Special Needs – Pollywog's Place Blog

Our 2026-2027 Homeschool Curriculum, Schedule Plans, Resource Links, and Daily Routine – Tons of FREE resources! UPDATED

Published on May 19, 2026May 21, 2026 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place BlogLeave a comment

It’s that time of year again for us… time to get the next school year planned out. We technically finished up our 2025-2026 school year before Easter but I’ve been busy with the garden and such so I am just now getting around to making our new schedule.

It is always SO TEMPTING to take a few months off to just focus on this house but I know from past experience that this doesn’t go well and that it takes FOREVER to get a couple of the kids back into the school routine. You can read more about last year’s curriculum and routines HERE.

Having a little extra wiggle room in our schedule means that we can take off more time around the holidays and I can take a week off for new grandbabies too! We also love taking the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas to just reflect on the reason for the season and it gives us time to do fun things with the family too.

A couple of years ago we switched to more of a Charlotte Mason-style approach and it was GREAT for the most part. We still have a couple of kids who just hate anything to do with math so that’s been a little challenging but we’re making progress. We’ve also really enjoyed using some of the FREE courses with Under the Home Homeschool, even though some of the YouTube links no longer work. They have a lot of great lessons though!

I will also be pulling some lessons from the Old Fashioned Education site. They have a TON of great resources and FREE printable lesson plans for every grade! You can also check out the Plain and Not So Plain Website for FREE resources and complete lesson plans!

I had a rainy day to gather my thoughts for the new year and I put that to good use. Last year, I also purchased a Montessori Curriculum for Shyanne so we will continue to use that with her, while including her in some of our other lessons too. Shyanne has LOVES being a part of our school routine and she has already completed the Easy Peasy All-in-One Preschool program. She’s also been loving the printable packets from Living With Eve.

Shyanne’s journey has been miraculous and to see her doing so many things that we were told she’d never do has been such a blessing in so many ways!

FREE Homeschool Planning Scratchpad

Continue reading →

New Garden Design and Product Links

Published on February 4, 2026May 27, 2026 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog6 Comments

This weather has been wreaking havoc across the country, and our area has not been spared. Florida has been seeing some historic lows, snow, and some areas south of us have even been experiencing colder temps than we’ve had here at our home… CRAZY!!! The winds have also been pretty rough and have caused a bit of damage.

If you are looking for links to the garden products… go to the bottom of the post!

Then the groundhog said that there’ll be six more weeks of winter??? Well, we took care of that groundhog… just kidding, but we did have a good meal to celebrate Groundhog Day.

Continue reading →

Special Needs Resources: Cerebral Palsy Toolkit

Published on October 23, 2025October 9, 2025 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place BlogLeave a comment

Recently, I came across a glitch on the blog that had caused the requests put through on my ‘Contact’ form to not be delivered to my email anymore. I found several questions and requests. I have made a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ page to hopefully answer some of those. One of the requests was to post this special resource.

Finding out that you are expecting can be one of the most exciting times of your life, but it can also be very scary. We know from experience that things can be downright terrifying, especially when faced with the knowledge that your child may have special needs.

Our youngest daughter, Shyanne, was born with multiple diagnoses and health conditions. Before she was even born, the odds were stacked against her. The doctors never expected us to make it through the pregnancy, and things got very scary towards the end when both of our lives were at risk.

It felt like someone had taken our life and made a HUGE jigsaw puzzle out of it, then added some extra pieces in there that had to fit. Every time we thought we were making progress, someone would come along and mix it all up again or ‘find’ a couple more pieces that needed to go in. Her story was complicated, and no one knew what the big picture would even look like… but God did!

He helped us through that very emotional time, and even though we couldn’t figure out how we were going to make it all work, HE gave us a sense of peace. We had to hand it over to HIM and HE put the pieces in place… one at a time, to create a BEAUTIFUL masterpiece that we could have never imagined.

HE made a way when we couldn’t see one, and we have witnessed miracle after miracle in our daily lives… That is why we created her blog:

Sweet Shyanne: The little girl who could

Continue reading →

2025-2026 Homeschool Curriculum: Montessori Integration

Published on August 28, 2025August 28, 2025 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog2 Comments

I know I posted our 2025-2026 Curriculum and plans earlier but I’ve recently gotten a Montessori program for our youngest, Shyanne, who has special needs. She really seems to thrive with this approach and we all really LOVE it. We still love our CHARLOTTE MASON and this seems to fit in well with it.

Our 2025-2026 Homeschool Curriculum, Schedule Plans, Resource Links, and Daily Routine – Tons of FREE resources!

Continue reading →

It’s starting to feel like home…

Published on July 29, 2025July 29, 2025 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog1 Comment

The past couple of months have been so stressful. It started as a long-awaited master bathroom remodel that had to be put on hold due to an unexpected emergency with a family member. This emergency meant that we needed to focus on other areas of the house… things that we had planned to do in the future- after the bathroom.

Another project took over so that we could create another room in the house and it is finally finished. There are some touchups to complete and I know there will be some furniture changes in the future but it is finished for now… at least until after the upcoming baby shower.

I’ve been wanting to put a wall up between the breakfast area and the den for long time. I created a wall and separated the area in so many ways over the past few years that I felt confident that a wall would be beneficial. You can see some of the many ways that this space has changed HERE.