“Just tell me, HOW do you do it?” I don’t know how many times I’ve asked that question of a homeschooling veteran or it that asked of me. We homeschool parents want to know how others teach their kids in hopes that what we learn will help us improve how we educate our own children.
The good news? Now you can read the answer to that very question from 25 homeschooling veterans who provide tips for everything from reading to math, from Charlotte Mason learning to Montessori environments. It’s all here in the NEW book, How We Teach: The Real Lives of Homeschoolers from Classical to Unschooling and Everything in Between.
What You Can Expect to Find in How We Teach
Truth be told, homeschooling is really a very individualized educational path. Some prefer to stick to the Three R’s in the early years. Others prefer to expose their children to anything they can get their hands on. Some teach their children from a Classical perspective. Others think unschooling is the way to go.
There really is no wrong way to go about it as long as it is the right way for you and your child(ren). And THAT is why I really like the way this book is organized.
Age-Range
To begin, the book is organized by different ages:
- Preschool
- Kindergarten
- Elementary School
- Middle School
- High School
making it very easy to find inspiration from families with similar aged-children as your own.
Subjects
Next, the book is organized by subject. Subjects include:
- Bible and Character
- Computer
- Engineering
- Fine Arts
- Foreign Language
- Geography
- History
- Language Arts
- Life Skills
- Math
- Science
- Social Studies
and more!
Homeschool Methods
Finally, each chapter is organize by homeschool method so that you can quickly read the chapter from a perspective you are interested in. Homeschool methods include:
- Charlotte Mason
- Classical
- Computer-Based
- Delight-Directed
- Eclectic
- Montessori
- Traditional
- Unit Studies
- Umbrella School
- Unschooling
With nearly 60 chapters, there is something to appeal to nearly every homeschooling family.
My How We Teach Contributions
I had the privilege of contributing two chapters to How We Teach in which I was able to share how we teach reading and elementary history. Here are a couple of excerpts from those chapters:
The Reading GPS Broke so We Forged Our Own Trail
Language Arts | Charlotte Mason | Kindergarten
You are ready to go. You’ve packed your bags, got your GPS in hand and are headed out the door. You are on your way to the best destination ever! The only problem? You’ve never been there. “Never fear,” you say. “Our GPS will get us there.” After all, it knows everything because someone has been there before.
Life in the car seems pleasant for a time, almost peaceful. The kids are playing their video games. Your husband is taking a nap. The scenery outside the window is beautiful. And that is when it happens. Your GPS gives up. It can’t help. You are on a new road that it doesn’t recognize. To make matters worse, there is a big pothole in the middle of the road. You swerve.
Upon realizing your limitations, you look at the next road sign: “Ten more miles to the next town.” You drive on for a few more miles, hoping that the GPS will come back to life as you approach civilization. It doesn’t. Thank goodness there is a convenient store nearby. You stop. While the kids take a restroom break and stretch their legs a bit, you do some research and find the next-best traveling option available, a map. Once purchased, you continue on your journey and, with the help of your husband, you make it to that dream destination you never thought possible. It is amazing!
Teaching your child to read is kind of like taking that amazing trip. You begin with the best advice you can find (your GPS) only to find halfway through the journey that what worked for some doesn’t always work for you and your child. And if it’s not something big, like the entire curriculum, there are still little potholes, like those days that your child is not motivated to take even the tiniest next step in the learning process.
Get How We Teach to read more.
The Story Approach to Elementary History
History | Charlotte Mason | Elementary
I never will forget when I took our history textbooks off our homeschool shelf and hid them underneath my desk. “I’ll get them back out later,” I said to myself.
Yet, so far, that “later” hasn’t happened.
Learning that I didn’t need a textbook to teach history was life-changing — freeing. It was exciting knowing that my girls were getting enough history just by reading quality books…books they enjoyed… books I enjoyed. I mean, how exciting is it to read “Columbus sailed the ocean blue back in 1492” (quoted from the poem “Columbus sailed the ocean blue” by Ramon Montaigne) when you could be reading “a fleet of pirate ships bore down on him from behind a rocky point. Christopher would rather give up his life than surrender his ship” (quoted from “Columbus” by Edgar Parin D’Aulaire)?
Personally, I vote for the latter, especially when the words are accompanied with beautifully artistic and intriguing illustrations that let the imagination fly.
How to Get How We Teach Now
Whether you are a homeschooling newbie looking for ideas on how to teach your own children or a homeschooling veteran looking for affirmation, there is something for nearly every method and school-age in this 200+ page ebook.
Available in pdf, mobi and epub formats, you get all three digital formats with one purchase in a zipped file so you can read it on your computer, iPad, tablet, laptop, smart phone, or any device that can unzip those file types.
What better time to read a How We Teach than during the summer when you are trying to gear yourself up for the new school year! Just click the button below to get your copy of How We Teach today!
