Home learning /Home schooling Montessori are not new concepts. Many parents opt for this even when the schools are open. There are also various approaches to this. Parents that choose to home educate are usually not fond of the term homeschooling.
Parents that home educate do so for different reasons. You may in fact elect to home educate in the UK at any time. You also don’t need to follow the National Curriculum. For more information on electing to home educate, visit Elective Education on the gov.uk site.
Approaches to home education
Everyone is different and as with anything, certain approaches work better for certain people. The same is true for ‘schooling’ or education. Looking at different Learning Styles can help in deciding on a general approach.
To name some of the approaches:
Structured or Semi-Structured / School-At-Home Approach
This is when children learn according to a set schedule (although with some autonomy). Sometimes this would in fact be a ‘school-at-home’ situation. A timetable will be followed with subject work set.
Montessori Approach
The Montessori Approach is great for encouraging independent learning. The approach itself is based on Maria Montessori’s observations and include large periods of unstructured time, freedom of movement and a humanistic student-approach.
We did in fact elaborate slightly on this approach as part of our Free Online Resources for Home Learning.
Unschooling Approach
The Unschooling Approach was initiated by the 70’s book Unschooling by John Holt. Based on the student’s interest and largely experiential learning. Children decide on the topics and the method of education. Usually based on their learning style.
There is also a more radical approach to this referred to as radical or whole life unschooling. With this approach, things happen when they should. Kids go to be when they are tired (no set time), eat when they are hungry and focuses on allowing children to learn from their environment and bodies (to recognise tiredness for example).
