Teaching Methods

I'm not an expert on teaching methods.  I'm not even a good reference.  The best I can do is to tell you what to research.  I wish when we were making the decision to homeschool, I had taken a little more time (any time would have been more) researching what the different methods were. 

We went to the Catholic homeschool conference in our area, which took place in March.  There was a speaker there by the name of Laura Berquist.  She is the author of the book Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum.  We went to her talks and I really enjoyed her.  After wandering around being thoroughly overwhelmed by all the curriculum choices I finally bought her book, went to the section where she recommends curriculum for each grade level, and bought what she recommended for the grades we had that first year.  Although I liked everything I got, it was a stupid way to choose curriculum. 

In hindsight, I had more time.  We weren't starting our homeschool till the following September.  That's six whole months.  I could have perused the books at the conference and then researched types of teaching and then purchased on-line.  I just felt so overwhelmed by all the choices and no idea of where to start. Now, I know that the best place to start is to define how you are going to educate your kids.  See, I didn't even know that there were different ways to homeschool.  I'll give you the little information I have and then you can do more research about the methods and that might help give you a starting point for curriculum.

Classical teaching is designed to teach to the developemental stage of the child.  The 3 stages, called the Trivium are: grammar, logic and rhetoric.  When you use this training, your kids may appear to lag behind their peers in traditional school at first.  However, when they hit middle and especially high school, they will take off and excel.  I have employed some of this ideology and I believe it has helped my kids.  I've known homeschoolers who teach classical and it is always impressive.  If I could have a do-over, I think I would try to do classical all the way.  It's an excellent education.

Unschooling is another choice that I personally was not able to pull off.  Do your research on this.  Talk to other homeschoolers who unschool and really understand the methodology before beginning.  It is my impression that families are unschoolers.  In other words, it's how the parents are; they can't help it.  Their whole approach to life and their lifestyle is conducive to unschooling.  Often, they travel a lot and are very adventurous and their kids are the big benefactors.  Unschooling is simply learning while living.  They use books a lot, just not textbooks so much.

Two other methods are Montessori and Waldorf.  I know a very little about both.  Montessori is child led.  What is the child interested in and then imerse them in things to broaden their learning about it.  Waldorf is, I believe, based in the arts; using the arts to teach.  There are Montessori and Waldorf schools that offer classes for homeschoolers as enrichment, but these methods can also be used at home.  While montessori education has been around a long time and there are formal schools that use this method, Waldorf is relatively new and slightly controversial.  Again, do your research first.

Finally, the traditional method of schooling needs little explaining.  You use textbooks, workbooks, and test and you cover the four R's - Religion, Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic - plus spelling and history and grammar and science, etc.  You sit at the table and do lessons and have seat work, etc.  This is mostly what I have done while also doing some unschooling activities and employing some classical techniques.  A very ecclectic approach.  I would, after 12 years of homeschooling, recommend you NOT bring the classroom home.  I wish someone had told me that 12 years ago.  The decision to homeschool opens a door, a big door.  There are so many opportunities and resources available.  Don't feel you have to bring the traditional classroom experience you had growing up (or your kids have had if they are in school) home.  I don't think I totally did that, but I spent too much time trying.  If you choose to homeschool, you're already unconventional, non-traditional, counter-cultural.  If you don't fit in the box at traditional school, why try to fit in the box at home?

So, pray about it.  Seek God's guidance.  Do lots of research.  Talk to multitudes of people and when you and your spouse decide how your homeschool is going to be....know that it will change!  Find a starting point but be flexible.  Know that your family will grow and change and that tomorrow is always a surprise.

Next time, a little more specifics on what I've used, why I've used it or not used it, and what you need to consider when choosing curriculum.  I've also recently been asked about testing, especially in the elementary years, so I'll touch on that next time.