Did you know there are many ways to homeschool?

Many new homeschoolers are very overwhelmed and have no idea where to even start with researching curriculum. One piece of advice I always give because I wish I had done it myself is to look into the different schooling styles. Once you know what your "syle" is it's so much easier to narrow down the plethora of curriculum out there.

My Experience 

When I first started homeschooling Chelsea (my oldest) I honestly had no idea what I was doing! A few months earlier I had said I would never homeschool. You can read more about why we chose to homeschool here. There I was trying to figure out what on Earth the buy to use with her! A friend of mine was going to be using the K12 program. After researching I didn't want to go that route. I talked to some ladies at church and they mentioned things they had used so I looked into those. They looked good and affordable so  went with it. I had looked at other things but honestly had no idea what I was doing, where to start or how most of these things worked!

We made it through that first year. I have to admit it wasn't a very fun one. Many tears from both of us on many occasions. More about all of that in another post. The next year I tried something different but it was still the same textbook/workbook style of homeschooling that we had used the first year.

Finally sometime during her second grade year I read The Well-Trained Mind and after realizing that there are many styles of homeschooling, I began to research.  was amazed and delighted to discover that what we had been using was not fitting the way  wanted to teach or the way my daughter learned best.

TWO YEARS of using the wrong types of curriculum! I guess that's why they say that hindsight is 20/20! Boy do I see it clearly now. We switched for third grade to My Fathers World which is a combination of unit studies, Charlotte Mason and classical curricula. It's hands on, real bofaoks and just what the doctor ordered for my family. We still have our struggles every now and then but school isn't an every day battle any more. The best part? We have FUN!

Schooling Styles

Here's a quick list of some of the many styles out there.

1. School at Home
2. Charlotte Mason
3. Unit Study
4. Classical
5. Unschooling
6. Montessori
7. Waldorf

This is just a few and I can't say that I know or understand them all! Many people use a combination of many of these as do we. I encourage you to find out how your child learns best. Grab a book like "Discover Your Child's Learning Style" and find out what would work best for both of you. Then grab Cathy Duffy's "101 Top picks" and start browsing curriculum. I learned the hard way that matching your teaching style and your child's learning styles are a must to make a positive homeschool experience. No two homeschools look the same which is the beauty of it all! Now it's your turn to share.

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