Homeschool Philosophy

With a new school year starting, I have been reflecting on our homeschool philosophy.
Do you have a homeschool philosophy?

Philosophy - any system of belief, values, or tenets; a personal outlook or viewpoint

Here’s a list of some of the more popular philosophies and methods. of homeschooing:

Charlotte Mason

A CM education is the style following that of its founder, Charlotte Mason. Its schedule features short lessons (10 to 20 minutes per subject for the younger children, but longer for older ones) with an emphasis on excellent execution and focused attention. Narration, “living” literature, nature study, artist picture study, and habit training are some of the unique aspects of a CM education.
To learn more about how to implement a Charlotte Mason style education, you might like:

Classical

The heart of a classical education lies in the trivium – the grammar, logic and rhetoric stages. These coincide with natural learning abilities during childhood. For most families, classical education includes a dedication to in-depth studies of Latin, mathematics, the arts and sciences, and a deep understanding of world history and its effects that lure them in. Many classical homeschoolers follow a four-year or six-year cycle of repeating science and history topics.
To learn more about how to implement a classical education, you might like:

Unit Studies

Unit studies are a popular homeschooling method because they are typically hands-on, literature-based, and can be molded to fit into other homeschooling philosophies. Individual topics can encompass all of the scholastic subjects or be very specific to only cover science, history or a literature selection, for instance.
Unit studies can be found on the Internet for almost any subject you or your children can desire. Simply type “(topic) unit study” into your Internet search engine .

Traditional

The traditional method looks very similar to how you were likely taught in school. Children use textbooks for all subjects, complete worksheets and take regular tests. Oftentimes, traditional curricula is also available via DVD, CD-Rom or the Internet. Some people choose to integrate some traditional subjects with another philosophy.

Relaxed, Unschooling, Delight-directed

Generally, these terms imply that the parents have consciously adopted a lifestyle which includes few textbooks or workbooks, and no grades, tests or labels. The child is encouraged to learn at his own pace through hobbies and interests that the he wants to pursue.

Whole-Heart Learning

Whole-Heart learning encourages the use of “living” books rather then text books. This type of family will set goals for the family as a whole and again for each individual child. This lifestyle homeschool has a firm belief that the heart is the key to all learning.
To learn more about implementing a whole-heart approach, you might like:

Biblical Principle Approach

The Principle Approach is a philosophy and method of education based upon Biblical reasoning and a Biblical, Christian worldview which requires considering and pondering the purpose of everything in God’s universe.
To learn more about implementing the Principle approach, you might like:



Taken directly from: The Curriculum Choice
Other good sites for Homeschool Methods and Philosophies are:

Homeschool Curriculum for Life
Homeschool Learning
eHow Mom
Homeschool Curriculum Advisor

I would say that we are a combination of Charlotte Mason, Unit Studies,  & Whole Heart Learning. I am a big fan of the Lifestyle of Learning approach – especially as they reach high school. (utilizing the things they are interested in – their bents, and building a course around that) - I will share more about how I do this later in the school year. I have also been adding some Montessori activities into our Learning Center.


When choosing methods, curriculums or styles for our family, I have developed some touchstones that are important to our particular family.

     Touchstone: As a metaphor, a touchstone refers to any  physical or intellectual measure by which the validity or merit of a concept can be tested.

These touchstones are our filtering system to see if a particular method, curriculum or style will work for our family.  I love that I can review this each year, or during the year if something isn’t working.  When ever I review this, I am reminded of why and how we homeschool. 

Linking up to:

Grateful for the opportunity to homeschool~