Eclectic Home Ed- Eclectic Life!
It seems wrong to start without an introduction, so…
I am Hobbes: home educating mum of three daughters, Sukie, 11; Bobbie, 9; Willow, 7; and wife to Dandy- whose age shall remain undisclosed!
There are a lot of terms bandied about for various Home Education “methods” or styles, but I think the one that sums us up best is probably “eclectic”.
This generally means trying out a little bit of this and that, and seeing how it goes!
It’s fascinating to see the way that each child works, and what excites them. Similarly, when something doesn’t work, we can stop it and try another way.
It’s this ability to adapt an approach to fit your child’s learning style and passions that makes home education so efficient. Well that and the small class numbers!!!
We’re not completely autonomous- I do sometimes try to direct the childrens’ learning, and lately we’ve been doing some project-work with other HE families, so there’s an element of “teacher and pupil” there.
On the other hand, what we do could by no stretch of the imagination be called “structured”!
Some days Sukie will still be in her bedroom reading in her PJs at 11am, while Bobbie and Willow have already made and eaten breakfast, created their own “book”, bounced around on the trampoline, watched a bit of TV and filled in their Tadpole Diaries.
Of course some days have their own routine based around the various groups and clubs we go to. At the moment these include Brownies, Guides, HE groups, projects, climbing and ice-skating.
While the girls love all their various activities, sometimes the days they enjoy most are the ones when we have no time constraints, and if we want to stay at home all day in our pyjamas, reading, talking, cooking and playing games, then we can.
For me, this is the beauty of home education- the freedom it affords us as a family to choose how we spend our time together; and the freedom it allows the children as learners, finding out about the things that interest them and doing things at their own pace.