Complex Needs, School, and COVID-19 (Updated Aug 2020)

I don't know about yours, but my social media newsfeeds are filled with scared teachers and parents who are worried about going back to school in the fall.

This is all especially worrisome for complex needs parents.

A lot of our children are medically vulnerable, are unable to wear masks for various reasons, have allergies to the required cleaning products, etc.

I want you to know that you have options. I know that these options won't work for everyone, but I'm going to show you how my kids have always learned... at home.

Gemma and Linda have never gone to daycare or a brick and mortar school. The risks and drawbacks have always outweighed any potential benefits for them. So, we homeschool.

This isn't as crazy as it's often painted to be. As the parents, we're our children's very first teachers. We're there to show them how to eat, walk, and talk. Expanding on this to include formal education is actually pretty natural.

Before we go any further, I highly recommend you do a Google search for your state's homeschool laws. Example: Indiana homeschool laws

There are so many different ways to homeschool! I would describe my family's style as eclectic. We do a mix of formal curricula and self-led learning.

I also want you to know that homeschool doesn't take 6-8 hours per day like traditional school. I would say we get our required book-work done in 2-3 hours, depending on the kids' levels of cooperation. This is because I'm only teaching 1-2 kiddos at a time, rather than 20-40.

This isn't everything (see this post for more), but here's most of our list:

English Language Arts