TBH… I may have made this term up. I’ve tried so many different homeschool resources & curriculums it has literally made my head spin over the years. For a while I thought I had to do it how other families did it. I would pull my hair out trying to fit into someone else’s box. If you know anything about homeschooling, you may have heard of “homeschool styles.” Such as, Classical, Eclectic or Relaxed, Online or Virtual, Unit Studies, Waldorf, Montessori, Charlotte Mason, Unschooling, Worldschooling, Roadschooling…. Oh man! And the list goes on! There truly is a style for everyone. I, however, never quite identified with just one of the types. While I liked certain aspects of some, I couldn’t find a lesson plan or curriculum that fit my lifestyle and was easy enough to utilize with 5 different grade levels all at once. Hence, Blended Homeschooling was born!
The first key of blending is piecing together the aspects I love in a way that worked for me. Some days I don’t want to “school” so I just throw a pile of books down and let them all have at it (Ala Charlotte Mason). Some subjects I want them to use a workbook while others are learned through a different outlet and I definitely had to stop the practice of timing my children in a subject on any given day because it created major burnout in all of us. I just give them the expectation I want and they can finish as fast or slow as necessary with as many breaks as it takes (Relaxed). Sometimes it’s easier to let videos or digital games do the teaching (Virtual)…. You get the picture, right?
To understand the last key thing to know about my Blended Homeschool, you need to know a little bit about the challenge of trying to teach Christian based also in alignment with a Public (secular) Charter School and State Standards. One of the big reasons we homeschool is because I want my kids rooted in a strong Biblical based foundation. It was easy when I homeschooled as a Private School but eventually I needed more resources and was directed to a Charter. We LOVE it! I get assigned Teachers for my children, they do all the record keeping, they help me with any questions I have, and they even have online classrooms if there is a subject out of my wheelhouse. I’ll be honest when I say “MATH, UGH!” But the downside was we went from being truly “free” in curriculum to having to meet California State requirements. They don’t allow usage of Christian curriculum and that was a big thing for my Mommy heart to accept! …Let me reverse just a bit, we absolutely can use Christian curriculum in grades TK-8 but we can’t use any government funding to obtain it and we can’t submit any samples where Christianity is mentioned. However, once they hit High School even that semi-lax option is a no-go.
So how would I homeschool my kids in faith but still meet the demands of a secular school system!? Well, I would weed through the CCSS (Common Core State Standards) and teach them all, just exactly how I want! Sometimes this includes use of 2 or more styles and that’s ok! The good news is that if you’re like me and haven’t adapted to just one teaching/learning style, you’re not alone. There is more of us than you think and I’m more than happy to help you through it!
More info to come….