Homeschooling
Teaching Strategies
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Introduction
The term “homeschooling teaching strategies”
refers to approaches to teaching that can be used with home-educated
students. Selecting the right strategy for individual students can
positively impact the students’ learning and retention, thinking skills,
motivation to learn, internalization of selected values, and development
of constructive character traits. Although
little research has been done specifically on homeschooling teaching
strategies, homeschoolers can find research-based guidance from general
education research literature and experience-based literature prepared by homeschoolers. This digest looks at several homeschooling teaching
strategies.
“Home-based education” may be a more
accurate term for homeschooling, in that it can be described as (a) a
commitment by parents to personally raise and educate their children, (b)
family-based and usually parent-led (but sometimes student-led), (c)
conducive to individualization, and (d) generally not taking place in
conventional classroom and institutional settings (Lines, 1998; Ray,
1999). Homeschooling families often participate in community activities
and use resources open to the public to enhance the education of the
children.
The number of homeschooling families
continues to grow rapidly in the United States. An estimated 1.5 to 1.9
million K-12 students were homeschooled in the United States in the fall
of 2000 (Lines, 1998; Ray, 1999, 2000a). The practice of homeschooling is
also expanding in other western nations and beginning to take hold in some
eastern nations, such as Japan (Large, 2000; Ray, 1999).
Before
selecting specific teaching strategies, homeschooling parents may benefit
from considering four key themes from education research. These concepts
provide a foundation for effective teaching practices in institutional
school settings.
1.
Active Teaching.
Teachers can make a difference in students’ learning by being proactive
and exhibiting particular teaching behaviors. These teaching behaviors
generally include (a) careful planning, (b) choosing appropriate teaching
strategies, (c) actively involving students in the learning process, and
(d) regular and effective monitoring and evaluation of student learning (Eggen
and Kauchak, 1988; Slavin, 1991).
2.
Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP).
Teachers must know and understand (a) child development and learning and
age-related human characteristics, (b) the strengths, interests, and needs
of each individual child, and (c) the social and cultural contexts in
which a child lives so that learning can be made meaningful, relevant, and
respectful of the child (National Association for the Education of Young
Children, 1997).
3.
Teaching Strategies Theory.
Researchers and teachers have found that no single teaching approach works
in all situations. That is, the effective teaching strategy (or model)
depends on the teacher (e.g., personality traits, teaching strengths, and
preferences), the student (e.g., interests, learning strengths and
limitations, dominant learning style), and the content to be taught. A
teacher should choose a particular strategy (e.g., mastery learning,
direct instruction, inquiry training) depending on the combination of each
of these three factors (Eggen and Kauchak, 1988; Joyce and Weil, 1986;
Slavin, 1991).
4.
Tutoring.
Researchers, teachers, and historians generally concur that one-to-one
tutoring is, in many ways, the most effective teaching strategy available
for most purposes. Tutoring enhances both the tutor’s and the student’s
academic performance and attitude toward subject matter (Cohen, Kulik, and
Kulik, 1982; Fager, 1996).
Many studies have shown that home-educated
students perform above the public school average in terms of academics,
and research suggests they are doing well in terms of social and emotional
development and success in adulthood (McDowell and Ray, 2000). Few
research studies, however, have focused specifically on effective teaching
strategies in homeschooling. Still, much information on teaching
strategies can be found in experienced-based literature written by
homeschoolers. Listed below, in alphabetical
order, are several of the most common teaching strategies or pedagogical
approaches that homeschoolers have reported using successfully (e.g.,
The Teaching Home, 2000). Parents regularly mix elements of multiple
approaches.
1.
Classical.
Teach the tools of learning (i.e., grammar--mastery of a language,
dialectic--logic, and rhetoric--the expressive and creative use of
language) so they may be used in the study of any subject.
2.
Lifestyle of
learning. Teaching
and learning are treated as a seamless and organic part of living within a
family, geographical community, local faith community, and nation--that
is, the “real, everyday world.”
3.
Schooling at
home. Parents
generally teach as they were taught in schools. There is a high degree of
structure. It often involves active teaching with the teacher having a
clear-cut and outstanding role. There is no significant integration of
subject areas.
4.
Structured/mastery learning.
Content to be learned is clearly presented in (usually) consumable
booklets (or via computers) in a sequential, step-by-step manner while
immediate feedback to the learner is emphasized. Often the parent is
viewed more as a moderator or administrator than as an active teacher.
5.
Unit studies.
These emphasize the concept that all knowledge is interrelated and learned
more easily and remembered longer if it is presented and studied in a
related way. Subject areas (e.g., math, history) are blended together as
the teaching is centered around a common theme or project.
6.
Unschooling.
This approach emphasizes giving children as much freedom to explore and
learn about the world as parents can comfortably bear; it does not
mean allowing them to misbehave (Holt Associates, 2000).
7.
Worldview.
This approach emphasizes that all education is value- and belief-driven
and no form of education or schooling can be otherwise. It purposely and
explicitly integrates a particular worldview in curriculum materials,
activities, and ways of thinking. An example is “The Principle Approach,”
which focuses on researching a religious writing to identify basic
principles or truths, reasoning from these truths through an academic
subject (e.g., history, politics), relating the principles to the
student’s own character and self-government, and recording in writing the
application of the principles and ideas to life and living (The
Teaching Home, 1998, 2000).
These homeschooling approaches involve many
of the elements of effective teaching strategies promoted by educational
researchers and theoreticians. Their use and emphasis on academics (Blumenfeld,
1986) appear to be working well. Keys to the students’ success appear to
involve the following interdependent features (Ray, 2000b): (1) “...
learning at home becomes an interactive process rather than a series of
tasks to be tackled” allowing for rich student-teacher conversation,
individualization, taking advantage of teachable moments, and ensuring
mastery before moving forward (Thomas, 1998, p. 127; Tizard and Hughes,
1984); (2) tutoring (e.g., concentrated time on task, individualization),
(3) social capital and value communities, (4) increased academic engaged
time, (5) positive, multi-age social interactions, and (6) high parental
involvement (Haury and Milbourne, 1999).
Choosing Homeschooling
Teaching Strategies
Many parents gradually grow into a teaching
strategy (or strategies). They are open to modifying their strategy as
they, their individual children, and their family change over the years.
The following guidelines can help parents identify which strategy is
likely to work well for them.
Parents
should consider:
1.
Reflecting upon and articulating a personal philosophy of
education. They can do this by (a) reading about the philosophy of
education, homeschooling, and their personal worldview, (b) talking with
close friends and family members about education, (c) considering their
own educational experiences, and (d) writing down their key educational
beliefs.
2.
Joining a local homeschool support group that supports their
philosophy of education and includes experienced homeschoolers.
3.
Subscribing to a local homeschool newsletter and at least two
homeschool magazines that are supportive of their basic philosophy to
learn how other families practice home-based education.
4.
Examining their personal preferences, strengths, weaknesses, and
interests with respect to their complementary roles as
communicator, parent, teacher, and learner.
5.
Thinking about their children individually and as a group with
respect to their personal preferences, strengths, weaknesses, and
interests in their roles as communicators, children, learners, and
students of subject matter.
6.
Seeking outside help (e.g., National Challenged Homeschoolers
Associated Network, www.nathhan.com)
if they have children with an unusual need (e.g., learning
disability, giftedness, special interest).
Parents should
then move ahead with confidence in their best judgment. As they teach and
guide their children, they will have ample opportunity and time to observe
and evaluate their children’s learning, attitudes, and progress (i.e.,
academic, social, emotional, and spiritual). Teaching strategies can be
modified based on what seems to work best for their individual families.
References identified
with an EJ or ED number have been abstracted and are in the ERIC database.
Journal articles (EJ) should be available at most research libraries; most
documents (ED) are available in microfiche collections at more than 900
locations. Documents can also be ordered through the ERIC Document
Reproduction Service: (800) 443-ERIC.
Blumenfeld,
Samuel L. (1986). How to Tutor (2nd ed.). Boise, ID: The Paradigm
Co.
Cohen, Peter
A., Kulik, James A., & Kulik, Chen-Lin. (1982, Summer). Educational
outcomes of tutoring: A meta-analysis of findings. American Educational
Research Journal, 19(2), 237-248.
Eggen, Paul D., & Kauchak, Donald P. (1988). Strategies
for teachers: Teaching content and thinking skills (2nd ed.).
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Fager,
Jennifer. (1996). Tutoring:
Strategies for successful learning. ERIC
Reproduction Service No. ED431840.
Haury, David L., &
Milbourne, Linda A. (1999). Helping your child with science. ERIC
Digest. ERIC Reproduction Service No. ED432447. Retrieved 8/11/00 online
http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed432447.html.
Holt
Associates. (2000, June 15). Personal communication. See: www.holtgws.com.
Joyce, Bruce, &
Weil, Marsha. (1986). Models of Teaching (3rd ed.). Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Joyce, Bruce, & Weil, Marsha. (1986). Models of Teaching
(3rd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Large,
Tim. (2000, September 2). Stay-at-home kids shunning the system. The
Daily Yomiuri, p. 7. Retrieved 11/22/00 online
http://www2.gol.com/users/milkat/articles.html#stay.
Lines, Patricia M.
(1998, Spring). Homeschoolers: Estimating numbers and growth.
Washington, DC: United States Department of
Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, National
Institute on Student Achievement, Curriculum, and Assessment.
McDowell, Susan
A., & Ray, Brian D. (Eds.). (2000). The home education movement in
context, practice, and theory [Special issue]. Peabody Journal of
Education, 75(1 & 2).
National Association
for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). (1997). Developmentally
appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from
birth through age 8: NAEYC position statement. Washington, DC: Author.
(Retrieved 8/11/00 online http://www.naeyc.org/about/position/daptoc.htm)
Ray,
Brian D. (1999). Homeschooling on the threshold: A survey of research
at the dawn of the new millennium. National Home Education Research
Institute Publications, PO Box 13939, Salem OR 97309, online
www.nheri.org.
Ray, Brian D. (2000a).
Home education research fact sheet IIe. Salem, OR: National Home
Education Research Institute.
Ray, Brian D.
(2000b). Homeschooling: The ameliorator of negative influences on
learning? Peabody Journal of Education, 75(1 & 2), 71-106.
Slavin,
Robert E. (1991). Educational psychology: Theory into practice (3rd
ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
The
Teaching Home.
(2000). What methods do homeschoolers use? Retrieved 8/17/00 online
www.teachinghome.com/qa/methods.htm, What educational materials are
available? www.teachinghome.com/qa/material.htm, or start at
www.teachinghome.com; see also, The Teaching Home,
1998, March/April, Choosing curriculum: Special section, pp. 41-53.
(The Teaching Home, POB 20219, Portland OR 97294).
Thomas, Alan.
(1998). Educating children at home. London, England (and New York,
NY): Cassell.
Tizard,
Barbara, & Hughes, Martin. (1984). Young children learning.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Brian D. Ray, Ph.D., National Home
Education Research Institute (Author)
ERIC
Clearinghouse on Teaching and Teacher Education, Digest EDO-SP-2000-6.
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