Educational Philosophies

A friend on Facebook asked me advice as to what to do to get ready to homeschool her children. Her oldest is 2, so she has a bit of time to research things. This is what I said to her. I would like to share this because it's basically a compilation and record (for myself) of the research I've done on homeschooling methods/philosophies for the past several years.

It's good that you want to start gathering information already. The best thing I can recommend is to do a bunch of reading...I think it's important to decide how you want to home educate your children. Because each way is so different, it's important that you do your research and decide on something that can provide a great foundation for your home education. The reason why I say that is that there are SO MANY resources, educational philosophies, and curriculums. But if you choose an educational philosophy that resonates with you, it will be easier to narrow down what you feel like with work with you and your family. The reason why I say you is that you will be their primary educator, so you need to choose a philosophy that really resonates with you.

Here are some educational philosophies that are worth looking into. Just check out books from the library at first...only buy the ones that resonate with you.
www.homeschool.com has a bunch of other resources if you want to pick and choose your curriculum/resources. They also have a bunch of webcasts that you can listen to that give you a general idea of the different philosophies. I've listened to some of them and haven't thoroughly researched these things. But at least I have a basic understanding what each one is and it has helped me realize if it's for me or not.


School at home:
Basically it looks a lot like school at home...textbooks, workbooks, assignments, quizzes, etc.
www.k12.com is a good example of what this looks like.


Non-traditional types of schooling:
Unschooling: Look up Unschooling on the internet and you'll come across some articles written by a male teacher who got fed up with the educational system and started promoting unschooling. Basically...provide your kids with tools for learning, don't force them to learn, and they will amaze you with how much they want to learn and how much they do learn.

Charlotte Mason: She seems to focus on early education...nature studies, children's natural curiosity. She encourages a lot of reading, especially living books which would be like classics and scripture.

Waldorf: Chants and rote memorization in the early years combined with life skills like knitting, sculpting in bees wax, baking. Waldorf describes what ages learn which skills best. He doesn't push reading and writing until 1st/2nd grade. Lots of nature time.

Lapbooking and Unit studies: A unit study is when you take one topic (like astronomy) and bring in a bunch of subjects to teach it (read stories, work math problems, do science experiments, read history of astronomers). Lapbooks are a popular way of bringing the unit study together in a portfolio form.

Montessori: Systematically teaching your child one skill that builds upon another. Encourages learning at one's own pace. Uses a lot of touch and manipulative. There are many charter schools that use her methods.


Classical education:
Book: The Well-Trained Mind: education based on the Trivium. Early grades focus on the grammar of learning--memorization of facts. Middle years focus on bringing that learning into context. Later years focus on rhetoric--being able to effectively communicate that learning to others. The book is very detailed in the curriculum it recommends and even gives sample scheduling as to how to implement it in the home.

Book: Thomas Jefferson Leadership Education: A classical based education based off of the kind of education the founding fathers received...from mentors, not teachers. The way the mentor (parent or other) guides the child (the learner is in charge of his/her education, the mentor guides and inspires the education but doesn't force it) in learning changes as they move through phases. Preserving the Love of Learning throughout all phases is essential.
Core phase (0-8 yrs) is all about right/wrong, good/bad, work/play.
Love of Learning (9-12ish) begins to love reading, learning, experimenting, exploring, inventing, etc, but still engages in a lot of childhood play.
Scholar phase (13-18) is when the learner buckles down and really studies...often 8+ hours a day. Gaps are filled in, learning really happens.
Depth phase (19-25) is essentially college...where the depth and breadth of learning and knowledge happens.
Mission phase (life) is when you take your knowledge and learning and pass it along to others through the special life mission that is God's gift to you as a unique person.

The philosophy that resonates the most with me is the Thomas Jefferson Leadership Education. But it took a few years after reading the book the first time for me to really agree with it. :) I don't follow their recommendations, I do my own thing. A lot of homeschoolers do their own thing...mix and match. They call it eclectic homeschooling.

I hope this all helps!

A Peep into our Homeschool Life

I am taking some classes for me...for the MOM and I love, love, love them. This summer, I took a class about energy management and renewal. I studied several youth classics like Heidi, The Bronze Bow, Little Men. Right now I'm studying Uncle Tom's Cabin. And I'm taking a class about the nuts and bolts of homeschooling...simplifying, family work, and I forget the name of the last session. I just listened to the recording of the class on simplifying (since I'm not able to attend at the time). And it was so good. I decided to email the teachers and this is what I wrote them. I'm sharing this on my blog because so many people ask me what my homeschool day looks like and this covers it a bit:

I just now watched the recording and I just have to say THANK YOU! I always need the reminder to simplify. For me, it's mostly about simplifying my schedule. But I also have found that simplifying my stuff helps me sail through a busier schedule better. A few months ago, we purged about 1/2 of all of our kids' toys. I'm ready to get rid of more. :) Always. I've always been pretty good about minimal clothing. I have 4 kids and just 2 dressers. They each have 3 drawers and it helps me keep up on the laundry. There's no way I can go a week with letting the laundry pile up, somebody will run out of something.

I'll just share a little about what's going on with me right now. I have kids 8, 6, 4, 1. We're already busy with music lessons, soccer season, Cub Scouts and me being a new Den leader (with the learning curve), a LOLIPOP group with me being a project leader, twice-a-month homeschool park days, working at my husband's office one afternoon a week (because I already tried doing the marketing from home for 2 years and I just didn't get much done--he started his own business 2 3/4 years ago so it's still in the building phase), and watching my 5yo nephew once a week so his mom can get quality 1 on 1 time with her 10yo Love Of Learning daughter...that's my family service.

Some weeks, I can handle it. I'm so glad I started meditating a few months ago...and that I decided to work on anger management. August and September were really bad months for me. My 4yo daughter started saying the "I hate you" phrase a little too much because I was wound up a little too much and my voice was a little too harsh too often. But sometime in September, the meditation started kicking in and more often than not, I find myself handling situations with more calm and perspective instead of just reacting.

Last week, because I don't feel right about pulling out of the music lessons (I'm committed for the semester) and soccer season right now, I decided to simplify my academic expectations for them. (It's not like our schooling schedule was even rigorous...I was only doing core subjects once a week since they are all basically Core phasers: Monday was Math day, Tuesday was History/Countries, Wednesday was Science, and Thursday was Grammar/Spelling.) But with our schedule and chores and their need to practice their music lessons, it was taking a toll and they really just wanted to play anytime we were home. So last week, I told them that we would put a hold on the formal schooling and just get back to the basics...work, reading time, play, and music practice. I even put reading time right after breakfast instead of requiring the work first because they always gravitate to the couch with a book right after breakfast. I used to fight that and push them to work, but now I'm trying the devotional and reading. They sure like it. I still have to push them to do their work after reading time...they just want to play. It's working, usually. Each of them is also more prone to wanting to practice their music. I will probably keep it this way until somebody starts asking/begging to do core subjects again.

I still feel like I don't have enough time in my days. My afternoons are too busy so I'm not getting as much personal study time in and they aren't getting as much quiet time in. I'm sure there is more I can do to simplify our family schedules. I love the idea of saving mornings for home. I can't wait until my oldest is old enough to leave home with the napping baby...that's one of the hardest parts of having all young children. Any time I have to go somewhere, everyone has to come, too, whether they like it or not.

I would ask for your suggestions, but I know that I just need to pray and ask God how I need to simplify. The last time I asked Him what I should take out (I'm always telling my husband that I'll be happy to quit any time he can find a replacement for me), I actually got an interesting answer...I felt like He didn't want me to remove anything but that He wanted me to keep doing these things and learn (efficiency? leadership? better time management? household management? delegation?) and grow because of everything I'm doing.

One thing I've done is implemented a more solid reading time which includes poetry and regular reading from classics. I'm building in the devotional. I'm so hit and miss with that. When I do bring back regular academics, it will be when one or more of my kids wants more learning after our reading time is done.

Thanks for letting me ramble.

One thing is Constant

Change.

Since my last post, a whole lot in our life has changed. We welcomed a baby boy into our family last April! Needless to say, the '10 and '11 school year came and went and now my next son is reading, my oldest loves math, and my 3yo daughter is trying to keep up with everyone!! It's a constant struggle trying to figure out what's "best" for our family, but it's a great struggle to have.

We added something to our "school time" that we have just loved...hiking with another homeschool family. We live in the perfect place for hiking (near Prescott, AZ). It's something I've loved all my life and I decided the best way to incorporate it into my own life is to include my children.


It's fun to turn heads as just a couple of moms and 7 young children go hiking in the middle of a school day. And it's awesome because our kids are learning tons of stuff! As we hike, we stop to look at plants, insects, birds, reptiles, deer, the geology, and we get exercise along with learning how to be tough, be persistent, navigate the trails, reach goals, hang out with friends, and just have fun.