How I Teach Using an Eclectic Lifestyle of Learning

January 12, 2014 | By Heidi

How I Teach Eclectic Homeschool

I love how homeschooling allows families with different homeschool philosophies, teaching styles, numbers and ages of kids, to tackle educating our children in the way that suits them. Care to see how it works around here? Then stay tuned as I plan to write about how I homeschool, subject by subject.

As an introduction today let me tell you a little about our family and philosophy:

Student #1: My Eight-Year-Old Son

A near carbon copy of his daddy, this little boy is like a lot of little boys: he loves science and math more than reading and writing. Working to read might not be his favorite thing, but he loves listening to me read aloud. He’s very imaginative and quite creative when problem solving. He can get very focused and lost in his work–when it’s of interest to him. He’d much rather use his brainpower to build things than worry about making sure he has his shirt on frontwards. His particular interests are military equipment and history, animals, learning to play guitar, Legos, robots and other technology.

Student #2: My Eleven-Year-Old Daughter

My girl is a bit of a mini-me. She has always loved reading and writing and thinks science is pretty interesting, but would avoid math if she could. She likes things predictable and organized and loves creating with her hands. Unfortunately I also passed down my tendency towards perfectionism and sweating the small stuff. We do have a couple big differences. She’s musically inclined–me, not so much. She’s an extrovert who loves being busy and engaged with others almost constantly. Me? Total introvert. Her particular interests are stories (reading literature, learning the stories of history, writing her own stories), handicrafts (sewing, knitting, duct tape…you name it!), and music (piano and choir).

Homeschool Dad, a.k.a. Mr. Technology:

My husband is my support. He not only financially supports us all, but listens to me, tells me I’m doing a great job, is willing to problem solve and jump in when we need help, and runs the technology side of our homeschool. I’m so thankful he can teach our kids things like computer programming and Lego Robotics. In addition to all that, he cooks for us!

Me, the Homeschool Mom:

I’m pretty much your classic type A: I struggle with perfectionism, micromanaging, and worry… BUT I’m really attempting to overcome these natural tendencies and slow down, relax and enjoy this lifestyle. The good news is that three years into homeschooling I’m making lots of progress learning to let go. Through homeschooling I have not only discovered my joy of learning, but become a complete homeschool mom dork–fascinated with everything and sometimes getting a little too excited to share it.

My Homeschool Philosophy:

My philosophy is fairly eclectic. If you want the nitty-gritty details on exactly what I mean by that you can read about what goes into my Eclectic Homeschool mix. The short description is a heaping helping of Charlotte Mason, a practical portion of Ruth Beechick, and bits of other techniques thrown in to suit the day, mood, topic or season. My big focus the further into this we get is turning this “homeschooling” thing into a lifestyle of education.

Join me for the next five days and I’ll share how I teach, subject by subject:

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