Home Schooling Special Needs Children: A Few Resources We Use

Note:  This post does NOT contain affiliate links.  I'm just putting this post together in hopes of maybe helping someone out during this trying time and maybe point them in a direction they might not have thought of before. 

I have gotten e-mails this last week.  A lot of panicked e-mails, really (and BOY do I understand, trust me).  And I want to thank those who have reached out to me asking for my help.  I am honored and humbled that people would like to ask for my help with anything, let alone on matters of things like cooking with things you might have on hand and having to ration what they have and such.  And then there are the people who suddenly found themselves homeschooling overnight and I have gotten e-mails from people who have found themselves homeschooling their special needs kids and trying to figure out anything to help their kids not lose skills and hopefully help them through this whole crazy time.

I will share my small list of things I'm doing to save money in hopefully the next couple of days, but in the meantime, I wanted to share a few resources and things I've found have really worked for me teaching a non-verbal autistic little man this last school year.

I pray that some of these things might help parents who are just looking for things to try.  I am going to try and keep the items free or at least the price as low as I can get to recommend as I know everyone is panicking with money right now. 

Keep the faith everyone and hang in there.  We are, literally, all in this together, and we will see this through to the other side. 

So, without further ado, here is a list of things that I have found useful and, in some cases, things that I plain can't live without around here!

First up are Apps on the I-Pad.  If you go to the search function and search for these they SHOULD pop up...I hope. 

Apps I Love (I-Pad)

1.  Injini

This was like 35.00 when I purchased it and I can't see what the price is now as it just shows up as purchased on my end, but it is a GREAT package of activities for autistic or special needs children.  There are cause and effect games (shave a sheep, hatch baby chicks, pop colored balloons that then name the color, etc), tracing activities (to practice lines, letters and the like), puzzle activities, matching...it is amazing how much you get with one program.

2.  Write My Name by NC Soft/Injini

I believe this program was free or darn close to it when I got it for the I-pad, but it has been a WONDERFUL resource for tracing words, letters and also name recognition as you can make name tags that your child than uses to trace the names of the people you put into the program.  For instance I have Alvah's name in there so he'll learn to recognize and write his own name, his sister's name (which he hates as it is so long *laugh*), mom and dad.  After we master those I'll move onto grandma and grandpa and cousins and such.  It is an INVALUABLE resource to me and I would not be without it!

3.  Cause and Effect Sensory Bundle/Sensory Light Box/Sensory Sound Box

Guys I can NOT stress how much these little programs have helped with sensory input for my young man and I have had Sensory Light Box for YEARS.  The programs are inexpensive and are worth their weight in gold.  They have different effects that the child can choose from to appear on the screen (which they can control the background of said main screen as well) and each one seems to hit a different sensory need with my little guy.  The sensory sound box, if played at high volume (of which the son only KNOWS high volume on the I-Pad it seems) can drive you a bit loony if you hate hearing things like sirens and things at high volume, but  if anything he loves the sound box more than the light show.

4.  Little Fox Nursery Rhymes

A fun little app that will help you to sing a few nursery rhymes to your kids while letting them manipulate a bunch of fun things on the screen while you do it.  It even has a fun little karaoke room that kids can visit and record their own music in.

5.  Make a Scene 

There are a TON of different types of scene apps you can buy depending on what your child likes.  I own the Under the Sea one as the son loved "Finding Nemo" and still seems to really enjoy the scene.  I also have a Make a Scene farmyard app and the son really likes it.  What I like about them is that the app names the animals and things as the child adds them to the scene so you get a LOT of practice with word association as they play with the app.

6.  First Words Sampler (FW Sampler)

This is a great program to start kids with letter tiles.  It names the letter as you work with said letters to build a word and then repeats the word, complete with a short animation, when the child finishes the words.  My son still loves to play with these games and he started with them a LONG time ago :).

For Kindle:

1.  You can get these on I-Pad as well but the Toca Town series (there are other apps other than Toca Town, but if you type that in it'll pull them up) is really great for kids to basically play pretend in a technology based environment which my son seems more comfortable with. 

2.  Kidlo Beginning Math

I have the "limited" version of the program as it's one of those apps that charge a monthly fee and I do not have the money for that.  But, the addition and subtraction free games are more than enough to help Alvah practice math.  I especially love the Math Wheel game as it makes random math problems so it forces him to learn new math problems as we play it.

Written Materials:

1.  Books!  Lots and lots of books!

A lot of libraries have programs where they will mail you books right now if you take them out online, so there is that option if you have it in your area.  You could get Kindle versions of books if need be and search for free options to not worry about spending too much money.  But, seriously, reading to your child is such a huge benefit to them, and to you.  I know you have heard it all before, but really even if your child sits there and whines the entire time you read, they are getting something out of it.  I have read a ton of books to Alvah this year and he finally found a book he likes for me to read to him, "Clark the Shark" (a great one to read to a kid who tends to have quirks like shrieking at loud volumes, inadvertently wrecking things, eating off of other people's plates and things).  I think Alvah really relates to Clark in the book and it is the first book I've read him he's actively liking me to read.  So, don't give up if they keep acting like they hate what you are reading to them.  It might be a matter of finally finding the right fit :).

2.  Cut and Paste Workbooks

Right at the moment the son and I are working out of, "Cut and Paste Science" (no associate link or anything, I'm just sharing here) and I love working in this method of learning for a lot of different reasons.  One is because it helps Alvah keep the ability to use scissors, which is always a good thing.  Next we have started writing his name at the top of papers when we work with them so he gets name writing in with the lesson as well.  And lastly, and this is a big one, it is helping me to root out what kind of word recognition he actually possesses.  I cut the words out on the horizontal in strips and then I have him cut the vertical lines to cut out all of the words.  I then put them down on the table, read the sentences to him (right now we are doing the plant life cycle) and give him the answer and then ask him where that word is with all of the words cut out on the table.  And he is doing a LOT better than I thought he would, which is great because it is helping me to realize he's further along with reading than I originally thought he was :).

I actually have a math workbook and a few others on order with Amazon and am looking forward to getting them in.

If you don't want to invest in workbooks, there are resources you can use online to buy just a certain worksheet or  you could just try your hand at making your own in a free word processing program like Open Office.  Just a thought :).

3.  Jumbo Coloring Books

I love this Melissa and Doug Coloring Book.  It is huge, so it's easy for the son to work on with markers, the pages are thick so the markers don't bleed through and with it being vehicles the son doesn't mind coloring in the pages.  Get this and a package of markers and you are good to go with some fine motor skills!

4.  United States Coloring Book --  Dover Publishing  We are studying United States geography right now and this coloring book is great for that.  I am throwing the book onto my scanner/copier and making coloring pages to learn from and then going to the state pages to get different facts and coloring pages and things to supplement the lessons.  It's actually rather fun.

Board Games to Play:  

1.  Zingo Games (Original Zingo, Zingo 1,2,3, Zingo Word Builder, Zingo Sight Words)

I got these on recommendation from the son's ABA therapist and I love them!  I have the Original Zingo game and the Zingo 1,2,3 game to help build his math skills and they are awesome!   It is a really simple Bingo based game to play and it is great as multiple members of the family can play with your special needs child and make them feel not excluded (and once they learn to play they get the happy feeling of winning against family members as well).

2.  Learning Resources Mini Motor Math Activity Set

This is a racing game that requires beginning math skills.  I got it because the son loves cars, but I really love it because it makes him do things like roll a dice (which turns out is a hard motor skill to learn) and it motivates him to do basic math skills like number recognition, addition and counting skills.


Other Things You Can Do:

1.  Cook With Your Kids

This one is a hard one for me right now as I am loathe to waste absolutely anything, but I have the kids help where I can.  IF you can find baking mixes that call for like just water to be added or minimal ingredients, those are good ones to work with if you can to get the kids involved in cooking.  The son has been helping me to make banana bread when I find a couple of bananas in the freezer that I want to make sure get used and I let him mix the wet ingredients together and things.  He's been really liking being involved in the process.

2.  Dance with Your Kids

My husband found me Caramelldansen on YouTube and it has been GREAT at getting the kids to move around and exercise via dancing (and yes, we have seen every single language version at this point I think *laugh*).  It's a really simple dance to do and yes, I do it too.  Making a fool out of myself dancing around like an oddball is definitely in the normal right now *laugh*.  We all need a laugh at the moment.

3.  Do what you can to keep active

Play with the kids outside if you can can.  Unfortunately, this doesn't mean with other kids, but just you and your kids.  Do what you can to keep your kids in a good head space and active right now and playing outside is good for that. 

Keeping the kids grounded is important right now (I know I'm singing to the choir here).  For instance, the daughter and I had decided to take this week off for Spring Break versus earlier in the month like the public schools did and even with all of the craziness in the world going on, I kept to that plan as she had earned the time off.  Even though our activities we had planned on doing this week were called off, just having some relaxing time off for the daughter has been priceless for her. 

4.  When all Else Fails:  Get Creative

I've found this is especially important with the son right now.  We spent a good three hours this week one day just watching Leapfrog videos and me counting it as school time.  Watching something educational that your child enjoys watching?  Sometimes that is going to be as good as you can do and that is OK!  Don't beat yourself up and expect your kid to stay focused for six hours or heck to be focused every day period.  Trust me, they don't do that at public school either.  I aim for an hour for the son for actual hard core learning and than we work on little activities (helping mom set the table or helping to clean up a mess, combing our hair, etc) throughout the rest of the day to support our IEP goals and just general life skills types of activities.  It has been working well for us and it really has helped the son focus when we are working on actual school work because he can see the end of it and know that less stressful things are coming down the line. 

Well, there is a list to get you started on this crazy journey all.  If you need a shoulder to lean on, have a question you think I might even conceivably know the answer to or just need someone to talk to, feel free to e-mail me at makedohomemaker (at) gmail (dot) com.

Hang in there all!