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After homeschooling for 15  years, I have come to learn that there are multiple ways to teach your children.  Every child is different and no two children think and learn alike.  I have been thankful that we have been able to use a variety of different methods of homeschooling over the years. I have learned what works for us and what doesn’t.  I have been thankful that we can switch around and try different methods otherwise I probably would have gotten frustrated and burned out over the years using things that did not work  due to life circumstances.

Most new homeschooling parents are often bombarded with all the different methods and it can get frustrating listening to what kinds everyone uses.  Everyone has their absolute favorite and what they think is the BEST.  But the BEST is not always able to work for everyone.  Home educating is supposed to be an enjoyable time of learning for both the parent and the child.  You shouldn’t be looking to send them back to school because you tried something and it did not work.  Sometimes it is just using the WRONG stuff.  I have decided to break down the different methods and give some advice as to what type of learning might be best for your child.

If you try one method and it does not work, don’t be afraid to switch it to another.  Sometimes it is just that the child’s learning style is different and they need to be taught in the way that works best for understanding to them.

Classical Home Schooling Method

This method is based on the philosophy of education that was used in Ancient Greece and in Europe during the Middle Ages. It is language focused: learning is accomplished through words, written and spoken rather than through images—pictures, videos, and television. It views education in three different phases which correspond to the development of children’s ability to reason it is often called the Trivium:

1. Often called the “grammar stage” this stage focuses on the ability to memorize facts and information. It lays the foundation for future years of education. Rules of phonics, spelling, rules of grammar, poems, description of human body, facts of mathematics, etc. Lays foundation for the next stage.—usually elementary years
2. This phase is called the “logic stage” when a child starts to begin to pay attention to the relationships between different fields of knowledge and how they relate and how facts fit together into logical framework.—usually middle school years
3. Final phase is called the “rhetoric stage” builds on the first two points. Student learns to speak and write with force and originality. They also begin to specialize in whatever branch of knowledge attracts them. Art camps, college course, foreign travel, apprenticeships and other forms of specialized training are important at this time.—usually high school years

This is for me if I like and believe in:

•  Structure
• Evaluating child’s learning based on academic standards
• Placing value on written word, both in reading and writing well
• Developing good study skills fairly early in child’s life and that believe that it will benefit them as time goes on
• A child who is academically oriented
• Being involved in process of child’s education discussing books, giving dictation, and encouraging the reaching of academic goals
• Concentrating on classics of Western literature as a tool to develop critical thinking

Some good resources for classical education are:
The Well Trained Mind
Veritas Press
Tapestry of Grace

Charlotte Mason (CM)/Living Books Home Schooling Method:

Charlotte Mason was a British educator whose motto was “Education is the science of relations” and another is “Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.” The atmosphere in this kind of approach is gently and flexible, yet still the parent guides the learning process.

Teaching methods include the following:

• Living books—books that are written by a person with a passion for the subject, as opposed to a dry textbook which is merely a compilation of other people’s thoughts.
• Narration-especially oral for younger children
• Short lessons
• Development of good habits
• Study of art, nature, and poetry

This is for me if I like and believe in:

• Creating a learning environment that encourages your child to explore and appreciate the world around them.
•  Not sticking to a rigid schedule
• Seeing a value in evaluating your child’s learning on things other than formal written tests
•  Offering a well-rounded education including enjoying art, nature, music, and lots of books
• Spending much time and being involved in the process of child’s education discussing books, giving dictation, listening and encouraging narration, enjoying poetry, art, and music together.
• Having a child who doesn’t mind not having lots of boxes to check off

Some good resources for CM are:
Ambleside Online
Charlotte Mason Home Companion

Computer-Based Home Schooling Method:

This type of education is becoming more popular as states are offering it free to students to be able to stay at home and still take part in government based education. There are different ways you can do computer based homeschooling. Some popular ones are based on having curriculum on CD’s or DVD’s. Switched on Schoolhouse is one resource like this.

This is for me if I like and believe in:

• Having a child follow a set of scope and sequence
•  Having a step by step accountability for your child
•  Having a modern technological value and don’t have concerns for its over use
• Not having to be so involved in the day to day process of child’s education. Even though you would still be able to help and give general guidance
• Allowing child to work at own pace and use the computer

Keep reading to learn of some other methods to help encourage your child onto a path that is right for them. PART 2

Image courtesy of Arvind Balaraman at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

When I first became a Christian, I was given my first Bible from a friend.  That version was the NIV.  I read it and could understand it easily and thought nothing about which version I was reading.  Then I started attending a different church who read the KJV exclusively. They shared all the reasons  of why I should be reading the KJV only and how I didn’t want to be in “danger” of being led falsely.  I bought into it. I went home and took my NIV and threw it in the trash.  I then proceeded to pick up my KJV and began reading it.  It took much more concentration and I had to reread a bunch of the words as I could not get past all the new wording.  But I felt it was the “right thing to do.”

I can honestly say that in my early years, years when I should have gotten more into the Word of God, I didn’t.  I would listen to others and their doctrine and sermons and take what they said.  To pick up and read entire passages of scriptures, to myself was boring.  Did I just say that?  I would read, and my mind would wander.  I would fall asleep after reading each night.  I can honestly say, I did not read my KJV Bible as much as I SHOULD or COULD have read because it was more difficult to understand.

As I started buying Bibles for my children, I ONLY got them the KJV.  Do you think they ever read those bibles?  NO WAY!  If I could barely understand and get past all the “thee’s and thou’s,” do you think that they could?

I went for years like this.  Then my Bible was getting old and I needed a new one.  I went online and bought and ESV version.

I have had my Bible for awhile now.  I have read through it and enjoy it many times. I have been able to focus and read entire passages of scriptures and I “get them.”  But do you think I’d admit to people that my Bible version was not a KJV or a NKJV?  No, I hid which version I had.  Sounds so silly, doesn’t it?  Afraid to share with others which version I had?

The Bible is supposed to be a spiritual book.  The scriptures are written so that they can reveal to individuals what the Lord is speaking to them.  I have heard numerous, older, Bible reading people that say they have read through the Bible multiple times over the years and that each time, they learn something new.  Why is it that you can read the same scripture numerous times and get something new from it each time?  Because God speaks through those scriptures.  He reveals to us what He wants us to see.

I love that I can read a scripture and then look it up in the different versions of the Bible so that it is worded more clearly for me to understand.  If one word sticks out more than others, I can search for it’s originally meaning in the Hebrew or Greek form.  That could lead to a larger study of how God used that word and what it means.  It helps to deepen my understanding of the scriptures.

I heard a speaker this past weekend speak on the different versions of the Bible and what we should be allowing our children to read.  This man had some learning disabilities and he asked us if we knew why the different Bible versions were written?  He stated do you think it is because these publishers wanted to “cash in” on God’s Word? No, these different Bible versions were written so that people of ALL levels of learning can understand them.  Not all people can read and learn the same, we know that is true from teaching our children.  So why would we think that everyone should  ONLY read a KJV Bible and understand it?

The different and easier to read Bible versions, were written for a sole purpose….To get God’s Word into the hands of people of all levels of reading.  You can’t just hand a KJV to a person who reads at a 4th grade level and expect them to try and get it.  But hand them a ESV version or some other “easier to read” version and let them see God’s Word come to life.  Let them get immersed and interested in reading the Bible so that they can begin to understand God’s truths.  God will speak to them in whatever version they choose to read.  He isn’t going to “withhold” from a person who isn’t as “educated” and can’t understand the harder to read version.

If you handed a comic book version of the Bible to the individual who couldn’t read, do you think that God is not going to speak to them through that because it is not the KJV?  What about the person who reads and  can understand the NCV version(which is written at a 3rd grade level), do you think God is going to punish them because they read that?

Do we hand them a KJV when they are young and expect them to fall in love with His Word?  We could, or we could find a version that is easier to read and let the Lord help mature their minds and grow in them a heart that longs after reading the Word.  If I want my children to be interested in God, I have to put something out there that is geared towards them.  It may be a “fun cool” Bible but if it gets them interested in reading the Word, is it bad?  Can I let them grow and mature when they are young and as they get older and want to learn more of scriptures teach them that they can study further with the different versions?

I can share with them that the original scriptures were written in Hebrew and Greek and that they would have to learn those if they wanted the EXACT words from God.  Or they can take a Bible that they can understand and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to them through the scriptures and leave it up to God.  I think that is the better choosing.  I think that if we were to ask Jesus which version we should be teaching our children, He isn’t going to frown if I hand them an ESV or a KJV or an Amplifed Childrens Version.  He will be pleased that I am handing them a Bible and willing to train them to love His Word.

Nourish your child’s heart at a young age.  Get picture Bible’s and easier to read ones for your children.  Cultivate an interest in their hearts and minds.  Let them read a version so that they can understand what it is they are reading.  Find ones that have captions on the side with “real life” stories and things that they go through in their culture today.

Let them understand it.

Ask the question WWJD, which Bible would He choose?  I think He would hand them something that would give them a life giving message. One that would cultivate a love in their hearts for Him.  One that would open their minds to His Word.  Something they would understand.