Hi there,
It is one thing to say "hey guess what? We are homeschooling!" Its quite another to prepare to home educate. The first thing I did was utilise the internet ( I loooove Lady Google sooo much, mwaah) and my local library to do some heavy duty research. Notice a pattern with me yet? No? You will.
I knew right off the bat that I was no Radical Unschooler. Scratch that, I knew I wasn't even a Liberal Unschooler. I am as yet undecided whether this is because I am not brave enough or because its actually not that good an idea.....oops lost some readers there, did you feel them logging off in a huff? I'm sorry but for me unschooling is not an option. I completely agree that children will learn regardless of whether they receive "formal" education or not, the real question for me is whether a child can learn more with a little guidance and thus be better prepared to become whatever Allah (God) has destined for them to be? Why learn to read at 7 when you could learn to read earlier with a little help? Surely there are better things to be doing at 7?
Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that homeschooled children are able to play a pivotal role in designing the education they receive (more about that in future entries) and I try to incorporate this Delight-Led Learning as it is called, as much as possible.
So, if I wasn't going to unschool what style was I going to follow? It briefly crossed my mind to buy a complete homeschool curriculum but to be honest that's just not me. Not to mention the cost! That left styles like Traditional, Montessori, Charlotte Mason, Classical Conversations, Waldorf, School from Home,....aaaah the list was getting too long.
The more I read the more I realised that I didn't actually want to focus solely on any one style, what that meant I wasn't sure until I came across the concept of "Eclectic" homeschooling. A genteel term for "A bit of this and a bit of that". This was perfect, the same recipe I use when I'm cooking. Heehee
Having settled my hat as it were, it was time to go deeper. How were we going to organise this eclecticism? What did it really mean in practical terms? After more delving into Blogland, that wonderful land full of unending treasures, I liked the idea of basing everything around monthly topics or Unit Studies. Effectively this meant that the core subjects would be included in the topic. For example "Spring"; writing about plants and animals, counting and measuring days/level of rainfall, etc. If you are interested in more on Unit Studies or any of the other styles I mentioned, see here www.homeschool.com
Now the style was decided it was time to get planning.
It is one thing to say "hey guess what? We are homeschooling!" Its quite another to prepare to home educate. The first thing I did was utilise the internet ( I loooove Lady Google sooo much, mwaah) and my local library to do some heavy duty research. Notice a pattern with me yet? No? You will.
I knew right off the bat that I was no Radical Unschooler. Scratch that, I knew I wasn't even a Liberal Unschooler. I am as yet undecided whether this is because I am not brave enough or because its actually not that good an idea.....oops lost some readers there, did you feel them logging off in a huff? I'm sorry but for me unschooling is not an option. I completely agree that children will learn regardless of whether they receive "formal" education or not, the real question for me is whether a child can learn more with a little guidance and thus be better prepared to become whatever Allah (God) has destined for them to be? Why learn to read at 7 when you could learn to read earlier with a little help? Surely there are better things to be doing at 7?
Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that homeschooled children are able to play a pivotal role in designing the education they receive (more about that in future entries) and I try to incorporate this Delight-Led Learning as it is called, as much as possible.
So, if I wasn't going to unschool what style was I going to follow? It briefly crossed my mind to buy a complete homeschool curriculum but to be honest that's just not me. Not to mention the cost! That left styles like Traditional, Montessori, Charlotte Mason, Classical Conversations, Waldorf, School from Home,....aaaah the list was getting too long.
The more I read the more I realised that I didn't actually want to focus solely on any one style, what that meant I wasn't sure until I came across the concept of "Eclectic" homeschooling. A genteel term for "A bit of this and a bit of that". This was perfect, the same recipe I use when I'm cooking. Heehee
Having settled my hat as it were, it was time to go deeper. How were we going to organise this eclecticism? What did it really mean in practical terms? After more delving into Blogland, that wonderful land full of unending treasures, I liked the idea of basing everything around monthly topics or Unit Studies. Effectively this meant that the core subjects would be included in the topic. For example "Spring"; writing about plants and animals, counting and measuring days/level of rainfall, etc. If you are interested in more on Unit Studies or any of the other styles I mentioned, see here www.homeschool.com
Now the style was decided it was time to get planning.
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