As a growing ner of new home schoolers called Time for Learning asking “how do I start?” it became clear that the question had not been answered elsewhere. Instead, new home schoolers were being bombarded with an endless array of curriculum descriptions, methodologies and wildly-enthusiastic websites offering information that doesn’t make sense without a working knowledge of the basics. The Welcome to Homeschooling Guide has a clear purpose: to give new home schoolers a tool that would answer basic questions and help them take the first steps of homeschooling.
Here are some terms and definitions that will help you make sense of this new lingo. Note: we welcome any contributions of new terms that should be defined for others.
- “Boxed Curriculum“– There are many programs for purchase that provide homeschool families with a comprehensive scope and sequence, textbooks, assessments, projects, and timelines that are grade leveled. These programs provide day-by-day very specific instructions to the parent and student.
- Charlotte Mason Education – Charlotte Mason was a 19th century educator who believed that education should be based on great literature and the arts. She believed in a leisurely, self-directed style of education based on observation and reflection, often through discussion and journalism. Charlotte Mason education is based on a lifelong quest for knowledge and skills.
- Classical Education – A process of teaching children to learn based on developmental phases and educational principles developed by the ancients. For the primary years, children learn fact based information. In the middle school years, children learn logic and reasoning, and in the high school period, children develop the art of abstraction and persuasion. Also referred to as “trivium-based education.”
- Compulsory Attendance/Education – Refers to the ages during which the state requires students to receive formal education.
- Cooperative (Co-Op) – A collective group of home schoolers working together for a common purpose. All members of the co-op must contribute in some way toward the end goal; usually this contribution is in the form of effort, not money.