Getting Started with Homeschooling
Practical Considerations for Parents of School-Aged Children
© Beverley Paine
Index
Homeschool
Australia
Educational Approach
Your method of educating your children will be determined by your philosophy. Your education approach will take into account, not only how you see learning happening, but also the learning styles and needs of the children. These areas are covered in more detail in Part 4.
Many people believe educating their children at home occurs very similarly to what happens at school. It is impossible to duplicate classroom based learning in the home. You can replicate the environment, with bookshelves, pin up boards, blackboards, and desks and many families begin home schooling in this way. However, it is much easier to teach one child than it is to organizing learning for groups of children or whole classes. One to one tutoring means lessons are completed very quickly in comparison to classroom education. Even working with several children at different levels becomes a much easier task in the home. Your ‘classroom’ will be used for only an hour to two a day!
Much learning in school is tailored for small or large group activity and does not translate at all to home learning situations. A lot of the formal lessons given in classrooms become much more intimate affairs in the home environment, and the structure of daily lessons fitted in to rigid timetables often changes to suit family rhythms and patterns of behaviour.
It is possible to follow a very structured approach, with some kind of time tabling, and it can even be very helpful in the early months as new home schooling families find their way. This may involve formal lessons in academic subjects every morning for an hour or two, or perhaps three days a week, with extracurricular activities and excursions scheduled in. Many home schools begin by using traditional learning activities, prepared lessons, work and text books, regular testing and assessment. The afternoons are usually occupied by art or craft activities, physical games or sport, following up unit or theme studies and projects, or just for playing.
A more informal, unstructured approach might b e blend of some use of texts, planned lessons, unit or thematic studies, with spontaneous, child-directed learning, work and play activities without the use of a timetable. There are no deadlines or strict adherence to a prescribed program. Most home educating families evolve to this relaxed approach, working to a calendar and recording in a diary.
A third alternative practiced by home educating families is one where children are allowed to direct their own learning, with the parent guiding, organizing and supply resources as required. This approach is often centered in play and ‘real’ work. The children become intimately involved in the daily life of parents, both in the home and social community. This type of approach looks less like education and more like simply ‘living’. If it is difficult to quantify in educational terms, although much the same level of learning does occur as in the other two approaches.
This last method, sometimes described as ‘natural learning’ or ‘unschooling’ still requires planning to be effective, although many families find that after time they are able to rely less on formal, or recorded, planning procedures. Most of the planning and evaluating is done in their minds, ‘on the spot’. Some recording is still necessary, such as keeping journals, diaries, and samples of children’s work, scrap books and photo albums. This quickly becomes a natural part of the daily or weekly routine.
There is no one ‘right’ or ‘best’ approach. All can be extremely successful, and surpass the quality of education generally found in schools. Time, experience, research and conscious reflection are the guides home schooling families use. They continuously adapt their educational approach to suit their children’s educational needs and their own particular life situation. Trying out different approaches is very common among home educators. Flexibility is the key to a successful home school.
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Excerpt from Getting Started with Homeschooling, Practical Considerations
© Beverley Paine, 1997
