I decided I am going to homeschool......

[Emmama]

but I have yet to decide which philosophy to fall under. I do not want to stick rigidly to one, but I don't even know anything about them to decide. Could you kind ladies please let me know the different ones and the things that make them different from each other? TIA!!

[APMomof3]

Hi, I would love to answer your questions, but I too am new to homeschooling. I just wanted to say welcome!

[2tadpoles]

There are different "splinter" groups under each category, but these are the basic styles you'll hear people talk about in homeschooling circles:

School-at-home: Rather self-explanatory.
Learning is divided into subjects, often with grades and testing. Most school-at-homers use a prepackaged curricula.

Unit-studies: Still kind of formal, but all the "subjects" are incorporated into the study of one specific subject. Like if a kid really digs dinosaurs, you could do 3 Triceratops + 4 Triceratops = how many Triceratops? History of dinosaurs, science behind dinosaurs, writing about dinosaurs, etc.

Unschooling: Child-led learning. Parent is a facilitator, but not necessarily a teacher. Kid gets to choose when, where, how to learn. Non-coercive. Texts and workbooks are only used if the child desires them.

Eclectic: Kind of a mix of all three previous styles, although some unschoolers will argue that unschooling is an all-or-nothing deal and that you can't unschool in some subjects and not in others. My family is eclectic. My kids do formal work in math and spelling, we do blocks of history together, and most everything else is child-led. We do not do grades or testing other than what the state may or may not require yearly.

[Emmama]

Thank you ladies! Keep the info coming please!! Could any of you explain the difference between Waldorf, Charlotte Mason, Montessori, etc? I suppose I can already answer the question , but you don't have to stick to one of these to homeschool, right?

Sorry, I know that I am coming off more dense than I really am, but I guess I feel that I have to tell ppl what exactly I am doing when they question how/why I am going to homeschool.

Thanks ladies!

[AnnR33]

There are tons of web-sites out there (see top sticky) that give a brief overview of the different types of styles too...I've been reading tons of books lately and I think I'll be doing unit studies mainly based on my DS's interests but still haven't settled for sure. Linda Dobson's bk Homeschooling the Early Years is a good place to start though there are lots of others too.
It's important to take your child's learning style into consideration, as well as, as your style. You might want something more structured but if your child hates that it won't work KWIM? And cost is a big consideration for some so be sure to look at the many sites that you can can free stuff at too no matter which style you decide on.
good luck
Ann

[2tadpoles]

Originally Posted by Emmama

Could any of you explain the difference between Waldorf, Charlotte Mason, Montessori, etc?

Waldorf education is based on rhythms, the arts, and nature. Montessori is based on the idea that children should be part of "real" life rather than amusing themselves with imaginings, because young children are incapable of discerning between fantasy and reality (their opinion, not mine).

This is a good page comparing Waldorf and Montessori: http://www.awsna.org/awsna-faq2.html

I know very little about the Charlotte Mason method. It sounded very rigid to me and so I never looked deeply into it. All I know is that CM focuses mainly on literature and learning through narration, and that she viewed education as a discipline.

I suppose I can already answer the question , but you don't have to stick to one of these to homeschool, right?

Of course not. You don't have to use any "method" at all other than whatever works for your kids.

Sorry, I know that I am coming off more dense than I really am, but I guess I feel that I have to tell ppl what exactly I am doing when they question how/why I am going to homeschool.

Don't worry. You'll get over that rather quickly!

[suebearsmom]

The thing that was THE MOST helpful for me was having my child evaluated by a homeschool evaluator who can test for learning styles.If you contact your local homeschooling association they can tell you who does that in your area. Because once you have a grasp of your childs learning style you will be able to pick out materials or curriculum that are suitable for your child.It turns out that the stuff I had in mind for my ds would have been all wrong for him.It would have been a waste of time & money & we would have been a frustrated mama & child.Hugs,Catherine

[Brisen]

EHO is a good website; about.com has a homeschooling site too.

Charlotte Mason's Original Home Education Series is available online. I'm reading it now, I think it's pretty interesting. I think you can do it in a rigid way, but you can also apply it how you like it, take what you like, etc. She emphasized going outside -- at least 4 hours a day, year-round -- and making sure that the lessons aren't boring. She didn't advocate doing formal lessons before age 7 or 8. It was written in the 1800s. It's funny, I was reading the other day and she was talking about how disciplining a child should really be teaching him, avoiding punishment, and using natural consequences instead.

Anyway, look around, see what fits you, and don't feel that you have to pick an ideology and stick with it.

[littlest birds]

I highly recommend reading Charlotte Mason--I think people get the impression her approach is strict because she's popular with Christian religion-centered homeschoolers. Like most philosophies, I think the best thing to do is read about it and use what appeals to you. Over time you can work out what fits. The advice about your style and your children's styles being the deciding factor is right on.

I think each set of ideas has something to offer--I use quite a combination myself. It's a little hard to explain, but you can tell people that you do a customized curriculum and talk about what projects or things you've been doing lately rather than claiming a certain homeschooling category.

[UnschoolnMa]

My family unschools and loves it! I agree that there are so many resources out there about the different methods of homeschooling. If you google search with terms like "Unschooling FAQ" or "What are Unit Studies" you will get alot I bet.

[Monda]

Charlotte Mason


I second the recomendation to check out Charlotte Mason info. We are easing that way and enjoying it a lot. Here is a link.

[raleigh_mom]

There's a book called "So You're Thinking About Homeschooling" by Lisa Whelchel. I found it to be a pretty good summary of some of the styles. Your local library should have it and other books about homeschooling. I love checking out homeschooling books and continually reinforcing for myself the fact that LOTS of people homeschool, and they do it in lots of different ways. One of the great things about homeschooling is being able to tailor it to what works best for your kids and your family in general.

[Fiddlemom]

The Homeschooling Almanac was a terrific read when I was in the throes of considering homeschooling. I got it out of the library. had lots of info about all the different styles and philosophies.

I found my homeschooling 'home' (for the moment, anyway!) in The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise. It was what I'd been searching for. Of course, my oldest child is only 3 1/2 so who knows where we'll end up :LOL

have fun!

[Charles Baudelaire]

Originally Posted by raleigh_mom

There's a book called "So You're Thinking About Homeschooling" by Lisa Whelchel. I found it to be a pretty good summary of some of the styles. Your local library should have it and other books about homeschooling. I love checking out homeschooling books and continually reinforcing for myself the fact that LOTS of people homeschool, and they do it in lots of different ways. One of the great things about homeschooling is being able to tailor it to what works best for your kids and your family in general.

This is off-topic, so forgive me, but I wouldn't advise giving Lisa Whelchel any money after the rather Pearl-like discipline she advocates for children. ITA with everything else you said, though!!

[Charles Baudelaire]

Originally Posted by Fiddlemom

The Homeschooling Almanac was a terrific read when I was in the throes of considering homeschooling. I got it out of the library. had lots of info about all the different styles and philosophies.

I found my homeschooling 'home' (for the moment, anyway!) in The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise. It was what I'd been searching for. Of course, my oldest child is only 3 1/2 so who knows where we'll end up :LOL

have fun!

I'd like to second this one. I teach high school, so all this teaching-a-3yo stuff is new to me; however, what I really valued about WTM is the fact that they argue a logical, commonsensical organization of knowledge into chronologies.

Lots of HSers do unit studies, as do many teachers, but my personal problem with unit studies is that they're often like beads with no string linking them. Let's say you're doing a unit on bats, right? You read _Stellaluna_, you read about bats for science, you build a bat house, you visit the zoo with the bat exhibit, you add 2 bats to 3 bats to get 5 bats, et cetera...and then you go on to apples.

Nothing wrong with bats OR apples, but as someone who's read and deeply responded to John Taylor Gatto's accusation that teachers teach "the un-relating of everything," I have to wonder what the necessary connection is between bats and apples, KWIM? Like, what is the logic linking them together?

What WTM does is give you that logical "string" not only linking individual disciplines together, but linking disciplines to each other.

You study history as the spine, and history is studied in a repeating four-year cycle from ancients to moderns. If you're doing the first year, for example, you'd read about ancient cultures -- Sumeria, Greece, Egypt, etc., and read books from that era -- _Gilgamesh_, Greek mythology, Egyptian mythology, et cetera. Then you'd study the science that their scientists studied: biology first, focusing on classification of plants, animals, minerals, and so on.

Year 2 is the Middle Ages through Renaissance, so you'd study Chaucer, Dante, Shakespeare, etc., and do astronomy and basic chemistry, just as scientists of those ages did.

Anyway, I genuinely like WTM because after year 4, the cycle begins again, only more complexly -- a kid might begin in grade 1 reading the Mary Pope Osborne version of _The Odyssey_ and return to it again in grade 5, only this time reading the more detailed/more complex Rosemary Sutcliffe version, and then by grade 9, she's ready to read a good translation from Homer because by that time, Odysseus is an old friend.

I don't think WTM has to preclude individual interests, either. If your kid is really nuts about bats (or would that be bats about bats?), then the joy of homeschooling is that he can study it until the cows come home -- he doesn't have to keep up with the rest of the class.

If you do do WTM, DON'T be intimidated by the schedules!!! Both Susan Bauer and Jessie Wise were basically told by their publisher to include them, so they did, but have since regretted it. Their website, www.welltrainedmind.com is really good.

GOOD LUCK! Sorry for the novel.

[Marsupialmom]

We use The Well Trained Mind as our guide also. This does not mean we are so rigid we cannot make side trips or "skips" address our children's wishes on things to learn.

[MamaMonica]

We're doing unschooling as dd is only five- and spends a lot of time playing. I'm going to look into the Well-Trained Mind since I got the Well-Educated Mind from the library and really love that book.

I don't know if all younger kids do this- but dd likes to do things like braid, knit, finger knit, tie bows, draw pictures and write or dance - very much "doing" physical things and so we go with that for now.

[anythingelse]

take into consideration your parenting style, amount of time you can spend on preparing materials, budget, and what resources will be avaiable to you when chosing a method

one thing about montessori at home no one told me was the incredible amount of stuff we would collect & need to have storage for materials
another method involved more reading aloud individually to the kids which I did not have the time to do so with alarge family

[Emmama]

Am I a poor thread hostess or what! I have been gone this weekend, so forgive me for not responding sooner

Thank you so much for all of the information! From the sounds of it I do not think that Montessori is the right "fit" for us. I really like the sounds of others, though and might do an eclectic thing. We are pretty much unschooling right now. I just let my kids do whatever and if something interests them, I run with it. Given my oldest are 3 and 1, but they are picking up on things pretty well!

As far as Unschooling..........maybe I am too much ingrained in school, but how do they learn things that they should learn by adulthood? Such as gov't, math, sciences, etc, if there are not any (even loosely structured) lessons on them? How do you go about having them learn these without teaching it?

Can you tell I am an info sponge? Thank you, again for all of the good info, I will have to check out The Well-Trained Mind.

[2tadpoles]

The most basic philosophy behind unschooling is that if you don't force children to learn, they will not think of it as a chore and will learn all of those things when necessary and ready.

My own personal opinion is that this is idealistic, but I don't think it's a reality for all children. Children are individuals, and nothing works for all children.... which is why schools fail so many of them.

But in regards to lessons and teaching.... I don't think everything needs to be "taught." Kids can learn an awful lot just be reading and watching educational programming. It doesn't have to be texts and answering boring questions.

And think about the things offered in schools. When I was in high school, the sciences offered were physical science, biology, chemistry, physics. Where's paleontology? Botany? Astronomy? Why aren't these offered? In schools, there are lessons.... but you're limited in what you can choose from.

I know I'm flip-flopping around here and probably not making a lot of sense. I've had a rough day and I'm not feeling all that well. I mentioned earlier that we use an eclectic approach. I believe (JMO) that there are skills and then there's knowledge. Certain skills are necessary to function well in our society. Reading, writing, basic math. I think that operating a computer and driving are basic skills, also (again, JMO). These sorts of things are things which I feel need to be practiced in order to become fluent. I don't feel comfortable unschooling in regards to skills.

Knowledge, on the other hand, is the accumulation of information about any number of things, whether it be anthropology or Attila the Hun. I don't require my kids to study in order to gain knowledge. I think that once the skills are mastered, knowledge is pretty easy to acquire with adequate resources. I do encourage them to sit and read about history with me, which they do not balk at. History is part of my state's requirements, and I see it as jumping through one of their hoops in order to retain the freedom to homeschool. My older boy is also required to learn about American government, which he is showing some interest in, fortunately.