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How to Mesh Your Personality With Homeschooling When They Collide

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, I’m sharing how to mesh your personality with homeschooling.

We bring our view of what is education to the homeschool world based on our experiences. That’s not the shocking part. How to mesh our personality with homeschooling when they collide is the painful part.

If you’re like me, you’re a product of public school or maybe you fit in the category of being a public school teacher much like the ones I’ve mentored through the years.

When your idea of schooling is constant testing (without being state mandated), over technical lesson plans, and giving daily grades, it can collide with the relaxed homeschool approach.

How to implement the relaxed and successful approach of homeschooling while maintaining much needed guidance for your structured personality is not easy, but it’s possible.

Having started my journey being severely structured and then learning how to implement a delight-directed approach was a gradual process.

How to Mesh Your Personality with Homeschooling

I didn’t take years to adjust to a relaxed approach when I saw that the delight directed approach worked.

However, the organized part of my personality knew that some guidance was needed so important skills like math and writing did not get left out.

Using strengths to shore up weaknesses in my teaching style was the key for me.

Look at how I started slowly until I lit a fire in my kids for learning.

Tip 1: Start with a content subject.

It takes time to move away from segmented subjects and understand that all bodies of knowledge are connected.

So when going from structured to relaxed, start with history, geography, or science to get your feet wet. Look at Skill Subjects vs. Content Subjects: What’s the Difference.

The content subjects don’t have to be introduced or mastered in an exact order like skill subjects, which are the three Rs – reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic.

For example, if you choose to cover the American Civil War in 4th grade or 7th grade, there will not be any big gaps in your teaching.

You obviously would expect more research, writing, and maybe map work from a middle schooler than an elementary-aged kid, but that is the only difference.

Tip 2: Field Trips, Living Books, and Projects.

The next thing I had to quickly learn was that tools matter. You can’t expect a talented artist to create masterpieces with lame tools.

Kids are the same; learning tools don’t have to be expensive, but kids need relaxed and unstructured time to use them.

Throwing in a field trip as a second thought instead of being the major learning experience does not stir passion or kindle in the slightest a love of learning.

Surrounding your kids with living books, which are books that explain topics in story form, taking regular meaningful field trips and pursuing projects your kids are passionate about stokes the creative juices.

Look at 5 Steps to Choosing Geography Living Books Your Children Will Love and 13 Living History Books about Ancient Greece.

Also grab some tips from 22 Awesome Homeschool History Field Trips.

Tip 3: EVERYONE is passionate about something.

I hear it all the time.

My kid is not interested in anything. He just wants to play games or ride his bike, or ___ (insert anything here other than “school”). Even games can have educational value.

Turn fun into learning. This is the hard part for personalities who want to stay structured, but I have many examples to show you how. Here is one. Look at my post Screen-Free Educational Activities for Kids Who Love Video Games.

If you fill up every bit of time with scheduled activities, a child has no time to linger. He needs time to investigate, explore, and discover.

Lingering can produce laziness, but it can also produce a lively, energetic kid IF you provide opportunities.

Between you and I, it can be easier for a structured personality to do this because you have a natural bent toward wanting to be organized.

Look at the list below to provide opportunities:

  • introduce a totally different subject or course that your family doesn’t know much about like marine biology, interior design, or forensic science. What kid doesn’t want to learn about crime. Don’t focus on grading or completing, just introduce and whet your child’s appetite.
  • trade reading for doing. This is not so easy for structured folks who feel that reading a book completely equates to learning sticking. Reading recipes does not make an elite chef. Trading reading for doing looks like this: Instead of reading books only about being interested in pets or animals, volunteer at an animal shelter. If a child is too young, start an easy pet sitting business. When a child wants to learn about music, he plays a piano or guitar. When a child wants to learn about math, he bakes cookies, plays board games, learns by dominoes, learns by a card game, learns by hopscotch and can still read a book. When a teen wants to learn about law, call a law office and have him volunteer for a day or two a week.

The Difference Between Lazy and Relaxed Homeschooler

Tip 4: Turn your weakness into a strength.

One fear of relaxed homeschoolers is not covering everything. It’s the same fear for home educators who have a more structured approach.

Turn your weakness into a strength by creating organizational systems which align with a more relaxed approach.

Hear my heart when I say to let go of all organization is not the answer. It never worked for me. Find your balance by using what your gifts are for your kids.

From my struggle, I created the wildly popular 7 Step Homeschool Planner. It’s a powerful tool for relaxed organization.

More Transitioning to a Relaxed Homeschool Lifestyle Tips

A few key points to take away about my planner is that it’s UNDATED. That is huge for folks who feel once they’ve planned they are behind when the first sick day comes.

Not so with my undated planner. You simply stop schooling and pick up on the next lesson number.

In addition, my drive to do worksheets only turned to creating lapbooks for our unit studies for my kids. I have dozens of them for you here on my site.

I took a strength of organization and aligned it with a hands-on tool like lapbooks.

Finding the Non-School Homeschool Teacher Within

Look at these other ways you can use your strengths:

  • create a simple checklist of subjects for the day. Don’t tell the exacts if you want to add more delight-directed learning to your day. Simply put down your subjects like math, spelling, and vocabulary for the day. Challenge your kid to find a way to satisfy one of them with a non-traditional way to learn. Of course, don’t be like that lame artist or chef I mentioned earlier by not providing enough tools. Provide the tools and books and resources.
  • alternate subjects that you want covered like science and history instead of covering both on one day. This gives your child more time to research and delve into a topic.
  • provide visual communication of what you expect for the day. Visual communication like charts and calendars equals a powerful communicator.

One of the most important things to remember about relaxed or child-directed learning is that it looks different for each family.

One weave that is common among all families is that the parent is more of a facilitator. Tihs will help you to learn to blend your personality with homeschooling.

Think:

  • of your role as guiding instead of dictating,
  • how can you give more choices while still meeting your expectations for the day, and
  • how can I add other tools in my home so that passions are fed or discovered.
How to Mesh Your Personality With Homeschooling When They Collide.We bring our view of what is education to the homeschool world based on our experiences. That's not the shocking part. How to mesh our personality with homeschooling when they collide is the painful part. CLICK HERE if you want to go from structured to relax! #homeschool #homeschooling

Do not over complicate the process; use life happenings or natural things to be the teacher for you and your children.

Tip 5: Expand the definition of homeschool curriculum and use life happenings.

For example, use the seasons. Use springtime to make a garden, use winter to learn about winter birds or hibernation, use summer to learn about the ocean and ocean animals and used fall to learn about the cycles of life or the tides or moon.

Here are a few more of my units to help you get going and find the teacher within you and more important to mesh your personality with homeschooling.

The key to relaxed learning is use everything around you and everyday to teach.

The last important point to share is that you need to expand your definition of curriculum so your kids are not always sticking their nose in a book to learn something.

You know we love reading. A lot of homeschoolers are passionate about reading, but learning goes beyond that.

Look at 45 Ways to Define Homeschool Curriculum.

You’ve got this! Go now and conquer!♥

Hugs and love ya,

Top 5 Homeschool Approaches New Homeschoolers Need to Know

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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

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

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.

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!

3 Reasons to NOT Avoid the Homeschool Middle Ground

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3 Reasons to NOT Avoid the Homeschool Middle Ground @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Fighting mini battles while we homeschool becomes part of our homeschool lifestyle. And it’s true that for many issues involving education, homeschoolers don’t wade in lukewarm waters nor take the middle of the ground approach. Being firmly decisive is key to surviving the harsh amount of negativity that is thrown our way.

Standing Firm on Homeschool Middle Ground

However, many things in homeschooling are more successful when you can step back and straddle the middle road. Sometimes taking an all or nothing approach can be counter productive, even extreme at times.

Look at these 3 reasons to NOT avoid the homeschool middle ground.

ONE/  When you do a unit study with multiple ages of children.

You can set your homeschool day up for failure when you use a learning resource that is too high above your oldest child’s head or one that is too young below it.

It’s a common mistake; choosing a unit study resource that is the grade level of your oldest child.

The secret to individualizing a delightful unit study topic is to  choose the middle grade between the ages of your children.

Seasoned homeschool veterans know that it’s easier to scale down activities for younger grades. Use the example of a plant unit study.

Younger students can color, label and dissect a plant. Older students or high school students can use the same unit study, but expand the activities on it to a high school level.

For example, older students can include plant history, learn about the local plants in your area and even spend some time in an apprenticeship learning from local professionals about herbs or plants. Ideas to use for an older student spring from the middle of the grade resource that you are currently using.

Not all ideas are so easy to round up for an older learner, but they are more useful than a resource used for your youngest learner.

TWO/ When you mix and match homeschool curriculum.

It’s easy to use the same curriculum provider with all of your children. Why would you do that though?

Each child is as unique as each homeschool family or should be.

Take the middle ground, avoid the extreme by choosing just one homeschool curriculum and use pieces and parts of a boxed curriculum, unit study and another curriculum to create a study that is unique for each child.

If you’re using just one type of curriculum, then one or more of your children may not be benefiting from it as much as another child. Mixing and matching homeschool curriculum will ensure a better fit for all of your children.

THREE/ When you begin homeschooling high school.

I did it too when I started homeschooling high school and that is to right away in 9th grade take a sock it to him attitude when planning.

High school is not about controlling your teen through his high school years, but it’s about working alongside each other. It is a give and take.

You give because your teen is a different person than you and your husband and he has goals and inspirations now that he too wants to meet. But it’s a take also because you don’t want to give up all your goals or plans for your teen’s future and some things will be must-haves in high school.

What I’m saying is that you choose the middle ground in high school when you help a teen keep balanced in all subjects until he decides his goals.

Some adults don’t even know what they won’t do, so don’t put a lot of pressure on a teen. Take the middle road by keeping subjects balanced until a mommy track, college track or job track is decided.

Also, grab some other tips from my other articles Homeschool Confession – My Homeschool Mistakes, Go Ahead and Make a Mistake: Homeschool Without Fear and Homeschooling – Beginnings are Usually Scary, Endings are Usually Sad, but It’s What’s In the Middle that Counts!.

Don’t give up the fight in touting the decisive ways we need to take a stand when it comes to homeschooling, but just know that the middle ground can not only be productive, but necessary many times in your journey.

What else do you take the middle ground on while homeschooling?

Hugs and love ya,

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Mixing It Up: How to Combine Homeschool Approaches (Without Losing Your Mind)

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Mixing It Up How to Combine Homeschool Approaches (Without Losing Your Mind) @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Get off the curriculum hunt and get back to understanding just your child. It sounded sane enough and it was because it was my mother’s advice. Today, in mixing it up: how to combine homeschool approaches (without losing your mind) is not about loving or leaving a homeschool approach, but how to combine your favorite ideas from each one.

When You’re Not a Curriculum Expert

It can be painful to make a decision that you thought was the best for your family. It was for me. Not only was it painful to leave my loved classical approach, but it can have you questioning your ability to teach your kids.

Finding balance is not easy and like others, I made some knee jerk decisions about curriculum with my classical approach and then found myself coming back to some of the things I loved about it. Look at my post, How to Use a Boxed Curriculum Without Giving Up Your Homeschool Approach.

Look at these things that I learned and that I hope will help you to avoid the same insane trip I made.

Analyzing a few of these things before I dropped my homeschool approach would have saved me  needless stress.

Forget What Type of Homeschooler You *Think* You Are.

I know, we all like to say that we are classical, unit study homeschooler or unschooler or whatever type, but I learned that choosing an approach right away is not what is most important.

What is important is analyzing which parts of a homeschool approach will work for your family.

By labeling yourself right away or identifying right away with a group, you think you may have to follow all of the parts of a particular approach.

That is what I did. Because I wanted strong readers, I felt the only way to do that was with a classical approach.

That brings me to the second point, which is to identify the teaching idea or suggestion that makes you excited about teaching.

Examine EACH part of a Homeschool Approach.

Research in great detail about what you do like about the approach you are drawn to.

Again, I did this wrong. I read in generalities about the different homeschool approaches and then I chose a homeschool approach instead analyzing the pieces first.

It reminds me of a point that Susan Wise Bauer said when teaching reading and that is to teach pieces to whole.

Teaching is much the same when you are trying to determine a starting point. What am I talking about?

Look at these fine points that I wanted to teach though I didn’t know how to bundle them up, so to speak, as a homeschool approach.

  • Having a love for learning lifelong was important.
  • Being able to teach not only rigorous academics, but a Biblical view was important.
  • Having lifelong readers was important.
  • Hands-on learning is important, especially for wiggly boys.
  • Learning as much together as we could.

Comparing what is the mainstay points of each homeschool approach with your goals allows you to see the strong points and the not so good points about each approach.

It Only Matters How Your Kids Learn.

Another vital point to mixing homeschool approaches is to read about, become an expert in and learn the best points of each homeschool approach that works for your kids. This was a fantastic point made by my mother.

Again, this is a huge area I made a mistake in. Not only did I overwhelm myself in trying to understand all the approaches, my focus first should of been on how my kids learn.

That is the reason I had to let go of doing classical homeschooling because it is not hands-on focused.

Mix It All Up and Determine Which Approach Has More of Your Checklist.

Then next because you need a starting point for curriculum, one homeschool approach needs to be your dominant approach.

It helps to narrow your focus not only for curriculum, but about following homeschool blogs and reading books that give you tips on how best to teach the homeschool approach you chose.

For example, look at this list below that helped me to see that a unit study approach was a much better choice for my family.

  • Though reading and history are two favorite luvs of my mine, my goal is to have my sons to introduced to a well rounded list of literature. I know the classical approach is primarily history focus. So I crossed out that part about the classical approach. The unit study approach allowed us to read what we are learning about or our topic and it is a much more better fit for my kids.
  • When it comes to history, the classical approach about covering history in order makes complete sense to me and my kids. So we followed the classical approach when studying history.
  • I love the hands-on approach to unschooling because thought it’s not my learning style, most children thrive, including mine, with a large dose of hands-on activities. However, I prefer a much more predictable start and end to my day and do not leave it completely up to my kids (child lead learning) to find out what they want to learn about. We need more organization, but I take the hands-on aspect of this approach.
  • The relaxed approach of unschooling also appeals to us because it is opposite of my personality. I other words, I don’t leave it up to me to make the complete decision because my teaching style in the beginning tended to be strict and austere. (ugly, I know, but it’s true.) I followed how my boys learned with a relaxed approach and that dictated taking that piece from this approach.
  • Another concept that appealed to us that I did not find in the classical approach or the unschooling approach was learning until mastery. Unit study is a mastery learning approach. My children could learn until their appetite was satisfied and some subjects have very little review or repeat the next year because of how in depth your child go when learning a topic.

When I learned, albeit the hard way, that mixing a homeschool approach should start first with understanding the way my kids learn best and not what just appealed to me and letting go of my ideal homeschooling (i.e. fantasy), it allowed me to follow my homeschool dreams.

Knowing where to begin is key.

Are you struggling with your homeschool approach?

102 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum is one of my favorite resources in helping you to determine learning styles and understanding homeschool approaches.

Hugs and love ya,

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The Great Homeschool Hoax – Public School At Home?

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Like a lot of new homeschoolers, I too just copied the public school system in everything from keeping a similar schedule, to curriculum selection, and even testing my first child, Mr. Senior 2013.

Public School at Home

You see, I was doing public school at home.

I hadn’t embraced the freedom that homeschooling offered. I was afraid.

I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to lesson plan, to teach all of my children at one time, that my children were going to be behind, that I needed testing for grade placement, that my kids need other children their age and that I would totally fail them as an educator.

The Great Homeschool Hoax – Public School At Home. Understanding the two COMPLETELY different approaches is key by Tina Robertson

Did I mention I even had feelings of guilt questioning myself if I was a good mother?

Why do we do that as moms?

I agree that today is so much more easier to homeschool because of all the resources available to us.

However, in one particular way homeschooling was easier way back when because homeschoolers then grasped the full meaning of homeschooling.

About 10 years or so ago, public school at home providers popped up and became popular.

The meaning of homeschooling has become obscured because these companies tout that they support homeschooling. They may or may not.

Can You Really Have One Foot in Homeschool and One in Public School?

Until you let go of the public school at home mentality which models everything after the public school and where you are only assisting your children at home while somebody else teaches them, you will never embrace the freedom homeschooling offers.

Public School at Home Characteristics

  • biggest difference – government controlled
  • normally offered online
  • have testing required
  • have parent and teacher conferences
  • maintain a public school schedule
  • curriculum is put together by educational consultants even though public school at home touts that you as the parent choose readers or have some choice. You may or may not.
  • can be accredited
  • tout they are free because they are public school and public school is free
  • have a teacher assigned to your child
  • a curriculum is one grade level straight across the board a/k/a boxed curriculum or one size fits all.
  • mostly uses textbooks. Some online school use only textbooks while others throw in a few classical readers.
  • schedule is set up to complete on their timetable. Though many programs offer flexibility because they are government controlled, schedules have to be maintained.

If this sounds like the arrangement you just left, then why would you want to repeat it at home?

Homeschool Characteristics

  • biggest difference – parent controlled
  • you can choose all online curriculum, part physical books or mix and match
  • testing becomes the right of the parent who knows the child best and understands that a test is nothing more than a tool
  • conferences are not needed because as the tutor of your children you know what they’re learning. Even if you just begin to homeschool, it doesn’t take long for you to know exactly which subjects your child excels in and which subjects he will need support for.
  • your schedule is adopted based on your family’s needs and not based on an outdated school schedule, which was set up based on a society that was much more agricultural than our society is today.  If schooling year round suits your family, you simply begin and don’t need approval by a governmental agency.
  • curriculum is put together by a parent because she knows the child the best. If the curriculum is not working, it can be changed on a dime. Being in control doesn’t mean you can’t use something laid out by another company, but then that is your choice.
  • accreditation is no longer a term which homeschoolers fear because they know it doesn’t have anything to do with the value of an education. Be sure to read my article, Accreditation – Removing the Shroud of Mystery.
  • homeschoolers know that public school at home is not free. It may be cost-free, but given up freedom like control, having stressful deadlines for testing and parent teacher conferences cost.  Many homeschool educuators give up well-paying jobs because their desire to stay home with their kids is greater than their desire to pursue a career they may even be passionate about.  They know that homeschooling for excellence doesn’t always mean having the most expensive curriculum though they are willing to sacrifice other things if a pricier curriculum is better. Be sure to read my article, Is Homeschooling Expensive? Check out this Essential Guide in How to Homeschool Well on a Budget.
  • children are tutored one-to-one by their parents. Reports show that parents play a major role in their child having above normal intelligence when tutored.
  • the parent stays in control of whether they should purchase a grade level in a box or mix and match grade levels adjusted to the child’s natural abilities.
  • homeschool families don’t have to settle for a few well placed classical or living books placed into a curriculum, but can choose living books consistently.
  • the homeschool schedule is completely flexible to adjust to the needs of the family each year.

There is not anything that the public school at home approaches offers that an informed and hardworking educator at home can’t overcome.

If it’s structure you crave, then choose a laid out program where you are not having constant interference from an outside source.

If you need a more budget friendly curriculum be sure to check out my post Digital Homeschool Curriculum – Big Ol’ List.

Pursuing sports, music, art or any other extra curricular involvement is done easier when you set up your schedule to fit your children’s passion.

Being in control of my children’s education is one of the most satisfying and fulfilling jobs as a mother and parent I ever could have.

We were never promised it would be easy in raising our children, but they are blessings.

What we are assured of is that we will be provided with what we need to aim our children at their targets.

I have been blessed over and over many times, but not without some tears shed, lots of elbow grease, lots of prayers and a dogged determination to stick to what is best for my family. You can too!

Don’t forget so easily what many homeschoolers who homeschooled in the past knew, which is that homeschooling is a precious and extraordinary way of education that doesn’t mix with any other approach.

Look at some of these other resources that will help you to stick to the homeschooling approach.

Hugs and love ya,

The Great Homeschool Hoax - Public School at Home @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus