Classical, Waldorf, Montessori, Unschooling, how does a family choose?  Today I want to share about how we chose a homeschooling philosophy.  Or better yet, how we blended several together to design our own.  

My very first glimpse into the homeschool world was a blog I stumbled across while teaching called, Chasing Cheerios.  Does anyone else remember that one?  I remember being enamored with the sweet toddler activities she did with her daughters and followed along as that blossomed into full-blown homeschooling.  Even then I had a thought I still wrestle with now, “Isn’t that great for them?  It looks so lovely.  I’d like to do that too but instead I’ll just read this blog.”  This is a thought that often plagues me!  I’m tackling that kind of thinking head on by starting this blog!  

Anyway, back to choosing a homeschool philosophy… 

Once I jumped the hurdle to decide we were actually going to homeschool, it was time to decide how.  With our homeschool mission in mind, I began doing my philosophy research.  

Our homeschool mission is to raise children capable of and comfortable with independent thinking, who develop a deep appreciation for and a love of life and who eagerly celebrate their successes and failures as they chase their dreams.

My first reading centered on Maria Montessori and her pedagogy.  I pretty much instantly fell in love.  Check the booklist section of the blog for a list of some Montessori books I read that were inspirational.  In short, the Montessori philosophy is about following the child. Montessori herself did not believe that she created the “Montessori Method” but instead that she closely observed children and merely gave back to them what they showed her they needed.  

Montessori valued the whole child and viewed him or her as an independent person, deserving of the utmost respect. Parents or teachers (called guides) closely observe their children to see when they are ready for certain lessons or activities.  Children move through predictable “planes of development” and lessons are introduced accordingly.  Children are free to chose their own “work” within limits and are engaged in, what is called, a three hour work cycle.  Work is self-selected from the curriculum areas of practical life, sensorial, language, math and culture.  

Children receive lessons on how to use new materials, are expected to use them appropriately and when ready, clean up after themselves.  The materials are very hands-on and the learning concepts are very concrete. By observing the child at work, and without breaking their concentration, the homeschooling mom or teacher can decide if that child has mastered a concept, needs a new lesson or may in fact not be ready for that type of work.  

Often, when people see #montessori, they see what looks like children doing chores.  Maria Montessori believed that children were very much interested in learning about their environment and fully participating within it.  In the Montessori home or classroom, children happily work on practical life skills, like cooking, cleaning and sewing, using tools specifically made for people their size.  This not only helps the child feel they are a valuable, participating member of their family or classroom, but lays the foundation for fine motor, gross motor and even future reading, writing and math skills.  

As we’ve continued on our journey I’ve learned about other methods which I knew I wanted to incorporate in some way into our homeschool.  

From the Waldorf method we have adapted the concept of rhythms in the home.  Rather than a strict schedule, Waldorf families have rhythm or a gentle flow to the day making plenty of time for family connection and time spent outdoors.  

I previously mentioned our commitment to Forest School in my last post.  Please check it out for more information as I believe it’s one of the most important parts of our homeschool at the moment.

From my very limited reading about Charlotte Mason, we have adopted the concept of a morning basket or morning time.  This is one of our most cherished parts of the day.  Very simply, I keep a basket of high quality poems, children’s books, phonics and math activities next to our table.  I also keep a playlist of songs we are learning or enjoying listening to on my phone, using Spotify.  We work our way through the morning basket while we eat breakfast.   

Additionally, we have taken the concept of nature journaling from the Charlotte Mason method.  Keeping a nature journal is another cherished part of our week.  We enjoy collecting nature items from outside and bringing them home to study and sketch.  We have also sketched and painted animals we have decided to learn about (for example reindeers during the month of December). 

From the Classical style of education we highly value the 3 R’s – reading, writing and ‘rithmetic.  We currently work on these subjects the Montessori way, but they are definitely an important aspect to our homeschool.  In our quest to raise independent thinkers, I believe reading the great books will be an important part of our homeschool as our kids get older.

When I first heard of Unschooling I was immediately turned off by the term.  That’s not for “us”, I thought.  However as I learn more about it, I realize it both resonates with me and I want to experiment more with it.  I believe free time for children is important so they can focus on what interests them and develop their individual passions.  

After reading Peter Gray’s, Free to Learn, I came across the concept of Self-Directed Learning.  I also had the privilege to hear him speak at an alternative education conference (AERO) here in New York last summer.  He was very inspiring and I now ensure my children have the opportunity for lots of self-directed learning at home.  They are free to follow their interests and I try to guide them along the way or find a way to supply materials to meet their needs.  This is most evident in my son’s love of sharks and the many, many, many projects he’s undertaken to learn more about his favorite animal. 

I’ve found that many of these method overlap and intertwine in so many ways.  Here are some quotes from the creators of these philosophies which I think illustrate their interconnectedness and highlight our homeschool emphasis of the importance of play for young children, time spent outdoors and self-directed learning within limits.  

“To aid life, leaving it free, however, that is the basic task of the educator.”  Maria Montessori

“Let the children be free; encourage them; let them run outside when it is raining; let them remove their shoes when they find a puddle of water; and when the grass of the meadows is wet with dew, let them run on it and trample it with their bare feet; let them rest peacefully when a tree invites them to sleep beneath it’s shade; let them shout and laugh when the sun wakes them in the morning.”  Maria Montessori

“There is no education but self-education.”  Charlotte Mason

“Never be within doors when you can rightly be without.”  Charlotte Mason

“We have forgotten that children are designed by nature to learn through self-directed play and exploration, and so, more and more, deprive them of the freedom to learn, subjecting them instead to the tedious and painfully slow learning methods devised by those who run the schools.”  Peter Gray, Free to Learn

Through careful research, we’ve been able to pick and choose what works for us.  In a future post I’ll share more specifically about how our days, weeks and months look.  

I hope you can see that all homeschools are quite unique, from pre-existing philosophies, to a blended approach like ours, to an “open and go” boxed curriculum which maps out a daily homeschool schedule and lessons for you. 

How about you?  What type of homeschool do you have?  Are you a purist – with only one philosophy?  Have you blended like us?  Do you use a boxed curriculum? 

Did you choose a philosophy before you began homeschooling or develop one along the way?

I’d love to hear about your homeschool in the comments!