It doesn’t take long for a new homeschooler to be completely overwhelmed by the choices of curriculum, styles of implementing them, and everyone’s opinion of the way to do it right.  So what is the best way to homeschool?  My answer may not help narrow those choices.  The best way to homeschool is however it works best for your family.   It is important to get as much information as you can from friends and family who homeschool.  It is a wonderful thing to go to homeschool conventions and glean from seminars and vendor workshops.  It is recommended that you visit vendor booths and hear what they have to say and see their materials for yourself.  The trouble is it can leave you confused because everyone has the answer as to why their method, curriculum, or way of homeschooling is best.  You may fear if you do not do it that way you will be a failure and may harm your child for life.    The truth is no one knows the best way to homeschool your family but you, which is the beauty of homeschooling.  We get to do what works for our family and our children.  We have the flexibility to make choices and changes based on what is and what isn’t working, our personalities, and our lifestyle.

My family prefers a more structured environment where the day’s work is clearly laid out in advance.  I consider my style to be eclectic because we use a wide variety of materials and curriculum that I adapt to our structured style.  I spend a lot of time preparing for the school year by entering each day’s work into a computer program called Homeschool Tracker.  It is a lot of work but very much worth it for my family.  Each Monday morning one of my older kids goes into the program and prints out the week’s work for everyone.  There is no question what they are supposed to be doing and I never get behind in my lesson plans because it is all done in advance for the year.  No one else that I know personally does it this way.  We do it because it works for us.

Our curriculum choices change from year to year based on our anticipated lifestyle (baby years are much more structured because I know my kids will take advantage of mom’s distraction and exhaustion), what courses my high school students need, and each student’s preferences.  Unschoolers and those that use lots of hands-on and creative curriculum might be surprised that some of my kids beg me to keep them in a more structured type curriculum.  If someone were to ask me what curriculum we use, I’d have to give them a list of curriculum we have used in the past but that is no guarantee we will use it in the future.  Our homeschool may look entirely different for our younger set of kids.  In fact, that is probably about the only thing I am certain about as far as our homeschooling in the future is concerned.

Homeschools change year to year (and even during the year) and sometimes that involves mistakes.  What veteran homeschooler doesn’t have shelves full of partially used curriculum or materials that they thought was the best thing since sliced bread only to find out it didn’t work for their family for one reason or another?  Finding out what doesn’t work is valuable in the journey of finding out what does.  My oldest daughter went through 2 or 3 algebra curriculums until we found one that she could understand.  For a while there I wondered if we would ever get her through algebra!  She succeeded because we had the ability to keep trying until we found the style that enabled her to understand the material.  Does anyone need 2 partially used algebra courses by any chance?  ;+)

So what kind of a homeschool family are we?  We are the exact kind of homeschooler as you, unique.  We are a one of a kind family that no one can duplicate.  Our strengths, weaknesses, and life circumstances are blended together in our family in such a way that we cannot be copied.  God created us to be who He wants us to be.  Sometimes in our zeal and excitement for what He has shown us for our own families we mistakenly believe everyone should do it the same way as we do.  We also see the successes in other families and mistakenly think we should do it all they way they do it.  The truth is we are all a bit like the children of Israel in the desert.  We need to keep an eye on that Pillar of Fire day and night, following God’s plan for our life and our homeschool.  It will be a unique course, accomplishing His will for our family.  The good news is we are free to develop our own homeschool style.  The bad news is we can’t just duplicate what someone else is doing.  We are stuck wading through all of the information out there, using trial and error, and most importantly, keeping our eyes on the Lord to help keep us on track and in His will.  I love how God deals with us uniquely, creating in each family a beautiful mosaic that matches nothing else in His Creation.  Isn’t God good?!