If kids aren’t doing book learning daily, they’re going to be too far behind their peers to have any chance of catching up, much less getting into a good college. And if they don’t get into a good college, what’s to become of them? Won’t we have failed them through all those homeschooling years? Am I right?
By now you know that every homeschool looks a bit different. How could they not with the smorgasbord of methods and curriculum options out there? But there’s one thing that all of us wonder about everyone else. One thing that we find ourselves wanting to compare. It’s the one thing Read more…
Let’s face it – this is one of the top questions on everyone’s mind when it comes to homeschooling. How long does it take every day? And we have lots of reasons to ask this question. You might wonder what you are signing up for – are we really going Read more…
So you’ve decided to homeschool. You have researched the pros and cons, you know what style you fit into, and you have filed the appropriate paperwork in your state. Now what subject do you teach?
If you’re anything like me, the term “eclectic” conjures up images of an elderly gentleman with a curious collection of mismatched knick-knacks. But for our purposes, Eclectic homeschooling describes a style that combines two or more methods to create a customized education just for your child.
This is an educational model named after Italian educator and psychiatrist Maria Montessori – you have probably heard of Montessori schools. While this method is much more common in paid schools, it can easily be adapted to homeschools.
Sometimes the idea of homeschooling can be frightening simply because we don’t know what to do. I mean – teachers get trained and paid to do this, and we are just supposed to jump in and make it happen?
Are you leaving public schools because of a negative experience? If so, Unschooling as a form of homeschooling may sound pretty intriguing. Or – do you like structure and systems and quite frankly believe that this may as well be called “The School for the Lord of the Flies”? Before Read more…
The basic idea of a Unit Study is to dwell on a single topic across all your subjects. Learning about Ancient Egypt? Read through some picture books for history. Make papyrus for art. Mummify an apple for science (yes, it’s a thing). Study pyramids and triangles in math. Throw in some language study with hieroglyphs. Draw and label maps for geography. That’s pretty much the gist of a Unit Study.
How would you like to have an educational method named after you? Charlotte Mason did just that. She was a nanny in late 19th/early 20th century England, looking to help others in her position provide a better education for the children in their charge. Her ideas ended up bringing new Read more…