Luz, if by “online homeschool,” you are talking about the virtual schools that take public school curriculum and you educate at home online, my advice to you and your special needs child is….RUN THE OTHER WAY!
Now, having said that, we were enrolled in an online public school for 3 years as an attempt to compromise with my estranged husband. It worked in that the kids were receiving education, but our school days were far from smooth and easy. The teachers we had were very caring, especially my son’s special ed. teacher, but it still was not working for us.
I longed to return to traditional homeschooling, and research (plus talking to friends) brought me to the Simply Charlotte Mason website. Charlotte Mason is a method of educating children, and Simply Charlotte Mason provides a curriculum guide. If you read, read, read the materials on this site and everything connected to the curriculum guide, you will find a wonderfully supportive hand to help you get started educating your children the way they need to learn.
As I read through everything here and began gathering books from libraries, friends, and other sources, I suddenly thought, wait a minute–can it really be this simple to provide my autistic son and two neuro-typical daughters with a quality education? Well, it has been a little intense to prepare for the school year (mostly because I tend to “plan with a vengeance”), but I had my answer last Friday, after our first week of school, when my son said, “School isn’t really that hard!” That was a joy to hear, because he has struggled so, even with extra help from “experts.” This past week, he has worked pretty hard and has had very good results. He is even memorizing his addition facts–something we could never get him to do in the past.
All I can say to those who are struggling to find the best way to accomplish things, both great and small, with their special needs child, is to immerse yourself in the material on this website. If it feels like the right fit, go for it! It’s a wonderful way to spend our school day. All of my kids are much more enthusiastic about learning, and it has been great for my son because one of Charlotte Mason’s ideas was to keep lessons short. As you mentioned, no more 60-minute lessons for my son….but he is really showing me what he can do in 20 to 30 minutes on a subject.
HTH,
Sue M.