Skip to main content

Our Approach to Homeschooling

The next step of my great adventure is to figure out what method of homeschooling will work best for our family. There are so many theories floating out there in cyberspace and probably even more within the confines of individual homes and communities. I had planned on putting short (and probably poor) descriptions of some of the most popular methods, but instead I thought I'd just focus on what we are going to do.

I was really pleased to learn through my research about the Charlotte Mason Method. It focuses on educating children as whole persons. Atmosphere is important as children absorb information from what is going on around them. Discipline in forming good habits is essential. Academics should be "living" and not just dry facts. Experience of the world around them should be crucial to a child's development.

Another method that really appeals to me is the idea of Classical Education or the Trivium. This theory is based off the idea that there are three stages of learning. The Grammar stage (1st-4th grades) teaches children facts. The Dialectic stage (5th-8th grades) teaches reasoning. Finally the Rhetoric stage (9th-12th grades) teaches self-thought and expression all the while using great books to accomplish these purposes. Since I was blessed to be in a Great Books program in college, I've really wanted to introduce my children to great authors early on. The Well-Trained Mind is an excellent resource for this method.

I really think that a mix of these would be a great. I stumbled across a book at the library that attempts to weave the thoughts together that I'm looking forward to reading called For the Love of Learning. However, it seems that I can't really begin to use the Classical Education approach to its full potential until my son is in first grade. Thankfully, Charlotte Mason advocates Great Books too, so my son will still be exposed to good literature before he is six years old.

The thought behind Charlotte Mason's theory really appeals to me for the preschool mind. Children at this age aren't prepared for formal learning, but it is also a key time in their development for establishing habits and setting a foundation for what will come next. I'm excited to read a compilation from Charlotte's Original Homeschooling Series called The Early Years: A Charlotte Mason Preschool Handbook. I have yet to finish it, but it is definitely helping me form a better idea of what I want to accomplish with my son this next year.

This is exciting and scary at the same time since my preschooler's mind is somewhat of a blank slate. It's exciting because he doesn't have any concept yet of formal education, and I (hopefully!) can show him a love for learning. However, it is very scary since this mama is going to have to be sensitive and aware to his particular learning style as we go along. What I might think is the best way to learn might not be what is actually best for him. I may change what method I use as we go along. We shall see. This is an adventure, after all.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Little Disciples

As I've been learning more about Charlotte Mason and her methods, I've been thinking especially about what she means by "Education is a Discipline."  As I was reading her thoughts on discipline from her Homeschooling series, I was particularly struck by the following quotation. Discipline is not Punishment ––What is discipline? Look at the word; there is no hint of punishment in it. A disciple is a follower, and discipline is the state of the follower; the learner, imitator. Mothers and fathers do not well to forget that their children are, by the very order of Nature, their disciples... How Disciples are Lured ––He who would draw disciples does not trust to force; but to these three things–– to the attraction of his doctrine, to the persuasion of his presentation, to the enthusiasm of his disciples ; so the parent has teachings of the perfect life which he knows how to present continually with winning force until the children are quickened with such zeal for virtue...
7 comments
Read more

Styrofoam Tray Shrink Art

Making styrofoam shrink art was one of those fun childhood memories I have from being a kid.  My mom would clean off the meat or veggie trays from the grocery store, give it to us kids to draw on, then we would watch in awe as our creations shrunk before our very eyes in the oven. I really wanted to do the same thing with my kids so I (silly-me) tried to find a tutorial of the sort on the Internet.  I did this mostly because I didn't know the temperature the oven needed to be or how long it should be in there.  Maybe it's just me, but I couldn't find one!  The closest thing I found was this website , but there were no pictures or anything.  I decided to wing it - it couldn't be that hard, right? And, yes, this craft is super easy.  First, I gave the boys a clean tray and a bunch of markers for them to draw with. I had to convince them to color a lot  since they were only making small markings. We put their creations on an aluminum-covered bak...
4 comments
Read more

A Brand New House

Another major thing we did while my parents were here last week was a major room change in our house.  It feels like a brand new home!  We have a play room, the boys are now sharing a room, and Phil and I have moved into Button's old room (which was really the library/office/nursery/catch-all room).  I am so excited!!!   I finally feel settled into this home since there is finally a place (or at least a room) for everything.  The boys seem to really love sharing a room, and they are actually going to sleep better than they were when they were separate.  It's fantastic. By far, I'm most excited about our play room.  This room comes right off the kitchen, and it used to be our master bedroom.  Now, we have our books and toys in it which keeps our living room so. much. cleaner.  This room will eventually become our homeschool room with some minor improvements in a couple of years.  In the meantime, we are enjoying the extra space to play ...
3 comments
Read more