Disclaimer: I am including links to different homeschool curriculum only for your convenience. These are NOT affiliate links. I receive no compensation whatsoever for traffic to these sites, nor do I necessarily endorse any of these curriculum companies. Please do your own research to decide what is the best fit for your family. Many homeschool books and blogs have summarized the different educational philosophies you can adopt as a homeschooler. There’s also no way to fully cover each philosophy in this brief list. Therefore, my purpose with this list is two-fold. #1 I want to give new homeschoolers an easy reference guide. From this guide, you can then go on to do your own deeper research. #2 I want to give my honest opinions as someone with a degree in education and experience teaching. This is something I haven’t seen in lists like this. There are certain things I want you to be aware of when it comes to child development and the way the brain works. I also want to point out some things to consider if your child has special needs. One thing I want to make clear before we go over this list, however: you don’t have to become a devout disciple of an educational philosophy to homeschool. You can actually pick and choose what you like from several different ones! In our homeschool, for example, I have combined parts of the Charlotte Mason methods and parts of the Classical method to create a homeschool that works best for my children. I also use a bit of traditional methods, because let’s be honest, it’s unavoidable. I doubt there are many homeschool parents who haven’t used a more traditional workbook or two. Then there are times we have done a unit study. We’ve done unit studies of the feudal system, the American Civil War, World War II, and Christmas around the world. Please remember that this is just a guide. Now that we have all that covered, let’s get started! Traditional Education - I start with this one because it is what most of us think of first when someone says “school.” Technically, an educator would call it the Dewey Method because it was created by John Dewey (yes, the same guy who invented the card catalog system for libraries!). We may think that schools have always been organized by age, with straight rows of desks, and lots of seat work. However, before Dewey’s reforms, schools were one room schoolhouses of multiple ages. Dewey’s philosophy was that schools were for training workers, so he modeled schools after factories of the Industrial Revolution. Efficiency and conformity were key. This model was also easy to implement for large classrooms. It’s why it is still the norm today. Curriculum that uses this method: Abeka, Rod & Staff, and online public school Pros: It is easy to implement because it relies on textbooks and workbooks written for school or the equivalent online; all the teacher really needs is the answer key. It is easy to find resources and curriculum. Cons: The content is dry for most students, and it is difficult to allow for learning differences. Kids read stories created for textbooks rather than literature. Also be aware: curriculum you use that is traditional will be written for a school setting. It will contain a lot of busy work to keep a large class quiet, so if you use one of the above curriculums, don’t make your child do all of the assignments. Charlotte Mason - Charlotte Mason was a British education reformer at the turn of the century. Mason disagreed with Dewey that the point of education is to train workers. She saw value in the child for who she was in the present, not just for who she would be when she grew up. Therefore, Mason sought to educate the whole child. Surrounding children with beautiful literature, poetry, art, and music is therefore a huge part of a Charlotte Mason education. Narration is a part of every subject. This simply means that the child says back to you what she just learned (or writes it down when she gets older). History is taught as a story. For science, children explore the world around them and keep a nature journal. Charlotte Mason was also really big on doing subjects in small chunks so children wouldn’t become taxed. Instead of textbooks, Charlotte Mason proponents use what they call “living books.” In other words, instead of reading a history textbook, you go to the library and find wonderful children’s books on King Tut, the Roman Coliseum, the Vikings, etc. Curriculum: Simply Charlotte Mason, Living Books , My Father’s World Pros - You go at the child’s own pace, so it is easily adaptable for special needs students. It requires few supplies other than a library card, pencil, and paper. You also hear the word “gentle” a lot in the Charlotte Mason world; this method never nags and is never in a hurry. Cons - Charlotte Mason is notoriously weak in math, so most people go outside the above curriculum for that subject. (We use Math U See, others add in Saxon or Singapore.) It can also be weak in science. After all, there’s only so much science you can observe with a nature notebook. Apologia science curriculum, however, uses a Charlotte Mason approach with a bit more content. Montessori - This pretty popular form of education was pioneered by Italian physician Maria Montessori. She believed that children are naturally curious and eager to learn. Therefore, Montessori teachers act more as facilitators. Montessori classrooms are typically mutli-age (for example 4-6 year olds in one class), making it a natural set up for homeschool families. Instead of teaching a lesson, the Montessori teacher creates stations in the room of different learning experiences: a sand table, a bucket of math manipulatives with puzzles to solve, an easel for painting, etc. Students are free to choose which stations to go to. Sometimes there is a timer, then students rotate. Other Montessori set ups are less structured. Student independence is of very high priority, and often students are taught to prepare their own snacks and meals. Montessori philosophy is strongly against testing, and students are to be evaluated through work samples and interviews. (Though many private schools and homeschools are still required to test under state laws.) Curriculum: None - prepared curriculum is opposite of the Montessori philosophy. However, Rainbow Resource sells hundreds of learning manipulatives, games, and puzzles. Pros - Most students under Montessori do become very independent. Since students choose what to explore, they rarely become bored. Activities are easily adapted for students with learning differences. Cons - Gaps can appear in a student’s learning with subjects that they aren’t as interested in. Gathering and setting up materials can be expensive and time consuming. Students may not be prepared for standardized testing. However, there are many test prep books that parents can use to supplement when testing is necessary by law. (I don’t think standardized testing should ever be our driving force, but I won’t get on that soapbox right now . . . ) Classical - Unlike the previous models, there is no one educator responsible for classical education. As its name implies, this educational philosophy goes all the way back to the great thinkers of Ancient Greece, the Renaissance, and the Enlightenment. This model is actually how school was set up prior to the reforms of John Dewey. Dorothy Sayers, a member of the group called the Inklings that included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, brought the classical method of education back to the forefront with her essay “The Lost Tools of Learning.” This method sees the human mind developing through three stages: the grammar stage (concrete thinking), the logic stage (logical thinking), and the rhetoric stage (abstract thinking). In the grammar stage (around ages 4-10), students learn to read really well and memorize facts (especially their math facts). In the logic stage, they begin to think critically and ask questions. In the rhetoric stage, they use their knowledge and logic to debate, write, and create. (I confess I’m oversimplifying, but for sake of time, this is a good summary.) In history, classical education emphasizes learning world events chronologically. Students learn the history of the entire world in four to five years of study and then cycle back through it in the logic and rhetoric stages. In each stage, their study of history simply deepens. Classical education also requires that students study Latin starting in the elementary grades. Curriculum: Classical Conversations, Veritas Press, Memoria Press Pros - This method follows the natural development of children’s brains. Students in classical education can recite a lot: famous poems, state capitals, pharaohs of Ancient Egypt, multiplication tables, helping verbs, and more. They can usually do math in their heads fairly quickly because calculators are a no-no. Most classically trained students have very high reading levels and high reading comprehension. Training in logic in fifth grade and up is highly important in our very topsy-turvy world of fake news and manipulative advertising. Cons - Sometimes the lists to memorize can be overdone. Unless you sign up for a classical co-op or hybrid where you have no choice, I recommend scaling back a bit on the memorization. Being able to do quick mental math is of high value - knowing all the kings of France? Not so much. (Unless you’re French, of course.) Latin is also very difficult for most parents to teach. I ended up dropping the Latin and having my kids learn Latin and Greek roots instead. Finally, classical curriculum in middle and high school is extremely rigorous - too rigorous for most students. As passionate as I am about classical education, it is not the best fit for most students with learning differences. Unit Studies - This philosophy of education became very popular during the 1960s when educator Herbert R. Kohl started the open classroom movement. I won’t get into all that the movement entailed, but one of its major tenets was that subjects should be connected to each other. Kohl thought that teachers should work as a team to create units that would touch on every subject. For example, a unit on the medieval feudal system would obviously include history, but you could also bring in other subjects. In science, they would learn about all of the simple machines used to attack a castle. In literature, they would read The Adventures of Robin Hood. In math, they would calculate the supplies needed to build a cathedral. In art, they would study stained glass as an art form. In music, they would listen to monastic chants. Curriculum - Konos, Heart of Dakota, the Literature Pockets and History Pockets series Pros - When students are immersed in something, they are less likely to forget what they have learned. Education becomes an experience, not just a series of assignments. Students are better able to see the practical applications of the STEAM subjects (science, technology, engineering, art, and math). Parents can use students' interests to craft units, making them more engaged. Units are also easily adapted to learning differences. Cons - Connecting all of the subjects can sometimes be a stretch, causing some to get short-changed. You can also easily overlook the nuts and bolts of language arts: grammar, spelling, and vocabulary. Planning units is extremely time-consuming and can also get expensive. *Fun fact - My middle school was an “open classroom” school, built in the late 60s. I had a team of teachers, just as Kohl advocated. However, they only did one big unit study per semester. The rest of the time, they taught us subjects separately. The ones I remember most were on The Olympics (I’m from the Atlanta area, and we had just been awarded the 96 summer games) and the Holocaust. I personally would take a cue from my middle school and only do unit studies occasionally - for your own sanity!* Unschooling - I’m going to be very upfront before I get into this philosophy: I am very passionately and adamantly against it. I want to be as objective as possible in describing these philosophies. However, knowing what I do about child and brain development, I just can not in good conscience support this one. Those of you who are passionate about unschooling are going to hate me, I know that. You’ll probably yell at me in the comments. So be it. As someone with a degree in education, I find this method extremely dangerous for students. I know unschoolers claim that my degree doesn’t matter anyway, but I have to say what I feel is right and ethical, regardless of the consequences. Educator John Holt is considered the “father” of unschooling, and it began in the 1970s. It is wildly popular with homeschoolers which is why I felt I needed to address it. Holt felt that the core issue with education was the structure of it. He felt, similarly to Maria Montessori, that students will naturally learn if given the space for it. Proponents of unschooling also believe that life itself is an education. Cooking a meal, fixing a car, buying groceries - all of these activities are educational. While we all can agree that is true, unschoolers see no need to add “structured” school time to these real life experiences. As for math and reading, unschool proponents claim that students will figure these out on their own when they are ready. If your child comes to you with a book, for example, and asks “Mommy, how do you read this?'' then give them a gentle lesson. Otherwise, don’t force lessons on students. Unschoolers believe making students learn things they don’t want to learn is actually detrimental. Unschoolers also take lots of field trips. Curriculum - None. Now, some parents claim to unschool while also using a curriculum for math and language arts. Technically, they aren’t really unschooling. (Go ahead, yell.) Pros - Parents don’t have to plan lessons. You don’t have to nag your kid to finish his grammar lesson. Kids have plenty of time to learn how to cook, budget, do car maintenance, and many other life skills. The family has plenty of time for travel and day field trips, which have lasting impact. Cons - Oi. Where do I begin? This educational method goes against everything we know about child development. We know, for example, that students have a window of time in which learning to read comes most naturally and easily. This is between the ages of four and eight. If you miss that window, learning to read becomes an incredible struggle. Now, that window is very broad and differs child to child, yes, but I read one unschooling blog that told the story of a girl who didn’t express interest in reading until thirteen. As an English education major, I almost had a panic attack reading that! That poor girl was short changed by her parents and now has an incredibly difficult uphill climb. Poor reading and math skills handicaps your child in every area. If it had been up to me, for example, I never would have learned basic math because I just didn’t enjoy it. At all. I hated it with every fiber of my being. Yet I am thankful every time I do my budget or go to the grocery store that I memorized my multiplication tables in the second grade. Aren’t you? Now, unschoolers will claim that I hated it because I was forced to do it. To which I ask: Have they ever met any actual children? I'm going to borrow an example from the book The Well-Trained Mind (paraphrased) Haven’t we all had this conversation with our kids: “Eat your broccoli.” “I hate broccoli!” “How do you know? You’ve never tried it.” “I just know I hate it!” Replace “broccoli” with “math” or “spelling” or some other subject, and you see why this method doesn’t work. In summary, take some of the pros above for unschooling and add them into another philosophy. Waldorf/Steiner - This philosophy is admittedly new to me, but since it is gaining popularity worldwide, including in the homeschool sphere, I thought I should address it. Surprisingly, you may have seen an example of Waldorf/Steiner education in an unlikely place - the children’s television show Bluey. The school Bluey attends is a Steiner school. The Waldorf model was developed by Rudolph Steiner, founder of the philosophy/religion of anthroposophy. Now, there is a lot to unpack there. I don’t have time to go into anthroposophy or when and how it developed. All you need to know is that in this particular belief system, there is a big emphasis on nature and man’s connection to nature. It is also very mystical. Educationally speaking, they believe that children are born with a connection to this natural, mystical world. Children are born pure and good, but this is often corrupted by the adults around them. To nurture this purity and goodness, children need a space for their imagination to flourish, so play and immersion in nature is of highest priority in a Waldorf education. There is actually no formal learning until after the age of seven. In a lot of ways, a Waldorf school room is set up much like a Montessori school and students are free to explore the different stations. Since they believe children learn through play, the teacher is just a guide. She also reads the children myths and legends from many different cultures to enrich their imaginations. Schools are set up to look like homes, which makes it easily transferable to a homeschool environment. Curriculum: Oak Meadow, Lavender Blue, Little Oak Learning (since this is new to the homeschool arena, I know the least about these sources) Pros - It is multi-cultural, gets kids out in nature (which is sorely needed today), and inspires the imagination. Even as more formal learning is introduced at ages eight and up, art and creativity is still emphasized, and formal testing is discouraged. It is also technology free until the higher grades, which in my opinion, is a plus. As a matter of fact, a lot of people in the tech industry are enrolling their kids in Waldorf schools as they have seen first hand the detrimental effects of screen time too young. It is easily adaptable for learning differences and translates easily to home learning. Cons - Though not as problematic as unschooling, I still feel putting off formal learning until after the age of seven is a little late. The influence of anthroposophy is troublesome to me as a Christian. Though Wikipedia claims this educational philosophy is Christian, that is only because it has traditionally taught stories from the Bible. However, this is taught as part of the mythos of all men, not as a text of infallible truth. In other words, it’s cultural legends. I’m also uncomfortable with the mystical beliefs about nature and the use of gnomes. (I’m still a little confused about the gnome thing, to be honest.) Waldorf education has also been criticized for teaching pseudo-science and being anti-vaccine. I know for some, being anti-vaxx isn’t a con, but it’s still something parents should be aware of. So, there you have it! These are the main philosophies of education. Whether you’ve been homeschooling for awhile or are new to the game, it does help to decide what works best for your family. What are you passionate about when it comes to your children and how they learn? What is of greatest value to you? On the other hand, what elements of the above sound burdensome or unimportant? I hope I’ve helped you weigh the pros and cons, but at the end of the day, your homeschool will be uniquely suited to your children and no one else's!
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AuthorHi, I'm Melanie! I'm a homeschooling mom of three kids ages 13, 11, and 9. I have a BS in English Secondary Education from Asbury University plus 30 hours of gifted certification course work. I've taught in just about every situation you can imagine. Public school, private, homeschool hybrid, and private tutoring. The most important thing I've learned? One on one, individualized instruction can't be beat. Archives
July 2022
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