9 Homeschool Categories to Explore
If you have decided to teach your own children, or even if you have been homeschooling for a while, chances are you wonder what method of home education will work best for your situation.
A quick online search for “the best way to homeschool” will return tens of thousands of results and most likely leave you with more questions than answers.
This post will provide you with several categories of teaching types and will go on to describe the methods within each. Plus, we have included pros and cons in addition to resources to aid your research.
What Is the Best Way to Homeschool?
Not all children learn the same, and as a homeschooler you have the freedom to choose the best from each style of home education available. It pays to know the basics of each so that you can feel confident in tailoring a personalized educational experience for them.
But don’t worry if you don’t feel comfortable deciding on one single method, or if your current method doesn’t feel right. Your homeschooling adventure will likely change over time, and you have the freedom to change your mind along with it.
The Nine General Categories of Home Education
1. Traditional, or School-At-Home
What Is School-At-Home?
The school-at-home approach can feel familiar to parents who went through public or private schools for their own education. This method can take some of the stress out of the transition into home education. If you are just making the decision to homeschool, this method may be the easiest or most logical path to follow since it mimics a typical classroom experience.
An average day using the school-at-home method goes through a structured format and covers subjects in a linear fashion. You would usually follow a teacher guide, use textbooks, workbooks for instruction, and use testing to monitor how your child is understanding the material.
What Do I Need for School-At-Home?
Boxed or packaged curriculum is available for school-at-home. These packages include subjects gathered under a single grade level and come with textbooks, workbooks, teacher guides, and lesson plans.
With all the guesswork taken out of planning the school year, you can simply follow the structured information throughout the year and administer and grade included exams yourself. Sometimes the curriculum even includes the option to have exams graded by a third party.
Because so many parents wish to have a familiar, all-inclusive package for home learning, the selection of prepackaged curriculum is large. You will have many options to choose from, and can find the program that is an ideal fit for your child.
How Will They Learn?
With this type of curriculum, you are given a schedule and structured lesson plans to follow. The included teacher guides leave little guesswork associated with how the grade level is to be presented. You are able to set up your child’s learning area like a miniature classroom and bring the traditional school experience right into your home.
If you are concerned with your child keeping up with their public or private school peers, this traditional method can be reassuring. The classes and curriculum are usually designed around national and local standard achievements. Your child’s progress can be clearly measured and retained for creating the transcripts needed for transitioning into higher education.
This style of education works well if your child is only home for a short while due to an extended illness, rehabilitation from an injury, or if you are experiencing an interruption in your life such as major relocation. If home learning is a temporary situation, you can relax knowing your child is on target to resume their education in a public or private school setting as the situation allows.
Are there Negatives to School-At-Home?
There is very little flexibility with the prepackaged curriculum, as all of the subjects are at the same grade level. If your child is ahead in or is struggling with a subject, this can cause some frustration. You are either obliged to purchase additional years of curriculum for troublesome subjects, or you risk having to spend money for tutors.
Since you are purchasing an entire year of materials, supplies, support and crafted plans, school-at-home packages can be pricey.
You are not allowed to pick and choose from books, teacher guides or supplemental documents. And often information from one year ties into the next, so that your child is not up to speed with certain concepts if you begin your home education in a later grade.
The sheer volume of information available in a single year’s curriculum can be daunting. There is often more work on the part of the parent to prepare for lessons and keep to a strict schedule in order to cover all the material in the allotted timeframe.
The time it takes to implement a traditional school education within a homeschool structure may be prohibitive. The upside is that prepackaged curriculum usually provides a strong support system for frazzled parents.
Reasons to Consider School-At-Home
• You prefer your materials to be created by experts in the field.
• You are concerned with keeping up with national and local standards.
• You plan to send your child to a public or private school for high school.
• You are comfortable and familiar with the traditional style of education.
• You only need to homeschool for a short while due to life circumstances.
• You want clear instructions about what to teach and how and when to teach it.
• You don’t feel like starting from scratch or searching around for books and materials.
• Your child needs to transition slowly from public or private school into a home learning environment.
Where Can I Find More Information About School-At-Home?
Traditional Curriculum resources (links to vendors)
Books About Traditional or School-At-Home (links to books)
2. Hybrid, Co-Op or Online Education
What Is Hybrid Education?
Blending at-home teaching with a more traditional school setting is called hybrid homeschooling. Your child would spend part of their school day or week at home, learning from you, and the remainder of the day or week participating in classroom-style learning at a school.
A similar style of blended education incorporates a cooperative setting where a group of homeschooling parents joins their teaching strengths to share in the education of the group’s children. This can offer a ready-made support system for homeschoolers just starting out.
Another option that combines home and distance learning is online schooling. An education management organization oversees this alternative.
The online option can be free for parents, and offers a traditional education in the home, blending the structure of local education with the ability of the parent to oversee their child’s learning progress in person. Online education through private schools is also available, but can be rather expensive.
What Do I Need for Hybrid Education?
Hybrid and online education requires that you have an internet connection for online instruction. Choosing between free public school or paid private school education would determine the cost to you for tuition. Physical materials may or may not be supplied, so you would need to buy textbooks or other learning aids if they are not provided. If you plan for your child to attend some classes away from home, they would need transportation to the location.
How Will They Learn?
Through textbooks and workbooks, your child would follow along with the school calendar, learning along with the other students enrolled in the same program. For instruction at home, you would use materials provided or suggested by the school. Then your child would learn from instructors on the days they are in class or at a co-op.
For totally online learning, your child would watch streaming or recorded classes and lectures and use physical textbooks and workbooks. The subjects are presented by grade level and often follow along with the local schools, either public or private, depending on your choice. Homework and tests are assigned and graded online by accredited instructors trained to teach online.
Are There Negatives to Hybrid Education?
Home education that is connected to an offsite school does not always have the flexibility needed for students. Although most systems provide individual learning plans for each student, you would need to follow the schedule to cover all of the material during the school year.
If you are not satisfied with the textbooks, materials or instruction, you often do not have any alternative choices within the hybrid or online schooling methods. Virtual learning may not be a good fit for your student’s learning style.
Having to transport your child to an offsite location involves schedules, traffic, and possible inclement weather issues.
Reasons to Consider Hybrid, Co-op or Online Education
• Your child can often transition to college easier using this method.
• You like the idea of following the local school calendar and curriculum.
• Your child thrives with the combination of in home and offsite learning.
• You are more comfortable having your materials follow local standards.
• You enjoy having days off where your child is learning from someone else.
• You want to homeschool, but also want a strong support system for your efforts.
• You like the idea of being able to school anywhere there is an internet connection.
• You want your child to stay up to date and have regular interaction with their local peers.
Where Can I Find More Information About Hybrid and Online Education?
Hybrid and Online Education Resources (links to vendors)
Books about Hybrid and Online education (links to books)
3. Classical or Leadership Education
What Is Classical Education?
Classical education has ancient roots. The method is based on the three stages of learning called the Trivium, segmented into three parts; Grammar, Logic (or Dialectic) and Rhetoric. These phases of learning closely follow the steps our brains go through to learn any new information.
As the ancients intended, a classical education teaches these three fundamental phases for every subject. Simplified as language, critical thought, and communication, these skills can be practiced by your child throughout their educational journey.
Some explanations of classical education also recommend dividing your child’s education into three sections of four years each, and teaching subjects in a chronological manner.
The term leadership education is used because the skills learned through this method are often applied in leadership positions. This method was followed by renowned thinkers and great minds through the ages. A specific version of this style is called A Thomas Jefferson Education and focuses on training in morals, values, love of learning and working with mentors.
What Do I Need for Classical Education?
The approach of classical education is founded in using Great Books, or those books deemed classics or masterpieces. These books are authored by the great minds of history and have stood the test of time. By memorizing sections of great works, then copying them down and eventually rewriting them in their own words, your child can incorporate classical skills every day. You may also want to include Latin or Greek in your education plan.
There are numerous guides and lesson plan books available, or you can create your own template for a personalized version. Once you learn how to implement a classical education, you can approach any subject through the three stages of learning.
How Will They Learn?
Using language, critical thinking skills and thoughtful communication, your child will be able to process new information through these three lenses of learning. You become more of a guide than an instructor by providing your student with a rich environment and opportunities to practice the classical skills.
To be sure your child is learning the material presented, you can set milestones and evaluate their progress as they go from elementary through middle and high school subjects. If you follow a three-stage chronological repetition, information learned in the early years becomes the foundation for more advanced information as you cycle through the subjects again.
Some home educators who teach using classical education employ the Socratic method of using open ended questions to generate in-depth dialogs with their students.
Are There Negatives to Classical Education?
The classical education method focuses heavily on reading. For students with reading challenges such as dyslexia, this may pose a problem. Even for students who love to read, the push to keep up with a strict reading schedule can become burdensome and can interfere with learning through other ways.
While there is some flexibility with a classical education program, there are still rigid requirements to stay within the structure of the Trivium. Not everyone believes learning Latin and Greek is beneficial to the modern student.
It takes a lot of time to implement a classical education if you choose to follow the most popular structure of the method. Lesson plans, desk work and interactive skill practice can use up a lot of your school day without leaving much time for extracurricular activities.
Reasons to Consider Classical Education
Books on Classical education
What Is Whole Child Education?
The general view of this style of teaching is that children learn at their own pace and should be encouraged to interact with their world to gain insights instead of having someone tell them what to do, see or think. Also termed “natural learning” a whole-child style of education allows the child to learn at their own speed within a semi-structured environment.
Although Montessori, Waldorf and Reggio Emilia methods can often be found in preschools and early learning centers, these general principles can be carried into later grades. As a home educator, this method is ideal for a home setting, and can be utilized throughout your child’s education, even through high school.
There are differences between these whole child education philosophies, but each approach focuses on multi-age classrooms, which works well in a homeschool family with multiple children.
What Do I Need for Whole Child Education?
Whether you choose Montessori, Waldorf or Reggio Emilia, your homeschool classroom will need to be set up with areas that focus on learning. There are many manipulatives and learning materials created to enhance whole child educational settings.
Also encouraged is allowing your child to pursue interests as they please in order to deepen their understanding. This may be letting them cook something on their own, allowing them to have a garden plot, or giving them materials for interactive and imaginative play.
If you want to follow the methods precisely, you may have to take training classes to receive in depth information and become certified. However, this is not a strict requirement in order to use the principles at home.
How Will They Learn?
Montessori utilizes several learning areas, including Cultural, Language and Reading, Practical, Sensorial, Math, Music, and Art, each designed to encourage self-paced learning with items suitable for that area. Globes, brooms, wooden blocks, beads, letters and numbers plus drawing and craft supplies are made available as the child moves through each area.
Waldorf uses natural materials for imaginative play, and sets aside certain days for life skills learning such as gardening or baking. The focus with this method is play-based learning where your child would encounter new information through using imagination and creativity, all the way through high school.
Reggio Emilia also encourages self-paced learning through engaging with everyday objects, building on interests with activities designed around them, such as creating a garden to learn how plants grow.
All of these philosophies encourage you to act more as a facilitator than a teacher so that your child can discover new ideas and concepts on their own without formal lessons. More emphasis is placed on listening to what your child needs in order to learn, over telling the student what or how to learn.
Are There Negatives to Whole Child Education?
Not all children enjoy such freedom in their learning experience. If your child thrives on structure and schedule, a free-play setting may not suit them.
If you decide to send your child to public or private school after their early education, they may have trouble transitioning to a more structured environment.
All of these philosophies discourage the use of screens, including TV, computers and smart phones. If these technologies are a major part of your life, then setting them aside for a whole-child style of learning may prove difficult.
There is not always clear proof as to what your child has or has not learned. If you need to see test grades and knowledge assessments, it may not be easy to sit back and allow self-paced discovery.
If your child is not a self-starter or is not disciplined, you may find yourself doing more telling and instructing than this method encourages.
Reasons to Consider Whole Child Education
• You prefer active learning over quiet study.
• Your child is a self-starter and enjoys free play that has a purpose.
• You believe your children should have a voice in their own education.
• You are comfortable with being a facilitator in your child’s exploration.
• You do not need national standard testing to know your child is learning.
• Your child would not be opposed to learning without screens or technology.
• You want to encourage them to experience their world in a sensory rich setting.
Where Can I Find More Information?
Books on Whole-Child Education (links to books)
5. Multiple Intelligences, or Strength Learning
What Is Multiple Intelligences?
The Multiple Intelligences method of learning focuses on teaching to the strengths of the student rather than trying to overcome learning weaknesses. In order for instruction to be effective, the teacher should present the material in whatever way the student learns best.
This method works well in a homeschool setting, because you can see through experimenting how your child best learns and retains information. There are eight intelligences outlined in the method:
1. Verbal, or Linguistic (related to words and languages)
2. Logical, or Mathematical (related to numbers and abstract concepts)
3. Spatial (related to thinking in pictures or multiple dimensions)
4. Bodily, or Kinesthetic (related to moving the body and muscle memory)
5. Musical (related to music, rhythm or pitch)
6. Interpersonal (related to working with groups)
7. Intrapersonal (related to working alone)
8. Naturalistic (related to nature or the natural world)
What Do I Need for Multiple Intelligences?
By observing your child, you can determine which of these learning styles best fits them and can tailor your home education experience around their strengths. This will determine what kinds of materials you will need to enhance your teaching style.
If you have more than one child, you can use different approaches for the same subject, just by adjusting your method for their learning styles. For example, one child could create a list of facts for a lesson while another child composes a song to help memorize them.
How Will They Learn?
Learning about multiple intelligences will allow you to engage your child’s natural strengths to make their learning enjoyable. You can move through all the intelligences as you change subjects, from literature based history to hands-on science.
Knowing how your child learns can also give you the knowledge you need so that you know if you should play music in the background of your schoolroom, and if you ought to ever include other homeschoolers in a group project.
You can assess your child’s learning by using multiple intelligences in testing. By testing to their strengths, you can better understand what they have learned. Oral testing, model building or an original song can let you know how well your child has grasped the concepts you introduced.
Are There Negatives to Multiple Intelligences?
Knowing your child’s strongest learning style can help you teach them, but ignoring that strength or trying to utilize styles that aren’t a good fit can make home education stressful and tiring.
Just because your child has a passing interest in one style does not mean you should try to bolster that style. No child will learn the same with every style, and pushing to improve their weaknesses can cause burnout.
Sometimes your child’s learning style and your teaching style won’t be a good fit. If you prefer quiet reading and your child needs to be bouncing a ball while they recite poetry, you may run into friction.
Reasons to Consider Multiple Intelligences
What Are Unit Studies?
Teaching with unit studies involves focusing on one topic, and utilizing all school subjects to thoroughly explore the topic from all angles. This method works especially well for homeschools, because you can find your child’s interest and teach them reading, math, science and history, all while they are immersed in something that interests them.
Unit studies can be used exclusively for your home education experience, or can be incorporated within a different method for an occasional change of pace. The concept of themed learning can make home education fun.
What Do I Need for Unit Studies?
While you do not need any formal curriculum, there are several collections of unit study suggestions available on the market if you do not wish to create your own lesson plans. If you are willing to try to find all subjects in one topic, you can simply find out your child’s burning interests and begin researching that topic online, at the library, or right in your own home. The possibilities are endless.
How Will They Learn?
Because you are delving into a topic from a variety of directions, your child will learn the basic subjects through exploration. They will learn how history, science, math and language are all interconnected within the theme of the unit study. If they have subject areas in which they struggle or they simply do not like, the topic may excite them enough to include these subjects without a fuss.
An easy way for your child to learn through using a unit study is to create a notebook or a lapbook around the chosen topic. This way, all of their information will be in one place, ready to review or display.
Unit studies are perfect for homeschool families because they adapt themselves easily to many learning styles. In families with multiple children, the kids can learn as a group, and each child can bring in to the study their own special attributes.
There are no time limits on unit studies, so you are able to spend as long as needed in focused exploration, bringing in subjects as they present themselves. When interest begins to decline or you have exhausted all angles, you can plan a unit-end celebration and bring together everything your child has learned into a project or presentation.
Are There Negatives to Unit Studies?
Since you have a laser focus on one topic, you may feel as if other important information or subjects are being neglected in your homeschool.
In order to fully exhaust a topic, you will need to spend time in deeply planning out the subjects you will include and the natural progression through the topic you will take. Not all prepackaged unit study guides will have enough suggestions to thoroughly explore an interest.
Your child’s interest in the topic may wane before you have included all of your planned activities. This will be a challenge to complete the unit without squelching your child’s desire to learn something new.
If you use unit studies as your only method of homeschooling, you can leave some holes in their education. Not every subject lends itself to unit studies, especially in the higher grades. Subjects like math or science build on previous concepts, and your student may miss some vital building block by skipping around within various topics.
Reasons to Consider Unit Studies
Books about unit studies
7. Charlotte Mason, or Living Education
What Is the Charlotte Mason Method?
The Charlotte Mason education model was created by a 19th century educator who believed that children were not simply containers that needed to be filled with information, but people who had a desire for knowledge that needed to be fulfilled.
There are several principles presented by Ms. Mason in her books on education.
1. Children should form good habits early, which will help them build character in their later years.
2. Children should be exposed to “living books” or rather great literature that is not dry like textbooks, but that makes the subject come alive in the telling.
3. Children should also be allowed substantial time out in nature, learning from the world around them.
4. Children should do copywork, take dictation, and engage in narration of lessons, and those lessons should be kept short so that attention should not be lost.
5. Children should be exposed to classical music and art from the masters, the lives of the composers and artists, and be encouraged to create their own music and art in the learned style.
6. Children should be introduced to work of the hands such as knitting, woodworking, sewing or another hands-on hobby.
What Do I Need for the Charlotte Mason Method?
Most of a Charlotte Mason education can be implemented with a library card and a nature journal. There are many lists of living books and other resources available. In addition, you can add art supplies or a musical instrument, along with nature guides and crafting materials.
In order to fully understand the ideas that Ms. Mason presented, you can read her books as well as several interpretations of her work.
How Will They Learn?
The focus of the Charlotte Mason method is “living learning.” This means that by reading exceptional books, copying passages from them to practice handwriting and grammar and narrating back what they learned, your child is immersed in rich learning every day.
Nature walks and outdoor discovery are an integral part of this education philosophy. Science and nature are learned first-hand through personal experience and observation. History is taught using rich biographies or fact-based historical fiction. Learning takes place naturally.
Are There Negatives to the Charlotte Mason Method?
Charlotte Mason material suggestions are Christian-based. If you prefer to use secular materials, you may have difficulties finding suitable replacements for the items on available reading lists.
Since Charlotte Mason designed her philosophy for educators of young children, finding resources that will work for higher grades can be a challenge. Working in higher math and sciences may also cause some frustration.
There is no connection to current technology, so if you plan to work with computers or other screens, you may not be able to find Charlotte Mason-style information that enhances modern subjects.
Reasons to Consider the Charlotte Mason Method
What Is Unschooling?
Unschooling is not the absence of schooling, but the allowing of your child to choose their educational path while you facilitate the journey. The idea is that children want to learn, and therefore do not need to be handed random information they are forced to learn.
No curriculum is used, no formal lessons are prepared and no tests or assessments are given in a typical unschooling environment. Instead, parents take an active role in their child’s daily life and assist them in learning the information they seek. Through this method, all subjects can be covered.
What Do I Need for Unschooling?
There is no formal curriculum for unschooling, nor are there book lists or suggested lesson plans. Each day is focused on what your child wishes to learn, and you follow those interests and give them opportunities to learn.
Real life experiences, trips to places of interest and books that enhance their knowledge are the main component of an unschooling experience. Because unschooling has no formal structure, each child can experience a completely individual learning environment.
How Will They Learn?
Unschooling relies on the belief that children will naturally spend their days doing “real” things, and this activity will teach them real information. By providing plenty of interesting books, materials and activities, your child will follow their curiosity and learn as they go.
The most difficult part of unschooling is trusting that your child will pursue education. Once you are certain that their drive for knowledge is real, you can simply accompany them and facilitate as needed.
Are There Negatives to Unschooling?
Since you are following your child’s interests, there may be some core subjects that are skimmed or skipped altogether. But as your child comes upon a need for these subjects, they will be more inclined to learn them at that time.
Unschooling is not always an accepted way of home education and you may feel isolated from your extended family or community by pursuing this method.
Your child may decide that they have no interest in learning anything new, but would instead prefer to read the same books over and over or simply play video games.
Child-led learning is a leap of faith and you may be inclined to lead more than follow if you notice your child isn’t progressing as quickly as you think they should.
Reasons to Consider Unschooling
• You see a learning opportunity in every situation.
• You are totally against any form of traditional schooling.
• You value letting your child learn something when they are ready.
• You believe in letting your child determine their own educational path.
• You are willing to spend time with your child every day, facilitating their discoveries.
• You believe that information the child pursues on their own will stay with them longer.
• You feel your child has enough curiosity to keep them moving about and gathering knowledge.
Where Can I Find More Information About Unschooling?
Books on unschooling
What Is an Eclectic Education?
Eclectic homeschooling is, as the name suggests, a collection of the most appropriate facets of different methods, personalized for your homeschool. It is a catch-all term for taking the best of each method and tailoring it to your child’s educational needs.
What Do I Need for An Eclectic Education?
To be an eclectic homeschooler, you need to know something about every method available to see what of each will work for you. It often helps to take an informal quiz to find out what is important to you regarding your child’s education. Once you’ve narrowed down two or three methods that seem to fit your idea of homeschool, you can learn more and decide what parts of each you will implement.
How Will They Learn?
Your child will learn according to the method you have chosen for a particular subject. You may use living books for reading, a traditional curriculum for math and a classical approach to history. You may decide to include a unit study each month, or even spend the summer unschooling.
Part of the success of an eclectic approach to homeschool is that it is the most flexible method for following the ebb and flow of your child’s interests. Plus, you are able to try out several methods before you settle on the ones that work best.
Are There Negatives to an Eclectic Education?
By picking and choosing from random methods, you could leave gaps in your child’s education. Since some subjects are better learned when connected with others, having different methods for each can become confusing.
Having a little-of-this and a little-of-that approach can leave you feeling scattered, and you may spend more time preparing lessons and keeping records straight than you would if you used a single method.
If you decide to transition into public or private school, your child’s education may not be up to grade level and may require remedial studies to catch up. You may have a difficult time presenting any form of transcript for the school system.
Reasons to Choose an Eclectic Education
Books on Eclectic or relaxed education
While this seems like an overwhelming amount of information, rest assured that there are many resources and support groups that will help you narrow down your choice of educational style or styles to suit your homeschool.
Now that you have an overview of the basic methodologies and some of the narrower philosophies within each one, you can begin to form an opinion of what you think will work.
But don’t be dismayed if you are currently homeschooling and feel you have chosen a method that isn’t working for your family. The freedom and flexibility of home education allows you to start the new school year (or even mid-year) fresh with a completely different approach. You are never tied to one method simply because you chose to give it a try.
Homeschooling is constantly growing and changing. As long as you have knowledge of available methods, you can confidently tailor your home education experience to be the very best for your family.
If you have decided to teach your own children, or even if you have been homeschooling for a while, chances are you wonder what method of home education will work best for your situation.
A quick online search for “the best way to homeschool” will return tens of thousands of results and most likely leave you with more questions than answers.
This post will provide you with several categories of teaching types and will go on to describe the methods within each. Plus, we have included pros and cons in addition to resources to aid your research.
What Is the Best Way to Homeschool?
Not all children learn the same, and as a homeschooler you have the freedom to choose the best from each style of home education available. It pays to know the basics of each so that you can feel confident in tailoring a personalized educational experience for them.
But don’t worry if you don’t feel comfortable deciding on one single method, or if your current method doesn’t feel right. Your homeschooling adventure will likely change over time, and you have the freedom to change your mind along with it.
The Nine General Categories of Home Education
1. Traditional, or School-At-Home
2. Hybrid, Online or Co-op Education
3. Classical or Leadership Education
4. Montessori and Waldorf, or Whole Child
5. Multiple Intelligences, or Strength Learning
6. Unit Studies, or Project Based Learning
7. Charlotte Mason, or Living Education
8. Unschooling, or Child-Led Learning
9. Eclectic or Relaxed Learning
2. Hybrid, Online or Co-op Education
3. Classical or Leadership Education
4. Montessori and Waldorf, or Whole Child
5. Multiple Intelligences, or Strength Learning
6. Unit Studies, or Project Based Learning
7. Charlotte Mason, or Living Education
8. Unschooling, or Child-Led Learning
9. Eclectic or Relaxed Learning
1. Traditional, or School-At-Home
What Is School-At-Home?
The school-at-home approach can feel familiar to parents who went through public or private schools for their own education. This method can take some of the stress out of the transition into home education. If you are just making the decision to homeschool, this method may be the easiest or most logical path to follow since it mimics a typical classroom experience.
An average day using the school-at-home method goes through a structured format and covers subjects in a linear fashion. You would usually follow a teacher guide, use textbooks, workbooks for instruction, and use testing to monitor how your child is understanding the material.
What Do I Need for School-At-Home?
Boxed or packaged curriculum is available for school-at-home. These packages include subjects gathered under a single grade level and come with textbooks, workbooks, teacher guides, and lesson plans.
With all the guesswork taken out of planning the school year, you can simply follow the structured information throughout the year and administer and grade included exams yourself. Sometimes the curriculum even includes the option to have exams graded by a third party.
Because so many parents wish to have a familiar, all-inclusive package for home learning, the selection of prepackaged curriculum is large. You will have many options to choose from, and can find the program that is an ideal fit for your child.
How Will They Learn?
With this type of curriculum, you are given a schedule and structured lesson plans to follow. The included teacher guides leave little guesswork associated with how the grade level is to be presented. You are able to set up your child’s learning area like a miniature classroom and bring the traditional school experience right into your home.
If you are concerned with your child keeping up with their public or private school peers, this traditional method can be reassuring. The classes and curriculum are usually designed around national and local standard achievements. Your child’s progress can be clearly measured and retained for creating the transcripts needed for transitioning into higher education.
This style of education works well if your child is only home for a short while due to an extended illness, rehabilitation from an injury, or if you are experiencing an interruption in your life such as major relocation. If home learning is a temporary situation, you can relax knowing your child is on target to resume their education in a public or private school setting as the situation allows.
Are there Negatives to School-At-Home?
There is very little flexibility with the prepackaged curriculum, as all of the subjects are at the same grade level. If your child is ahead in or is struggling with a subject, this can cause some frustration. You are either obliged to purchase additional years of curriculum for troublesome subjects, or you risk having to spend money for tutors.
Since you are purchasing an entire year of materials, supplies, support and crafted plans, school-at-home packages can be pricey.
You are not allowed to pick and choose from books, teacher guides or supplemental documents. And often information from one year ties into the next, so that your child is not up to speed with certain concepts if you begin your home education in a later grade.
The sheer volume of information available in a single year’s curriculum can be daunting. There is often more work on the part of the parent to prepare for lessons and keep to a strict schedule in order to cover all the material in the allotted timeframe.
The time it takes to implement a traditional school education within a homeschool structure may be prohibitive. The upside is that prepackaged curriculum usually provides a strong support system for frazzled parents.
Reasons to Consider School-At-Home
• You prefer your materials to be created by experts in the field.
• You are concerned with keeping up with national and local standards.
• You plan to send your child to a public or private school for high school.
• You are comfortable and familiar with the traditional style of education.
• You only need to homeschool for a short while due to life circumstances.
• You want clear instructions about what to teach and how and when to teach it.
• You don’t feel like starting from scratch or searching around for books and materials.
• Your child needs to transition slowly from public or private school into a home learning environment.
Where Can I Find More Information About School-At-Home?
Traditional Curriculum resources (links to vendors)
Books About Traditional or School-At-Home (links to books)
2. Hybrid, Co-Op or Online Education
What Is Hybrid Education?
Blending at-home teaching with a more traditional school setting is called hybrid homeschooling. Your child would spend part of their school day or week at home, learning from you, and the remainder of the day or week participating in classroom-style learning at a school.
A similar style of blended education incorporates a cooperative setting where a group of homeschooling parents joins their teaching strengths to share in the education of the group’s children. This can offer a ready-made support system for homeschoolers just starting out.
Another option that combines home and distance learning is online schooling. An education management organization oversees this alternative.
The online option can be free for parents, and offers a traditional education in the home, blending the structure of local education with the ability of the parent to oversee their child’s learning progress in person. Online education through private schools is also available, but can be rather expensive.
What Do I Need for Hybrid Education?
Hybrid and online education requires that you have an internet connection for online instruction. Choosing between free public school or paid private school education would determine the cost to you for tuition. Physical materials may or may not be supplied, so you would need to buy textbooks or other learning aids if they are not provided. If you plan for your child to attend some classes away from home, they would need transportation to the location.
How Will They Learn?
Through textbooks and workbooks, your child would follow along with the school calendar, learning along with the other students enrolled in the same program. For instruction at home, you would use materials provided or suggested by the school. Then your child would learn from instructors on the days they are in class or at a co-op.
For totally online learning, your child would watch streaming or recorded classes and lectures and use physical textbooks and workbooks. The subjects are presented by grade level and often follow along with the local schools, either public or private, depending on your choice. Homework and tests are assigned and graded online by accredited instructors trained to teach online.
Are There Negatives to Hybrid Education?
Home education that is connected to an offsite school does not always have the flexibility needed for students. Although most systems provide individual learning plans for each student, you would need to follow the schedule to cover all of the material during the school year.
If you are not satisfied with the textbooks, materials or instruction, you often do not have any alternative choices within the hybrid or online schooling methods. Virtual learning may not be a good fit for your student’s learning style.
Having to transport your child to an offsite location involves schedules, traffic, and possible inclement weather issues.
Reasons to Consider Hybrid, Co-op or Online Education
• Your child can often transition to college easier using this method.
• You like the idea of following the local school calendar and curriculum.
• Your child thrives with the combination of in home and offsite learning.
• You are more comfortable having your materials follow local standards.
• You enjoy having days off where your child is learning from someone else.
• You want to homeschool, but also want a strong support system for your efforts.
• You like the idea of being able to school anywhere there is an internet connection.
• You want your child to stay up to date and have regular interaction with their local peers.
Hybrid and Online Education Resources (links to vendors)
Books about Hybrid and Online education (links to books)
3. Classical or Leadership Education
What Is Classical Education?
Classical education has ancient roots. The method is based on the three stages of learning called the Trivium, segmented into three parts; Grammar, Logic (or Dialectic) and Rhetoric. These phases of learning closely follow the steps our brains go through to learn any new information.
As the ancients intended, a classical education teaches these three fundamental phases for every subject. Simplified as language, critical thought, and communication, these skills can be practiced by your child throughout their educational journey.
Some explanations of classical education also recommend dividing your child’s education into three sections of four years each, and teaching subjects in a chronological manner.
The term leadership education is used because the skills learned through this method are often applied in leadership positions. This method was followed by renowned thinkers and great minds through the ages. A specific version of this style is called A Thomas Jefferson Education and focuses on training in morals, values, love of learning and working with mentors.
What Do I Need for Classical Education?
The approach of classical education is founded in using Great Books, or those books deemed classics or masterpieces. These books are authored by the great minds of history and have stood the test of time. By memorizing sections of great works, then copying them down and eventually rewriting them in their own words, your child can incorporate classical skills every day. You may also want to include Latin or Greek in your education plan.
There are numerous guides and lesson plan books available, or you can create your own template for a personalized version. Once you learn how to implement a classical education, you can approach any subject through the three stages of learning.
How Will They Learn?
Using language, critical thinking skills and thoughtful communication, your child will be able to process new information through these three lenses of learning. You become more of a guide than an instructor by providing your student with a rich environment and opportunities to practice the classical skills.
To be sure your child is learning the material presented, you can set milestones and evaluate their progress as they go from elementary through middle and high school subjects. If you follow a three-stage chronological repetition, information learned in the early years becomes the foundation for more advanced information as you cycle through the subjects again.
Some home educators who teach using classical education employ the Socratic method of using open ended questions to generate in-depth dialogs with their students.
Are There Negatives to Classical Education?
The classical education method focuses heavily on reading. For students with reading challenges such as dyslexia, this may pose a problem. Even for students who love to read, the push to keep up with a strict reading schedule can become burdensome and can interfere with learning through other ways.
While there is some flexibility with a classical education program, there are still rigid requirements to stay within the structure of the Trivium. Not everyone believes learning Latin and Greek is beneficial to the modern student.
It takes a lot of time to implement a classical education if you choose to follow the most popular structure of the method. Lesson plans, desk work and interactive skill practice can use up a lot of your school day without leaving much time for extracurricular activities.
Reasons to Consider Classical Education
• You desire for your child to gain leadership skills.
• You wish to follow the Socratic method of teaching.
• You prefer teaching subjects in a logical, chronological order.
• You want your child to learn how to use critical thinking skills.
• You value ancient wisdom and feel it has a place in today’s learning.
• You believe your child will gain from studying classical literary masterpieces.
Where Can I Find More Information About Classical Education?• You wish to follow the Socratic method of teaching.
• You prefer teaching subjects in a logical, chronological order.
• You want your child to learn how to use critical thinking skills.
• You value ancient wisdom and feel it has a place in today’s learning.
• You believe your child will gain from studying classical literary masterpieces.
Books on Classical education
- The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home (Third Edition)
- The Lost Tools of Learning and The Mind of the Maker
- The Case for Classical Christian Education
- Teaching the Trivium: Christian Homeschooling in a Classical Style
What Is Whole Child Education?
The general view of this style of teaching is that children learn at their own pace and should be encouraged to interact with their world to gain insights instead of having someone tell them what to do, see or think. Also termed “natural learning” a whole-child style of education allows the child to learn at their own speed within a semi-structured environment.
Although Montessori, Waldorf and Reggio Emilia methods can often be found in preschools and early learning centers, these general principles can be carried into later grades. As a home educator, this method is ideal for a home setting, and can be utilized throughout your child’s education, even through high school.
There are differences between these whole child education philosophies, but each approach focuses on multi-age classrooms, which works well in a homeschool family with multiple children.
What Do I Need for Whole Child Education?
Whether you choose Montessori, Waldorf or Reggio Emilia, your homeschool classroom will need to be set up with areas that focus on learning. There are many manipulatives and learning materials created to enhance whole child educational settings.
Also encouraged is allowing your child to pursue interests as they please in order to deepen their understanding. This may be letting them cook something on their own, allowing them to have a garden plot, or giving them materials for interactive and imaginative play.
If you want to follow the methods precisely, you may have to take training classes to receive in depth information and become certified. However, this is not a strict requirement in order to use the principles at home.
How Will They Learn?
Montessori utilizes several learning areas, including Cultural, Language and Reading, Practical, Sensorial, Math, Music, and Art, each designed to encourage self-paced learning with items suitable for that area. Globes, brooms, wooden blocks, beads, letters and numbers plus drawing and craft supplies are made available as the child moves through each area.
Waldorf uses natural materials for imaginative play, and sets aside certain days for life skills learning such as gardening or baking. The focus with this method is play-based learning where your child would encounter new information through using imagination and creativity, all the way through high school.
Reggio Emilia also encourages self-paced learning through engaging with everyday objects, building on interests with activities designed around them, such as creating a garden to learn how plants grow.
All of these philosophies encourage you to act more as a facilitator than a teacher so that your child can discover new ideas and concepts on their own without formal lessons. More emphasis is placed on listening to what your child needs in order to learn, over telling the student what or how to learn.
Are There Negatives to Whole Child Education?
Not all children enjoy such freedom in their learning experience. If your child thrives on structure and schedule, a free-play setting may not suit them.
If you decide to send your child to public or private school after their early education, they may have trouble transitioning to a more structured environment.
All of these philosophies discourage the use of screens, including TV, computers and smart phones. If these technologies are a major part of your life, then setting them aside for a whole-child style of learning may prove difficult.
There is not always clear proof as to what your child has or has not learned. If you need to see test grades and knowledge assessments, it may not be easy to sit back and allow self-paced discovery.
If your child is not a self-starter or is not disciplined, you may find yourself doing more telling and instructing than this method encourages.
Reasons to Consider Whole Child Education
• You prefer active learning over quiet study.
• Your child is a self-starter and enjoys free play that has a purpose.
• You believe your children should have a voice in their own education.
• You are comfortable with being a facilitator in your child’s exploration.
• You do not need national standard testing to know your child is learning.
• Your child would not be opposed to learning without screens or technology.
• You want to encourage them to experience their world in a sensory rich setting.
Books on Whole-Child Education (links to books)
- The Absorbent Mind
- Discovery of the Child
- Dr. Montessori's Own Handbook
- The Montessori Method
- Waldorf Education: A Family Guide
- The Christopherus Waldorf Curriculum Overview for Homeschoolers
- The Parents' Guide to Alternatives in Education
5. Multiple Intelligences, or Strength Learning
What Is Multiple Intelligences?
The Multiple Intelligences method of learning focuses on teaching to the strengths of the student rather than trying to overcome learning weaknesses. In order for instruction to be effective, the teacher should present the material in whatever way the student learns best.
This method works well in a homeschool setting, because you can see through experimenting how your child best learns and retains information. There are eight intelligences outlined in the method:
1. Verbal, or Linguistic (related to words and languages)
2. Logical, or Mathematical (related to numbers and abstract concepts)
3. Spatial (related to thinking in pictures or multiple dimensions)
4. Bodily, or Kinesthetic (related to moving the body and muscle memory)
5. Musical (related to music, rhythm or pitch)
6. Interpersonal (related to working with groups)
7. Intrapersonal (related to working alone)
8. Naturalistic (related to nature or the natural world)
By observing your child, you can determine which of these learning styles best fits them and can tailor your home education experience around their strengths. This will determine what kinds of materials you will need to enhance your teaching style.
If you have more than one child, you can use different approaches for the same subject, just by adjusting your method for their learning styles. For example, one child could create a list of facts for a lesson while another child composes a song to help memorize them.
How Will They Learn?
Learning about multiple intelligences will allow you to engage your child’s natural strengths to make their learning enjoyable. You can move through all the intelligences as you change subjects, from literature based history to hands-on science.
Knowing how your child learns can also give you the knowledge you need so that you know if you should play music in the background of your schoolroom, and if you ought to ever include other homeschoolers in a group project.
You can assess your child’s learning by using multiple intelligences in testing. By testing to their strengths, you can better understand what they have learned. Oral testing, model building or an original song can let you know how well your child has grasped the concepts you introduced.
Are There Negatives to Multiple Intelligences?
Knowing your child’s strongest learning style can help you teach them, but ignoring that strength or trying to utilize styles that aren’t a good fit can make home education stressful and tiring.
Just because your child has a passing interest in one style does not mean you should try to bolster that style. No child will learn the same with every style, and pushing to improve their weaknesses can cause burnout.
Sometimes your child’s learning style and your teaching style won’t be a good fit. If you prefer quiet reading and your child needs to be bouncing a ball while they recite poetry, you may run into friction.
Reasons to Consider Multiple Intelligences
• You know how your child learns and are capable of utilizing their strengths.
• You can see how learning styles can be incorporated into different subjects.
• You can take a standard curriculum and adapt it to your child’s learning style.
• You do not have reservations in letting your child learn however they do best.
• You are flexible in changing your presentation methods to suit your child’s needs.
• You are able to provide different educational experiences to your children with different learning styles.
Where Can I Learn More Information About Multiple Intelligences?• You can see how learning styles can be incorporated into different subjects.
• You can take a standard curriculum and adapt it to your child’s learning style.
• You do not have reservations in letting your child learn however they do best.
• You are flexible in changing your presentation methods to suit your child’s needs.
• You are able to provide different educational experiences to your children with different learning styles.
- Verbal-Linquistic Learner
- Logical- Mathematical Learner
- Visual- Spatial Learner
- Bodily-Kinesthetic Learner
- Musical-Rythmic Learner
- Interpersonal Learner
- Intrapersonal Learner
- Naturalistic Learner
- In Their Own Way: Discovering and Encouraging Your Child's Multiple Intelligences
- You're Smarter Than You Think: A Kid's Guide to Multiple Intelligences
- Discover Your Child's Learning Style: Children Learn in Unique Ways - Here's the Key to Every Child's Learning Success
- 7 (Seven) Kinds of Smart: Identifying and Developing Your Multiple Intelligences
What Are Unit Studies?
Teaching with unit studies involves focusing on one topic, and utilizing all school subjects to thoroughly explore the topic from all angles. This method works especially well for homeschools, because you can find your child’s interest and teach them reading, math, science and history, all while they are immersed in something that interests them.
Unit studies can be used exclusively for your home education experience, or can be incorporated within a different method for an occasional change of pace. The concept of themed learning can make home education fun.
What Do I Need for Unit Studies?
While you do not need any formal curriculum, there are several collections of unit study suggestions available on the market if you do not wish to create your own lesson plans. If you are willing to try to find all subjects in one topic, you can simply find out your child’s burning interests and begin researching that topic online, at the library, or right in your own home. The possibilities are endless.
How Will They Learn?
Because you are delving into a topic from a variety of directions, your child will learn the basic subjects through exploration. They will learn how history, science, math and language are all interconnected within the theme of the unit study. If they have subject areas in which they struggle or they simply do not like, the topic may excite them enough to include these subjects without a fuss.
An easy way for your child to learn through using a unit study is to create a notebook or a lapbook around the chosen topic. This way, all of their information will be in one place, ready to review or display.
Unit studies are perfect for homeschool families because they adapt themselves easily to many learning styles. In families with multiple children, the kids can learn as a group, and each child can bring in to the study their own special attributes.
There are no time limits on unit studies, so you are able to spend as long as needed in focused exploration, bringing in subjects as they present themselves. When interest begins to decline or you have exhausted all angles, you can plan a unit-end celebration and bring together everything your child has learned into a project or presentation.
Are There Negatives to Unit Studies?
Since you have a laser focus on one topic, you may feel as if other important information or subjects are being neglected in your homeschool.
In order to fully exhaust a topic, you will need to spend time in deeply planning out the subjects you will include and the natural progression through the topic you will take. Not all prepackaged unit study guides will have enough suggestions to thoroughly explore an interest.
Your child’s interest in the topic may wane before you have included all of your planned activities. This will be a challenge to complete the unit without squelching your child’s desire to learn something new.
If you use unit studies as your only method of homeschooling, you can leave some holes in their education. Not every subject lends itself to unit studies, especially in the higher grades. Subjects like math or science build on previous concepts, and your student may miss some vital building block by skipping around within various topics.
Reasons to Consider Unit Studies
• You feel in-depth study is better than surface learning.
• You prefer subjects to be integrated around a central theme.
• Your child gets fully engrossed in a topic and is eager to know more.
• You like planning out many activities and lessons focused on one topic.
• You want all of your children to be studying the same thing at the same time.
• You enjoy having all your energy focused on one interest rather than scattered across topics.
Unit study resources • You prefer subjects to be integrated around a central theme.
• Your child gets fully engrossed in a topic and is eager to know more.
• You like planning out many activities and lessons focused on one topic.
• You want all of your children to be studying the same thing at the same time.
• You enjoy having all your energy focused on one interest rather than scattered across topics.
Books about unit studies
- Unit Studies Made Easy by Bendt Family Ministries
- Everything you need to know about Homeschool Unit Studies,
- The Anyone can How-to-Guide by Jennifer Steward
7. Charlotte Mason, or Living Education
What Is the Charlotte Mason Method?
The Charlotte Mason education model was created by a 19th century educator who believed that children were not simply containers that needed to be filled with information, but people who had a desire for knowledge that needed to be fulfilled.
There are several principles presented by Ms. Mason in her books on education.
1. Children should form good habits early, which will help them build character in their later years.
2. Children should be exposed to “living books” or rather great literature that is not dry like textbooks, but that makes the subject come alive in the telling.
3. Children should also be allowed substantial time out in nature, learning from the world around them.
4. Children should do copywork, take dictation, and engage in narration of lessons, and those lessons should be kept short so that attention should not be lost.
5. Children should be exposed to classical music and art from the masters, the lives of the composers and artists, and be encouraged to create their own music and art in the learned style.
6. Children should be introduced to work of the hands such as knitting, woodworking, sewing or another hands-on hobby.
What Do I Need for the Charlotte Mason Method?
Most of a Charlotte Mason education can be implemented with a library card and a nature journal. There are many lists of living books and other resources available. In addition, you can add art supplies or a musical instrument, along with nature guides and crafting materials.
In order to fully understand the ideas that Ms. Mason presented, you can read her books as well as several interpretations of her work.
How Will They Learn?
The focus of the Charlotte Mason method is “living learning.” This means that by reading exceptional books, copying passages from them to practice handwriting and grammar and narrating back what they learned, your child is immersed in rich learning every day.
Nature walks and outdoor discovery are an integral part of this education philosophy. Science and nature are learned first-hand through personal experience and observation. History is taught using rich biographies or fact-based historical fiction. Learning takes place naturally.
Are There Negatives to the Charlotte Mason Method?
Charlotte Mason material suggestions are Christian-based. If you prefer to use secular materials, you may have difficulties finding suitable replacements for the items on available reading lists.
Since Charlotte Mason designed her philosophy for educators of young children, finding resources that will work for higher grades can be a challenge. Working in higher math and sciences may also cause some frustration.
There is no connection to current technology, so if you plan to work with computers or other screens, you may not be able to find Charlotte Mason-style information that enhances modern subjects.
Reasons to Consider the Charlotte Mason Method
• You believe that memorization and narration are important.
• You like the old fashioned feel of Charlotte Mason’s ideology.
• You prefer that your child has plenty of time to spend outdoors investigating nature.
• You believe that capturing concepts in journals and portfolios is superior to dry testing.
• You are not interested in spending large amounts of money to home educate your child.
• You value classic literature and want to expose your child to as many of the classics as possible.
• You like the idea of living learning and are willing to find suggested books and materials for your child.
Where Can I Find More Information About the Charlotte Mason Method?
Books about Charlotte Mason Education • You like the old fashioned feel of Charlotte Mason’s ideology.
• You prefer that your child has plenty of time to spend outdoors investigating nature.
• You believe that capturing concepts in journals and portfolios is superior to dry testing.
• You are not interested in spending large amounts of money to home educate your child.
• You value classic literature and want to expose your child to as many of the classics as possible.
• You like the idea of living learning and are willing to find suggested books and materials for your child.
- A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal Reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning
- For the Children's Sake: Foundations of Education for Home and School
What Is Unschooling?
Unschooling is not the absence of schooling, but the allowing of your child to choose their educational path while you facilitate the journey. The idea is that children want to learn, and therefore do not need to be handed random information they are forced to learn.
No curriculum is used, no formal lessons are prepared and no tests or assessments are given in a typical unschooling environment. Instead, parents take an active role in their child’s daily life and assist them in learning the information they seek. Through this method, all subjects can be covered.
What Do I Need for Unschooling?
There is no formal curriculum for unschooling, nor are there book lists or suggested lesson plans. Each day is focused on what your child wishes to learn, and you follow those interests and give them opportunities to learn.
Real life experiences, trips to places of interest and books that enhance their knowledge are the main component of an unschooling experience. Because unschooling has no formal structure, each child can experience a completely individual learning environment.
How Will They Learn?
Unschooling relies on the belief that children will naturally spend their days doing “real” things, and this activity will teach them real information. By providing plenty of interesting books, materials and activities, your child will follow their curiosity and learn as they go.
The most difficult part of unschooling is trusting that your child will pursue education. Once you are certain that their drive for knowledge is real, you can simply accompany them and facilitate as needed.
Are There Negatives to Unschooling?
Since you are following your child’s interests, there may be some core subjects that are skimmed or skipped altogether. But as your child comes upon a need for these subjects, they will be more inclined to learn them at that time.
Unschooling is not always an accepted way of home education and you may feel isolated from your extended family or community by pursuing this method.
Your child may decide that they have no interest in learning anything new, but would instead prefer to read the same books over and over or simply play video games.
Child-led learning is a leap of faith and you may be inclined to lead more than follow if you notice your child isn’t progressing as quickly as you think they should.
Reasons to Consider Unschooling
• You see a learning opportunity in every situation.
• You are totally against any form of traditional schooling.
• You value letting your child learn something when they are ready.
• You believe in letting your child determine their own educational path.
• You are willing to spend time with your child every day, facilitating their discoveries.
• You believe that information the child pursues on their own will stay with them longer.
• You feel your child has enough curiosity to keep them moving about and gathering knowledge.
Books on unschooling
- Teach Your Own: The John Holt Book of Homeschooling
- The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education
- The Unschooling Handbook : How to Use the Whole World As Your Child's Classroom
- Raising Our Children, Raising Ourselves: Transforming parent-child relationships from reaction and struggle to freedom, power and joy
- Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling
What Is an Eclectic Education?
Eclectic homeschooling is, as the name suggests, a collection of the most appropriate facets of different methods, personalized for your homeschool. It is a catch-all term for taking the best of each method and tailoring it to your child’s educational needs.
What Do I Need for An Eclectic Education?
To be an eclectic homeschooler, you need to know something about every method available to see what of each will work for you. It often helps to take an informal quiz to find out what is important to you regarding your child’s education. Once you’ve narrowed down two or three methods that seem to fit your idea of homeschool, you can learn more and decide what parts of each you will implement.
How Will They Learn?
Your child will learn according to the method you have chosen for a particular subject. You may use living books for reading, a traditional curriculum for math and a classical approach to history. You may decide to include a unit study each month, or even spend the summer unschooling.
Part of the success of an eclectic approach to homeschool is that it is the most flexible method for following the ebb and flow of your child’s interests. Plus, you are able to try out several methods before you settle on the ones that work best.
Are There Negatives to an Eclectic Education?
By picking and choosing from random methods, you could leave gaps in your child’s education. Since some subjects are better learned when connected with others, having different methods for each can become confusing.
Having a little-of-this and a little-of-that approach can leave you feeling scattered, and you may spend more time preparing lessons and keeping records straight than you would if you used a single method.
If you decide to transition into public or private school, your child’s education may not be up to grade level and may require remedial studies to catch up. You may have a difficult time presenting any form of transcript for the school system.
Reasons to Choose an Eclectic Education
• You aren’t sold on any one method and want to test the waters.
• Your child has vastly different learning styles for different subjects.
• You aren’t afraid you will confuse your child using different methods.
• Your support group is a wealth of ideas and opinions on various methods.
• Your child is older and knows what their learning style is for each subject.
• You don’t like one aspect of one method and want to supplement it with another.
• You prefer a flexible schedule and the ability to mix and match approaches you like.
• You prefer to go your own way without having any one method tell you how to educate your child.
Where Can I Find More Information About An Eclectic Education?• Your child has vastly different learning styles for different subjects.
• You aren’t afraid you will confuse your child using different methods.
• Your support group is a wealth of ideas and opinions on various methods.
• Your child is older and knows what their learning style is for each subject.
• You don’t like one aspect of one method and want to supplement it with another.
• You prefer a flexible schedule and the ability to mix and match approaches you like.
• You prefer to go your own way without having any one method tell you how to educate your child.
Books on Eclectic or relaxed education
- Homeschooling Methods: Seasoned Advice on Learning Styles
- The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling
- Home Is Where the Learning Is: Homeschool Lifestyles from Homeschool Moms
While this seems like an overwhelming amount of information, rest assured that there are many resources and support groups that will help you narrow down your choice of educational style or styles to suit your homeschool.
Now that you have an overview of the basic methodologies and some of the narrower philosophies within each one, you can begin to form an opinion of what you think will work.
But don’t be dismayed if you are currently homeschooling and feel you have chosen a method that isn’t working for your family. The freedom and flexibility of home education allows you to start the new school year (or even mid-year) fresh with a completely different approach. You are never tied to one method simply because you chose to give it a try.
Homeschooling is constantly growing and changing. As long as you have knowledge of available methods, you can confidently tailor your home education experience to be the very best for your family.
