Homeschooling style

I like to think of our homeschooling style as a cross between unschooling and classical education. We keep a schedule, we know the goals (by grade and age) but we allow for our curriculum emphasis to be led by the child's developmental stage and interest. That is, right now, both my sons are big in reading and advanced in this area so I move along in that partical subject. At age 5 (next month), we are doing a grade 1 reading and comprehension programm. For math, he is in the middle of his kindergarden program. He is not much into science and social studies, so we do very little on these subject. We cover these kind of material in books that we read, and as they fit if their interest. For example, when he is into trucks, we try to talk about transportation, how food get to the grocery for us to buy and eat. When he happens to read a bout about a certain animal, we try to talk about classification of animals and some related stuff, same with weather, water etc.... He is not big on writting either (typical boy I heard), so I do not sweat this either. I have notice that he does write when he plays so, i keep formal writing to a minimum. THE POINT IS: MAXIMIZE WHAT THEY LIKE TO DO AT THE MOMENT. They do progress and change their interests. As much as I think we need to keep the forcing to a minimun, I do think we need to make it a point to insist on these things that we believe are crucial and important. I guess the sticky point is how much of it and how, and this is up to each parent.

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