Meeting your child's individual needs
Home schooling parents should design a child’s educational program to meet the individual interests, needs and requirements of the child. Read more about different ways a parent can meet a child's needs in their educational program
Children have varied learning needs. They learn and progress at different rates and in different ways. Some children’s learning needs may be met through a range of learning experiences, an interest-based focus or through how and when learning experiences are delivered.
Some children may have more specific needs which may be represented below.
Examples of individual support
Parents have a range of options to support their child's learning. These include:
- Remediation - revisiting content and outcomes to support and develop understanding
- Cross-stage programming - allowing for the program to reflect the child’s progress and strengths in individual key learning areas
- Developmental suitability - providing the child with learning opportunities in line with their developmental age or stage.
Parents can cater for the diverse learning needs of their child in their educational program.
Examples of some more specific learning needs that a child might have include:
- children with disability*
- gifted and/or talented children
- children with English as an additional language or dialect.
*Additional detail is provided about educational programs for children with disability.
For more information about catering to the diverse learning needs of children, see Diversity of learners on the NSW Curriculum website.
Educational programs for children with disability
Some children with disability may require adjustments and supports as they develop understanding. Adjustments are actions taken that enable a child with disability to access syllabus outcomes and content on the same basis as their peers. The types of adjustments will vary according to the needs of the individual child.
Adjustments may include but are not limited to:
- the use of assistive technology
- captions on videos
- visual and verbal prompts
- selecting reading material with simplified text.
Complementary content
The complementary content supports parents when focusing on the ability of their child where they may not be able to:
- use oral language
- hold a handwriting implement
- access all the fundamental movement skills.
Complementary content is found in the:
- English syllabus through Oral language and Handwriting
- PDHPE syllabus through Movement skill and physical activity.
Incorporating therapies into an educational program
Parents often engage a range of therapies to support a child with disability. Therapies may be integrated into an educational program and some examples of how this can be done are provided below.
- Subject: PDHPE
- Stage: 4/5: Life Skills outcomes and content
- A parent may include a checklist of content points targeted in therapy sessions.
| Outcome code | Syllabus outcome |
|---|---|
| PHLS-MSS-01 | Recognises and uses movement skills or sequences in physical activity. |
| PHLS-MSS-02 | Identifies and applies strategies to solve movement challenges. |
| PHLS-SMI-01 | Identifies and demonstrates self-management skills or strategies. |
| PHLS-SMI-02 | Identifies and demonstrates interpersonal skills to manage complex situations. |
| Focus Area: Movement skills and strategies | Learning experience | Date/s |
|---|---|---|
| Develop and use a range of fundamental movement skills in a range of activities | Use assistive devices to:
| March April |
| Develop and use fine motor skills through participation in a range of activities |
| May |
| Develop and use gross motor skills in a range of activities |
| July |
- Subject / Stage: English Early Stage 1
- Focus Area: Phonic knowledge
- Content : Single letter graphemes
A parent may include a checklist of sounds targeted in speech pathology sessions.
| Grapheme(s) | Phoneme(s) | Words covered in Speech pathology appointments | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| s | /s/ – sat | at, sat, pat, tap(s) | March ‘23 |
| a | /a/ – at | at, sat, pat, tap(s) | March ‘23 |
| t | /t/ – tap | at, sat, pat, tap(s) | March ‘23 |
| p | /p/ – pat | at, sat, pat, tap(s) | March ‘23 |
| i | /i/ – it | it, is, sit, pit, tip, sip | March ‘23 |
Adapted from Curriculum NSW: ES1 phonic knowledge suggested instructional sequences.
Curriculum options and adjustments for children with disability
Home schooling parents may include a range of curriculum options and adjustments to support a child with disability.
Children with disability can access outcomes and content from Years K–10 syllabuses in a range of ways.
When selecting syllabus elements such as outcomes and content for a child’s educational program, a parent may consider including:
- syllabus outcomes and content from their age-appropriate stage with adjustments to teaching and/or learning activities, or
- selected syllabus outcomes and content from their age-appropriate stage, relevant to their learning needs, or
- syllabus outcomes from an earlier stage, using age-appropriate content. Access content points have been developed for children who are working towards the Early Stage 1 outcomes, or
- selected Years 7–10 Life Skills outcomes and content from one or more syllabuses for children in Stages 4 and 5.
Access content points
Access content points have been developed to support children with significant intellectual disability who are working towards the Early Stage 1 outcomes. These children may communicate using verbal and/or nonverbal forms.
Each of the Early Stage 1 outcomes includes Access content points which provide extra support for children with significant intellectual disability to work towards these outcomes. Parents may use the Access content points on their own or in combination with the regular content for each outcome.
More information and support for parents can be found in Access content points: a reference (DOCX 184.14KB).
Life Skills eligibility
The 7–10 Life Skills outcomes and content may be the most appropriate option for some children with significant intellectual disability.
Before deciding to access Life Skills, consider other ways of helping your child engage with regular course outcomes. This may include a range of adjustments to teaching and/or assessment activities.
If adjustments cannot provide your child with sufficient access to some or all outcomes in Stages 4–6, consider Life Skills. It might be appropriate to use Life Skills outcomes and content in one or more courses.
Courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content are not an appropriate curriculum option for students performing below their cohort who could be helped with appropriate adjustments and support.