Homeschooling

Mon, 13 Mar 2006 20:14:00 -0600

There are many types of homeschooling methods available. Following is a summary of the primary methods used by the majority of homeschoolers.

1. The Charlotte Mason Approach. This approach is based on the principles held by Charlotte Mason, an influencial educator in England (1842-1923) and has been used by over 300 public schools as well as correspondance and homeschools. It is based on the use of learning through "living books" rather than text books. For instance, one would use biographies or autobiographies, complemented by fictionalized stories of someone in history to learn about that person in history rather than a text book. Some resources used for teaching are classic literature and fine art as well as field trips to real life scenarios, such as nature walks and museums, etc. Narration and dictation are practiced as well as modeling.

2. Unschooling. This approach utilizes self-directed learning through discovery of the environment, minimizing if not eliminating all-together, the use of text books, especially in the younger years. Often users of this approach do not show concern over late-reading and math skill mastery.

3. Classical Approach. This method educates the student using classic elements of education based on timeless fundamentals of teaching which have been utilized successfully in history. Aspects of this type of education were sometimes used in royal kingdoms and early America. These elements include: logic, grammar, rhetoric and foreign languages, to name a few.

4. Textbooks Approach. Homeschoolers which use this method, have very little need for research or training as curriculum vendors are plentious. This type of homeschooler would choose from one or many vendors to purchase and use text books and teacher's guides. This is a most popular approach, especially for those who do not have an educational background and wish to be sure of the content to teach. The curriculum uses a standard scope and sequence to guide the courses.

5. Unit Study Approach. This method is similar to the Charlotte Mason method but focuses on subjects of interest to the homeschooler or teacher. A unit study on dinosaurs could include math problems using T-REX bones, art and science combined to study the anatomy of a Bracheasaur, and the history of dinasours in the Bible as well as comparing Creation science discoveries against evolutionary theory on dinosaurs. This is another very popular method of study often utilized by creative personalities or children with special or advanced learning needs.

6. Waldorf Education Style. This teaching style is based on theories by Austrailian philosopher and scientist Rudolph Steiner (1861-1925) who believed that man was created as a three part being and that learning reflected three stages: hand, heart and mind.

7. Ecclectic. This style takes the best from all methods and combines them for what the educator believes to be the ultimate best of education. One such program is the Christian Liberty curriculum. Others are created by the individual homeschool teacher.

These are just a few of the homeschooling methods most widely used. In a future article, we will examine the pros and cons of each method.

Hello

Wed, 8 Feb 2006 00:14:00 -0600

Hello everyone. I'm new to homeschool blogger but not new to blogging. I have a couple of blogs in Google. I just thought I'd try this one out because a couple of my friends are here. Stay tuned for writing's and musings from my pen to your screen.

PenWomen's Playground - Homeschool Blogger

Homeschooling

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