Homeschooling Styles

Are you confused by the many homeschooling styles out there? Kelly Francis put together this list explaining the different types and styles of homeschooling, along with resources to further investigate each one to discover whether or not it will be right for your family.

Traditional
Use textbooks or workbooks that follow a scope and sequence (an outline showing what will be taught at each grade level), which covers each subject in 180 daily increments over a span of 12 years. Having it "all laid out" is an advantage for many homeschoolers who choose this method. Some of these offer video curriculum and/or a variety of correspondence courses, allowing the student to become enrolled in their program with them keeping the academic records, the student becoming enrolled, but the parents keeping the records, or simply just purchasing curriculum. some make available testing so they will place your student in the appropriate, individual textbooks, regardless of grade level.

A Beka:
(800) 874-3592, www.abeka.org

Alpha Omega:
(800) 622-3070, www.aop.com

Bob Jones University Press:
(800) 845-5731, www.bjup.com

Bright Minds:
(800) 641-6555, www.brightminds.us

Christian Liberty Press:
(800) 832-2741 (catalog), www.christianlibertypress.com 

Classical
This approach teaches the tools of learning collectively known as The Trivium. The Trivium has three parts, each corresponding to a childhood development stage, giving a major education in grammar, logic, and rhetoric, including all major subjects including Latin and Greek.

Veritas Press:
(800) 922-5082, www.veritaspress.com

The Classical Child:
(509) 826-6327, www.classicalchild.com

Unit Studies
Take a theme or topic and delve into it deeply over a period of time, integrating language arts, science, Bible, social studies, math, and fine arts as they apply. This offers a varied approach to the traditional approach and works well with small support co-ops. Click here for more information about unit studies.

Beautiful Feet Books:
(508) 833-8626, www.bfbooks.com

Konos:
(972) 924-2712, www.konos.com

Weaver Curriculum: 
(888) 367-9871,

Learning Adventures:
(812) 523-0999, www.learning-adventures.org

Tapestry of Grace:
(800) 705-7487, www.tapestryofgrace.com

Cadron Creek:
(505) 534-1496, www.cadroncreek.com  

Living Books
This approach is based on the writing of Charlotte Mason, a turn-of-the-century British educator. Mason's approach is to teach the three Rs and then expose children to the best sources for knowledge. Through quality books, visits to museums, and observing science, the subject matter "comes alive." This approach is geared for younger children and neglects higher level studies. Living books, however, can be incorporated as supplemental to history and literature for the upper grades, allowing them, when exposed to living books, to become a part of that time.

Robinson Curriculum, CD curriculum
www.robinson.com

The Original Home Schooling Series, by Charlotte Mason

A Charlotte Mason Education, by Catherine Levison

Learning Through History: www.learningthroughhistory.com

Principle Approach
This is an effort to restore knowledge of Christian history, an understanding of the spread of Christianity, and the ability to live according to the biblical principles on which our nation was founded. While this is a noble approach -- creating self-learners who think "governmentally" -- it requires a great deal of teacher preparation and little prepared curriculum is available. Books teaching this approach offer a valuable asset to any homeschooler's library as reference books.

The Noah Plan/Foundation for American Christian Education
(804) 488-6601, www.face.net

Vision Forum
(800) 440-0022, www.visionforum.com

Unschooling
This refers to any less-structured learning system that allows children to pursue their own interests with parental support. In this approach, children are apprenticed or "discipled" by adults who include them in what they are doing. While this has the advantage of capturing the child's "teachable moments" and allowing the child to delve deeply into subjects of interest, it tends to be highly unstructured, may neglect some subjects, and is hard to assess levels of learning.

Eclectic Approach
In this approach the parent chooses from a variety of resources to make up their own homeschool package. The unschooling comes in when a stressful day comes up, when parent or child needs a break. The child can be productively learning, but not necessarily schooling: Legos, drawing, writing a letter, reading good books, cooking, etc.; things that encourage the child's learning and development, while avoiding bubblegum books like comic books, brain numbing video games, and television, etc.

There are many other curriculums and resources available that teach the above methods, but those mentioned are the best known and it is not unusual for families to begin with one approach and later change to another.

Other Resources:

Homeschooling Magazines:

CHOIS Connection: free www.chois.org

TEACH Magazine, www.TEACHMagazine.com

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com

Local:
Kootenai Kids Teaching Supplies
7352 N. Government Way, Ste. B
Dalton Gardens, ID
762-7575

Christian Supply
510 E. Francis
Spokane, WA
(509) 487-6942

Learning is Fun
5414 E. Sprague
Spokane Valley, WA
(509) 536-4900

Catalogs:
Christian Book Distributors
(800) 247-4784, www.christianbook.com

Christian Light Publications
(800) 776-0478

Love to Learn
(888) 771-1034, www.lovetolearn.net

Rainbow Resource Center
(888) 841-3456, www.rainbowresource.com

Timberdoodle
(360) 426-0672, www.timberdoodle.com

Science Catalogs:
Apologia
(888) 524-4724, www.apologia.com

Creation Science Evangelism
(877) 479-3466, www.drdino.com

Home Training Tools
(800) 860-6272, www.hometrainingtools.com

If you are interested in seeing any hard copies of the mentioned catalogs on this page, or examples of some of the curriculum, please contact Kelly Francis: (208) 777-9910.

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