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classical approach

What Are the Homeschool Top Main 5 Learning Styles

October 8, 2022 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Knowing what are the homeschool main 5 learning styles is essential to success in knowing Homeschool Learning Styles.

There are more learning styles, but today I’m focusing only on the top 5 homeschool learning styles.

Besides, understanding how a child learns is one of the best things we can do to empower kids to learn.

What Are the Homeschool Top Main 5 Learning Styles

Kids are born with an incredible desires to learn.

And we’re homeschooling because we want to be the best coach in helping our children understand themselves.

Most of us have either struggled with the way a teacher teachers or one or more subjects.

Barring the fact a special need exists, we could even think we may have a learning disability.

Worst yet, we may infer by our actions to our children that they may have a learning problem.

Styles of Homeschooling

It’s important to know the difference between preferences in learning style and special needs.

Because you are the only one to know if it’s special needs, I’m focusing on educating you about what is a learning style.

So, it’s important to understand what is a learning style or personality.

What Are the Homeschool Top Main 5 Learning Styles. Knowing what are the homeschool main 5 learning styles is essential to success in knowing how to homeschool. There are more learning styles, but today I'm focusing only on the top 5 homeschool learning styles. Besides, understanding how a child learns is one of the best things we can do to empower kids to learn. Kids are born with an incredible desires to learn. #homeschoolstyles

First, let me back up to share just a few points about the approach of the public school system.

You need to know that public school has only one way they approaching teaching your child.

And although they tout that they provide many different teaching styles, they do not.

No, I’m not going to clump all teachers together because nobody likes that done to them. There are wonderful caring public school teachers who try to focus on different approaches.

However, traditionally public school has only used one methodology and one environment.

This one size fits all obviously leaves out children who do not learn with the public school methodology.

Thinking about it, not much has changed in the public school system for abut one hundred years or since it’s institution.

Memorization and conformity are encouraged and individualism is minimized or kids receive discipline and labeled trouble makers.

Also, look at my book Homeschooling 31 Day Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers: When You Don’t Know Where to Begin.

Therefore, learning about homeschool learning styles will help you tap into the way your children learn best.

Besides, when you know the way your child learns best, you can choose curriculum matched to your child’s learning style.

Too, understand that homeschool approach is the best way to identify the learning style of not only you but your children.

It’s easier to identify the type of learner you have by the homeschool approach which fits your child.

Five Learning Styles or Homeschool Approaches

Look below at the 5 learning styles or homeschool approaches.

1. Unit Study Approach for Families Who Want Free Exploration

2. Workbook Approach for Families Who Want Memory Work and Workbooks

3. Classical Approach for Families Who Put Emphasis on Learning from Ancient Minds of the Past

4. Charlotte Mason Approach for Families Who Nurture a Love of Nature and Living Books

5. Unschooling Approach for Families Who Want Child-Led Learning Without Bounds

Look at these four ways to understand teaching styles.

4 Ways Understanding Homeschool Teaching Styles Makes You Successful

  • You can plan a successful course with your child’s strengths and weaknesses in mind;
  • Specific goals can be set and met because your leaner will know how to meet them;
  • There is individualized education; and
  • Your learner will be eager to learn lifelong instead of struggling with why he doesn’t understand some subjects as well as he does others.

Identifying Your Homeschooled Child’s Learning Personality

Finally, after years of putting the pieces together, I have created an online self-paced course on how to identify your homeschool child’s learning personality.

This course will give you solid beginning points and look what you will learn.

How Understanding Homeschool Teaching Styles Makes You Successful. Do you wonder why it seems like one child understands exactly what you mean when the other one seems clueless? You know it's not because that child is not trying to understand you. It can be frustrating and discouraging to feel like you're not getting your point across. So instead of focusing on trying to funnel all people to categories or labels, I focused on understanding learning personalities.

YOU WILL LEARN:

  • How to understand the way your child prefers to learn so that you can teach him in a way that he enjoys learning;
  • How to pinpoint your child’s learning personality;
  • A starting point in understanding (barring any special learning challenges or disabilities) and accepting your child’s preferred way of taking in information;
  • Understanding when the learning personality emerges; and
  • Teaching tips for each learning personality to stop the head-butting.

Tapping into the way a child prefers to learn is essential to success.

What Are the Homeschool Top Main 5 Learning Styles

Finally, look at some other learning styles resources below.

Other Learning Styles Resources

  • What Are the Top 5 Homeschool Styles
  • What Are the Homeschool Top Main 5 Learning Styles
  • How Homeschool Learning Styles Helps You to Accept Each Child’s Differences
  • How to Fuse Personality and Learning Styles to Choose the BEST Homeschool Curriculum
  • How Understanding Homeschool Teaching Styles Makes You Successful
  • Practical Tips for Learning Styles
  • Discovering Learning Styles
  • 35+ Best Homeschool Curriculum By Learning Style (free printable)
  • Homeschooling: Learning Styles – What’s the Difference anyway?
  • Top 5 Homeschool Approaches New Homeschoolers Need to Know
  • How to Use a Boxed Curriculum without Giving Up Your Homeschool Approach

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Determine Learning Styles Tagged With: classical approach, homeschool learning styles, homeschoolapproach, learning, learningstyles, unit study approach, workbook approach

How Understanding Homeschool Teaching Styles Makes You Successful

September 1, 2022 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Homeschool teaching styles wasn’t something I understood when I wanted to know homeschool learning styles.

Too, after researching for years and even teaching a workshop about it, there is still much confusion about how to identify homeschool teaching styles.

In addition, terms like modalities, teaching styles, and learning styles are terms that need to be clarified.

How Understanding Homeschool Teaching Styles Makes You Successful

However, tapping into the way a child prefers to learn is essential to success

Do you wonder why it seems like one child understands exactly what you mean when the other one seems clueless?

You know it’s not because that child is not trying to understand you.

It can be frustrating and discouraging to feel like you’re not getting your point across.

Homeschool Styles

First, for years research has been based on 3 types of learners.

They are either visual, auditory, or tactile or a combination of them.

How Understanding Homeschool Teaching Styles Makes You Successful. Do you wonder why it seems like one child understands exactly what you mean when the other one seems clueless? You know it's not because that child is not trying to understand you. It can be frustrating and discouraging to feel like you're not getting your point across. So instead of focusing on trying to funnel all people to categories or labels, I focused on understanding learning personalities.

And some of the characteristics of visual learners are:

  • Normally they learn through their eyes.
  • These types of learners love photos, maps, visuals,
  • diagrams and maps.

Next, look at a few characteristics of auditory leaners:

  • They tend to be good listeners.
  • And they can learn better through music, discussions, and sounds.
  • In addition, they love to record discussions and topics to listen back to later.

Lastly, some of the characteristics of tactile learners are

  • that they learn best by doing.
  • Hands-on projects, acting out, and performing experiments.

However, a lot of research has been done since this.

And although the science is not conclusive about exactly how we learn, we can agree that both children and adults have preferred ways of learning.

So instead of focusing on trying to funnel all people to categories or labels, I focused on understanding learning personalities.

Identifying Homeschool Learning Personalities

When you understand the way your child prefers to learn then you can teach him in a way that he enjoys learning.

To learn about personalities means to understand your and your child’s strengths and weakness.

Additionally, a learning personality means the skills a person uses to gather and perceive information.

So, a learning personality will include learning styles like visual, auditory, or tactile but it also includes personal preferences. That is more unique to individuals.

Too, I feel like understanding a personality is easier to identify than a learning style since many do not agree even on how many learning styles there are.

4 Ways Understanding Homeschool Teaching Styles Makes You Successful

  • You can plan a successful course with your child’s strengths and weaknesses in mind;
  • Specific goals can be set and met because your leaner will know how to meet them;
  • There is individualized education; and
  • Your learner will be eager to learn lifelong instead of struggling with why he doesn’t understand some subjects as well as he does others.

Identifying Your Homeschooled Child’s Learning Personality

Finally, after years of putting the pieces together, I have created an online self-paced course on how to identify your homeschool child’s learning personality.

This course will give you solid beginning points and look what you will learn.

How Understanding Homeschool Teaching Styles Makes You Successful. Do you wonder why it seems like one child understands exactly what you mean when the other one seems clueless? You know it's not because that child is not trying to understand you. It can be frustrating and discouraging to feel like you're not getting your point across. So instead of focusing on trying to funnel all people to categories or labels, I focused on understanding learning personalities.

YOU WILL LEARN:

  • How to understand the way your child prefers to learn so that you can teach him in a way that he enjoys learning;
  • How to pinpoint your child’s learning personality;
  • A starting point in understanding (barring any special learning challenges or disabilities) and accepting your child’s preferred way of taking in information;
  • Understanding when the learning personality emerges; and
  • Teaching tips for each learning personality to stop the head-butting.

Tapping into the way a child prefers to learn is essential to success.

How Understanding Homeschool Teaching Styles Makes You Successful

Other Learning Styles Resources:

  • 35+ Best Homeschool Curriculum By Learning Style (free printable)
  • How Homeschool Learning Styles Helps You to Accept Each Child’s Differences
  • What Are the Top 5 Homeschool Styles
  • Homeschooling: Learning Styles – What’s the Difference anyway

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Determine Learning Styles, How To - - - Tagged With: classical approach, homeschool learning styles, homeschoolapproach, learning, learning styles, learningstyles, unit study approach, workbook approach

35+ Best Homeschool Curriculum By Learning Style (free printable)

August 1, 2022 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today I’ve rounded up 35 best homeschool curriculum by learning style. Besides, homeschool learning styles is a continuing learning process as educators.

Especially when we try to sort out what are learning styles, we’re not sure what is really helpful.

Besides, when I chose curriculum I never thought about the homeschool approach or my child’s learning style.

However, I’ve learned homeschool curriculum is organized by homeschool approach.

35+ Best Homeschool Curriculum By Learning Style (free printable)

So, the key to making a better choice for curriculum and not wasting time or money is to understand your child’s learning style.

This doesn’t mean that you’re coddling your children when you try to meet their learning style.

Quite the opposite, we appreciate differences and realize that not all kids learn in the same way.

Isn’t this why most of us are homeschoolers? We’re trying to meet the unique needs of our children.

Styles of Homeschooling

Too, understanding the inextricable link between homeschool learning style with homeschool approach equals success.

Sure, we’re not guaranteed of being successful in homeschooling, but we can increase the odds of success when we dive into understanding learning styles.

In addition, it’s important to know that your learning style by default usually becomes your teaching style.

Then, we inflict our teaching style on our child thinking it’s the best one because we learn through it.

Next thing you know we have no success with our child.

Worst yet some public-school educators and home educators believe the problem with learning is entirely the child’s problem.

35+ Best Homeschool Curriculum By Learning Style (free printable)

As you can see, the more you understand and dig deeper into how each of your children learn, the more success you’ll have choosing curriculum wisely.

Homeschool Approaches

Instead of having all this floating around in your mind and trying to make it connected, look below at how I explain each one.

What is a homeschool approach?

A homeschool approach is the way you’re presenting information to your child. It is the way you’re teaching your children.

It can be formal, informal, through life skills, using curriculum, using a few pieces of curriculum, using no curriculum at all or a mix.

And whether you intentionally chose it or chose it by default, you’re still following a method.

And the homeschool world and educational word creates curriculum based on teaching approaches.

Too, there are many teaching approaches, but these five are the most popular in the homeschool world. Too, I tend to focus on these when helping homeschoolers.

Learning Styles Characteristics Matched to Homeschool Approach

Here are the top five homeschool styles and some of the characteristics of learning styles.

1. Unit Study Approach

Unit Study ApproachCharacteristics of Learning Style by Teacher or Student.
•Prefers a mastery approach
•Doesn’t always need detailed lesson plans
• Wants a research-based study on one topic
•Prefers to spend time on subjects which are of interest
•Will add in hands-on activities as needed and as many as needed or prefers to learn the whole topic through hands-on
•Will choose quality books or living books instead of using boring textbooks

2. Classical Approach

Classical ApproachCharacteristics of Learning Style by Teacher or Student.
• Wants a heavy emphasis on classics like ancient languages
• Thrives with a heavy language arts emphasis
• Pursues a chronological approach to learning history
• Wants to spend time learning Latin
• Focuses on learning from Great Minds of the past
• Should learn from ancient books and quality classical literature
• Education should focus on the history of Western Civilization

3. Textbook/Workbook Approach

Textbook/Workbook ApproachCharacteristics of Learning Style by Teacher or Student.
•This is the same approach used in public schools and the only approach most homeschoolers know.
• Instead of choosing an approach, some homeschoolers follow this one by default.
• Children who do well with drill and kill, love this approach.
• Parents and kids who don’t mind testing, deadlines, and don’t think textbooks are boring choose this.
• Families who want to mimic public school at home choose this.

4. Charlotte Mason Approach

Charlotte Mason ApproachCharacteristics of Learning Style by Teacher or Student.
• A gentle approach to language arts.
• There is emphasis on the arts, music, and nature.
• Learning should include forming lifelong habits
• More time should be spent outdoors.
• Literature based learning is one foundation.
• Poetry is important.

5. Unschooling Approach

Unschooling ApproachCharacteristics of Learning Style by Teacher or Student.
• Child led learning. This means if the child is moved to learn something he will.
• Unschoolers vary whether they will use curriculum or not. Some use very little, others use none.
• The fill their learning day with games, books, hands-on ideas, movies or any resource, place, person, or activity which fills their desire to learn whatever subject.
• The idea is that children will learn everything they need to know when they learn naturally and are not pushed.
•This approach recognizes that all kids are different and will learn at their pace meaning there are a variety of resources available.

Which approach do most of your choices in curriculum fall into?

Once you understand that, then you can see if it’s the right choices for your child.

Eventually you can teach your children through a variety of learning styles, but you set them up for success when a curriculum matches the homeschool approach.

Identifying Your Homeschooled Child’s Learning Personality

Finally, after years of putting the pieces together, I have created an online self-paced course on how to identify your homeschool child’s learning personality.

35+ Best Homeschool Curriculum By Learning Style (free printable)

This course will give you solid beginning points and look what you will learn.

YOU WILL LEARN:

  • How to understand the way your child prefers to learn so that you can teach him in a way that he enjoys learning;
  • How to pinpoint your child’s learning personality;
  • A starting point in understanding (barring any special learning challenges or disabilities) and accepting your child’s preferred way of taking in information;
  • Understanding when the learning personality emerges; and
  • Teaching tips for each learning personality to stop the head-butting.

Tapping into the way a child prefers to learn is essential to success.

35+ Best Homeschool Curriculum By Learning Style (free printable)

Printable for Curriculum Matched to Homeschool Approach

Finally, the printable for homeschool curriculum matched to homeschool approach will help you to see what homeschool approach you’re following.

More important, from the list above, you can have a starting point to see how your children and family learn best.

It’s almost impossible to list every curriculum, but I did list some of the major providers and resources homeschoolers are currently using.

This free printable for curriculum matched to homeschool approach is a subscriber freebie.

That means when you sign up to follow me, you get access to my Exclusive Subscriber’s Only Library and you get this freebie too.

This is how you get access quickly.
► 1) Sign up on my list.
► 2) Go to your inbox and confirm your email from the automatic reply I sent you.
►3) Look for the automatic reply giving you the password to the private subscriber’s area. You should have it soon.

Exploring Space and Astronomy Free Unit Study for Multiple Ages

IF you are already a follower/subscriber, find the MOST RECENT email from me and the password and link to the Subscribers Area are ALWAYS at the bottom of every email.

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Determine Learning Styles Tagged With: classical approach, homeschool, homeschool learning styles, homeschoolapproach, unit study approach, workbook approach

How Homeschool Learning Styles Helps You to Accept Each Child’s Differences

July 23, 2022 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

When I first heard about homeschool learning styles was when my first child was 5 years old. I wanted all the Homeschool Learning Styles tips I could get.

And 20+ years later there is still mixed science about how much difference learning styles really makes.

Today, I’m sharing how understanding homeschool learning styles of not only my children, but myself was a positive experience.

How Homeschool Learning Styles Helps You to Accept Each Child's Differences

Besides, the brain is such a fascinating machine and there is much to know about we learn.

Nobody can really be labeled with one hundred percent accuracy. We’re always learning and changing.

So, I will share how learning styles helped me to accept differences in my children.

And now that my children are young adults, I’m glad I trusted what I know about my children and educated myself about learning styles.

Further, I will help you to sort out terms because it’s not necessary to speak educationalese to have a starting place.

MORE HOMESCHOOL LEARNING STYLES TIPS

  • What Are the Top 5 Homeschool Styles
  • What Are the Homeschool Top Main 5 Learning Styles
  • How Homeschool Learning Styles Helps You to Accept Each Child’s Differences
  • How to Fuse Personality and Learning Styles to Choose the BEST Homeschool Curriculum
  • How Understanding Homeschool Teaching Styles Makes You Successful

Homeschool Style

First, this is the biggest point that helped me to understand learning styles.

And that is to move away from what a lot of educational institutions as well as universities identify as learning styles.

Without making this overly technical, a lot of professionals will write and speak about modalities.

It simply means how children or adults prefer to take in information.

Then, scientist and researchers have classified learners into kinesthetic (hands-on learner), auditory or visual.

How Homeschool Learning Styles Helps You to Accept Each Child's Differences

Also, some of that long standing research has changed to include one more group which is reading/writing. It is called the VARK model.

It stands for Visual, Auditory, Reading/ Writing, and Kinesthetic modalities for learning by (Fleming and Mills, 1992). 

However, the three major ones focused on for years are visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. As you can see right away this may or may not be helpful.

Because I was not a public-school educator prior to homeschooling, it was not helpful.

Beginning Point for Types of Homeschool Styles

Hence expanding on how these learning modalities help us teach at home is more important than understanding all the scientific in/outs.

So, instead of focusing on just the components of modalities, focus on your child’s learning personality. What is his learning personality?
This expanded view opened a whole another view of how to teach.
Switch from just learning style to learning personality. Again, this encompasses all the things that make your child unique.

In other words, look below on how I expanded the profile of each of my children to go beyond modality.

  • What is his interest?
  • Is he an introvert or extrovert?
  • Does he naturally flock toward others or prefer long periods alone?
  • Are interests nature based (not because you expose them to him), technologically oriented, or just prefers to read a book about all of it?
  • Does he prefer to just build instead of talk about it?
  • Is he competitive almost defiant?
  • How about inventing? Is that all that matters? His inventions?

These are a few of the questions I started asking myself about each of my children. I added these to their preferred way of taking in information or learning style.

In addition, I examined how I learned and taught my children. With my first child, I had no problem teaching him.

However, my second son came along and all that changed.

I wasn’t sure I was cut out to teach him because none of my tips with my first child seemed to work with him.

Then started my research to learn how to expand learning styles to learning personalities.

One of the best books to this day although it’s older is Discover Your Child’s Learning Style: Children Learn in Unique Ways – Here’s the Key to Every Child’s Learning Success.

Identifying Your Homeschooled Child’s Learning Personality

Finally, after years of putting the pieces together, I have created an online self-paced course on how to identify your homeschool child’s learning personality.

This course will give you solid beginning points and look what you will learn.

YOU WILL LEARN:

  • How to understand the way your child prefers to learn so that you can teach him in a way that he enjoys learning;
  • How to pinpoint your child’s learning personality;
  • A starting point in understanding (barring any special learning challenges or disabilities) and accepting your child’s preferred way of taking in information;
  • Understanding when the learning personality emerges; and
  • Teaching tips for each learning personality to stop the head-butting.
How Homeschool Learning Styles Helps You to Accept Each Child's Differences

And look at these other resources about learning styles

  • Homeschooling: Learning Styles – What’s the Difference anyway?
  • What Are the Top 5 Homeschool Styles

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Determine Learning Styles, Homeschooling Tagged With: classical approach, homeschool, homeschool learning styles, homeschoolapproach, learningstyles, unit study approach, workbook approach

Top 5 Homeschool Approaches New Homeschoolers Need to Know

December 21, 2018 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

After deschooling, a new homeschooler’s first step is to get a basic grasp of the top 5 homeschool approaches.

Having a basic grasp of the top 5 approaches new homeschoolers can conquer overwhelm and tame the curriculum beast.

First, understand these two basic clarifications to dispel misunderstandings about our lifestyle.

  • Deschooling is a process, not a homeschool approach. It’s the process ALL new homeschoolers or homeschoolers should do initially or from time to time if they struggle. See my link below.
  • Unschooling IS a homeschool approach. While we’re ALL homeschooling were NOT all unschooling. Big difference.

A colossal mistake is to focus first on curriculum instead of a homeschool approach. Too, taking time to read this article all the way through will put you ahead miles.

What is a Homeschool Approach

Top 5 Approaches New Homeschoolers Need to Know

Also, before jumping into homeschool approaches, you need to understand the curative power of how to tap into your teaching style and your child’s learning style. They may not be the same and from the start you may unintentionally cause problems.

Simply put, a homeschool approach or homeschool style is an educational philosophy which is implemented or followed through by using curriculum as a tool.

Besides, there are no right or wrong, better or worse, or smarter or dumber approaches. I’ve seen success stories and failures with each approach.

An approach is a method, goals, and values that are important to you. Part of deciding a homeschool approach is to determine what are your families priorities. That is why there is no right or wrong, just what is best for your family. An approach is how you will implement what you want your children to learn.

Secret Revealed: Homeschool Approaches Essentials

For example, on a history topic, a Charlotte Mason homeschooler will look for a living book on the topic while a Classical homeschooler may look for a book from the great minds of the past.

That is just one simple example.

Whether you intentionally or unintentionally chose it, EVERYONE has a homeschool approach when they begin.

It’s better to pick it for your family’s needs. So, don’t jump in and choose curriculum that is fitted for a homeschool approach that is opposite of your child’s learning style.

There are a few things for you to know so that you make an informed choice.

Next, look at my video on YouTube How To Easily Choose and Distinguish between Homeschool Educational Approaches.

Additionally, understanding these 6 fundamental points will help you to increase the odds of success. Below are the first three points.

  1. Did you know that just about ALL curriculum falls into one or more of the homeschool approaches? By narrowing down to an approach that fits your family’s values and your children’s needs you have tamed the curriculum hunt. Reduce overwhelm by choosing the method FIRST.
  2. It’s NOT necessary to know EVERY approach just like it’s not necessary to understand EVERY ingredient in a homemade dish. The most used ingredients are key to understanding the big picture. Homeschool styles or approaches are similar. You don’t need to know EVERY single one, but only the most popular one. Some styles are not as popular. Not that they are unimportant, but the top 5 homeschool approaches are what a majority of homeschoolers use. As you’re more experienced, you can delve into the others.
  3. There is NO need to choose only one. If you see that one or two follow your goals, then pick and choose the teaching points and combine them. It’s called eclectic. Eclectic is not really an approach, but a type of homeschooler.

And then look at the next three points.

Best Homeschooling Approaches

  1. With that being said, DO choose one that fits MOSTLY with your goals because it cuts down on frustration. By having one that is your dominant one, you can find curriculum that fits it first and then delve into curriculum that fits other approaches that comes in second. It REALLY reduces teaching fatigue to have one major approach that you can rely on.
  2. You can change on a dime if one is not working. There is no harm done. Maybe you’ve not accomplished what you’ve set out to do because you chose a homeschool approach that doesn’t really embrace how your child learns. He probably has still retained some of the information. Just switch approaches, chalk it up to being inexperienced, and move on.
  3. One more HUGE point to remember and that is NOT every homeschool approach has a plethora of planned out curriculum to choose from. There are more choices now than used to be, but remember you’re following an APPROACH and using curriculum as tools. Bottom line: An exceptional teacher will be able to use what she has to tweak to fit her students. Yes, it may take a bit more work, but it can be done. Be sure to see my post at the bottom where I used a textbook to do our unit study.

Moreover, here are some of the most popular homeschool styles and I’ve listed a few curriculum suggestions as examples of each.

5 Homeschool Approaches

Traditional Textbook Homeschool Approach

Characteristics

  • textboook driven
  • worksheets
  • test driven
  • follows a sequential scope and sequence
  • record keeping/grading services
  • often been called “conveyor-belt” education

Textbooks and workbooks are used. This is what a lot of us used in public school and the approach most of us are familiar with. And this is the way most new homeschoolers start out. Ask yourself why you would want to repeat the same approach that is not working in public school.

Many online public school at home providers have popped up in the last 10 years. Even online schools which may not necessarily use printed material may still under this approach because it’s based on textbooks.

A graded textbook guides teaching, and subjects are covered in increments over the course of a school year.  Textbooks may be supplemented with worktexts or books.

A few curriculum providers (both secular and Christian)

  • Abeka
  • Acellus
  • Bob Jones
  • Calvert

Unit Study Homeschool Approach

Characteristics

  • where all subjects are covered by being focused on one topic
  • child-led or parent directed
  • emphasis is on mastery-based learning instead of ages
  • natural real-life approach to learning
  • students can see the whole picture
  • creating self-learning

Unit Studies take a specific theme or topic and delves into it deeply over a period of time. The emphasis is on integrating language arts, social studies, science, history, fine arts, and math together while focused on one unit of study or theme.

The unit study philosophy emphasizes that all knowledge is connected and remembered longer when taught in an integrated fashion.

A few curriculum providers

  • Konos
  •  Home School In the Woods.
  • Intellego Unit Studies.

Charlotte Mason Homeschool Approach

Characteristics

  • oral narration
  • written narration
  • copywork
  • nature study
  • journaling
  • use of living books
  • form habits

Homeschool Approaches

Charlotte Mason was a turn of the century British educator whose approach was to teach children skills such as reading, writing, and math, and then expose them to the best sources of knowledge for all other subjects.

This means taking nature walks, visiting museums to view art up close, or reading what she called “living books.”  Textbooks are viewed as dry and dull and to be avoided in favor of richer sources of knowledge.

A few curriculum providers

  • My Father’s World
  • Trail Guide to Learning
  • Ambleside online

Classical Homeschool Approach

Characteristics

  • intensive language arts focused
  • emphasis on Latin, Greek and Hebrew
  • progression through learning based on child’s development
  • reading great books as a way to connect to great minds

In Ancient Greece, emphasis was place on learning the tools of learning. 

These tools could then be applied to the study of any subject. 

This classical” approach would have students study grammar, the dialectic or logic phase, and finally rhetoric. These tools were known as the “trivium.”

Following the study of these subjects were arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music – called the “quadrivium.” The approach is to teach learning in “stages” according to the child’s development.

The book by Dorothy Sayers’ The Lost Tools of Learning is a reference  for this approach; Susan Wise Bauer’s The Well Trained Mind was the first book of its kind to lay out curriculum suggestions for this approach.

A few curriculum providers

  • Institute for Excellence in Writing
  • Veritas Press
  • Memoria Press

Unschooling Homeschool Approach

Characteristics

  • learning is directed almost entirely by the child which is where unschoolers differ from other homeschoolers
  • instead of teaching being at the center, the child is at the center of learning
  • children should not be forced to learn something against their will
  • more access to the real-world
  • creating self-learners
  • to provide an environment with rich resources

Homeschool Styles Are Homeschool Approaches

John Holt was a twentieth-century American educator who believed that children’s natural curiosity and desire to learn were destroyed by traditional schooling. 

He is generally associated with the unschooling approach, which focuses on nonstructural learning that allows children to pursue their own interests and believes that children should be included in a meaning full way in the life of adults.

The approach has the child at the center of learning and subjects revolve around his interests.

The child is exposed to a rich environment of resources, including an adult who models a lifestyle of curiosity and learning.  Formal academics are pursued when the need arises or when the child indicates willingness.

A few curriculum providers

  • Because learning is child-led, homeschoolers will have many resources in their homes from living books to games. Also, every day learning experiences are used to teach every day. Many curriculum resources are unschooling friendly.

Look at some of these posts The Big List of Unit Study Hands-on (and Hands-off) Curriculum and Big Ol’ List of All-In-One Homeschool Curriculum (a.k.a Boxed) which will help you with curriculum.

I hope these tips give you a starting point.

Top 5 Approaches New Homeschoolers Need to Know

You’ll want to read these other tips.

  • Deschooling: Step One for the New Homeschooler (the Definitions, the Dangers, and the Delight)
  • Mixing It Up: How to Combine Homeschool Approaches (Without Losing Your Mind) 
  • How to Use a Boxed Curriculum without Giving Up Your Homeschool Approach 
  • 5 Signs That You Need to Switch Your Homeschool Approach 
  • 3 Things To Try When Your Hands-Off Homeschooling Approach is a Failure 
  • Why Buying Curriculum Won’t Make You a Homeschooler (But What Will)

Hugs and love ya,

After deschooling, a new homeschooler’s first step is to get a basic grasp of homeschool approaches. Having a basic grasp of the top 5 approaches new homeschoolers can conquer overwhelm and tame the curriculum beast. CLICK HERE to read this SUPER helpful list!
After deschooling, a new homeschooler’s first step is to get a basic grasp of homeschool approaches. Having a basic grasp of the top 5 approaches new homeschoolers can conquer overwhelm and tame the curriculum beast. CLICK HERE to read this SUPER helpful list!

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Be an Exceptional Homeschool Teacher, Begin Homeschooling, Determine Learning Styles, How To - - - Tagged With: Charlotte Mason, classical approach, homeschool, homeschool style, homeschoolapproach, learning styles, learningstyles, relaxedhomeschooling, textbooks, unit studies

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