Home schooling allows the parent and child to pick from three different approaches to teaching.  Most home schooled children are exposed to all three approaches at some point.  In a public or private school, teachers always plan the curriculum with textbooks.  They usually follow the textbook chapter by chapter, sometimes skipping around.  Home school students are taught three ways:  textbook driven instruction, theme driven instruction, and interest driven instruction. 

Textbook driven instruction follows each subject chapter by chapter.  It is very structured and organized, which makes this approach the easiest for parents new to home schooling.  With families of several children in different grades, this type of teaching is more difficult because it is more time consuming.  There is not much flexibility in learning topics or variety; it is more like traditional teaching.  This type of teaching focuses on drills and rote memory, instead of understanding.  If your child enjoys following a workbook and memorizing details and facts or is task oriented and has a long attention span, this is the approach for him/her.

On the other hand, if your child has an inquisitive nature about the world around him/her and asks a lot of “why” questions with plenty of imagination and creativity maybe an interest driven approach will suit him/her better.  This approach is for those students that despise structure and routine and prefer variety and spontaneity.  Although this approach requires little to no academic planning, it is difficult to document.  The child learns naturally and immediately and chooses what they want to learn in a curious way.  The child literally becomes an expert in the topics they prefer by incorporating their entire environment as a learning experience.

The theme driven approach focuses on topics and how subjects affect people and life.  Planning a curriculum can take more time and requires creativity.  This approach is the easiest with a group of children of varying ages.  Subjects are integrated in a real life way.  For instance, if you are learning about China, the older students can learn the language and history of the country while the younger students can learn the culture, music, and geography.

All three approaches to teaching are often incorporated when home schooling.  A child’s individuality and curiosity for learning often takes over and parents can adjust their curriculum.  The main concern that a parent should have is not whether or not the child is on task with other children his/her age, but if the child is learning and understanding new subjects everyday.