Homeschool Options?
Jen Croce recently presented the following essay on several homeschooling instructional strategies that can be applied. I found it interesting yet some points were perplexing so I decided to reprint it for your information with my comments inserted. Please respond with your thoughts.

Thinking About Homeschooling? What Approach to Take
15.FEB.10

By Jen Croce, Founder of the Billerica Homeschooling Association
Once you decide to homeschool you are faced with the big question, so how do I teach my child? There are several approaches to homeschooling. The approach you decide to take will depend upon several factors such as why you are homeschooling, the amount of time and money you have to invest in it and what and how you want your child to learn. Here is a brief description of a few homeschooling approaches.
For families that like structure and having concrete lessons there is the school at home approach. This approach is just what it sounds like parents buy a curriculum and structure their day much like school. Families that use this approach may vary the amount of time they spend on a subject or skip around the curriculum to best meet their child’s needs.

This approach is by far the most common especially for the beginning homeschooling parent who may not have developed the confidence to experiment quite yet. If you are considering enrolling your child in a home school program that is affiliated with your local school district or county office of education you will most likely be required to follow this approach. Some public school programs will make concessions regarding when you teach state adopted educational standards assigned to specific grade levels but rest assured that you will be expected to teach, at a minimum, the heavily weighted standards at some time during the school year.

The Charlotte Mason approach is based on the Liberal Arts. The focus of this approach is to bring a wide variety of meaningful subjects to children via literature, masterpiece artwork, poetry, and various other humanities.
Some families enjoy using unit studies. This approach capitalizes on your child’s or family’s interest. For example, if your child was interested in oceans you could read books about oceans, visit the aquarium or create one at home, make ocean themed art, learn about oceanography, study the geography of the various oceans around the world and the sea animals that live in them. Basically you teach different subjects and skills around what your child is interested in.
Both the Charlotte Mason and Unit Study approaches require that the parent have a thorough knowledge of the subject they are presenting and their child’s academic ability, possibly as it relates to state wide grade level standards. Obviously presenting concepts that are appropriate to your child’s maturity and intellectual ability should be engaging and fun. Additionally, it is always wise to compare/evaluate your child’s progress with their classroom educated peers since an unforeseen change in life style might dictate a reluctant return to the traditional classroom setting. Once age appropriate content is established home schooling parents can integrate all of the subjects as they correspond to the theme or focus of the educational strategy being used ie., the development of age appropriate math lessons or literature selections that are integrated with an ocean or art theme.

Modern technology has made internet and DVD/video homeschooling become popular. Virtual classrooms and tutors are available at your fingertips. You can access hundreds of homeschooling and curriculum websites with one Google search. You can buy interactive CD ROMS to teach your child the subjects you may not feel competent in.
The approach my family uses is called unschooling. Unschooling is more than just an educational approach, is it an entirely different way of parenting. With unschooling there is no curriculum or set agenda. Unschooling incorporates the philosophy that day to day events and interactions create your child’s learning opportunities. You work in partnership with your child and follow his/her lead in regards to what and how they learn. You trust that your child will learn what he or she needs to.
Unschooling assumes that the child has the ability at a particular age to choose age appropriate concepts or curriculum “on their own”. I have observed successful unschooling when the parent allowed the child to choose the path and the parent provided challenging and appropriate content to support the learning. Again, this is a difficult endeavor to take on since the parent’s job is to develop a complete learning plan, possibly a structured curriculum, that is centered around the child’s particular interest at the time.

Unschooling focuses on being present and finding joy and connection in everything you do with your child. It is a method I have not perfected, but that I work on each day. Because of this, my child is not the only one who is learning.
So true, any teacher who is learning along with their children and from their children will always be effective and successful.

Most families take an eclectic approach to homeschooling meaning that they incorporate and use pieces from different methods. Homeschooling families may try various approaches or change their approach as they discover how their child learns and what works best for the family.