Homeschooling Styles and Curriculum

After people get over that we homeschool and ds1 is "almost" 6 and finishing his 1st grade curriculum in most subjects. They often ask how or if they know a little about hsing, they ask more specifically what our style is. I consider us Christian Eclectic. Which basically means we like to pick and choose among various methods with a base in Christian and godly ways when they style of books fit my sons learning style.

There are many many styles and ways to homeschool and I (personally) strongly believe that learning style must take precedents over everything else to make it as enjoyable and successful for everyone. We supplement with bible teachings, daily living and church where our basic core curriculum lacks. Every homeschooler is different. That's part of the beauty of homeschooling, you do what works for you and your family.

The next thing generally asked is how much time do you spend working? how do you fill your days? hmm let me think about that for a minute..... 2 active boys, 1 surprise on the way, a business and household to run. I think my days fill themselves before i get there, lol. I just manage them. You'd be surprised at how fast bookwork goes when you have a very self motivated child. That's how ds1 has arrived at the 1st grade much earlier than most public school kids. He doesn't have 25 other kids to take the teacher's attention.

Don't mistake that all we do is bookwork!School is never ending, learning opportunities are always around! School does not stop at just books, which is probably one of my favorite things about hsing. We walk out our back door and learn about nature, birds, deer, bugs...etc. We go to our library and learn things from our children's librarian, she's a wonderful and amazing lady. When we grocery shop ds learns something new just about every time. Just today on the way to an appointment he was asking about our garden. Daddy has been planning the layout and has been itching to get out and get started. He asked if we were doing pumpkins again, as last years were attacked & destroyed by some bug. I told him he'd have to ask daddy because I wasn't sure we could prevent it from happening again. He sat and thought for awhile then said he had a solution. He said we could build a house on top of them. I told him I wasn't sure it would work because they needed sunlight. In his most matter of fact, duh mom tone, he said we'd build windows in the top to let the sun in.

I guess what I'm doing is working. I've tried to teach him to not always think of solutions the books provide but to come up with his own in a creative way.

So there's our homeschooling in a nutshell. I've posted our 1st & 2nd grade curriculum's on the side, partially to share that homeschooling curriculum doesn't have to be boxed, but it can get expensive and partially to help keep myself organized. :) I try to look for 2nd hand teacher's manuals when they are necessary or 2nd hand textbooks when I can find them. Used good condition books can help defray the cost. We are lucky enough to have a teachers store about an hour away we visit a few times a year. :)