Our Eclectic Homeschoolers

After a summer of researching all sorts of homeschooling styles, I've decided to use an eclectic approach with my sons. I looked into online schooling, Classical Education, Charlotte Mason, Unit Studies, and a few other options. However, in the end the eclectic approach won me over.

Since there are already some really great bloggers who have explained the different options I'm going to send you over to The Pioneer Woman's site to get a nice rundown of five different approaches. The post explains a few of the more common approaches in great detail. Another site I found amazing was Home Schoolroom. This woman has some really great resources and gives a great definition for eclectic homeschooling.

The eclectic homeschooling approach works for my family, because I like the idea of having a more varied approach to teaching my sons. They are two completely different people. One is bound and determined to be a famous chef and the other wants to design video games. When I was trying to fit their learning styles into one set category, I couldn't. I came across the eclectic approach. It is basically forming a curriculum based on your child's learning style. It's created by taking tidbits from many different approaches and using them all together. If something doesn't work, you find what does and adjust it. Sounds simple, right?

Well, it may not be at times. I've learned that you may try quite a few approaches to learning a certain topic only to find they don't work. Then, you switch things up to find that one approach that does. It's worth it to me. I have a certain learning style that works for me and our kids do too. My husband is a visual kind of guy. He can see it and then can replicate it right away. Me, no way. I have to try something a few times, fail horribly, and then try again before I come close to getting it correct.  We're all different.

Since this is our first year of homeschooling, I've been a little nervous about doing this whole thing correctly. We pulled our boys out of public school. One is in fifth and the other is in sixth. These are trying times for tweens. I'm nervous that I'll mess this all up and make them less intelligent in the long run. At the same time, I feel like the eclectic approach will give them a deeper understanding of the topics that really matter to them and they can work on the areas they have struggled with in school. For my younger son, the one-on-one approach is a complete benefit to him. He thrives with the individualized attention and can grasp concepts a lot quicker.

We've only completed two days of homeschooling so far, but I think it's going to be step in the right direction. As nervous as I am about succeeding with them, I am more excited about the possibilities. I think it helped that I joined a few online homeschooling groups towards the end of the previous school year. I saw other's fears expressed and we talked it out with each other. We had seasoned homeschooling parents to answer our questions. I have people that I've networked with and I can turn to them whenever I run into a snag. It helps to research such a life choice before jumping in and find a strong support circle that can help in a pinch.


If you're considering homeschooling your child there are a lot of different approaches to curriculum. You just need to find the one that works the best for you and your family. There are countless Yahoo! Groups (<---Click here) available online as well. These are great for moral support and for getting all of the information you'll need to have a successful transition. Just search the groups section to find the one that fits your needs. As for homeschooling ideas, I've discovered a wealth of information on Pinterest. Come follow me on Pinterest and I'll add you to my homeschooling Pinterest boards. We can pin ideas to help each other out. It always helps to have friends in this sort of situation!

Well, I hope you find what works for your family. Seeing as how it's only day two of my homeschooling journey, I'm hoping this all goes really well. If not, we'll figure things out and keep on going.  I have to admit, it's been nice to have the boys all to myself. They grow too fast and having this time is something we'll always remember. Even if it does get a little crazy.

I'd love to hear what you've tried that has worked or has completely failed.  Give me your favorite websites, books, and anything else that has benefited your educational approach. I'd enjoy hearing new ideas!

You can leave a reply below or email me at womaninthemancave@yahoo.com.

As always, thanks for reading.

Take care,
NB