Different Homeschooling Approaches

Homeschoolers are wonderfully diverse in all ways, including the ways in which they approach teaching and learning. Below are some of the most common homeschooling approaches. Head on over to the blog's Facebook page to participate in a poll on which homeschooling approach you identify with most!

1. School-at-home – This traditional approach uses purchased, packaged, often level-specific curriculum that can be religious or secular, online and/or workbook-based.

2. Pedagogically-influenced – This approach is informed and inspired by a particular pedagogical philosophy such as: Waldorf-inspired homeschooling, Montessori-inspired homeschooling, Classical education, and Charlotte Mason.

3. Unit studies – Unit studies present a multi-disciplinary approach to learning by focusing on a particular subject, for example, “the solar system,” and incorporating most subject areas (e.g., math, science, reading, writing, history, social studies) when learning about a particular subject. Unit study programs can either be purchased or developed naturally within a family.

4. “Eclectic” homeschooling – This is a hybrid approach to homeschooling with families choosing structured curriculum for certain areas (e.g., math), and unstructured or alternative learning approaches for other areas.

5. Unschooling – An increasingly popular homeschooling approach, unschoolers don't adhere to a prescribed curriculum and instead follow their child's lead when deciding what and when to learn.

How does your family approach homeschooling?