This goes for homeschooling or in public school settings.
We need to treat different learners as es exactly that and stop punishing them for being unable to understand what we want from them. This is what learning for all means.
Some Neurodivergents Are Twice Exceptional
While the autism spectrum and ADD are not exactly death sentences (really), they do highlight the fact that some “busy” distracted kids are also neurodivergent and different learners. They discover rather than sit and read it from a book.
Our Learning Foundations For All units help kids do just that. Getting their hands messy becomes part of the learning process and engages them in active real learning versus regurgitation of facts.
So, in short, some neurodivergent kids are gifted with autism and/or ADD or ADHD.
You can find our content on Teachers Pay Teachers
Learning For All Educational Units Teach
When you teach a child on the spectrum or who is special needs, you start with the learning objectives and use the downloads to support that learning. This is the focus of my learning units.
Find out the target objectives for your lessons and then locate the units you need to support that learning. This isn’t rocket science, but instead of focusing on the mainstream curriculum, you tailor learning based on learning objectives. Click here to go to our Teachers Pay Teachers store for some of the learning activities.
Or, you can go to our PayHip Store at the link for a more complete list of activities.
Special education, which includes neurodivergent learning should always be this way.
Join us in creating learning experiences for all kids, helping them explore a new way of living.
A Special Needs Life 