4 Main Teaching Styles

In our last step, we talked about the 4 learning styles, so now we're going to cover the 4 teaching styles (if you haven't checked out the learning styles yet, it'll be linked at the end of this blog along with all of the curriculums mentioned) and how to choose the best curriculum for your family. If at anytime you are confused or would like a teaching style elaborated on a little bit more, consider watching the video that goes along with this topic. 

Just to give you a little back story, Charlotte Mason was a British educator from the late 1800s to early 1900s. She believed that education was more than just textbook learning for short retention. She believed kids should be learning life skills, budgeting, running a family, etc; things to help them grow up to be productive citizens. She believed in creating a learning environment that encouraged natural learning vs sitting down and “doing school”. 

Worth Noting: 

Living books: books written by someone who is passionate about the subject or who had first had experience. 

An example of nature study-instead of general science, one would study botany, zoology, astrology, geology, etc. and use lots of hands on illustrations. You would either order dissecting kits and stuff OR finding the stuff on your own in the backyard. 

My family does fabricated nature studies because ya girl ain’t hunting down anything in the backyard to dissect or study. We did a geology unit a couple years ago, and we went on a rock hunt. I ordered this really cool rock kit from amazon and went and hid them around the neighborhood and then we “hunted” them. That’s my style. It was fun, but it was 100% fabricated vs going and hunting random rocks. 

Another example for Charlotte Mason homeschooling would be cooking together; basically anytime learning is taking place while doing a normal "life skill".

The classical teaching style focuses on the 3 stages of learning.

1. Grammar -elementary years when your child is younger because they’re naturally a sponge when it comes to facts, memorization and recitation.

2. Logic- Upper elementary and most of middle school because the child's brain has developed enough to think analytically, think through cause and effect, and they’re really able to look ahead and problem solve.

3. Rhetoric- Later middle school/all of highschool because kids at this age are really able to communicate what THEY believe through speech. This is where research papers, writing essays, and giving oral presentations form a large part of the learning;  anything that allows them to be able to explore the information on their own and then teach it to you. 

Worth Noting:

When looking through the teaching styles, you'll naturally be drawn to the one that corresponds with the way YOU learn the best. Be careful because chances are that's not what best suits your child and matches of with how THEY learn best. 

Example: Classical is my favorite but my daughter is kinesthetic, so she would hate homeschooling if this was the route we took.  My goal is to get her to love learning, not necessarily to have her be the smartest 18 year old out there when she graduates. Classical education produces incredibly smart kids IF they're wired to learn this way; otherwise, it produces adults that resent learning and have an overall negative view of homeschooling and possibly even their parents depending on how much homeschooling was a struggle in their home. 

Moral of the story: Pick the teaching style that corresponds with your child's learning style vs how much you're drawn to that specific style yourself. 

Unit Studies focus on teaching as many subjects as you can while focusing on one theme.  Example: Let's say your kids love birds. Your subjects may look like this...

Science-anatomoy of birds, how they build nests, migration flight

Art-build nests and bird houses

History-History of bird watching, biographies of famous bird watchers

Geography-maps of migration flight, comparing different bird species' migration patterns 

Language arts-elementary age: copy work, mem poems Older grades-research paper, speech on favorite bird

Vocab-words relating to birds

Math-more of an application -flight distances, compare different species bird flights, find perimeters of bird houses 

I've included a free unit study planner for you to download below, so you can design your own unity study or mini unit study if that's what you prefer.

I know, I know. I said the "4 teaching styles" so why the heck am I posting about number five?! Well... If you're lucky, your child will fit 100% into one learning style, and you’re going to love the teaching style that corresponds and be able to run with it. Most of us; however, take what we love from each category and mesh them all together which is known as the Eclectic Teaching Style. 

Majority of our subjects come from Evan Moore because they mix all the learning and teaching styles together very well EXCEPT living books. We haven't used many living books, so not sure if they will have a place in our journey or not. Evan Moore does have a good mix of auditory, fill int he blank, vocab, art projects, hands on experiments, etc. and we supplement to add more hands on and also do mini unit studies each month. Right now we're going through the 50 states and doing fun projects with those. There's not a right or wrong choice when it comes to curriculum, the main focus is teaching in a way that your child is learning the information as well as falling in love with learning itself. 

1. What's my child's learning style?

2. How many kids do I have? 

3. How much time do I have?

4. How much money do I have?

Worth Noting:

One thing I do is teach homeschool moms how to use social media to pay for their homeschool supplies, so if that’s something that you’re interested in click the button below. 

You've made it! You're officially a homeschooler now. The only thing left is to order the curriculum you chose and then pick a schedule and start the learning/teaching process. All the curriculums mentioned above are linked below as well as the curriculum we personally used for K-2nd grade. 

If you missed the last step, or still aren't sure about your child's learning style, you can click the button below to review.