The Traditional Approach

Graded material with scope and sequence for 180 days x 12 years

• Teacher's manuals, tests, record keeping materials available· Textbook: Lesson in book, assignment and tests on paper
• Workbook: Lesson given by teacher, assignment and tests in workbook· Worktext: Lesson, assignment and tests in workbook. Including mini tests or checkpoints to ensure mastery in each section before the student moves on to the next section.· Video Programs: an actual classroom on video and the child follows along as if he was attending an actual classroom and uses the accompanying textbooks or workbooks.· Computer Programs: Lesson, assignment and tests almost all done on computer· Worktext, video, and computer programs require minimal teacher preparation time and supervision.

Questions to ask yourself before trying the Traditional Approach

1. Did my child perform well in a school classroom?
2. Does my child like to complete assignments and to have defined goals?
3. Is my child academically oriented?
4. Will my child complete assigned tasks with a minimum of prodding from me?
5. Am I the kind of person who will follow through with the lesson plans and pace of the course of instruction?
6. Is my child read well and have good reading comprehension skills?
7. Can my child work well independently?
8. Can my child learn without a lot of variety to the teaching materials?

Strengths of the Traditional Approach

• Everything is laid out for ease of use
• Follows a standardized scope and sequence
• Has definite milestones of accomplishment
• Testing and assigning grades is easy to do

Weaknesses of the Traditional Approach

• Doesn't take into account individual learning styles, strengths, weaknesses or interests
• Assumes that there is a body of information that comprises as education and that this information can be broken down into daily increments
• Treats children's minds like containers to be filled with information
• Focuses on transmitting information through artificial learning experiences
• Is teacher-directed and chalkboard oriented
• Different aged students study different materials
• Expensive when teaching multiple children
• Discourages original, independent thinking
• Has a high "burn out" rate

Examples: Abeka, Saxon Math, Bob Jones, Alpha Omega, Switched on Schoolhouse, Christian Liberty Press

The Classical Approach

Children are taught tools of learning known as The Trivium and is divided into 3 parts

• Grammar Stage: Elementary age focuses on reading, writing, spelling, study of Latin, and developing observation, listening and memorization skills. The goal is to develop a general framework of knowledge and to acquire basic language arts and math skills.
• Dialectic Stage: Approx. middle school age when children begin to demonstrate independent and abstract thought (usually by becoming argumentative or opinionated). At this time the child's tendency to argue is molded and shaped by teaching logical discussion, debate, and how to draw correct conclusions and support them with facts. The goal is to equip the child with language and thinking skills capable of detecting fallacies in an argument. Latin study is continued, with the possible addition of Greek and Hebrew. The student reads essays, arguments and criticisms instead of literature as in the Grammar Stage. History study leans toward interpreting events. Higher math and theology begin.
• Rhetoric Stage: Approx. 15 years old this stage seeks to produce a student who can use language, both written and spoken, eloquently and persuasively.

Here are some questions to ask yourself before trying the classical approach
 

1. Does my family like to read good literature?
2. Are my children intellectually oriented and comfortable with a rigorous academic program?
3. Am I a learner? Am I comfortable learning alongside my children so I can teach them things I've never studied?
4. Do I like to study and discuss ideas that have influenced civilizations?

Strengths of the Classical Approach

• Is tailored to stages of mental development
• Teaches thinking skills and verbal/written expressions
• Creates self-learners
• Has produced great minds throughout history

Weaknesses of the Classical Approach
 

• Very little prepared curriculum available
• Requires a scholarly teacher and student
• May overemphasize ancient disciplines and classics

Resources

• Teaching the Trivium by Bluedorn roots approach soundly in the Bible and lays out several options to teach this method that aren't overwhelming to average families.
• Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning by Wilson shows how a private school made this work and gives typical course of study for each stage.
• The Well Trained Mind by Wise and Bauer great reference book for homeschoolers looking at the Classical Approach.
• http://www.classicalhomeschooling.org/
  
• http://www.veritaspress.com/
• http://www.triviumpursuit.com/
• http://www.cornerstonecurriculum.com/

The Unit Study Approach

• Takes a theme or topic and delves into it deeply over a period of time
• Integrates some or all subjects into one study around a common theme
• Many prepared unit study curricula are available

Examples

Unit study on Birds

• Language Arts: reading and writing about birds and about famous ornithologists
• Science and Math: studying the parts, functions, and life cycles of birds and even the aerodynamics of flight
• Social Studies: determining the migration paths, habitats, and ecological/sociological impact of birds
• Art: sketching familiar birds, building bird houses or feeders

Here are some questions to ask yourself before trying unit studies with your children
 

1. Am I a creative person?
2. Do I like trying to make everything interesting and fun?
3. Do my children have a variety of interests and learning styles?
4. Can I live with the fact that there may be "gaps" in my children's education?
5. Do I have the time and energy to be the driving, creative force behind the development of units?

Strengths of the Unit Study Approach

• All ages can learn together
• Children can delve as deeply or as lightly into a subject as they like
• The family's interests can be pursued
• Students get the whole picture
• Curiosity and independent thinking are generated
• Intense study of one topic is the more natural way to learn
• Knowledge is interrelated so is learned easily and remembered longer
• Unit studies are fairly easy to create

Weaknesses of the Unit Study Approach
 

• It is easy to leave educational "gaps"
• Hard to assess the level of learning occurring
• Record keeping may be difficult
• Prepared unit study curricula are expensive
• Do-it-yourself unit studies require planning
• Too many activity-oriented unit studies may cause burn-out of teacher and student
• Subjects that are hard to integrate into the unit may be neglected

Resources

• How to Create Your Own Unit Study by Bendt is a do-it-yourself guide for putting together your own unit study based on your family's goals and interests.
• Design-A-Study Guides to History by Stout is a complete guide to developing history unit studies for all ages integrating composition, spelling, vocab, math, science, music and art
• Home Schooling Today Magazine: A hands-on, unit study approach magazine that favors the philosophies of Charlotte Mason and Ruth Beechick. PO Box 1425, Melrose, FL 32666

Examples: A World of Adventure, Konos

The Living Books Approach

Based on the writings of Charlotte Mason (late 1800's-early 1900's) She was appalled by the tendencies in modern education to:

1. Treat children as containers to be filled with pre-digested information instead of as human beings,
2. To break down knowledge into thousands of isolated bits of information to be fed into "container" children, and
3. To engineer artificial learning experiences.

Mason's approach to education was to teach basic reading, writing and math skills and then expose children to the best source of knowledge for all other subject like lots of nature walks, observing and collecting wildlife, art museums, and reading real books with living ideas ( vs. text books which tend to be dry and dull)

Some questions to ask yourself before trying he Charlotte Mason approach
 

1. Does our family love to read, both alone and together through reading aloud?
2. Do we love to go to the library?
3. Am I comfortable with more of a "free-form" approach to learning?
4. Will I follow through with teaching my children good habits and character qualities?
5. Do I trust my children to learn on their own?
6. Will I follow through with exposing my children first to nature and to great art?

Strengths of the Living Books Approach

• Treats children as active participants in the learning process
• Exposes children to real objects and books instead of interactions with distilled information
• Encourages curiosity, creative thinking, and a love of learning
• Eliminates meaningless tasks, busywork
• Developmentally appropriate
• Stresses formation of good character and habits

Weaknesses of the Living Books Approach
 

• Tends to be very child centered
• Very little prepared curriculum
• May neglect higher level studies because of its emphasis on art, literature and nature study
• May become too eclectic

Resources

• For the Children's Sake by Macaulay - If you only read one book about Charlotte Mason's approach, let this be the one.
• A Charlotte Mason Companion by Andreola - If you only read two books about Charlotte Mason's approach, let this be the second. Explains how to adapt Mason's ideas to the home school.
• Teaching Children by Lopez is a guide for K-6th grade with reading lists for each grade and subject

The Principle Approach

Seeks to restore 3 basic concepts to American Christians:

1. The knowledge of our Christian history
2. An understanding of our role in the spread of Christianity
3. The ability to live according to the Biblical principles upon which our country was founded.

Approach based upon seven Biblical principles which are:

1. Individuality (God has created distinct differences in people, nations, etc.)
2. Self-government (Government starts in the heart of man)
3. Christian Character
4. Conscience is the most sacred of property
5. The Christian form of Government
6. How the seed of local self-government is planted
7. The Christian principle of American Political Union

Principal Approach emphasizes God's hand in history (Providence) and the understanding that God has ordained the institutions of home, church, and civil government through which He unfolds His purposes and manifests Christ on earth. It also teaches that each Christian is responsible for extending God's government and that the student assumes responsibility for learning and for applying knowledge to his own life.

Uses notebooks to record "the 4 R's" (Researching God's Word, Reasoning from the researched Biblical truths/principles, Relating the truths and principles discovered to the subject and the student's character, and Recording the individual application of the Biblical principles to the subject and the student)

Here are some questions to ask yourself before trying the Principle Approach
 

1. Do I have a real concern for the application of Christian principles to my family and nation?
2. Will my child assume responsibility for a great deal of learning on his own?
3. Does my child like to express himself through writing?
4. Am I willing to undertake extensive Biblical research and teaching preparation?

Strengths of the Principle Approach

• Students learn to think "governmentally"
• Students become self-learners
• Students learn to apply biblical principles to the whole of life
• Students create their own "textbooks"

Weaknesses of the Principle Approach
 

• May present a narrow view of life and of history
• Focuses mainly on American history
• Requires a great deal of teacher preparation
• Prepared curriculum available in few subjects
• Extremely literal approach to Scripture

Resources

• A Guide to American Christian Education for the Home and School: The Principle Approach by Rose is THE book on the Principle Approach explaining the philosophy behind it, how to think governmentally, the providential view of history, the seven principles, and how to "4 R" a subject. It then shows how to study any subject in light of this approach.
• Come let Us Reason by Bayer is a great starting place for those interested in The Principle Approach with it's overview of fundamental concepts and suggestions for beginning steps in the "4 R " process for each subject area. It contains enough depth to give interested parents an understanding of what this approach is all about and enough information to start using it.
• Beautiful Feet History Guides combine a literature approach with the Principle Approach

The Unschooling Approach - "Relaxed Home Educators"

• Less structured learning that allows children to pursue their own interests with parental support and guidance
• Children surrounded by rich environment of books, learning resources, and adults who model a lifestyle of learning and are will to interact with children.
• Formal academics are pursued when the need arises.

Some questions to ask yourself before trying the Unschooling Approach
 

1. Am I comfortable with few pre-set goals and little structure?
2. Do my children have strong interests in particular areas?
3. Does my family have a lot of natural curiosity and love learning?

Strengths of the Unschooling Approach

• Takes little planning
• Captures the child's "teachable moments"
• Children have access to the real world, plenty of time and space to figure thing out on their own
• Children are less likely to become academically frustrated or "burned out"
• Children can delve into a subject as deeply or as shallowly as they desire
• Provides a discipleship model of learning
• Creates self-learners with a love of learning

Weaknesses of the Unschooling Approach
 

• May neglect some subjects
• Hard to assess level of learning
• Lacks the security of a clearly laid out program
• Is extremely child-centered Ø Difficult to explain to others
• May be overly optimistic about what children will accomplish on their own

Resources

• The Relaxed Home School by Hood covers teaching all subject k-12
• The Unschooling Handbook by Griffith "The world is your classroom" advice from veterans
• Homeschooling for Excellence by Colfax is the story of goat farmers whose interesting, encouraging, and unorthodox methods of educating got their children into Harvard and Yale.
• And What About College? By Cohen shares how to deal with admissions processes, transcripts and all the rest involved in making unschooling lead to college admission