August 3, 2011

How We Homeschool



Each family is unique.
Each child is unique.
Each teacher is unique.

Not one method works for every school, teacher, or student. 

Why, then, would anyone adhere to one particular way, with only one particular approach?
For us: Sanity.  At our house, we need order of some sort.  A schedule, regimen, or routine to follow and adhere to, however loosely or strictly we like.

With this in mind, homeschooling methods and materials of all sorts have been explored in our home.
We carefully considered option after option.  Some approaches were easily dismissed.  Others intrigued, but didn't seem practical or cost effective were too expensive. 

While we used many resources to learn about methods and materials, my favorite resource is Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum.  Inside this one volume resource are explanations of methods and reviews of well known and some lesser known materials.  It is an ideal resource to begin the process of narrowing down options.

100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum: Choosing the Right Curriculum and Approach for Your Child's Learning Style



Finally, using this resource and many others, we chose three:

classical,

Trivium Mastery: The Intersection of Three Roads: How to Give Your Child an Authentic Classical Home Education
   Teaching the Trivium: Christian Homeschooling in a Classical Style        The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home (Third Edition)



Charlotte Mason,

Home Education (Charlotte Mason's Homeschooling Series)        A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal Reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning          A Charlotte Mason Education

and Heart of Wisdom. 

The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach: Bible Based Homeschooling      What Your Child Needs to Know When: According to the Bible, According to the State: with Evaluation Check Lists for Grades K-8      A Family Guide to the Biblical Holidays


With the classical approach, we gravitate toward the chronological study of history, emphasis on learning to communicate with others, and critical thinking.  From Charlotte Mason, we learned about gentle learning, forming habits, and living books.  Heart of Wisdom is an amazing Biblical based learning style that combines the best of classical and Charlotte Mason, with a few other educational elements.

Though our homeschool leans toward a classical approach, we happily mix all these methods together in a way that works for us.  Which means we get put into the 'eclectic approach' box.  This is really no box at all, as it is the category where those who don't strictly adhere to any other method are grouped.  Which is fine by me, I have claustrophobic tendencies after all.

Tomorrow, our curriculum...

~ Dorie

3 comments:

  1. Those are wonderful resouces! thanks so much for sharing!!

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  2. i love this. i've been reading about charlotte mason this week. glad to hear about the hearts of wisdom, will check it out. and yes, i'm pretty much toally out of the box all the time :)

    God bless~

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  3. Love seeing this, Dorie! I really enjoying seeing what others use and love! :)

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Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

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