special needs

The great debate occurs every year 

“Am I expecting too much of my child or not enough?"  
"Is this groaning and moaning about writing just a discipline problem, a character issue, or is there really a problem here?"

Common comments I hear from homeschool moms are:

"She can tell me the answers well orally, but then it takes her an hour to write it down!"
"When he writes his spelling words to learn them, he leaves letters out of the words."
"If he dictates to me, the story is great, but he can’t write it himself.”
“His dad says that he’s just lazy and unmotivated.  He can do his work if he really tries.”

One of the most common and most misdiagnosed processing problems in children is a blocked writing gate.  This is the number one processing glitch in gifted children.  Many of these children seem to be “allergic” to their pencil.  They break out in whining as soon as they get a pencil or pen in their hand.

Let’s look at what is...

God has a wonderful sense of humor, I believe.  He wants us to grow and stretch, and one of the ways He does this is to give us children who are very different from each other.  Just as it is very likely that a right brain person will have a left brain spouse, so it is that if our first born is left brain dominant, the next child likely will be right brain dominant.  This brain dominance affects both personality characteristics and learning styles.  

How do you determine if you are teaching a right brain child?  Children tend to display these characteristics at an early age.  All children are creative, but your right brain child will seem to be even more imaginative.  The right brain learns things in "wholes" rather than parts, so that child will get math concepts well, but may struggle with the "details" like the math facts or checking work.   In thinking styles, the right brainer often goes by "gut feel" whereas the left brainer prefers multiple facts before coming to a conclusion.  In test taking, the left brainer prefers the black and white choices presented in multiple choice questions,...

In the animal kingdom 50% of the animals are “right paw dominant” and 50% are “left paw dominant.” This has been observed when animals press a lever to get more food or water. Human beings are 50% right brain dominant and 50% left brain dominant, regardless of hand dominance.

As we know, the majority of school curriculum and teaching methods are taught in a left brain manner. This is particularly true of math curriculum. Left brain dominant children learn their math facts easily by repeating them orally, practicing them in timed tests, and working with flash cards. This is the sequential way that works for the left brain learner.  The right brain dominant child, however, likes and often requires a different approach both to memorizing facts and performing calculation procedures.

Let’s look at a model of the brain with its specialization of hemispheres:

LEFT BRAIN - AUDITORY
Details
Black & white
Data only
Repetition
Sequential

RIGHT BRAIN - VISUAL
Whole picture
Colors
Rhythm, pictures
...

Joseph was an unhappy baby.  He didn't sleep for very long periods and seemed to cry all the time.  He did best when he was held and rocked or walked. He spit up after feeding much more than the other babies in the family had.  His parents called him their "high maintenance child."  He developed some ear infections which were treated with antibiotics.  With the second antibiotic he received, he developed a rash.  The doctor said he was allergic to amoxicillin and placed him on another antibiotic.  He got over the ear infection, but continued to be whiny and had diarrhea.  After one more antibiotic he developed a white coating on his tongue, which the doctor called thrush. 

As he grew, it became increasingly evident that he was intolerant to some foods.  Milk gave him a stomachache and oranges gave him a rash around his mouth.  In his preschool years he was loving and sweet one moment but easily flew off the handle if he didn't get his own way.  In fact, sometimes his temper tantrums were a sight to behold.  As he grew, he continued to be plagued with difficulty falling asleep, stomachaches...

Does your child have good hearing but listen poorly?

Some parents refer to this as selective hearing, but your child may actually have trouble listening. While hearing is the ability to detect sound, listening is how the brain processes auditory information.

Children with poor auditory processing skills tend to exhibit the following problems:

• Trouble hearing or easily distracted in noisy environments.


• Hard time following a conversation or following directions.


• Disorganized and forgetful.


• Problems with reading, comprehension, spelling and/or writing.


• Trouble recalling a story in proper sequence.


• Difficulty understanding verbal math problems.

Auditory Processing problems closely mimic AD/HD symptoms, and children are often misdiagnosed. If a child is having trouble processing auditory information, he or she will often appear to be inattentive. It is similar to a bad cell phone connection. The child does not get all of...

We are excited about our new store!  

Please take time to visit our new store and see what is there. Simply click on the store tab at the top of the page or on any of the sub-menu items under the tab.  We also provide links for you throughout this article. The store contains over 750 products, including over 2,800 audio files. In addition to some great search tools to help you find what you want, audio samples have been provided with each product. If you are curious about a particular recording, just listen to the sample. The playback controls will be clearly visible next to the product. Click on the play button and position the playback indicator anywhere in the sample.  

Past MÂCHÉ conferences: There are over 250 workshop presentations from past MÂCHÉ conferences that have been added to our store. Listen to material from particular speakers you enjoy or receive help for specific needs you might have: encouragement, curriculum guidance, teaching and learning styles, readiness skills, special needs, high school transcripts, organization, and much more. The various "filters" displayed in the left column of...

MÂCHÉ has the desire to empower parents to love homeschooling the special children God has chosen for their homes. If God is leading you to keep or bring home your special child, MÂCHÉ offers the following support systems for parents who step up to this unique and wonderful challenge.

• MÂCHÉ SPECIAL NEEDS ONLINE SUPPORT

Be inspired and become informed with the insights of authors in our Resource section and gain further understanding with occasional special needs additions to our home page blog.

• Events for Parents of Homeschooled Children with Special Needs ​

​Numerous helpful workshops, seminars, and conferences, will be listed by location and date as they become available.

• MÂCHÉ Handbook Section

​​Find...