Some families have decided to skip school and forge their own educational paths.
What is Homeschooling?
Homeschooling is an educational choice where kids are educated at home and not in a traditional classroom setting. There is an idea that homeschooling is children sitting at a table with a stack of textbooks and never leaving the house. But the stereotypical notion of homeschooling often doesn’t come close to describing the scope of this popular education movement.
Homeschooling encompasses a wide range of approaches. Sometimes it is parent-led, and other times, it is child-led. More commonly, it is a combination of both of these things. The parents take responsibility for their child’s education, but the child directs the learning. This may result in a personalized education that looks at learning holistically.
Homeschooling is a non-traditional way of learning that aims to teach children how to think, not what to think. Sometimes, it involves a curriculum, but this is not required for a homeschooling education.
A brief history of the Homeschooling Movement
Homeschooling as a movement has spread throughout the world, but the first stirrings of the modern homeschooling movement began in the 1970s. John Holt, an American educational theorist, and teacher, argued against the oppressive classroom environments he saw in his local schools. He called on parents to give their children learning freedom in a self-directed way.
Raymond Moore shared a similar idea and advocated for home education until age 9. Holt and Moore may have laid the groundwork for the homeschooling movement in the USA, but Fundamentalist Christians took over in the 1980s.
19th century British educator Charlotte Mason advocated for natural learning that looked at the whole child. These ideas became popular with the 20th century homeschooling movement, and other alternative education movements, such as Montessori, Waldorf, and Roman Catholicism, began to provide curriculums to homeschooling families.
Charlotte Mason's learning approach
Mason believed “education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life”. Mason explained the importance of the home environment, cultivating good habits, and filling children with living thoughts and ideas rather than dry facts. Mason advocated for educating all aspects of a child’s development and not just their mind.
Her approach to education said goodbye to textbooks. Instead, she advocated for using living books. These are narrative books written by authors knowledgeable and passionate about the topic.
Rather than worksheets, Mason chose narration and copy work. She said that children retain information better when narrating it, improving comprehension.
The Charlotte Mason method draws inspiration from the natural world and time spent outdoors. She explained that school should be a feast of ideas and ideals, and children should be exposed to artists, composers, nature studies, and handicrafts.
Classical homeschooling
Classical homeschooling is based on the historical concept of Trivium, which calls for grammar, logic, and rhetoric. It is an educational approach that leans heavily on root languages like Greek and Latin as well as classical literature, logic, and reasoning.
The grammar component is introduced early and forms an essential building block for future learning. It takes advantage of a child’s natural ability to absorb information and often involves rote learning and memorization.
The logic stage happens as children become curious about cause and effect and begin to ask why. During this time, the Scientific Method is often introduced as well as historical events and critiques of the information being learned. The development of abstract thought characterizes this stage.
The rhetoric stage is usually the high school portion of homeschooling. At this point, students can start applying what they’ve learned, develop their own opinions, and have their own experiences.
Eclectic homeschooling
Eclectic homeschooling draws on diverse sources, allowing families to create individual and personalized learning journeys. This is an interest-based approach that is customized for each family. Eclectic homeschooling is a pick-and-choose approach as families use the areas of different curriculums and learning ideologies to design a highly personalized learning journey.
It aims to offer flexibility and the ability to adapt the curriculum to the needs of the children. Unlike a traditional curriculum, the eclectic method allows families to develop their own way of homeschooling.
For example, eclectic homeschoolers could have a Charlotte Mason-inspired nature study session after a Waldorf morning time. They could follow that with a thematic unit study on space travel, incorporating project-based learning with a 3D solar system and a visit to the space museum.
An eclectic homeschooling approach is richly varied, allowing families to have a comprehensive curriculum that follows the interests of the children.
Unit studies
If you were in a traditional school, chances are you have experienced unit studies for yourself. They are often used in public preschools and are learning activities linked to a specific theme. A unit study is a topic that children learn about for a defined period of time, and different subjects are linked through the central theme.
For example, you could do a unit study on the potato. This study could include the history of the potato, a potato science experiment, a cooking lesson, potato stamp art, and a biology lesson on how a potato plant grows.
Unit studies allow a hands-on approach that includes traditional subjects like science, math, history, language, and biology. These units are tailored to meet the child’s interests and needs while incorporating multiple subjects. It is a mastery-based approach that aims for immersive learning. Unit studies are a popular homeschooling option as they work well with mixed-age children.
School-at-Home
When you saw the title of this tile, you probably had a picture in your head of what homeschooling looks like. Was that image of a mother and her children sitting in an at-home classroom doing copy work or math sums? If it was, you would be thinking of the school-at-home approach to homeschooling.
With this approach, families try to replicate the classroom experience at home. It usually involves a full curriculum, online program, textbooks, and schedules. It can be done independently, but it’s often teacher-facilitated and administered by a school online.
School-at-home programs are aligned with national learning standards and are administered by grade like a traditional school. They work at the same pace as the mainstream education system and are often an easier option for parents wanting to homeschool.
Montessori Approach
Maria Montessori, an Italian physician, created the Montessori approach, which has become a widespread alternative education movement. But it is also a popular homeschooling approach, particularly for younger children.
It is a child-centered pedagogy that advocates free movement, mixed-age learning, and large unstructured blocks of time. These principles make it an appealing homeschooling approach that allows parents and students to engage with experiential and age-appropriate learning. Homeschooling families often have children of multiple ages, so a Montessori approach could provide a good way to facilitate learning that also allows for children to learn from each other.
The Montessori method is about following a child’s natural interests rather than formal teaching methods. It encourages independence and autonomy by nurturing the child’s strengths and passions. It aims to offer a sensory learning method for young kids to discover themselves and their world.
Montessori curriculums are available, but many homeschooling families create their own curricula based on the Montessori principles.
Unschooling: Self-directed learning
Unschooling is the most unconventional approach to homeschooling. American educational theorist John Holt started the idea in the 1970s and advocated for student-centered, self-directed, experiential learning.
This is a learn-as-you-go approach to education with no curriculum, no tests or assessments, and no rigid structure. Parents act as facilitators and trust that their kids will learn what they need to when they are ready.
Self-directed learning and unstructured free play are vital principles of unschooling. It is a multi-dimensional approach based on experiences and interactions. Unschooling is usually passion-driven and incorporates project-based learning.
It’s almost impossible to describe a day in the life of an unschooling family because each one looks unique. For example, an unschooled child could wake up, make breakfast and spend some time playing Minecraft online. Afterward, they may meet up with friends or head to a sports club. To end the day, they may spend time creating a YouTube video, reading, or learning to play an instrument.
Individual vs. cooperative homeschooling
Homeschooling is often thought of as a very individual way of learning. Yes, children are usually in their homes with their immediate family as they learn together. But many homeschooling families choose to enroll in various cooperative groups.
A homeschool co-op is a group of students who learn together through practical and hands-on projects. There’s usually active parent participation or, in some cases, a hired professional. Homeschooling co-ops can have a full-time or part-time program.
There are co-ops for different subjects such as science, art, field trips, or life skills. A learning cooperative can be a group of families who share in the education of their children through a shared curriculum, or it can just be a group of students getting together to socialize, learn, and share ideas. Cooperatives can have different rules and regulations based on the area and the number of members.
Benefits and drawbacks of Homeschooling
Homeschooling offers families academic flexibility. This could be for families who want to travel or students with specialized learning needs. The child-centered nature of homeschooling may help develop lifelong learners as children can actively engage with what they are learning. Many parents have chosen to homeschool to avoid bullying and the pressures that come with mainstream education.
However, homeschooling has some drawbacks, such as social stigma. Although it is a widespread form of alternative learning, there is still a stigma around home education. Parents also need to make more effort to engage their children in sports, social groups, and academic support. Even with a vigorous social program, homeschooled children may still have lower instances of social interactions than traditionally educated children. Homeschooling is not for everyone, and some homeschooled children might want to enter a mainstream institution. If they have had a flexible educational program, they may not be at the same level as their peers.
