If you're newer to the homeschool world, you might be wondering about the different homeschool methods you may have heard of, such as unschooling, Charlotte Mason, and classical education. I personally don't love the idea of labeling homeschools because every family and every child is unique, so their educational experiences should be as well. I don't want families to feel boxed in by trying to follow a particular method. With that said though, it can be helpful to know what homeschool methods/styles best represent your homeschool when making curriculum and co-op choices. In this post I will share a brief overview of some of the most common homeschool methods.
 |
Traditional
Traditional homeschooling is similar to what you would find in a public-school classroom, just at home. Traditional schooling involves lots of textbooks and worksheets, highly structured lesson plans, quizzes and tests, and learning divided into traditional subjects.
Classical
The classical method can trace its roots all the way back to ancient Greece. It is based on teaching kids in 3 stages: grammar, dialect, and rhetoric. The grammar stage (ages 6-10) focuses on absorbing information and building foundational knowledge. The dialect stage (ages 10-12) focuses on processing information, asking questions, and logical debate. The rhetoric stage (ages 13-18) focuses on outputting processed information, expressing, persuading, and explaining.
Unschooling
Also called interest-led learning or child-led learning, unschooling is a method that allows a child's interests and passions to direct their education. Rather than strictly following a formal curriculum, unschoolers typically learn using hands-on experiences, everyday life, and a wide variety of other resources.
Unit Studies
Unit study families study a single topic at a time and integrate many subjects into that one topic. For example, if you want to do a unit study on fall you could learn about why leaves change color in fall (science). You could collect different types of leaves, sort them, count them, and make a bar graph with the data (math). You could read books about fall (reading), write poems about fall (writing), sketch fall leaves (art). If you learn about fall traditions that's social studies, etc...
Charlotte Mason
The Charlotte Mason method is named for the late 19th century/early 20th century, British educator. This method focuses on rich literature, nature study, good habit forming, and fine arts. Students showcase what they know through discussion and narration rather than tests and quizzes.
Eclectic
Eclectic homeschoolers don't closely adhere to any particular method. Instead, they mix and match aspects and resources from many different methods to create a highly individualized educational experience.
Whatever method or methods you choose, remember that you know your kids better than educators who have never met them. One of the beautiful things about home education is the freedom that comes with it. Don't let yourself become so loyal to a method that you lose sight of your family's and your children's unique needs and interests.
If you enjoyed this post, check out:
Don't Overthink Homeschool Philosophies
The Benefits of Student-Led Learning
Follow me on
Comments
Post a Comment