Homeschooling Style

Last year when we decided to homeschool, I had no idea what I was getting into!  After the decision had been made,  I began  my research into curriculum.  I talked with friends who were homeschooling, and I read books, lots of books!

To my surprise there wasn't just curriculums to choose from, there were homeschooling styles as well!  Oh boy!!  I had no idea where to begin.  My head was spinning from all of the options!  Traditional, Classical, Charlotte Mason, Un Schooling, Eclectic and the list goes on!

The advice I was given from a friend, was to figure out what style of homeschooling fit us best and then choose a curriculum from there.  I really had no idea, so I looked at Cathy Duffy's book 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum.  In that book she has an Approaches to Learning quiz to take that pointed me towards which style would be best for us.  For us that was Unit Study, Charlotte Mason, and Eclectic.

Next she has a learning styles section, that describes the different types of learning styles.  So you can find your learning style along with your children's learning styles.  By doing so, it enables you to find the curriculum that would best suit your needs.

The rest of the book is descriptions of curriculum that she has reviewed over the years, hence the name 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum.

Even after the extensive research, I still was not confident in what the book had said would be best for us.  In hind sight, I should have listened!  Anyway, here we are getting ready to round out our first homeschooling year, and guess what, I am going with a Unit Study/Charlotte Mason approach next year!  This year we went with a Traditional, textbook based, one because I thought that would be easy, since Elijah had been in Public School for 2 years.  The problem with that is, it was kinda boring, and a LOT of busy work, in my opinion.

I am excited to dig deeper into the Charlotte Mason method.  She has some awesome philosophies and I think it will be a great fit for our family.  You can read more about her philosophy here.


If you are considering homeschooling I would strongly suggest getting Cathy Duffy's book, it really helped me to narrow down choices.  Its also a great reference guide when looking at curriculum.