A Classical Approach to Homeschooling

A “typical” approach to homeschooling:

A typical school day centers around a “classical” education. This includes math, science, history, language arts, reading, piano, Latin and more. Set the bar high and the student can reach it. As long as you provide the correct amount of resources and a big dose of encouragement, anything is possible.

Morning, noon or night the learning is always happening. It takes on many forms and often times it’s spontaneous. My husband Zach and I tag-team our teaching with a mixture of hands-on and independent learning. The focus is to encourage independence and initiative in our children through challenging and positive curriculum. Welcome to our ever-changing, ever-evolving classroom.

Some of the curriculum we use:

• Math-u-See
• Apologia Science
• Story of the World History Curriculum
• Latin for Children by Dr. Aaron Larsen and Dr. Christopher Perrin
• Natural Speller by Kathryn Stout
• Success with Grammar by Scholastic
• Traditional Handwriting Beginning Cursive by Carson Dellosa Education
• Handwriting Practice Book by Hippidoo
• Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Siegfried Engelmann
• Alfred’s Basic Piano Library by Palmer, Manus and Lethco (Multiple Levels)
• Bible (ESV)
• Mavis Beacon typing program
• Basic Economics – Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?

How we organize our homeschooling day:

A typical day in our homeschooling life consists of independence and creative approaches. Some of our boys can be morning people and others are not. We structure the day based on how they can accomplish their tasks in the way that fits them best.

Our eldest, age 10, wakes up as early as 6am and begins his checklist right after breakfast to get a head start while he is at his most energetic.

For our younger two boys, age 8 and 6, they like sleeping in until 8am or later and this pace is more comfortable for them. They eat a slow breakfast and then begin working through their checklists.

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