What do you believe about children and learning?
One of the first things we had to do in college was write a statement of philosophy of education. I always found it odd that we wrote this statement so early in our journey as future teachers. Didn’t we need to know more about other people’s philosophy before we could clarify our own? Didn’t we need more technical information or something?
It turns out, that even after completing many years of technical training, my educational
philosophy has changed very little. What I believe about teaching and learning still hold true.
Clarifying that first, however, made it much easier to connect with the teaching methods and
curricula that resonate with my philosophy.
In the same way, clarifying what you believe about how children learn, the primary goals of
education, and more can be a huge tool in helping you make curriculum choices and other
decisions down the road. Our goals tell us what we want to do in a defined period of time.
Our philosophy informs the choices we make on the way to getting there.
4 Things People With a Clear Homeschool Philosophy Can Do!
- Choose Curriculum Without Feeling Overwhelmed
- Know Which Extracurricular Activites Will Help Your Child Reach Their Goals…and equally importantly which ones will not.
- Create A Schedule That Highlights The Areas That Are Most Important To You
- Communite Clearly with Your Spouse and Children
How to Write A Homeschool Philosophy
Writing a homeschool philosophy might seem overwhelming, but here are a few ideas that can help you get started. Complete these statements in a notebook and when you are finished you will have the start of a homeschool philosophy.
- I believe children need to learn…..
- I believe children learn best when….
- My role as a teacher is to…
- I know my children have learned because…
The first statement will help you identify what you want your child to learn. If a curriculum or activity up for consideration doesn’t address something on this list you probably don’t need it! Even just the length of this list will help you in making decisions about how to structure your family’s time- a short list might be accomplished in a morning meeting or short work period. A longer list might require a more traditionally scheduled school day.
The second statement will help you figure our which teaching methods are likely to be effective for your family. This is useful in identifying which homeschool styles might be a good fit, narrowing down your potential resource options before you even start looking at individual curriculum!
Your role as a teacher will have a huge impact on the style of homeschool you select but even more on how you schedule your day. What will you be doing while your children work? Is your goal to provide primarily oversight or direct instruction? Of course you will at times be needed for both, but which is the primary approach you believe is ideal.
Finally, what is the criteria you establish for knowing your child has learned what you have intended? This is primarily a question of assessment. Do you plan to evaluate learning primarily with grades, oral recitations, written testing, observations, or something else? Again, reality will probably lend itself to a mix of all of the above but what will you see as the most important measure? If you don’t prioritize written testing as a measure of learning, but your state requires you to take one any way you will be less likely to be affected by the results if you have already decided they aren’t what you value. I know homeschool families who don’t even open the results, just drop them in a drawer to prove they did it down the road if needed- that’s confidence in your philosophy!
Need Help Getting Started?
Don’t worry! We have created a workbook just to help you in developing and implementing a homeschool philosophy that will serve you for years to come. It includes printable goal setting worksheets, philosophy building helps, and student-teacher communication logs.
Normally available only to our most committed consulting clients, for the next week (through Friday, March 1) it is available through the Lent Catholic Mom Bundle, which also includes a ton of other great products. For only $25, you receive $233 worth of products!!
Or, book an initial consult right now and let us know you are interested in learning more about developing a homeschool philosophy. We will work with you one on one to create and implement a philosophy that will soothe your homeschool days.
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