During my seven years as a homeschooling Mama I have learnt about many different educational philosophies – Montessauri, Charlotte Mason, Classical, Leadership Education, Waldorf, Unschooling and more. What I love about this plethora of styles and approaches is that they are like a delicious buffet of ideas which homeschool parents get to pick and choose from, and delight in! As I read and learn about this variety of educational philosophies, I take out the bits I like, drop the bits I don’t, and create a personalised approach to education which fits our unique family dynamics.
Prince doing some interest-lead artwork…
Recently I have been studying the Leadership Education approach, which I am super excited about! We’re in the process of working out how best to incorporate this new style into our learning at home, but so far it’s been an inspirational journey. Today, though, I want to focus on the process of evolving a personalised educational philosophy. One of my favourite homeschooling writers, Jamie Martin from Simple Homeschool, has already written very eloquently on this topic, so I will leave you with a link to her post on The Evolution of an Educational Philosophy: My Journey of Baby Steps.
I pray that those of you considering or just starting out on your own homeschool journey will be encouraged to seek out educational philosophies which inspire you and your own family.
Writing on the Doorposts 
Rachelle said,
March 12, 2014 at 4:31 pm
Do you know of any resources that overview a bunch of these philosophies side by side?
DeneM said,
March 12, 2014 at 8:30 pm
Hi Rachelle,
I haven’t come across any books which do that, but Simple Homeschool (always my first port of call for a question like this!) has a great two-part blog with an overview and link to more info. Here are the posts:
http://simplehomeschool.net/educational-philosophies-defined-part-i/
http://simplehomeschool.net/educational-philosophies-defined-part-ii/
Blessings!