Finding Your Homeschooling Style

Unschooling vs structured curriculum vs Charlotte Mason vs eclectic vs Classical (etc.) styles always seem to be a topic discussed among homeschoolers, it’s especially the question of new homeschoolers who haven’t found their groove yet.  I touched on this topic in my previous post about year-round schooling but I figured I would do a separate post on it.   It’s something I enjoy talking about with others, I love to hear the different learning philosophies among the homeschooling community. 

When we first started out homeschooling my oldest was 4, she was very mature for her age and very ready for kindergarten. ( I feel it’s necessary to point out here that my 4 year old right now is no where near ready to be doing what she was doing at 4, EVERY CHILD IS DIFFERENT) But anyway, because it was our first year, I was still very new to the whole idea of homeschooling in general so we went with a very much school-at-home type approach, with a very structured curriculum (A Beka) that worked for us for less than 2 years or so before I realized 1. It wasn't going to work well for us as we added more children 2. She was at the end of first grade and not liking school time any more  3. I was spending too much prep time 4. That made for a stressed mama.  I am not saying that A Beka is not a good curriculum at all, I was very impressed with how she was reading by the end of the phonics lessons, and we still use A Beka readers as supplements, I think it is a great company, it just wasn't for us and didn't fit well with my more relaxed/free thinking.  I started researching unschooling and also the Charlotte Mason approach and both of those resonated with me and my way of thinking. 

  We took a year of basically doing unschooling (child-led learning, we didn’t use a curriculum), we learned about Laura Ingalls, about whatever animals my daughter was interested in, studied Egypt, did a lot of art, etc.  It was great but at the same time I missed the feeling of accomplishment of completing an official grade or level, my daughter could feel that lack as well, she likes to do things in her own way but she also likes to check things off and see her progress on paper.  Around that time I had a friend tell me about My Father’s World, I really liked what I saw of it, it seemed to be a curriculum that used much of Charlotte Mason (living books vs textbooks, narration, short lessons with afternoons free to play & explore, teaching a love of knowledge instead of grades) ideas, so we decided to try it for the next year.  My daughter just loved it, she looked forward to it everyday.  

She has been using My Father’s World (it covers science, history, geography, literature, bible, art and music appreciation, then gives suggestions for language arts & math, which we use most of their recommendations for language arts) for several years now and still really likes it, just the other day we were talking about how she is about 7 weeks away from finishing her 6th grade year with MFW and she says “When are you going to order my 7th grade stuff? I can’t wait to get it!”  I love that she has found something that works so well for her, she takes the teacher manual and sees what it says to do for the week and does it at her own schedule.  There are things we omit, things we add, I like that even though it is a boxed curriculum we can still have freedom with it. 

This year my 3rd grader has the most eclectic pieced together “curriculum”of any of the kids, she has done some of the MFW with my oldest, she has read through all the A Beka readers, including the science, history, health & manners, etc.   She reads a ton on all different subjects.  My plan is to have her do MFW fully next year but we will see, she does well with a more unstructured approach.  She does well with the child-led learning and it’s fun to hear about what interests her, recently she has wanted to learn about India, volcanos, elephants, and sharks!

My first grader has spent part of the year working through her math, doing lessons from The Reading Lesson, writing verses for handwriting practice, etc. and then part of the year doing MFW First Grade program, which we are working on now and will finish sometime this summer.  I really like the MFW 1st grade, but one of the reasons we took some time off of it with her this year was that she was struggling with reading and I didn't just want to push through it when she wasn’t ready for some of the phonics parts. 

My kindergartener did most of the MFW K program last year with his sister but wasn't quite ready for 1st this year so basically just does A LOT of playing with his 4 year old brother!  He does “school” sometimes but usually only when he asks.  

Math is something my husband feels strongly that the kids need a solid foundation in so we do use a curriculum for that with all the kids school aged. (Math-U-See)  We also have Life of Fred math which I really like and would fit more into my ideals but I respect my husbands opinion on the math so Life of Fred is used as just a supplement.  What I do like about Math-U-See is that the children know what to expect, each lesson is set up basically the same way.  I also like the video lessons that they watch and there is no prep-work for me.  They think the blocks are cool!  We have been using Math-U-See for years now, I let them go at their own pace, if it’s getting frustrating we take a step back to review and take our time.  When it’s easy I let them work as quickly as they want. Each book/level is basically a grade but we have taken only 6 months to complete one or even up to 18 months to finish one.  What matters is that they (individually) are moving forward (at any pace) and understanding what is being taught.  

If I am being honest, this school year has been a struggle for me, the “school year” started out with me having awful morning sickness that lasted like 2 1/2 months, followed by losing the baby, then the holidays, so there were many, many days when “school” was the last thing I could focus on.  Luckily, my two oldest were able to continue with most of what they do because they just have a good flow going of knowing what is expected, as well as what they want to get accomplished.  And the more unstructured approach worked well during those hard times, we did things when we could, we let go of things that we could and through the process they all continued to learn and grow in their own ways.

      If you are new to homeschooling I encourage you to be flexible and give yourself permission to relax a little.  You will find what style works best for you and your family, and it’s ok if it’s not the same as your friends.  Change it up if you start feeling burned out.  Listen to your heart. Pray about it. Pay attention to how your kids are responding.  Be willing to try something new if what you are doing just isn’t working anymore.  Life happens, not all seasons look the same, some years of homeschooling will look different than others.  I love this quote from Educating the Whole-Hearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson “Your home can and should be a warm, vibrant place where your children love to learn as freely and as naturally as they love to play.”  That is a pretty good overall goal to have.