Homeschooling a Child with Special Needs: We're Just Getting Started Too
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Homeschooling is a daunting journey. Add any type of special needs into the equation, and if you're anything like me, you may start to question yourself at every turn.
I want to be upfront about something before we go any further: I'm not an expert.
I'm a mom. I homeschool four kids in Alaska, and one of them is our seven-year-old daughter who has Down syndrome. We've been homeschooling her for three years using the preschool curriculum we created — That It May Go Well. She benefited greatly from the videos that accompany our preschool program. The videos gave us space to provide extra practice for Hadassah while I worked with our older boys. That It May Go Well is a family-style homeschool curriculum, and we know that sometimes family homeschooling looks more messy and stretching than it sounds.
We're now stepping into kindergarten together. I've debated this decision. I still am. The book is sitting in our home ready to use and I am still questioning if preschool would be a better fit for her again. When you're mom and teacher, you have to decide things on your own — and with your spouse. There isn't a school or program telling you what to do. This is beautiful and daunting. Most of us want to make the best decisions for our children. We want God's best for them.
I found myself down another rabbit hole of educational reading and research recently. I'm at the beginning of this journey. And I'm writing from that place — not from the other side of it.
I thought about waiting until I had more figured out before I started writing about homeschooling with special needs. But then I remembered why I built Lamp & Light Living in the first place — not to be a polished expert handing down wisdom from above, but to be a real mom sharing what's actually working in our actual home. So that's what this is going to be.
Some of the research available for homeschooling children with special needs, including Down syndrome, is genuinely helpful. And some I question. I'm unwilling to do something just because someone else says it's a good idea. It has to honor God, sit right, make sense, and consider the whole child.
Phonics, Patience, and Coming Full Circle
I'll be honest — phonics has been challenging for Hadassah. We've had some real wins, and yet when I look at what she has retained over three years, I sometimes wonder if I've missed something. But then I read about whole-word memorization approaches recommended for young children with Down syndrome, and I realize that isn't my style — and more importantly, it doesn't have to be.
My goal isn't always to be first. The journey matters.
After reading, researching, and sitting with all of it, I landed back in a genuinely comforting place: a combined approach to education — which is exactly what TMGW has always been. I could never land solidly on just one philosophy of education because I saw value in many. What I knew was that the Bible needed to be textbook number one, and that education could have a firm biblical foundation.
It was a full-circle moment. To read all the information and land confidently on the same thing I started with — taking our time, focusing on what matters most, and combining our approach.
Slow It Down. Start Small. Repeat.
If you're just starting out homeschooling a child with special needs, I want you to know: you can do this. And you don't have to reinvent the wheel.
One of the most important things I've learned homeschooling our daughter is to slow everything down and not be afraid to start small. Then repeat. And repeat again.
In the world of early childhood education, there's often pressure to get kids to 100 — counting to 100, knowing all their letters, hitting every milestone on schedule. But for children with Down syndrome and other special needs, the foundation matters more than the pace. Truly understanding 1 through 5 — really owning those numbers, connecting them to real objects, building number sense concretely — is worth so much more than rushing to 100 without it.
The same is true for letters. We don't just look at letters on a page. We make them. We trace them in salt trays. We form them with play dough. We find them in nature — a stick bent into a Y, a leaf shaped like an O. We use our hands, our bodies, our senses. And it's working. It really is.
This isn't revolutionary. It's just slow, intentional, hands-on learning. And for our daughter, that's exactly what she needs.
Why That It May Go Well Works for Our Special Needs Homeschool
When I was reading about different homeschool philosophies — Charlotte Mason, classical education, structured approaches — I kept coming back to the same realization: the reason That It May Go Well works for our daughter is the same reason I created it in the first place.
It's simple. It's Bible-rooted. It's designed for a parent to teach, not a credentialed teacher. It doesn't assume your child learns a certain way or at a certain pace. It gives you a plan, a foundation, and the freedom to do it in your home, with your child, at your child's pace.
I didn't create TMGW for the special needs space specifically. But the principles it's built on — repetition, biblical foundation, parent-led instruction, multi-sensory options — translate beautifully for children with Down syndrome and other learning differences.
We're not reinventing the wheel for our daughter. We're slowing it down. We're adding some visual supplements. But we're keeping the core the same. And more importantly, we're keeping the foundation the same — the Bible.
What's Coming for Special Needs Families at Lamp & Light
We're stepping into kindergarten this year using our Rainbow books, and I'll be sharing what that looks like for our family as we go. I'm also working on expanding support resources specifically for children with special needs — practical tools, not clinical programs. Things a parent can actually use at a kitchen table.
We're at the beginning. But maybe that's exactly where you are too.
And if it is — you're in the right place. We'll trust God to continue to lead our homeschool journey, and we hope you will too.
