You’ve decided to homeschool or are seriously considering it. Why?
Because you want the freedom to choose what type of education works best for your kid.
You want choice.
But now you have so many options it’s overwhelming.
I see it daily. Parents who are starting out and are weeding through the endless number of curriculum options, online courses, and different schooling methods.
Often parents want to buy a complete curriculum package--one they hope will be a perfect fit for their kid so they don’t have to jump between different packages and philosophies.
But most of the time there isn’t a single-method approach that offers that ideal fit for your unique homeschooling situation, and more significantly, for your kid’s learning needs.
I was in the same boat when I started homeschooling.
My oldest was five. We had pulled him out of a Montessori preschool. His three-year-old brother wanted to ‘do school’ too. His one-year-old sister also wanted to participate in everything and be part of the gang.
I started our homeschool…
-with a lot of motivation
-a determination to teach my kids ‘out of the box’
-a vision of an engagement-centered and child-centered approach…
…and no path to follow.
I read books on Montessori, Waldorf, and Unschooling. Then I read more.
I checked out homeschooling books from the library and read those. I looked at curriculum packages hoping I’d discover the key—an engagement-centered approach I could align my vision with… and follow.
I looked at approaches to teaching math, reading, and writing.
Would we do only observational learning and focus most of our time in the woods? Did it make sense to organize my home like the prepared Montessori environment? Maybe I would also order the math blocks and beads?
Should I focus on a certain phonics course or a math course? Or do playtime and read to my kids until they ask to learn more?
Would we focus on a Classical education and read texts from ‘the greats’? Not exactly. Not no to reading great works of literature, just not to the exclusion of contemporary fiction, nature walks, observational learning, and experiential learning.
Too many choices. And none of them resonated with my yet-to-be-articulated (passionate) vision for schooling my kids.
My oldest son was an experiential learner. He learned by building, making, and testing. He grasped math through manipulatives. My younger son was an early reader and all things text and reading made sense to him. My daughter was one and loved being read to, playing, and keeping up with her brothers.
I didn’t want to put any of my kids in a box and push a curriculum that didn’t fit them. I wanted it to be self-paced, but also consider them as people first. I wanted them to become independent learners, but wasn’t aligned with Unschooling.
Too many choices!
I had three kids. If we continued to homeschool as they got older, I could be looking at trying to coordinate three separate curriculums and juggling a myriad of options—I wasn’t sure I could do it.
I needed an approach that aligned with our values.
I needed to combine lessons to minimize extra work and make it manageable.
I needed an approach that inspired my kids to engage and have agency in their learning.
My epiphany? I was already teaching my kids. I had been since they were born.
My epiphany didn’t come in an instant. It gradually dawned on me as I homeschooled.
Independent learning? My oldest son was also already an independent learner as evidenced by his elaborate construction projects using cardboard, duct tape, and anything we had on hand.
Observational learning? We were near experts at observational learning. We spent hours each day outside in the woods next to our house, making discoveries… and discussing them.
Reading? We had a daily reading habit. All three kids loved listening to stories and non-fiction books on natural science. Think dinosaurs and volcanoes and rainforests.
My younger son ‘read,’ that is, memorized, story books regularly, and told the story verbatim as he turned the pages. His system of teaching himself to follow and read the words he’d memorized worked fabulously.
The Classics? Yes to that too. We read age-appropriate classic children’s literature to them… and discussed it. Think Narnia, Charlotte’s Web, Winnie the Pooh.
Math? My oldest son had been learning math for years. He and I had a system of doing practical math. We used dried beans, dried pasta, and beads to practice addition, subtraction, and even basic forms of multiplication, division, and fractions. It was visual and tactile. It was also fun and used real-life examples.
Chemistry? The kids were learning it in our kitchen daily, bit by bit or mouthful by mouthful.
Physics? They conducted daily experiments in the limits of gravity, torque, inertia, and momentum… especially when climbing trees or jungle gyms.
Managing three kids? We did most things together when they were young. They each had a different takeaway from our reading, math, observational science, kitchen chemistry, and independent construction projects.
They were both collaborating and differentiating themselves based on their ideas and needs.
Our values? We were living them.
As my kids got older, defining a curriculum became more important. By that time, we were all practiced at homeschooling.
We had a flexible routine. Everyone knew we came together for reading time but did different math lessons. We might do the same science experiment but each kid wrote about the results to the level of their skill set.
Our process was cohesive even though we were charting our own course. If I had to explain it to someone on the outside, I might say we chose attributes from many philosophies:
Independent, self-directed learning from Montessori, but without the prepared environment.
Nature-focused observational learning from Waldorf but without the specific emphasis on natural wood toys and age-related motor skills
Child-centered learning from Unschooling but with a flexible, guided structure, using my kids’ interests to engage them and focusing on curriculum basics like math, language arts, science, and history.
Meaningful children’s classics from Classical Schooling but with a liberal dose of contemporary stories, folklore, and mythology from around the world.
Secular homeschooling but grounded in our family values of love and compassion, acceptance, tolerance, and inclusivity.
STEAM but not to the exclusion of nature or learning from everyday life.
Traditional standardized schooling? We skipped this. I did not replicate a standardized curriculum, worksheets, memorization, testing, or a one-size-fits-all approach. Our eclectic homeschool did not resemble the standard schoolroom. Full stop.
What began as a sea of choices, a feeling of overwhelm, and a strong belief in a more meaningful education for my kids, grew into a cohesive learning process for everyone.
Eclectic is a catch-all term and means something different for each family.
But at its core, it signifies an individually tailored approach unique to your family and child. It recognizes that there is no one size fits all. It recognizes that we have choices when we educate our kids. The beauty of homeschooling is that you can choose the path that works for your child.
Rather than buying a packaged curriculum, my suggestion is that you test out several.
If you are good at tutoring your child in math for example, you could use a conceptual math curriculum like Math U See and guide your kid through the lessons to move at their own pace.
If you feel writing is not your strong suit, enroll your kid in an online or in-person writing class with a small group of homeschoolers and see how it goes. Then adjust as needed.
Try a modular approach—using a different curriculum or method for each subject.
Here’s what one version of this might look like:
Hands-on tutoring for math + Khan Academy as support
Online writing
Homeschool co-op class for science
In-person class for Spanish lessons
At-home history lessons with age-appropriate texts
Maybe you prefer to have most classes taught by others. In that case, it could look like:
In-person co-op classes for writing, math, history
STEAM online class + subscription monthly STEAM project boxes
Online group language class
Discord group for Minecraft learning
Or maybe you love teaching them yourself and want to take a mentoring, project based learning approach. Your homeschool curriculum might look like this:
Conceptual math curriculum that you tutor in person
Science curriculum that you tutor in person
Both coupled with project based learning/observational learning/home experiments
Language arts self-paced curriculum with in-person classes to give your kid opportunities to socialize
A tabletop gamified history class with other homeschoolers for more socialization and independent learning
Finding a balance that works both for your child and you, over the long term, is key.
Things to consider:
Balance online classes and in-person learning
Balance independent learning with socialization and opportunities for building communication and collaboration skills
Skills mastery in the basics (reading, writing, math, science) balanced with project or engagement-centered learning to give real-life, authentic, opportunities for kids to use their skills with topics relevant to them.
Balance observational learning, real-life learning, and experiential learning with ‘book’ learning and screen time.
Find a self-paced, flexible schedule that gives you and your kid time to focus free from distractions, and gives you time to connect and form a strong bond based on trust, respect, and love, and space to play, explore, and have fun.
Balance what you think your kid needs to do and learn by getting to know your kid and discovering what their interests are.
Learning is fun if we let it be. It is our natural state. It is what kids love doing from the moment they’re born.
I learned as much from my kids as I taught them. I learned to let go of all the ‘shoulds’ and embrace ‘out of the box’ learning.
I discovered that almost any moment in everyday life can be a learning moment.
I realized kids are already independent, curious learners capable of profound discoveries. We simply need to nurture their innate abilities and act as mentors and coaches for them.
Making a snack for your kids? It is an opportunity to talk about where the food comes from. Say it’s hummus and baby carrots or apple slice with peanut butter. Or trail mix.
Where does hummus come from traditionally? How is it made? A perfect chance to get out your globe, locate the Middle East and the cultures that traditionally eat hummus, look up the ingredients, and talk about how it.
Trail mix? Perfect opportunity to examine the nutritional value of the mix of nuts, raisins, and chocolate chips (maybe?) and where they come from. Or look up the type of apple you’re eating and where it’s grown.
Get your kids to help you turn an everyday snack into food art—just for fun. Or look up what snacks pirates, mermaids or Vikings might like to eat and plan a themed snack.
The point is, homeschooling is your chance to be creative and define your values, and the education and life you want to build for you and your kids. And like snack time, it’s also an opportunity to get to know your kids and form a strong connection with them.
It is your opportunity to let go of your overwhelm, connect with your kid, and instill a love of learning in your kids… and yourself.
An eclectic approach does not mean scattered, without focus, or without vision. It means you are defining for yourself and your kids which elements work well for you. Give it a name if that helps.
I recently (since my kids graduated) defined my approach as Quest Schooling because it symbolizes the quest we are on to learn, to understand more deeply, and to become the best version of ourselves.
What is your homeschool approach? What does your path look like? Once you discover the freedom and real learning that comes with charting your own, unique (and eclectic) path… you’ll never look back.
And if you’re still here, here’s a reading list that includes various educational approaches to give you more food for thought.
Montessori
The Montessori Method by Maria Montessori
Montessori from the Start: The Child at Home, from Birth to Age Three by Paula Polk Lillard and Lynn Lillard Jessen
2. Waldorf
Understanding Waldorf Education: Teaching from the Inside Out by Jack Petrash
You Are Your Child's First Teacher: Encouraging Your Child's Natural Development from Birth to Age Six by Rahima Baldwin Dancy
3. Classical Education
The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise
The Core: Teaching Your Child the Foundations of Classical Education by Leigh A. Bortins
4. Unschooling
Teach Your Own: The John Holt Book Of Homeschooling by John Holt
The Unschooling Handbook: How to Use the Whole World As Your Child's Classroom by Mary Griffith
5. Charlotte Mason
A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal Reflections on The Gentle Art of Learning by Karen Andreola
Home Education by Charlotte Mason
6. Reggio Emilia
Bringing Reggio Emilia Home: An Innovative Approach to Early Childhood Education by Louise Boyd Cadwell
7. Project-Based Learning
Project-Based Homeschooling: Mentoring Self-Directed Learners by Lori McWilliam Pickert
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