The essence of eclectic homeschooling is to borrow freely from a range of different styles of homeschool philosophies and combine them to find your own personal taste and convictions, and hopefully your children’s learning style. To see my scope and sequence click here.

Of course, ‘how to homeschool’, then becomes more of a challenge because our philosophy seems a bit ‘whishy-washy’, as we each determine what works well and what we want to achieve. We all like to know were we are going, and eclectic homeschooling seems to have no real anchor to hang its foundations on. For some finding an anchor is easy, as they have thought long and hard about what their educational goals are, whilst for others, it is a journey of trial and error.

In truth, I think most eclectic homeschoolers lean towards a particular philosophy, such as; Classical education, Charlotte Mason, Unit Study, Montessori, Stiener, or Natural Learning. They glean from other philosophies  to strengthen and individualise their own foundations and firm them up as they go. This does require some thought, and reading through different authors who have pondered this can help the home educator determine how to find their way. Our style also changes to incorporate different circumstances and flow with the fluctuations of life.

Over the years I have read many books on homeschooling philosophy. I LOVE some of the suggestions and often their core ideas and values overlap in places.

Some authors that I would recommend who have searched out this matter and helped me to shape up my style are:

 Ruth Beechick. You Can Teach Your Child Successfully

·Sally Clarkson. Seasons of a Mother Heart and The Ministry of Motherhood

·Catherine Levinson. A Charlotte Mason Education and More Charlotte Mason Education.

·Ray and Dorothy Moore. Homeschool Burnout

·Mary Pride.

 John Gatto