In thinking about the best homeschooling method and philosophy to follow, I have compiled the below list of skills, knowledge, and traits that I hope to instill in my kids by the time they graduate. The ball got rolling as I started to think about how to best prepare them for adulthood. Here goes.
CHARACTER FORMATION
Love of God
Strong understanding of Catholic faith and moral teachings
Character development, virtues, discernment
Confidence
Responsibility and maturity
Cultivating talent/hobby
Appreciation of beauty (music, art/architecture, poetry/literature, nature, self-presentation)
Service in a beloved area of interest
Good earth stewardship
Love of travel
DAY TO DAY SKILLS
Practical skills (cooking, gardening, knitting, car maintenance, etc.)
Computer skills
Understanding of basic health and nutrition
Time and money management
Understanding human behavior (from sociology and psychology, conflict resolution, direct communication, assertiveness, good listening skills...)
Organizational and planning abilities
GENERAL INTELLECTUAL SKILLS
Love of learning
Critical thinking
Strong reading skills
Solid basic math
Citizenship and consumer knowledge
ACADEMICS
Foreign languages
Basic geography
World history and world religions
Understanding of natural world (science)
Based on this list, I know that as much as unschooling may appeal to me in theory, it isn't a good fit because I have very specific ideas of what I feel are my responsibility to expose my children to. In that regard, I see educating my children as my parental right and responsibility, and therefore schooling will need to be parent-led to accomplish the above list.
I also know that whatever approach or mix of approaches we pursue, it will look nothing like "school at home". A lot of focus in this list is on character formation and general daily skills that are rarely, if ever, a part of mainstream curricula.
This leaves several of the more commonly referenced methods that have been circling in my head these past few years: Waldorf, Montessori, Charlotte Mason, Classical, Unit Studies, Thomas Jefferson.
Waldorf was very attractive to me when we were considering private schools. I think we'd have gone with this approach if we were going the private school route rather than homeschooling. But since we are not, the main thing that is a turn-off to me is the focus on fantasy. Fairies and such. The founder, Steiner, had a not-exactly Christian outlook on life, which is another concern of mine.
Montessori is perfect for the early years, and if we were to send our kids to preschool, we'd definitely make sure it was an officially certified Montessori school. But having tried my hand at Montessori at home, the amount of prep that goes into it is overwhelming for me, and I'm not a fan of the idea that there is only one correct way of doing an activity.
Charlotte Mason is vary attractive to my sensibilities. But CM doesn't provide much in the way of math or formal science. Nature study is a nice beginning, especially in the early years, but then? Yet I love lots of the tools that CM utilizes, including living books, narration, dictation, copy-work, historical timelines, and of course nature study, as well as art and music appreciation.
Classical education speaks to the desire in me for a rigorous education for my kids. I don't think this is contrary to sparking a love of learning. Because we are homeschooling, we remain in control of how flexible we want to be with the content and schedule, so I think there's room to accomplish both, rigorous academics and nurturing a love of learning, that so frequently are thought to be in opposition to each other.
Unit Studies appeal to me as a way to tie different subjects together rather than teaching them separately as if life can so easily be compartmentalized. But there is a lot of work that goes into planning these, and it's not really something that can be done once for the entire year. But even if, it does seem a bit contrived to force subjects together, because one of them will have to win out as the spine on which the others are hung, so to speak. I'm not sure we can be as thorough as I'd like in the various subjects.
There's other approaches, including the Thomas Jefferson education and multiple intelligences, but the above are the ones that have most resonated with me and from which I intend to pull ideas and tweak them to fit our family. In other words, an eclectic approach to homeschooling is a good way to label us. That said, I think our starting point shall be Classical education, though not before age 6. Since both my kids have birthdays later in the year, we have an extra year to learn through play before starting on any formal academics. What I see therefore is rather than looking at starting Kindergarten at age 5 and doing formal academics at such a young age, instead I see taking it easy until the year they turn 6, and then start official 1st grade level work. Kindergarten is really a way for publicly schooled kids to adjust to being corralled in groups and socialized into the unnatural expectations of formal schooling anyway.
