by Shari McMinn
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork (Psalm 19:1 ESV).
When my son, who is the eldest of my nine homeschooled children, was brought home from public school to begin our home-education journey at the age of 7, he was anxious and depressed, likely suffering from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Classroom learning was a struggle for him. He wanted to be outside building treehouses, working in his garden, or raising his pet rabbits. He decidedly did NOT want to be sitting inside all day struggling with reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic.
Our son already had a high level of vocabulary to carry on interesting conversations with much older students and adults, and he could calculate money transactions and material take-off dimensions in his head. Using his hands was his learning-retention methodology, and he wanted to practice all kinds of skills in our garage and expansive backyard. Therefore, that is what his first year of homeschooling for “second grade” entailed.
Learning Delays Do Not Equate to Intelligence Level
When we had that son tested a year later, he was “off the charts” on the Woodcock-Johnson assessment, and we never looked back. His younger brother was next to join our homeschool journey, and he needed to be full-body active outside even more than his older brother! Both of these boys often fell asleep in the afternoons; I sometimes found them napping in backyard garden soil or even on our concrete front sidewalk. They stayed up late to stargaze and constantly looked at the sky each day for the weather patterns that would bring their favorite moisture: snow!
They also enjoyed the rain because they loved to play in the mud, covering themselves from head to toe. Thankfully, we had a fenced backyard in the city so they could strip down and hose off before they came racing in the back door. Once inside, they immediately began to play with Legos and build model architectural and other engineering feats with recycled materials in our front room. These projects often overflowed down the hall into their bedroom, which housed a variety of science experiments (can you say reptiles in glass terrariums?)!
Now adults, these two sons are adept at their various entrepreneurial pursuits. They both still enjoy the outdoors and working with their hands more than sitting at their respective desks, writing reports, or conducting tele-meetings on their mega-memory byte computers! If they were young students today, both would likely be diagnosed with ADHD, possibly Autism Spectrum Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in this current age of “labels.” I am thankful the Lord led us to homeschool these highly intelligent boys, avoiding medications for controlling their over-the-top, active behavior.
“Out-of-the-Book” Opportunities Maintain Learning Interest
We learned some important things early on regarding homeschooling those two, and other children who would later join our family that also learned best with their hands and active bodies. It was important to “work with their wiggle” — have our students be physically active throughout the day so they could focus on short spurts of seat work in between.
A daily routine consisting of experiences like these will, hopefully, allow your unique learner(s) to thrive:
Daily, start with a family morning walk as you discuss God’s created world all around your residence.- While you prepare breakfast, children can take turns caring for family pets before they eat. Larger animals, such as cats or dogs, can be inside and outside (as well as livestock, if you homestead); smaller pets can be inside (gerbils or lizards) or outside (turtles, toads, and/or rabbits).
- Eat a nutritious breakfast with your children after they have tended to the pets.
- Enjoy a family Bible study after breakfast, with songs about God’s created world that children can hand sign and move to.
- Allow for trampoline or calisthenics (outside if possible; inside if inclement weather) before book work begins.
- Teach children one-on-one for short periods of 15-30 minutes for reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic in the morning, when brains are functioning at their best.
- Schedule instrument practice in between the three R’s: conga drums, castanets, and tambourines are small and affordable to start with.
- Encourage independent fine arts, along with morning music and 3 R’s.
- Enjoy a lunch break that your student(s) help prepare, serve, and clean up while you supervise.
- After lunch, enjoy outdoor recreational sports together, such as power walking/running, biking, skateboarding, or scooters.
- Schedule afternoon hands-on group learning for art, civics, history, and science; go outside when possible.
- Allow for creative messes always! Provide supplies and teach clean-up skills, with appropriate work-area boundaries.
- Allow for lots of free time most afternoons instead of the temptation to drive to sports practice or other enrichment activities every day.
- Bored kids are creative kids: give yourself a homeschool teaching/parenting break several hours after group learning every afternoon so your kids learn to entertain themselves outside or inside, away from you.
Provide supplies and tools; save boxes and egg cartons for their use in creative play; teach them how to use different found items, but don’t orchestrate what they do with them.- Fix dinner by yourself (for some quiet time if you enjoy cooking) or have each of your family members help prep, serve, and clean up.
- Read quality family literature aloud after dinner while all family members play quietly, listening.
- Take another walk under the stars to observe the awesome wonder of the celestial night sky.
- Pray and tuck each child into bed no matter how old they are.
- Hit the hay yourself to enjoy the night’s rest for another day to come of the same routine.
- On the weekend, have designated indoor and outdoor home-maintenance chores for your children.
- On Sunday, enjoy attending church as a family, then relax together outside whenever possible.
- Take frequent field trips to outdoor parks, historic sites, and geographic feature areas to celebrate, give thanks for, and praise God for His incredible Creation while you expend energy.
- At least monthly, serve “the least of these” as a family to decrease self-focus and increase focus on helping others in need.
Discipleship With the End in Mind: Raising God-honoring Adults
As I write this, I am looking forward to a weekend trip with most of my adult children and nearly all of my grandchildren. I don’t have to do anything except show up, because now they orchestrate the activities, plan the meals, and pay the expenses! They not only honor God, but they honor me as their Mom (their Dad is in Heaven). Not only are my children successful adults, but they are also compassionate, grateful, and kind human beings, parenting my grandchildren well, and remain in awe of their Creator and His Creation. Praise Him!
One day, I hope the Lord blesses you with the same reward for persevering through the hardest days while you homeschool and disciple your uniquely made children. God Almighty has gifted them to you and your family for His purposes and glory. He will equip and strengthen you to disciple your children to become God-honoring adults.
Resources to Begin Your Homeschool Year Well
- Invest in yourself as a home educator: read our CHEC Homeschool Guidebook for Colorado. Chapter 8, “Different Learners,” is jam-packed with great ideas to help your delayed, disabled, struggling, or highly gifted student(s) begin to flourish this homeschool year. Purchase your copy today for biblical, tried-and-true, wise homeschool discipleship guidance!
- Locate a homeschool group near you for enrichment and friendship. CHEC’s Homeschool Group Directory lists vetted, Christian-based homeschool groups, co-ops, and enrichment programs found across the state. Search the interactive map!
- Plan a FREE or low-cost field trip weekly as a family — and monthly with a church or homeschool group. You will find fun, engaging suggestions here: CHEC Community & Events Calendar.
- Refresh yourself with some of my best homeschool mom friends: Brandee, Jessie, and Megan host the Generations’ Faithful and Fruitful podcast.
- Save the dates! October 19-22, 2026, will be our next online Homeschool Teaching Summit. Several sessions on Thursday, October 22, are planned for Unique Learner homeschoolers:
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- Dr. Kathy Koch, Celebrate Kids: 8 Great Smarts: Tailoring to Your Children’s Learning Abilities
- Rachael Carman, Apologia: What About “That” Child? Reaching the Heart Behind the Behavior
- Nathan Hamilton, Kids Enjoying Jesus: Hyperactive Help! Teaching the Child Who Can’t Sit Still – The Power of Play
- Dr. Amy Moore, LearningRx: When Learning Is Hard: Real Help for the Struggling Learner
- Hal & Melanie Young, Raising Arrows: Homeschooling Boys and Girls – Teaching to How God Made Them
Finally, if you did not participate in our Unique Learners Poll this spring, you can do so now at that link. So that CHEC can continue to meet the needs of our constituents, we will offer this poll as an ongoing assessment of Unique Learner needs in the homeschool community in Colorado and beyond.
My next Unique Learner blog, “Strong Parents, Resilient Kids — Putting on the Full Armor of God,” will be posted on October 14, 2026 (the second Wednesday).
Shari McMinn, your trusted homeschooling friend
P.S. If you have a topic I should write about, please email me with your suggestion(s). This blog is for you!
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