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a charlotte mason education can accomplish beautiful things in the heart of the special needs child

This is especially for the moms who found their way here and are considering homeschooling, especially those with a Charlotte Mason bent, their special needs child this year...


I know how scary it can be to take the plunge and decide to homeschool your child with extra special needs. Though his face doesn't show it, Trevor has very aggressive and complex needs, both medical and developmental. Oh, how I wrestled with bringing him home. Could I do it? Would he regress? Am I equipped to handle his very complex needs at home? What if the school won't provide on-going therapies (and they don't)? What if we can't afford to pay for them (and we haven't always and don't currently)? Is a Charlotte Mason approach right for him? All the questions, all the thoughts, all the doubts, assailed my heart as I was drawn towards that decision nearly 3 years ago now.


It is NOT easy.


Some days are entirely about one thing: survival. So much energy and patience is required to stay the course. Even more discernment is needed as I navigate individualizing his Charlotte Mason education. It is so much work and that's important to acknowledge! 


But this picture...






This picture fills my heart and reveals the fruits of this hard blessing and labor I've been about. I might be utterly exhausted at the end of most days, but I have no regrets about bringing him home. And definitely, no doubts that Charlotte's ideas (even modified) are working beautifully in him...in all of us. 


He is a whole person with a whole soul. He is busy working at the most important thing of all - building relationships with those he loves and all the things he's learning. Trevy is especially a lover of people and watching his heart interact with the marching pageant of historical figures has been so warming. He's now a huge Ronald Reagan fan. Somehow he's also learned who Charlotte Mason is and has become enamored with her. His ability to construct sentences and articulate is imperfect, he he was able to communicate recently something close to, "I think I know why I didn't like (public) school so much, Mom. I think I'm just a Charlotte Mason kid." My heart caught. 


But back to this picture...


he'd chased his sister down for an "I'll miss you" hug as I was taking her to a summer boat building apprenticeship. The moment was so sweet and tender and my heart was moved as I beheld a layer of the hard-won beauty homeschooling has brought to our family. 
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