Homeschooling is full of trial and error—but when you’re teaching neurodivergent kids, that trial-and-error phase can feel like it never ends.
As a neurodivergent homeschooling parent myself (hello, ADHD brain!) raising kids who are also ND, I know how exhausting it can be to constantly adjust, adapt, and troubleshoot your homeschool approach.
What finally made the biggest difference for us?
Hands-on learning. Play-based strategies. And ditching the pressure to “do school at home.”
Here are a few of my favorite low-stress, high-impact homeschool hacks that have actually worked for our family:
1. Replace Worksheets with Projects
Instead of fighting through boring worksheet pages, we do open-ended projects—like STEM challenges, sensory bins, or themed crafts.
They’re more engaging and still cover all kinds of academic skills (bonus: less complaining!).
2. Keep It Multi-Sensory
My kids learn best when their senses are involved.
We use all kinds of homemade and store-bought materials to keep learning fresh.
- Manipulatives for math facts – unifix cubes, base 10 blocks, mini erasers, tiny resin ducks during Easter, even snacks like Lucky Charms marshmallows for St. Patrick’s Day etc.
- Food-based science experiments to bring lessons to life.
- Fun papers & drawing utensils for spelling – alphabet stamps or magnets, stickers, Banangram tiles, rainbow scratch paper and colorful dry erase markers.
There are lots of curriculum you can buy that include multi sensory components in lessons, like Logic of English, Math with Confidence, and Mystery Science.
3. Let Interests Lead
When I started leaning into child-led learning, everything changed.
Example – if your kid is obsessed with space, we turn it into a unit study: reading books, building models, writing stories, and doing science activities around that topic. Suddenly, learning isn’t a battle—it’s exciting.
My son loves creating littles booklets so for Christmas I got him his own comb binding machine from Amazon. He immediately made a Minecraft themed activity booklet with a directed drawing, math equations, a maze etc. He wrote the directions by hand for each page using Minecraft-style font and eagerly showed his little brother how to use it. This activity covers writing, sentence structure, spelling, math, technology, and communication skills and he didn’t even realize he was learning!
4. Structure the Day, Not the Minute
Rigid schedules don’t work for us.
Instead, we use routines and visual cues to keep the day flowing, but leave room for flexibility.
I keep a few “go-to” hands-on activities prepped and ready for when focus is low or transitions are tricky.
5. Find Community (That Gets It)
It’s easy to feel isolated as a homeschool parent—especially when your family’s needs look different from the norm.
That’s exactly why I created The Hands-On Homeschool Hub, a Facebook group where we share ideas, swap tips, and encourage each other in this creative, messy, beautiful style of homeschooling.
Want to Join Us?
Whether you’re looking for fresh idea, want to join a fun hands-on learning challenge (with prizes!), or just need to know you’re not the only one skipping worksheets- you’re welcome here!
The Hands-On Homeschool Hub is a free Facebook group I created for families who love playful, creative, sensory-rich homeschool learning.
We’d love to see what you’re working on and share what’s working for us, too!
Click here to join us!
