Home Schooling Methodologies

A home schooling methodology is a philosophy, or road map, of how you will structure and organize your teaching. There are almost as many home schooling methodologies as there are opinions on how to teach. Outlined here are some of the most popular and widely accepted home schooling methodologies.

Charlotte Mason

The Charlotte Mason home schooling methodology is based on the theories of the 19th century educator Charlotte Mason. It advocates making use of "best sources" of knowledge, literature, and the arts. The Charlotte Mason methodology makes use of "living books" to make subjects come alive. It focuses on core subjects and incorporates fine arts.

Classical Education

The classical method of education is education as it was taught in the middle ages. In this home schooling methodology there are three stages of learning, referred to as "The Trivium". These include:

  1. The grammar or knowledge stage. This stage involves learning facts and the elements of language.
  2. The dialectic or understanding stage. This stage involves reasoning relationships and drawing conclusions based on learned facts.
  3. The rhetoric or wisdom stage. This stage involves using language in composition, oratory, and debate to effectively express facts and their relationships.

Computer-Based

The computer-based methodology is really more a method of delivering the text-book methodology through computer-based learning rather than a methodology unto itself.

Eclectic

The eclectic home schooling methodology can be thought of as the "mix and match", or a "little bit of this and a little bit of that" methodology. In this methodology, you select pieces from other methodologies and weave your own methodology. It is an opportunity to try to pull from the best of the rest. Over time, many home schoolers tend to become more eclectic as they start to pull pieces of other methodologies into their originally selected methodology.

Montessori

The Montessori home schooling methodology is based on the principles set forth by educator Maria Montessori. These three principles are observation, individual liberty, and preparation of the environment. In this methodology the emphasis is on preparing and controlling the environment and observing and guiding the child rather than controlling them and their activities.

Moore Formula

The Moore Formula for home schooling is based on three principles:

  1. Study - Study time is based on the maturity of the child and ranges from a few minutes to several hours per day. It should be noted that the Moore Formula does not advocate formal scheduled study before a child is 8 to 10 years of age. Prior to this they advocate the use of less structured learning activities.
  2. Manual work - Constructive, skill building, entrepreneurial work for at least as much time as study.
  3. Home and community service - This should occur on a regular basis for about an hour a day.

Principal Approach

The Principal Approach to home schooling centers around three key concepts

  1. Knowledge of our Christian history.
  2. Understanding of our role in the spread of Christianity.
  3. Living according to the biblical principles upon which our country was founded.

In this approach, there are seven basic principles upon which the United States was founded:

  1. Individuality
  2. Self-government
  3. Christian character
  4. Conscience is the most sacred of all property
  5. The Christian form of government
  6. How the seed of local self-government is planted
  7. The Christian principle of American political union

Traditional textbook

The traditional textbook method is also known as "school at home" or the "scope and sequence" method. This is like moving the classroom from the school to the home as it seeks to mirror the school experience in a home environment. It is what most parents should be familiar with since it is probably the way that they were taught. The home school methodology makes use of textbooks and workbooks in a specific order.

Unschooling

Unschooling is almost quite literally the opposite of formal classroom education. In this home schooling methodology, the child is allowed to pursue their own interests and the adult simply provides resources and acts as a facilitator.

Unit Study

The Unit Study method may also be referred to as thematic units or integrated studies. This method of home schooling takes a topic or theme and integrates all subjects so that a student is exploring the topic form the point of view of the many different "normal" subjects. The emphasis is on studying the topic as a whole. This method can be beneficial for teaching more than one child regardless of age or grade. Each child explores the topic at their own level.

Waldorf

This home schooling methodology is based on the philosophy of Austrian Rudolph Steiner. Its' emphasis is on educating the whole child - the head, heart, and hands. A Waldorf education is designed to meet the various stages of child development and seeks to instill a genuine enthusiasm for learning. The Waldorf methodology de-emphasizes competition.