Step Three: Choose a schooling style

As the homeschooling movement has grown and expanded, certain approaches to teaching have evolved. Most families do not stick to just one style, but mingle two or three to fit their personalities, family habits, children’s learning styles and preferences. The following are the most popular homeschooling styles:

 

·        Charlotte Mason: Charlotte Mason is known as the founder of the homeschooling movement. She valued children as life-long learners. She wrote a six-volume set on homeschooling. The Charlotte Mason approach covers all core subjects with heavy emphasis on classical books, experiences in nature, fine art, and “living books.” Living books are high quality books, often biographies and classics. Mason also stressed telling back the story, or narration. There is an emphasis put on good character and habits. In the early years, formal education is only about an hour a day with other time spent in nature discovering and with parents taking advantage of every teachable moment during the day. There is no curriculum to buy, the living books may be checked out of the library. The parent may supplement with other subject curriculums.

·        Classical Homeschooling: Those advocating the classical approach to teaching believe the brain develops in three main stages together called the trivium: grammar, logic and rhetoric. During the grammar stage, from birth to twelve years, the child is taught through reading, writing, listening and observation. The emphasis during this time is on the fundamentals, facts and rote learning. The second stage of learning, logic, is from middle school through high school. During this stage the child is thinking more critically and asks “why?” At this point the child is given all he needs to seek truth for himself. The last stage of development, the rhetoric stage, is during high school and early adulthood. It is in this stage that the older child begins to express his learning in an influential way. Also, this young adult begins to test the unknown. There are many books offered as curriculum for the classical approach.

·        Un-Schooling Approach: This approach to homeschooling focuses on the child’s interests and natural, life-learning. There is not a structured plan, schedule or curriculum, but more of a live and learn attitude. Children are encouraged to delve into their interests, develop their gifts and gain knowledge “as they go.” There is no specific curriculum to buy for this approach.

·        Unit Study Approach: The unit study approach is also called the thematic approach or integrated studies. Students study a topic as a whole, incorporating all avenues of study around one subject. This is a more hands-on approach than most of the others and the child gets to “live” the subject for a while, finding out as much as he can about it. This approach works well for those teaching several different levels.

·        Eclectic Approach: Eclectic homeschoolers use a variety of curricula and resources for what seems needed at the moment. They rarely buy a curriculum and use it exactly as is, but tweak it to fit their own needs. They are known to “build their own curriculum.”

·        Montessori Approach: Montessori teachers use three laws of nature to guide their instruction: Observation, individual liberty and preparation of the environment. The goal is to give the child individual freedom in a controlled environment.

This approach may be a bit more difficult and more costly than some of the others.

·        Moore-Formula Approach: The Moore approach is named after Dr. Raymond and Dorothy Moore. They created their own system of education through years of study. They recommend no formal education until the age of ten and then only at the child’s pace. The Moores include study, work and service as important aspects of their educational theory. The Moore curriculum is considered to be low-stress and low-cost for the parent.

·        School-At-Home Approach: This is also called the traditional approach because it incorporates textbooks and traditional grading system. Often, new homeschoolers use this approach in the beginning because they feel most familiar with this method of schooling.

·        Pre-designed, Level-oriented Curricula: There are many curricula available to order according to grade level. Some of these include: Abeka, Sonlight, Bob Jones, Calvert, Ace, Alpha-Omega.