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The Best of All Worlds
Eclectic Homeschooling
By Carma Haley Shoemaker
When you choose something, do you like to have a wide variety to choose from, whether it is for your furniture, food, music, etc.? If so, then you could easily instill these same preferences and choices into your homeschooling style. Offer your child the best of all the worlds – eclectic homeschooling.
A traditional definition of "eclectic" from the Webster's Unabridged English Dictionary says, "Made up of or combining elements from a variety of sources." So it is only fitting to say that an eclectic homeschooler is one who looks at the different approaches and methods of homeschooling and takes from each forming his/her own unique philosophy.
"An eclectic homeschooler may like the concept, adapted from the unschooling method, that education should be child oriented," says Terry McKee, an eclectic homeschooling advocate from Eclectic, Ala. "He/she will possibly draw from the classical approach by familiarizing his/her child with grammar, logic and rhetoric. The eclectic homeschooler may utilize unit studies to his/her own degree their maximum effectiveness, using them to help his/her child choose what will be his/her vocation or occupation in life. He/she probably will seek out living books, like Charlotte Mason suggested, though choosing only the classics that he/she deems worthy and appealing to him/her and his/her family."
The eclectic approach can also include developing moral character, with some choosing to do so through a variety of ways and those that best meet the needs of the family. "Eclectic homeschoolers may choose the approach of the relaxed homeschooler, allowing the child to learn at [their] own pace especially in the child's early years," says McKee. "Then he may opt to speed his child through the rest of school, using a structured textbook curriculum in preparation for college. And finally (at least for now) the modern eclectic homeschooler may decide to step up to the computer age, selecting some quality software that is fun and educational."
