From my point of view, after home educating after 20years. How one chooses to home educate almost does not matter. What matters, it seems to me, is the level of dedication and attention parents are willing to put into their children to help them succeed through their educational, life and learning experiences.
I think this opinion is unlikely to be unpopular with those starting out, who are keen to know the "right" way to do it, and are still themselves caught up in the schooling system, or perhaps even reacting to it, and in all likelihood need some experience of deschooling, and learning based purely off interest, to understand more about how people learn, what motivates them and what creates a successful learning opportunity or environment. Those who are true life learners after their educational experience, are not necessarily concerned about the "right" answer, but are aware that via the journey they will inevitably discover a successful pathway if they are consistent, and redirect and correct themselves when errors occur.
I myself, am not a fan of a wholly interest led learning experience, but I know that with the right attention and guidance from parents that this method of home education is as valid and as successful, as those who follow what I call, "school by other means" where children are ferried to classes the majority of the week, all over town and get an alternative schooled education. The only method that I have direct experience with not working, is those that believe unschooling is doing nothing.
I have met many families over my 20yrs of homeschooling, who chose school, when they reach high school level, when they have taken the doing nothing, unschooling approach for the primary years, because when faced with the later part of education those families have not learnt *how* children learn. I have even come across a couple of people now, who did not want to home educate their own children, because they disliked the do nothing approach.
I do think this is unfortunate, as having read John Holt many years ago, I see a lot of value in interest led learning/unschooling, but it certainly is not doing nothing, and it is a pity that many people have mistaken it for that. At it's core if that is the system one chooses, as far as I understand it takes a fair bit of discipline to manage to educate and cover all the learning areas via an interest led approach. I know people that have done that, and have had their children do well too.
Personally we do a blended natural learning, Steiner inspired approach, that suits our family and I know it works. I have three children finished now. Two are very certain of the pathways they have chosen, and one who is still working it out, and from my view point this is fine. Not all of us know excatly what we want to do, or where we want to be, and learning, and in particular interest led and exploratory learning is a continuous journey that will hopefully lead to the discovery of one's passions.
I am also at a point, where I just know so many home educated adults, who have experienced different types of education- no two families are identical in how they teach/raise their children and all of them were successfully home schooled or home educated. Their children have gone onto careers in many different areas, and are leading successful and happy lives......some of these adults are now teachers, gardeners, hair dressers, naturopaths, electrical engineers, farm hands, nannies, zoo keepers, librarians.
My own children have so far studied a Diploma in Music industry (classical voice)- Willow, a cert 4 in digital screen and media- Gabriel, a cert 3 in aviation (remote pilot), a cert 3 in ground operations, and (recently completed) a Diploma in Aviation Management- Arden. They have all made money busking when they were younger and also had a range of jobs working in cafes, juice bars, coffee bean stalls, clothing shops, admin work which turned in online fraud payment analysis.
This journey has certainly not been easy, but it has been worthwhile, and our children have had childhood and teenage lives unlike the majority of school children that I have met. They are involved in life right from the beginning, and they get loads of opportunities to engage in the real world, and learn practical and useful life skills.
Now obviously this is my way to home educate, and it may not be yours, or your family's. It's your job to work out how that will look, and what it will look like for you. The rhythm should suit *your* family, the philosophy should suit you, the style should suit you. If you decide it doesn't you can change it. If what works for one child doesn't work for another, you do something different. It is a learn on the job role, and with adequate support it is a very satisfying experience.
