Homeschooling Your Child with

Learning Differences or Special Needs

HLA offers parents the freedom and flexibility to determine how, where, and what to teach their children. Thanks to this flexibility, parents often find HLA to be a good option for homeschooling their child with learning differences that range from high to low functioning ability. One of the beauties of homeschooling is that parents can tailor homeschooling to fit the individual needs of each child as they decide what works best.

HLA believes every student is unique and has God-given talents and abilities that need to be discovered. Therefore, the freedom and flexibility to decide and choose is one of our strongest features. This includes incorporating Individual Education Plan goals into your child’s homeschooling program.

Individual Education Plan

Every student who enrolls with HomeLife Academy, whether they have special needs or not, will have a personalized course of study we refer to as the Education Plan.  Although counselors are available to consult with you about the plan, you are ultimately the one who decides what to include. Your student’s individualized goals, benchmarks, or related services are easily added to your child’s Education Plan in Applecore. If you have questions regarding your student’s individual plan or would like to discuss options to accommodate their needs, please log into your MyHLA account and enter a counselor request for their grade level and indicate in the comments that it is for a struggling learner.

Choice

Parents may choose curriculum and purchase resources based on the level that is needed for the student to learn. For example, life skills, functional math, occupational therapy, or speech therapy may be included as an integral part of their schooling and added to the Education Plan. 

If your elementary or middle school student is working below grade level, our recommendation is to place them in the grade that corresponds with their age. You can still focus on having them work on the academic level that corresponds with their ability. The resources listed for their courses in Applecore should reflect their ability level. 

High school age students who are working 2-3 grade levels below their actual grade level in two or more subject areas will be likely candidates for the Modified Path. This path results in a regular high school diploma with a transcript that reflects that courses have been modified. 

The Certificate of Completion is ideal for those students who need to work on basic life skills. These students would be typically working on a Pre-K-5th grade level, most likely not be able to support themselves through work, and often will not be able to live independently. 

Our Struggling Learner team is happy to chat with you about what path may be the best fit for your child.  Please reach out through the Request Manager in MyHLA if you have any questions or need help and support.

Resources

Links to Helpful HLA Resources

Find extra resources with our HLA Partner – SPED Homeschool

The team at SPED Homeschool understands the daily challenges families face when homeschooling a child with learning differences. As in-the-trenches special education homeschooling parents, they realize how important it is to be involved in a supportive community who understands these challenges as well as understands that each child is a unique learner. Equipping parents is their primary objective. Through volunteer hours, private donations, and educational grants, they provide parents with resources, training opportunities, support, information, and encouragement.

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