Starting out, many parents thinking about or who have already started homeschooling, are faced with that all to important question: What type of Learning style do we have?
Experts have identified three basic learning styles:
- Auditory learners: They remember by talking out loud, like to have things explained orally and may have trouble with written instructions. Auditory learners may talk to themselves when learning something new.
- Visual learners: They easily remember visual details and prefer to see what they are learning. They prefer to write down instructions and may have trouble following lectures.
- Kinesthetic or tactile learners: They prefer activities that allow them to do what they are learning about. Tactile learners like to touch things in order to learn about them and like to move around when talking or listening.
What Method of Homeschooling? Knowing your child(ren) Learning style, will help you in making this choice. Also, try not to worry about choosing the wrong one. Homeschooling is "Trial & Error". If you find that what you have chosen doesn't work, or quits working, then you can always choose something else to try :)
-Below is a list of some of the most popular Homeschooling Methods used:
School-at-home: The goal of school-at-home is to do what schools do, only better. Families who follow this style may set up a part of their home just like a classroom, right down to the blackboard and flag. They generally use textbooks or programs, online or print, that closely resemble the ones used in schools. And they usually judge their children's progress using quizzes, exams, assignments, and standardized tests.
Eclectic Homeschooling: An Eclectic Homeschooler is one who looks at the different approaches and methods of homeschooling and takes from each forming his own unique philosophy. They choose what seems appropriate for each child, and what fits best with a particular child's interests and abilities.
Self-Directed Learning: The individual homeschooled student has the
primary responsibility for planning, implementing, and even evaluating his
or her efforts.
Unschooling: It is an educational philosophy that lets children follow their interests at their own pace. While sometimes controversial, many techniques associated with unschooling are used by all varieties of homeschooling families with great success.
Radical Unschooling: This style doesn't just give kids freedom in what to learn; they also refrain from setting limits in any area of life.
Charlotte Mason Method: A method of education popular with homeschoolers in which children are taught as whole persons through a wide range of interesting living books, firsthand experiences, and good habits.
Waldorf: Rudolf Steiner’s, an early twentieth century philosophy, prescribes the benefits of movement, art, handicrafts, music, and stories. It emphasizes storytelling and discourages the early use of technology.
Classical Education Method :The core of Classical Education is the trivium, which simply put is a teaching model that seeks to tailor the curriculum subject matter to a child’s cognitive development. The trivium emphasizes concrete thinking and memorization of the facts of the subjects in grade school; analytical thinking and understanding of the subjects in middle school; and abstract thinking and articulation of the subjects in high school. Subjects unique to Classical Education which help accomplish the goals of the trivium are Grammar, the science of language usage; Logic, the science of right thinking; and Rhetoric, the science of verbal and written expression. Classical Christian Education is further characterized by a rich exposure to the history, art, and culture of Western Civilization, including its languages (Latin and Greek), its philosophy and literature (the Great Books of Western Civilization and the Christian tradition), and the development of a Biblical worldview with Theology in its proper place as the Queen of the Sciences.
Montessori Homeschooling: The centerpiece of the Montessori approach is allowing children to learn on their own while being guided by the teacher. The teacher assesses what the child has learned and then guides him into new areas of discovery.
Multiple Intelligences: Howard Gardner's 1983 theory outlines strengths besides math and language, including spatial, physical, musical and naturalist. A learning styles approach presents material in a way that matches those strengths - for instance, giving a tactile learner letters cut from sandpaper to trace with his finger, or making a song out of the times table for a musical child.
Distance Learning - Online Homeschools / Virtual Homeschools: Education that is learned using a computer.
Unit Studies/Project-Based Learning: With the Unit Studies method of homeschooling, one topic or goal becomes the jumping-off point for every subject from math to literature to science to social studies. Project-Based Learning approaches learning in a similar way. Students select or are given a problem or goal as the focus of their studies.
~You also need to consider whether you want a Christian based homeschool Curriculum or a Secular homeschool curriculum. ( Remember you have the ability to tweak any Secular Curriculum. For example: We use a Secular Curriculum, but we have added a separate free Bible program to our school day)~
( If all of this, is a bit understandably Overwhelming,
then why not try out this neat quiz that helps you figure
some of this out. ~>
Homeschool Diner's, Click-O-Matic ,
Guide to Choosing a Homeschool Approach .)
Of course, that only means you have to be a bit more Creative & Determined.
Even if you think that your circumstance's are to hard, etc. That there is no way that YOU can Homeschool. just remember that is just your FEAR talking.
I have & always will say, Where there's a Will, there's a Way!
~For those of you who may be wondering our Learning style, methods, etc:
My oldest is a Visual learner, where as my youngest seems to be more of
Kinesthetic or tactile learner. We are very much Eclectic Homeschooler's,
utilizing Distance Learning & Unit Studies. In addition, even though we
are consider ourselves Christian Homeschooler's, I use a
Until Next Time...
1 comment:
I am just figuring out how to homeschool, so this has really helped me figure out what to do.
Thxs, Kim
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