Educational Philosophies

Educational Philosophies Most Commonly Embraced by Homeschooling Families

written by Kathy Wentz

Before we start please know that the average new homeschooler changes philosophies & curriculum 7 times in the first 2 years no matter how much research they do. Don't panic or over-think the 1000s of options available or spend a lot of money at first. Check the library for materials and try free sites first. Start with free unit studies and learn how your children learn best and what grade level they are really capable of. You really do have the gift of time!

This list is not in any way complete or even what might be best – these are simply a few places to get you started.

School-at-Home -

This is easily the most familiar of styles to those of us who attended schools ourselves. Generally, but not always, it involves 5 or more subjects a day and uses prepackaged curricula often sold as a grade level specific package.

A Beka: abeka.com/
Accelerated Christian Education (ACE): aceministries.com/
Acellus: acellusacademy.com/
Calvert School: homeschool.calvertschool.org/
Easy Peasy All In One Homeschool: allinonehomeschool.com
Khan Academy: khanacademy.org/
Time 4 Learning: time4learning.com

Classical (Trivium) -
This is the original liberal arts education. Structure, memorization, dialog, writing, literature, and languages are stressed. Classical Education organizes students into three age/ability categories: Grammar, Logic, & Rhetoric. Structure is crucial and training of good habits begins in infancy. Traditionally, Classical Education does not use textbooks and uses real books, autobiographies, and other quality primary source materials. However, in recent years, some authors have published a huge number of textbooks in the name of Classical Education.


Classical Christian Homeschooling: classicalhomeschooling.org
Classical Conversations: classicalconversations.com/
Kolbe Academy: kolbe.org/
Veritas Press: veritaspress.com/

Well-Trained Mind: welltrainedmind.com/

Charlotte Mason -

A Christian based philosophy of education that stresses good literature (rather than textbooks), copying of relevant materials, and dictation. Daily time in nature is stressed. Structure is crucial and training of good habits begins in infancy. Many Classical and Charlotte Mason homeschoolers feel their two styles overlap in many areas also. Interestingly, many Interest-led (Classical Unschoolers) homeschoolers feel the same! In other words, you may want to look closely at the materials available for Classical, Unit Studies, and Unschooling too.

Ambleside Online: amblesideonline.org/

Charlotte Mason: pennygardner.com/

Mater Amabilis: materamabilis.org/ma/

Simply Charlotte Mason: simplycharlottemason.com/

Trail Guide to Learning: home-school-curriculum.com/
Train up a Child: trainupachildpub.com/


Waldorf -

A non-Christian spiritually based program featuring delayed formal academics and a rich variety of music, arts and literature. The aim of Waldorf education is to educate the whole child -- head, heart and hands. The curriculum is geared to the child's stages of development and brings together intellectual, artistic, spirituality, and movement. Delayed academics and rituals of daily and seasonal life are emphasized (structure the child, not the environment).

Earth Schooling: earthschooling.info/thebearthinstitute/

Oak Meadow School: oakmeadow.com/

Waldorf Inspired Learning: waldorfinspiredlearning,com/

Waldorf On-line Library: waldorflibrary.org


Montessori -

The original works of Maria Montessori have been gravely distorted here in America by a lack of copyrights on her name, but the original concept was to respect the child's inner desire to learn and allow him/her to make spontaneous and free choices within a carefully prepared environment (structure the environment, not the child). The role of the adult is to observe and use brief teachable moments to introduce new concepts.

Montessori at Home: simplehomeschool.net/montessori-at-home/

Montessori Homeschool Program: montessori-home-schooling.com/

Overwhelmed Mom's Guide: livingmontessorinow.com/

The Mulberry Journal: themulberryjournal.com/writing-collective/homeschool-basics/montessori-homeschooling

Unit Study Approach -

Unit studies can be as flexible or structured as a family wants and allow for a great deal of individual choice in both the choice of units to be done and in the materials used. It is usually an in-depth study of one specific topic (baseball, the planets, trees, World War 1) that covers math, geography, science, history, art, etc. It is a complete immersion into the topic so that the student will see things as a "whole" instead of bits and pieces. Unit studies can be done very frugally using a wide variety of Internet and library resources.

Amanda Bennett's Unit Study Adventures: unitstudy.com

Design-A-Study: designastudy.com

Five in a Row: fiveinarow.com

KONOS: konos.com/

Unschooling / Child Led Learning

Unschooling is not how something is done, but why. Unschoolers use textbooks, movies, classrooms, correspondence courses, museums, unit studies, and the rest of the world to learn, depending upon how they want to learn. Unschooling is the belief that all people have a built in desire to learn (unless crushed by outside forces). It is a belief that if you allow a person to pursue their own interests throughout life, they will end up gaining the knowledge they will need in order to pursue the life they want. Unschooling should not be never saying no and using it as an excuse for failing to parent your children (unparenting?).

John Holt: Growing Without Schooling: johnholtgws.com/

Natural Child Project: naturalchild.org/guest/earl_stevens.html

Radical Unschooling: sandradodd.com/

School Is Dead; Learn in Freedom: learninfreedom.org/

What is Unschooling?: educationcorner.com/what-is-unschooling.html

Whatever an education is, it should make you a unique individual, not a conformist; it should furnish you with an original spirit with which to tackle the big challenges; it should allow you to find values which will be your road map through life; it should make you spiritually rich, a person who loves whatever you are doing, wherever you are, whomever you are with; it should teach you what is important, how to live and how to die. -- From Dumbing us Down by John Taylor Gatto