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The other names for homeschooling…
There are many names to describe the learning that takes place outside of classroom walls. Generally, homeschooling is regarded as education that take places at home or anywhere outside of public or private schools, such as in motorhomes or campervans, on boats, buses, or planes, in coffee shops, bookstores, and libraries–or in a backyard tree fort.
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Homeschooling is sometimes referred to as home study.
Homeschooling
I tend to think of homeschooling as a broad umbrella or generic name for education that takes place outside of schools.
Look at homeschooling in terms of cake
Cake generally describes a category of sweet baked goods that are made with similar ingredients like flour, eggs, sugar, and oils, with or without layers, icing, or decorations. There are yellow cakes, sponge cakes, cakes, carrot cakes, gluten free cakes, sheet cakes, round cakes, Bundt cakes, cupcakes, wedding cakes, milk cakes, Galette des Rois, fruit cakes, and even bite sized cakes. These are all cakes. They may all be amazing in the end, but they are very different in process and look.
Homeschooling is like cake. It’s sort of like ice cream, too, as I’ve said before, but I digress…
Other Names for Homeschooling
— Home Study
— Alternative Education
— Child-Led Education
— Religious / Religion Based Homeschooling
— Secular Homeschooling
— Boat Schooling
— School at Home
— Life Schooling
— Natural Schooling
— Nature Schooling
— Eclectic Schooling
— Free Range Schooling
— Car Schooling
— Waldorf-Inspired Homeschooling
— Charlotte Mason Homeschooling
— Montessori Homeschooling
— Unit Studies-Based Homeschooling
And That’s Not the Entire List…
There’s no way this is an exhaustive list of names to describe homechooling or education that takes place outside of school classrooms. There are so many different philosophies and approaches to homeschooling. There is no one size fits all model or method.
If Homeschooling ‘Doesn’t Work,’ This is Likely Why…
If homeschooling doesn’t work (however that’s even defined in the first place…that’s another blog post for another day), it’s likely because the chosen approach isn’t a good fit for the child, the parent, the family, or the family’s lifestyle.
When a chosen homeschooling approach doesn’t fit or work for a child, parent, family, or lifestyle, that doesn’t mean homeschooling doesn’t work or can’t work.
Let me explain. Hint, Think Cake.
Remember, Homeschooling is Like Cake
Homeschooling is like cake, right? I L-O-V-E chocolate cake with a serious passion. It works for me. Even my kids love eating it. They beg to bake chocolate cake. We have many happy family memories involving chocolate cake.
But red velvet cake.
Nope.
Not.
Going.
There.
Does this mean I don’t like cake? That cake has failed me? That there’s no other option but to give up cake? No!!!
A Little Story
Sometime in the first few months of homeschooling my children, I met a woman who explained that she spent weeks elaborating designing, planning, and re-creating every aspect of a public school classroom and curriculum at home. She was going to homeschool her children who were unhappy in public school. She was serious about her plan. And, gee, was she excited. She was determined, right down to the last detail of color coordinated notebooks.
I remember feeling completely exhausted listening to her plan. But I was in awe of her because she exuded so much confidence about how you are supposed to homeschool. And she was so excited about homeschooling and spending time with her children.
She seemed to know exactly how to do this homeschool thing. She was determined to give her children the perfect homeschooling experience.
If you’ve read my earlier posts, you know that those first few months of homeschooling for me often led me to doubts and tears.
But a few months later, I saw the woman again. I eagerly asked her how homeschooling was going. I was shocked at her response. She bitterly declared, “I sent the kids back to school a couple of weeks after we started. Homeschooling doesn’t work at all. It just doesn’t work.”
What I learned
When I asked a few probing questions, it became obvious that this woman still wanted to homeschool her children and that her children didn’t really want to return to school. Rather, it seemed the issue here was the way she chose to go about homeschooling.
It’s not that her approach was wrong at all. It’s just that despite all of her efforts and good intentions, the approach didn’t seem to fit her children, herself, her family, or their lifestyle. And she seemed completely invested in that one approach. A different approach or infusing flexibility into the original approach might have made all the difference.
I am nearly sure of it. I was there before too. Trying to recreate school at home in those first few months of homeschooling. I later ditched it all and found a new approach, which obviously you can read all about here in my blog, Wanderschool.
End of Story
These different names and approaches to homeschooling reveal that there are many ways to homeschool. If one approach doesn’t work, try another. Keep trying different approaches until you discover a way to homeschool that works for your child, for you, for your family, and your lifestyle. Just like cake.
xx Julie
What other names of homeschooling did I miss? Share them below and leave your comments.
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