I am leaning towards homeschooling my 4th grader. She was a preemieand has APD. I have had to fight the public school system every year because they are not sure how to categorize her. She doesn’t fit into any box they have. She is super intelligent, but learns differently. I know I do not want to do the traditional free state provided homeschool program with instrucors and a strict schedule. She is a very hands on learner and sensory based. I think she would do better in a less structured environment. Can you all make suggestions as to different home schools that would fit best for this learning style?
I had to re-read your comment several times! I read “I know I do want to do the traditional free state provided homeschool program”…then “I think she would do better in a less structured environment.” And I had a panic attack! LOL. We were in K12 for 5 years and it was miserable! I was going to tell you, if you want a less structured environment please do NOT do the free state provided homeschool programs! But then I re-read it. Phew. I was so glad I missed that important word: “not” want to do the programs.
So, I am new to pure homeschooling. But, I think you can do hands on for all the subjects basically. Especially Science, History, and Math. I am not an expert on those, however, so I’ll leave that to the more experienced parents.
I just wanted to say… thank you for not choosing K12, or Connections, or any of the other ones! You would have been miserable and it would not have worked! It is extremely structured and sucks the fun out of learning. 
I am following this tread, because I would like more info about more hands on learning as well.
Best wishes!
Sugar
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My daughter was a preemie as well. She has hearing loss in her left ear only. We are preschool drop outs after one week. She enjoyed the socialization, but she was exhausted when I picked her up at the end of the day. Background noises and just over stimulation of the day made it hard for her. So my husband gave the ok to try homeschooling her in Kindergarten. It was successful. Now we are completing our 2nd grade year. One on one teaching is so effective. All I can offer you is encouragement. I know there are several moms on this site that have great suggestions for hands on and sensory based programs of study. I found a quiz on the Mardels site the other day that you could take both for the parent’s teaching style and the student’s learning style that might be beneficial. Don’t give up. You will find your way.
I wasn’t sure exactly what you meant by “different home schools.” Did you mean curriculum or homeschooling methods/philosophy?
If you were meaning curriculum…when I was first looking for curriculum the book “101 Top Picks for Homeschool” by Cathy Duffy was really helpful (she puts one out yearly, and some years its titled 100 or 102 Top Picks…not hard to find a used copy). It’s a Christian resource, though much of would still be useful for non-Christians. It deals with homeschooling methods too…goes over learning styles and some of the most common homeschool philosophies and other considerations like amount of time required and such…and then has a handy chart ranking these things on around 100 of her favorite Curriculums. The curriculum reviews you can also get for free at her website…
These resources covered even more homeschool philosophies, and I found them helpful…
A Free List Summarizing Homeschool Philosophies with resources/curriculums related to each:
http://eclectic-homeschool.com/homeschool-philosophies-a-resource-list/
A related quiz to help determine your homeschool philosophy:
http://eclectic-homeschool.com/what-kind-of-homeschooler-are-you/
It can all be overwhelming at first…and how you homeschool will change over time. My first year I didn’t get the curriculum for all the subjects at once (for various reasons), and I think that was a good decision because it allowed me to see how my son did with one curriculum before getting the next one (so I knew better what to look for), and also gradually adding more subjects made it easier for me so I wasn’t learning how to teach everything at once.
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