Recently at our monthly home school meeting there was a discussion panel on styles of home schooling and different curriculum used. There were 4 mom’s on the panel. One (L) was to talk about being fully aligned with the Province, one (J) was to talk about using a specific curriculum, another (C) about traditional home schooling and having students graduate without our provincial diploma, and I was to talk about traditional/unschooling. Interestingly enough, we lined ourselves up in that order. It was not planned, we just walked up and chose chairs. Another interesting observation, the first 2 on the panel had notes. The 2 traditional home schoolers came to the table with nothing, just flying by the seat of our pants. I would suggest it is our personalities that determine how we home school.

I know all the ladies personally and have known them for a few years now. L has 2 children, a girl 16 and a boy 10. She has a day home as well. She is ultra organized and is very computer knowledgeable. J has 6 children (18 months to 10 years) and uses Sonlight curriculum, one core year for most of the school age kids. C has 5 children 9 to 21. She has used varied curriculum over the years and her children graduated without provincial diplomas. Her oldest is in a christian university in the city and her son (18) is planning to be a lawyer. I have 4 children 11 to 17. Our family did unschooling through elementary school and introduced more curriculum through junior high and high school.

We each gave a 5-10 minute blurb about our experiences and how we run our programs, then there were questions. There were also questions afterwards, as people looked at what we brought for curriculum. That too was an interesting display. L brought some curriculum, some graphs and charts she downloaded and some organizational things from her system. J, with the full curriculum had the curriculum binder and a lot of the books to go with it. C had a number of text books for high school. I had some text books and work books and some books I have read to the kids. It might look like an effort thing, but in reality, it is how each person runs their home.

For myself, we have spent a lot of time reading, (less now that they are older and our life has taken on different things). The kids have their text books, but a lot of learning is occurring through their experiences. All my children have jobs. All have learnt to manage money through having to manage money. I recently did a couple of posts on our allowance system; they get a regular allowance and a clothes allowance. They learnt to work when they were young, through chores and extra work they were required to do. They learnt good character though family reading time, experience, and discussion. They learnt to love God the same way, as well as through a loving home, extended family and church family. My focus and belief for the kids when they were young was to “Teach them 1. To love God, 2. To have a good character and 3. To have a good work ethic; and the rest would take care of itself”, and though not flawless, it has worked fairly well. The personalities of the parents are what dictates how a home school operates, but the personalities of the students play a role in how it works out in the end.

I recently attended a workshop on mediated learning. I found reassurance in some areas as we have run our home with many of the principles outlined. I was also dismayed at the time lost in not applying other things learnt in the workshop. As parents we want our children to succeed beyond measure. We work to that end in our own way and sometimes the child’s personality isn’t consistent with the plan. The same thing happens in school. The beauty of home schooling our children is we are able to adjust our styles to mesh with each child, and give each one the best education possible for his or her needs. It is great to have the option to home school.

I home school 4 children ages 11, 14, 16 and 17. None of them have attended formal school. We live on an acreage and work with the family on the farm. We try to live a life full of experiences. Some days it is crazy but we wouldn't have it any other way. You can read more about our family at Colours of Dawn.