Special needs
Any discussion of stages of learning and development also brings up the question of what about children whose special needs place them at a different stage of development than their age-appropriate peers. How can this model be used to guide their learning?
First, remember that these stages of learning and development are given as a framework, not an absolute. No child will fit exactly into all of these categories. Most children have one or two areas in which they excel, and others in which they struggle. Particularly in the area of Skills, it is very common for a child to be “establishing” one set of skills while “excelling” in another. A child may also find verbal skills easier than mathematical ones, or artistic skills easier than athletic ones.
Second, children with special needs can benefit just as much as any other child from a classical education, and sometimes the richness of classical learning can help a child with special needs to blossom as they would not with another educational approach. For more information about this, I highly recommend Cheryl Swope’s book Simply Classical: A Beautiful Approach for Any Child, as well as the entire Simply Classical special needs curriculum arm of Memoria Press.
Third, seeing classical education as encompassing all of life, using the areas of Spirit, Story, and Skills, may help you see ways of reaching your child in spite of his or her challenges. Most students with special needs end up having teachers and parents focusing on the area of Skills - especially reading, writing, math, and the areas of the seven liberal arts. But that leaves so much else to enrich one’s life that can be experienced in ways outside of reading and writing. Look back at this diagram on page 28 and consider how a child with special needs can absorb the wonder of Story through video, through hands-on experiences, through community events, and through family read-aloud times. Think about how his or her Spirit can be nurtured through the rhythms and rituals of celebratory events in the church family, through times of group study of the Scriptures. How can his or her Skills be developed in all areas - Head, Hands, Heart, Habits, and Helping? A classical education offers a rich collection of stories, songs, memories, and experiences on which to ponder and reflect, and which can stimulate creativity and learning in all children, regardless of their strengths and weaknesses.
Finally, as you consider the string ensemble image I have shared, consider the music each of these instruments make. Some are high pitched and more inclined to lively melodies; others are lower and well-suited for more sonorous tunes. All are needed and contribute to the fullness of the music. Students whose “stages” and “ages” don’t match up in every area are still contributing to the music of their family and community in their own special way, and the beauty of both homeschooling and classical education is that they have the freedom to do that, and to take steps towards the next stage of life and learning, at the pace that they can best manage - and that is okay.
Click here for a discussion of GRACE.
First, remember that these stages of learning and development are given as a framework, not an absolute. No child will fit exactly into all of these categories. Most children have one or two areas in which they excel, and others in which they struggle. Particularly in the area of Skills, it is very common for a child to be “establishing” one set of skills while “excelling” in another. A child may also find verbal skills easier than mathematical ones, or artistic skills easier than athletic ones.
Second, children with special needs can benefit just as much as any other child from a classical education, and sometimes the richness of classical learning can help a child with special needs to blossom as they would not with another educational approach. For more information about this, I highly recommend Cheryl Swope’s book Simply Classical: A Beautiful Approach for Any Child, as well as the entire Simply Classical special needs curriculum arm of Memoria Press.
Third, seeing classical education as encompassing all of life, using the areas of Spirit, Story, and Skills, may help you see ways of reaching your child in spite of his or her challenges. Most students with special needs end up having teachers and parents focusing on the area of Skills - especially reading, writing, math, and the areas of the seven liberal arts. But that leaves so much else to enrich one’s life that can be experienced in ways outside of reading and writing. Look back at this diagram on page 28 and consider how a child with special needs can absorb the wonder of Story through video, through hands-on experiences, through community events, and through family read-aloud times. Think about how his or her Spirit can be nurtured through the rhythms and rituals of celebratory events in the church family, through times of group study of the Scriptures. How can his or her Skills be developed in all areas - Head, Hands, Heart, Habits, and Helping? A classical education offers a rich collection of stories, songs, memories, and experiences on which to ponder and reflect, and which can stimulate creativity and learning in all children, regardless of their strengths and weaknesses.
Finally, as you consider the string ensemble image I have shared, consider the music each of these instruments make. Some are high pitched and more inclined to lively melodies; others are lower and well-suited for more sonorous tunes. All are needed and contribute to the fullness of the music. Students whose “stages” and “ages” don’t match up in every area are still contributing to the music of their family and community in their own special way, and the beauty of both homeschooling and classical education is that they have the freedom to do that, and to take steps towards the next stage of life and learning, at the pace that they can best manage - and that is okay.
Click here for a discussion of GRACE.