Approaches

When you begin your homeschooling journey, one of the first steps is to figure out what approach, or method, to use. Below are a list of links to sites that describe the different homeschooling approaches.

Charlotte Mason	Classical Education	Lifestyle of Learning	Principal Approach
Ruth Beechick	Traditional	Unit Studies	Using Notebooks

Choosing Your Approach

Home School Central

Advice for new homeschoolers. Includes: choosing curriculum, socialization, having small children, areas of learning, and resources.

Homeschool Counsel

Articles written by Chris or Ellyn Davis of the Elijah Company. Includes subjects on choosing the right curricula and creating a learning environment in your home.

Approaches

Charlotte Mason

The Charlotte Mason approach is based on the regular core subjects such as the three R's, and in addition incorporates the fine arts. Children deal directly with the best books, music, and art. They are trained to narrate (tell back) what they learned so that the emphasis is placed on what they do know versus what they do not know. This training in essay-style examinations will better prepare children for adulthood and college.

Some of the other aspects of a Charlotte Mason education include the formation of good habits, keeping a nature diary and a home-made book of the centuries. Her method includes a unique style of dictation and spelling both of which can be taught for free.

Classical Education

The core of Classical Education is the trivium, which simply put is a teaching model that seeks to tailor the curriculum subject matter to a child’s cognitive development. The trivium emphasizes concrete thinking and memorization of the facts of the subjects in grade school; analytical thinking and understanding of the subjects in middle school; and abstract thinking and articulation of the subjects in high school.

The combination of the progression of learning from facts to understanding to expression (the stages of the trivium) and the additional classical subjects, work together to give children the tools to think for themselves and to be independent, life-long learners. That is the primary goal of Classical Education.

Unit Studies

It is defined as an in-depth study of a topic (space, trees, cars, etc.) that takes into account many areas of the topic, such as geography, science, history, art, etc. It is a complete immersion into the topic so that the student will see things as a "whole" instead of bits and pieces learned throughout their education.

This concept of learning closely resembles the way that we learn and approach problems as an adult in today's world. Given a specific project as an engineer, I am expected to do the research to thoroughly define and understand all facets of the problem, as well as coming up with some solutions based on my newly-gained knowledge. The unit study approach works on the same principle, exposing students to an area for them to study in depth, examining the history, development, political impact, etc.

Hello! My name is Lynn Hogan and I have been homeschooling for a NUMBER of years. I created this site for several different reasons. I have talked to a LOT of homeschoolers over the years and have learned that we all NEED help and support from one another. If you have questions about homeschooling or curriculum, this might be the place for you to get answers.

Using Notebooks

One of the biggest benefits to notebooks is the children learn the JOY of finding out information and developing a love of learning.

The greatest advantage to the notebook concept is that children will learn at their level and a little above their level. They will be stretched, but not held back.