Case Studies

CASE STUDIES

Below is a selection of case studies of children I have home educated in the past few years with descriptions of their various academic and social emotional needs and how I assisted them.

I aim to uncover the best ways to help individual children learn so that they grow in confidence, academic ability and enjoy themselves throughout the process.

*Names have been changed

AhSan

Ahsan was in year five at an independent school when he began having seizures related to severe anxiety. Although incredibly bright and academically able, Ahsan was so worried and stressed in school he could not access the curriculum. He was offered a place at an American International School with a strong emphasis on pastoral care for the following academic year. In the interim, I home educated Ahsan in order to restore his confidence as well as to prepare him for a different type of school environment to what he was used to. I contacted the new school to obtain a list of texts that his peers were currently reading so that we could study the same ones.

Dariush

Dariush should have been in reception, but was repeating his nursery year. He had been asked to leave two different independent nurseries as his behaviour was deteriorating, despite one to one support, in a classroom environment. I taught the EYFS curriculum to Dariush at home with the collaboration of another teacher, speech and language therapist and behavioural therapist. I focused a lot on emotional regulation, gross and fine motor skills and early literacy and numeracy. Dariush enjoyed going for walks and taking pictures of various objects to create our letters and sounds books. Dariush has since been diagnosed with autism and possibly ADHD and transitioned to a specialist independent school with one to one support.

Becky

Becky is 12 years old with autism, ADHD, SPD and dyslexia. She had been at a specialist dyslexia school for the past few years, but was not accessing the curriculum due to lack of concentration and therefore not progressing. I collaborated with another teacher to support Becky in, maths, science and English, including phonological awareness. Becky enjoyed my multisensory methods and the scaffolding I provided with writing. She enthusiastically embraced the science curriculum and is now able to complete many tasks independently. After one year of homeschooling, Becky has caught up academically and has just joined a specialist autism school.

Bella

Bella has dyslexia, sensory processing disorder and possibly an undiagnosed social communication disorder. I homeschooled her in humanities and history when she was in year five. She was not progressing in her independent school and her parents felt that a year of homeschooling would help. Bella loved the texts we read together and could not get enough of writer’s workshop. She worked really hard and progressed by leaps and bounds and transitioned into a different independent school with a strong SEND department for year six. Bella’s parents were torn about sending her to school as Bella had done so well at home, but we (the other tutors and myself) all agreed that Bella would benefit from and enjoy a school environment.

SAM

Sam has severe ADHD and social communication disorder. I homeschooled him in maths and science from ages thirteen to fifteen. He has a lot of emotional and behavioural issues and has been one of the most challenging, yet loveliest children I have worked with. We shifted from maths and science to cooking and culture as this was something Sam was interested in. We studied a festival from a different culture, religion or country each week and made a traditional meal. Sam continues to be home-schooled by GCSE level teachers as well as attending a vocational college part time.

Sophie

Sophie started out briefly as a homeschooled student when she was nine years old, but then I joined her in her (small independent) school in order to support her in and out of the classroom. She is dyslexic with dyscalculia and was several years behind in maths. Sophie’s teachers were pleased with her progress and saw a massive boost in her confidence. I supported Sophie in school for two terms and she transitioned to an independent international school with a large SEND department the following September and is thriving.

Julian

Julian was half way through year six at an independent school when he left due to depression, bullying and poor academic performance (despite being incredibly intelligent) as a result of being on the autism spectrum. I homeschooled him in science, for two terms, where we did many hands on experiments which Julian really enjoyed. We took plenty of “brain breaks” to help with regulation such as playing catch while riding bikes and jumping over lightsabers. Julian transitioned to an independent secondary school and continues to be happy and successful.

Mason

At the time of tuition, Mason was seven years old and recently diagnosed with sensory processing disorder and was asked to leave his independent school due to behavioural issues. I advised the family about a reputable, local occupational therapist as well as a child and educational psychologist. Mason learnt better when he could make choices about his own learning and I would give him clear options. We took plenty of exercise breaks and also went on several outings. Mason would happily read signs and descriptions at a museum, but wasn't always keen to read his guided reading book so fortunately we were able to relocate his learning to various sights across London! We took pictures on our trips and turned them into books. Routine also worked well for him so we had a morning meeting every day, filled in the calendar measured, recorded and graphed the temperature and weather each day and discussed our "schedule of the day". Mason and his family have since returned to the United States where he transitioned into a public (state) primary school.

Abe

At the time of tuition, Abe was six years old with global developmental delays. I home-schooled him as his family had recently relocated to London and he did not yet have a place in school. I focused on early literacy and numeracy skills, and everything had to be done in a fun multi-sensory way. He practised identifying letters on a textured foam alphabet floor mat where he could take the letters in an out like a puzzle. I placed rhyming picture cards at the ends of a tunnel and he crawled through to find the matches. Due to issues with sensory integration, he found using the Montessori tracing letters uncomfortable to touch, so he practiced letter writing in fine salt. We went into the garden to count by jumping on the trampoline. I gave him plenty of short breaks so he could re-regulate by playing with toys or run around the garden in order to refocus for the next activity. Abe has transitioned to a state primary school where he has and EHCP with one to one support.

Chloe

Chloe is now 14 years old and I was her home-school teacher from when she was three until eleven. When she was in preschool we played games to develop early literacy skills such as phonological awareness, onset-rime awareness, syllabic awareness and the alphabetic principle and letter-sound knowledge. For numeracy, I used the Montessori manipulatives (spindles, counting beads, tiles) to teach number sense, counting and adding. When Chloe was four I started using a very hands on American maths scheme that emphasises learning through daily calendar activities such as monitoring the weather, counting the days of school and of course tracking the date. From the age of five, Chloe began using an American homeschool curriculum for English, history and science. We used a variety of different maths books and programmes over the years. Chloe is bright and motivated and enjoys being home-schooled. She has since joined the West End cast of School of Rock and is home-schooled with GCSE level tutors online in order to work around her rehearsal and performance schedule.