Deciding upon the appropriate curriculum or curricula for any child is a difficult task. There is much to be considered from the quality of the product(s) to the world view of the creator of the product. But if you are blessed by a child with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), you have other consideration to factor into your decision.
My child learns through movement, also called the kinesthetic learning style. While most schools focus upon auditory or visual learning styles, kinesthetic learners are quite common. Consider that 1 in 20 people have SPD and many, if not most, are kinesthetic learners. It would seem schools are missing a large segment of people with a specific learning style.
However, at home, we are able to adapt and accommodate to learning differences easier than a teacher in a class with many diverse students. The quandary is how we implement learning in the home for a child or children who learn in different ways, especially kinesthetically! Trust me, having looked at ready-made, full curricula, it is apparent that there is no one size fits all plan out there, and certainly not for SPD children. So what do I do?
Well, I have been researching homeschool materials like a mad woman! The things I take into consideration include the subject, the product, price, ease of use, preparation involved in implementing it, approach, reputation, and customer reviews. Because one curriculum will not work for us, I go subject by subject and product by product considering all the factors. This has been quite time consuming.
I plan on attending a homeschool exposition at the end of the month. Prior to attending, I am researching various products based upon all the factors I have listed above and then I will speak with representatives at the expo. I hope to view the products first hand and ask questions relevant to my child and SPD.
I am starting to make decisions regarding which methods I think will be most useful for our family and some of the top product choices. I will update as I make progress on my search for the right learning materials!
