Home School Style

Ive been reading the book 100 Top Picks For Homeschool Curriculum: Choosing The Right Curriculum And Approach For Your Child's Learning Style.

After taking the quizzes, it looks like I fall under the "unit study" type and the "unschooling" type in about equal measure. Oh, there is a strong dose of "eclectic" and some "Charlotte Mason" thrown in, to be sure, but I pretty much run shrieking from "traditional schooling" and "classical curriculum." If I really want a label (and I don't) I could go with Melissa Wiley's "tidal" style.

I'm not so interested in the labels as the different approaches. I've been thinking a lot about the why and the how and the what we do around here. Mxyl is entering 5th grade. We had a light year while I was on bed rest. We now have Oob the magnificent who does not ever want to nap along with Choclo who forgot, over the summer, how to amuse himself during home school time.

Time is increasingly precious and it is forcing me to distill the essence of what is important. This is good, I think I needed the squeeze. Here is what I am thinking:

We are raising people who are unique and eternal. I need to be focussed (and keep them focussed) on who they are becoming. For example: it isn't enough to tell a kid to stop smacking their sister with a brick (to be fair it was a cardboard brick) just because she is annoying them. I want them to become a person who does not respond in anger to petty irritations. It isn't enough to "do math," I want them to see in math the beauty of the rules which God used to construct the universe.

How to? I need to tighten the scheduling to provide one on one time with each kid. I am going to do homeschool blocks 2 or 3 times a week.