For many people, homeschooling may call to mind the picture of two or three children sitting at a table and writing feverishly in their workbooks, while mom or dad stands nearby. This is the not entirely true. There are different methods of homeschooling, and the method you choose will decide the curriculum and your style of teaching. Given below are some of the most influential and popular homeschooling methods.

The Charlotte Mason method:

Charlotte Mason is known as the founder of the homeschooling movement. A homeschooler herself, she was passionate in her zeal to lay out the foundations for an effective a complete homeschooling program that is fun and educational at the same time. This method focuses on all the core subjects with emphasis placed on classical literature, poetry, fine arts, classical music and craft. Mason used a variety of books from classical literature, which she called ‘Living Books’. Since this method encourages a passionate awareness of literature, the child is read to daily from the ‘Living Books’. After this, the child is asked to narrate what she has heard. This process begins at the age of six, and by ten the child is expected to write her narrations in her book. Mason also advocated the use of ‘Nature Diaries’. After each short and interesting lesson, the child is asked to go to Nature and draw observations from Nature. Thus the child also gains a sense of respect for her environment. Mason believed that development of good character and behavior was essential to the complete development of the child’s personality.

In these present times, getting the best education for your children is of the utmost importance. The topic of student education is a controversial one as there are more than a few options available for the parent to plan the educational development of their children. It does not help that the public educational setting is often full of issue and debate over allocation of school funding, curricula choices and external influences. These things and others end up affecting a student’s education, personal development and belief system.

As time has past, it has been taken for granted that getting a good education and nurturing the academic and interest path of many children is successfully accomplished by the institutionalized school systems of our states and cities.

For many, the public school systems have not met the needs of many parents and their children with respect to the academic educational standards expected by the proactive parent. This has resulted in a growing movement of parents taking the education of their children into their own hands. Home schooling continues to grow and to expand as more and more parents realize the many benefits and advantages of teaching at home.

Home schooling offers many benefits and advantages over traditional educational methods and systems offered through our public schools.

It has always been accepted that parents have an inherent right to determine how to raise and educate their children. These days, the latter decision is made more complex for the simpler dichotomous decision of private versus public schooling is given a third rival: homeschooling. Homeschooling holds an obvious advantage over the other two, that of the fact that as a parent, you are given an opportunity to be completely hands-on with your child’s education, from schedule, to curriculum, and to the sort of development you want imbibed in him or her through that education. While these advantages may hold true under any circumstance, it is important for you as a parent to also understand the disadvantages in the system as well. Only then can you be certain that you are indeed making the right and educated decision in choosing homeschooling over the other two.

The first obvious disadvantage is the amount of investment you have to make as a parent. Why? Homeschooling leaves the responsibility of educating your child completely on you. This means you’re going to have to research and collate a curriculum for your child, as well as determine on your own supplemental activities that will enhance this learning experience. Moreover, this means having to invest greater time in your child than a normal working parent would. Homeschooling may require either parent to stay home and be the teacher, or may put greater stress on parents who both work for a living.

Homeschooling, for those who are asking, is legal. As of now, fifty states have allowed homeschooling and have provided laws for its implementation. They have different laws though and some of the states require that you can show some kind of records to show that you’re homeschooling your children. There are several ways you can keep record of your children’s progress and here are some of them.

Homeschooling has many benefits for a child’s education. One of the most obvious is that it allows you, the parent, to tailor a specific education geared towards your child’s particular needs. It also allows you to teach in a style that suits your child — as we all know, different people learn better in different ways. When you decide to homeschool it is important to remember that as well as being a parent, you are now taking on the role of a teacher. This is, of course, not a responsibility to be taken lightly, and you have to make every effort to be the best teacher you can be.

Everyone has had the experience of having both a good and bad teacher. If you stop and think about it, I’ll think you’ll notice some things that your good teacher’s had in common. The most important is that they were genuinely interested in their subject areas. Nothing makes a teacher better then enthusiasm for a subject. I think you’ll also notice that most of the bad teachers you had didn’t seem particularly interested in the subject they were teaching. It is for this reason that it is crucial that you create a homeschooling experience that interests both you and your child.

While your child’s education should come first and foremost when creating a homeschooling curriculum, you shouldn’t be shy to think of your own education as well. When looking at things to study in particular subject areas, think about things that interested you in those areas that you didn’t get to explore as much as you liked to when you were in school.

It cannot be understated how valuable an experience it is to learn with your child. You will be strengthening a family bond, and your shared interest and excitement in a topic will ensure that your child retains the information. A way to do this is to understand the balance between rigidness and flexibility in a homeschooling curriculum.

A certain amount of formalness is required in a general curriculum: you have to have set goals and timelines in which certain things must be learned. But within those timelines, you have a lot of flexibility, and you should use it to your advantage. When studying literature, for example, understand that the goal is to read and learn about good literature, not necessarily to read a particular book. So instead of studying a “standard” novel that you’ve already read, consider a book that is new to you as well. With both you and your child interested in the book, the experience of reading it together will be enjoyable for both of you, as you will both be excited about the outcome.

This concept needn’t be applied only to literature, think of things in science or music, for example, that you’ve always wanted to learn about. If you make sure that you are interested in the subjects as well, your child will sense your enthusiasm and become more drawn into the subject, ensuring a much more valuable educational experience.