I recently visited a website that was created by a mother who decided to homeschool her own children, one of whom is deaf. She first created the website to provide helpful and relevant information for parents who were considering homeschooling their deaf children. She couldn't find a lot of information related to deafness and homeschooling, so she dedicated much of her time developing a website to help others. She discusses many different issue, such as, the pros and cons of homeschooling, common concerns about homeschooling, laws regarding homeschooling, factors to consider before committing yourself to homeschooling your child, state laws (state-by-state guides), and how to find emotional and social support. This site provided many links to other helpful sites as well.

Barbara Handley mentions some common Concerns that have been expressed about homeschooling. These concerns are listed below:

1. How will the lack of opportunities to socialize with same-aged peers affect the child?
2. How will my child make friends?
3. How will children learn to make it in the 'real world'?
4. Parents often wonder if they are qualified to teach their child.
5. Parents oftenwonder how they will know what to teach their child and what stage?
6. The rate of Burn Out.
7. Parents often wonder if they will have access to special services even though their child is being homeschooled.

Handley continues to respond to each of these dilemmas and provides a possible solution.

She addresses concerns #1 & #2 by informing ther reader that most cities have active homeschooling support groups that plan regular activities for children to get together and interact and socialize. Some of these events might include going to the skating ring, going to the zoo,  visiting the science museum, joining book clubs, etc.

She addresses concern #3 by stating that children who are homeschooled are expose to shopping, running errands, the managing of money, and the business of real life everyday.  Handley addresses issue #4 by stating that there are many resources available to parents who choose to homeschool their child. She addresses concern #5 by simply stating that there are specific benchmarks that need to be followes, which will outline what skills need to be taught and when. This issue of burn out is something that each individual has to work out on their own.  Concern #7 is a huge concern. According to Handley, there is no mandate by IDEA that schools must provide special serives to homeschoolers. 

References

Handley, B. n.d. Common Concerns ABout Homeschooling. Retrieved from http://www.deafhomeschool.com/essentials/decision/concerns.html  on July 4, 2009.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe

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