What have you learned about the way YOU teach? What approach/curr. works best for YOU

[Halcyon]

I am in a posty mood tonight, it seems.

 

I was thinking today that when I started homeschooling, I thought I'd be the vaguely hippie-ish homeschooler who was happy to pursue rabbit trails all day, her children hanging in hammocks in the back yard (no, we don't have hammocks), reading books. I thought the curriculum that would best suit me wouldn't be too specific in its approach, would have flexibility and CERTAINLY wouldn't be scripted (G*d forbid!!).

 

Well, look at the curriculum I'm using LOL. WWE (scripted, love it), SOTW (activity guide-scripted, love it, lots of guidance as to extra reading, love it), Latin (if Latin isn't structured, I don't know what is)...and next year, I'll be buying a scripted science curriculum (Nancy Larson) and I'm really excited that it will be open and go.

 

What I'm finding is that I like scripted, open-and-go, structured curriculum that allows all of us plenty of time to add on--through library visits, discussions, explorations. It's like the curriculum is our spine (and I appreciate a strong spine!) to which we add lots of other stuff. If I had to devise too much of my own curriculum, or "think" too much about it, then I wouldn't have time to "think" about all the fun add-ons! And by following a more structured curriculum, it eases my mind and allows me to have fun experimenting with all the fun addons like experiments, books, day trips, geography games etc.

 

What have you learned about what works for you as a teacher? Are you surprised at what really works for you? Were you resistant at first to accepting your "style"? (I was, I thought I would be an unschooly type :lol::lol:)

[VBoulden]

I feel the same!!! I am surprised at how my style has "evolved" over the years. But, I am the opposite... I thought I'd be much, much more scripted, formal, strict, scheduled, etc.

 

But, I have become more and more like those unschoolers that once ruffled my very pristine home school feathers with all their free time, unit studies and nature study. ;)

 

I also thought I'd stick with one curriculum, but I have ended up being VERY eclectic. I don't even HAVE plans!!! (other than those that come WITH activity guides like The Story of the World) and I have NO schedule!!! Gasp! ;) And we start school all times of day!!!

 

I wouldn't have believed you if you had told me this is how I'd end up. :D

[Halcyon]

I wouldn't have believed you if you had told me this is how I'd end up. :D

 

 

:lol:

[Catherine]

I could have written your post-what works for me is scripted curricula, because it frees up time for other fun, less structured stuff. I couldn't make spelling fun and playful anyway-best to just get 'er done : )

[AppleGreen]

Yep, that's pretty much me. I also love a strong spine and see that as the foundation. I then like to infuse our spine with what inspires me or my children as we work through it.

 

I was a Special Ed teacher before children and have come to realize (and embrace), that I like a logical, incremental approach to education. I used scripted lessons with my students many years ago, but it took me a while to embrace that for my own children. I love that they keep me focused and make this overwhelming task of educating my children (when I think big picture it overwhelms me) manageable. I finally realized I don't have to create my own thing to give my children a well rounded and thorough education.

 

Ok, baby wants mama...I guess that is all for now. :)

[cathmom]

I've finally, after 10 years of trying to schedule our day like Managers of their Homes, realized that 1) I am not good at nor do I like transitions, and 2) I don't like telling people what to do. So a schedule based on 30 minute changes of activity IS NEVER GOING TO WORK FOR ME! Even in college, I loved taking 3 hour classes as opposed to the 50 minute, 3x a week ones. In fact, I don't think I ever took a 3x a week class! I detested high school for many reasons, but the 42 minute class period was one of them. So why would I think that I would be happy changing topics when we've barely begun?

[peacefully]

.

[texasmama]

What I'm finding is that I like scripted, open-and-go, structured curriculum that allows all of us plenty of time to add on--through library visits, discussions, explorations. It's like the curriculum is our spine (and I appreciate a strong spine!) to which we add lots of other stuff. If I had to devise too much of my own curriculum, or "think" too much about it, then I wouldn't have time to "think" about all the fun add-ons! And by following a more structured curriculum, it eases my mind and allows me to have fun experimenting with all the fun addons like experiments, books, day trips, geography games etc.

 

What have you learned about what works for you as a teacher? Are you surprised at what really works for you? Were you resistant at first to accepting your "style"? (I was, I thought I would be an unschooly type :lol::lol:)

 

The first paragraph describes my style, as well. Using scripted/boxed curriculum keeps me from having so many anxiety attacks about what my kids are learning. I do tweak some, but I am okay with that.;)

 

I am very, very comfortable with my boys not having any tests. The only tests they have is Apologia science tests in co op and music theory tests for piano. Even our spelling curriculum is not really based on tests in the traditional sense. Not testing works well for me and for my kids.

 

I'm surprised that I am learning conceptual math and actually enjoying it. :D I'm a bit surprised that I love the scripted programs so much because I am a bit of a free spirit in some ways. I have been surprised with how beautifully Sonlight's Cores (history, literature and readalouds) meshed with my worldview/what I want my kids to learn/etc. It has been a perfect fit for us for three years now.

[boscopup]

I'm totally with you on preferring scripted, open-n-go curricula. I don't always use the script, but I want it there to hold my hand if I need it.

 

I also have found that I don't do well with curriculum meant for schools. Every one that I tried, I couldn't take the busywork involved. I now use mostly curricula meant for homeschoolers (and often scripted! :lol:). I think part of it is also that it seems easier to accelerate the stuff written for homeschoolers, whereas the stuff written for school has lessons that take longer, and I'm never sure what I can leave out? :confused: I have no problem figuring out what to leave out from FLL, MM, AAS, or anything else. I've made them all work for me. And if my son is ready to speed through something, I have no problem doing so.

[linguistmama]

I wanted to unschool at the beginning too! When my oldest was 4 she started asking to do school. I was surprised since I expected her to become interested in an animal at the zoo and then we would google for more info, get library books etc. But she asked me to teach her stuff as in general schooly things that I should decide on :) I found out that I really do well with structure in this area of our lives for some of the reasons the op posted. I love having a good spine so I know I am doing the basics and dd is loving it! It's funny to me because in some areas of life I am very free and hippyish about things and in others I crave structure.

[Ginny May]

I started out with have to do this and start now ...... But in the past 6 years I have learned to relax a little. I still have to plan the week out or I have no idea what I would be doing. But if we are doing something and loving it, why do we have to stop 30 minutes into it. Crazy looking back. :D I did try the ecomputer stuff this year and did not like it at all.

[Satori]

I started off thinking we'd be free and unschooly. Hehe. Although I might have made a good unschooler, my daughter prefers interaction and instruction. As we go, I find that I also like structured and scripted, easy open-and-go programs for the most part. I would love to do other creative programs like BFSU, MEP, Miquon, etc... but I guess I like the structure I get from more structured programs.

 

I also never thought we'd use workbooks or tests, but both my daughter and I don't mind either for some things.

[Lovedtodeath]

I have learned that nothing works for me.

 

It must be simple and fast .... efficient... yeah, that sounds better.

 

I have learned that it must be efficient.

[joysworld]

I was opposite of you as well. Being a former teacher, I thought I wanted school at home with detailed lesson plans, very scripted. Then, once I started researching homeschooling, I wanted a CM education. Turns out, I prefer more of an unschool, relaxed approach; at least in this season of our life:) For K, they don't have to do any school work, except for what they want. I have workbooks, books, sheets, pencils, markers, paint, playdo, construction paper, blank paper, etc available for them and they can do what they want. My oldest is finishing up K now, and he actually WANTS to do school work. He's just about finished with singapore 1a, and just about finished with McDuffey's Primer. My PreKer, asks all the time to pull out hooked on phonics, and wants to do the workbook, as does my three year old. Next year, my first grader will do math and reading, but that won't be hard because he already wants to do them. And then I'm planning thirty six weeks of lessons for history and science. It's literature based, but if we do nothing but just read the books, then we've covered those subjects:)

 

I really enjoy it being relaxed because if I miss a day, then I don't feel behind and discouraged:) I'm also amazed at how my children have grown creatively and even academically with having pretty much all day to engage in activities that they want.

[Lovedtodeath]

I've finally, after 10 years of trying to schedule our day like Managers of their Homes, realized that 1) I am not good at nor do I like transitions, and 2) I don't like telling people what to do. So a schedule based on 30 minute changes of activity IS NEVER GOING TO WORK FOR ME! Even in college, I loved taking 3 hour classes as opposed to the 50 minute, 3x a week ones. In fact, I don't think I ever took a 3x a week class! I detested high school for many reasons, but the 42 minute class period was one of them. So why would I think that I would be happy changing topics when we've barely begun?

If you don't change topics often... then may I ask what you do and how it works with young ones? It sounds heavenly.:001_tt1:

[silliness7]

I've learned that I do NOT like combining my children and I do NOT like to discuss school at the dinner table. If we had hammocks we wouldn't be discussing school there either. :lol:

 

I used to dream of rabbit trails and long hours spent with highly motivated children chasing down all kinds of interesting topics. HA!

 

We just git 'er done...one at a time...Wham! Let's do something else. :001_smile:

 

I did some soul searching a while back and recognized that one of the best things I gained through my education was the ability to get through hard subjects and to do well. I actually don't use a lot of chemistry or algebra in my day to day. I studied 5 foreign languages between high school and college...none of which were Latin so that's not been so helpful. But what WAS helpful was learning how to do hard things. Not that I don't think it would also be awesome for there to be more practical application of these topics. I'm learning that math is beautiful just for it's own sake, something I didn't appreciate as a student myself. So I'm trying to pass that kind of thinking on to my kids. They've been whining about Latin lately. Nobody speaks it, whine, whine...

It's good for your brain. It's good for your character. Now review those flashcards!!:D

 

I was afraid that if school was too fun, relaxed, and easy...that my kids would miss that skill. So I put a lot of hard things on the table. And it is work. And we're tired at the end of the day.

 

We unwind with movies. We're currently on a Spider-Man kick. Also, something I never envisioned being a former TV-Nazi.

 

I also thought we would go gang-busters for Great Books. I can't really get into them...too much T.V. has apparently rotted my brain. ;) So we're doing Great Books Lite. Some things are just TOO hard!! HA!

[....]

What have you learned about what works for you as a teacher? Are you surprised at what really works for you? Were you resistant at first to accepting your "style"? (I was, I thought I would be an unschooly type :lol::lol:)

 

I've found that the combining-unit-studyish-classicalish stuff works the best for us. And...we tend to gravitate towards stuff like MFW, Sonlight, I've looked at TOG, KONOS, etc. If only we could do them all!! :tongue_smilie:

 

Kid #2 and #3 also need lots of hands-on activities.

 

As far as what we started off doing...I had no clue what we were doing. I guess I was carrying over what they were doing in ps to our homeschool. After about a year of that, I realized that wasn't such a good idea. I didn't want to pull my kids out of school and have them hate homeschooling and get a mediocre education.

 

If I had 1 or 2 kids, our homeschooling would look a lot different, I think.

[khall]

 

 

 

I was afraid that if school was too fun, relaxed, and easy...that my kids would miss that skill.

HA!

 

This was us at first. I wanted to use materials that were rigorous and accelerated, and I had a daily schedule planned out that crammed in everything that I thought we must do. There was much whining and reluctance about "doing school", and many days ended with some (or all?) work incomplete and me feeling anxious about not being able to count it as a day of school and worrying that they were going to do poorly on their end of year testing.

 

Two years and many tweaked schedules later, we seem to have morphed into unschoolers. How did that happen?! We have a daily routine, and the kids and I know what to expect everyday, but I don't schedule schoolwork into it. They know I expect certain subjects to get done, and some days they'll do work right after breakfast, and some days not until after dinner. We moved to materials that are very open and go, so when they are ready for a lesson, we open the book and do the next lesson. I never would have thought I could be this relaxed. I'm a total control freak! :lol:

[Joyofsixreboot]

I'm afraid I'm a cut to the basics person in almost all aspects of life. I always have too much to do so just do what MUST be done and move on. I tend to school the same way. I want efficiency baby!:D And I want to fit school in at odd moments. Math, laundry, LA, vaccum, reading in the van on the way to the bank, etc. CLE works for the basics for us because it does just that. Then if we have time we can explore history and science and life. I wish I were more 'fun' but there it is, I've got too much to do for puttering around:glare:

[woolybear]

We started off as unschoolers. I really feel it was my son's learning style that led us away from that (and to here:) ). I still fight the urge to let it all go sometimes, but he keeps me in line. Not with his desire to have a more schooly approach, but his need. Without it, all h**l breaks loose.:D I have also found my attitudes have shifted. Really, it's one thing to unschool a five or seven year old, but when they're ten you want to see a bit more happening. Ds was slow to learn to read too. Perhaps if that had happened sooner, I might've chilled a bit.

[MissKNG]

I love having a schedule already planned out for me (ie. Noeo and Sonlight). And I love that my big girl is so self taught because I think that I am terrible at explaining things sometimes!

[cathmom]

If you don't change topics often... then may I ask what you do and how it works with young ones? It sounds heavenly.:001_tt1:

 

Well, I guess I meant more working with each child. With my 7 yo, we'll sit down and just work through the list of subjects we need to cover that day. So we are changing topics, but we're doing everything in one session. This might not work with a really ancy (is that how you spell that?) child. I wouldn't want to be calling him several times a day, like "OK, now we're going to do math. OK, now you can go play. Now we're going to do history" etc. We just do it all at once, minus the fifty million interruptions!

[radiobrain]

I am naturally a bit of a slacker, so I knew that no matter what I could not unschool. I think that to do it right takes far more involvement and subtlety than I am capable of.

 

I cannot stand scripted curricula. I wish I did. Things would be easier.

 

However, I like a more free form style, while still being intense and challenging. That is why I like MCT and Life of Fred. I also like things with pictures in it. ;)

 

I am not afraid to go off on a tangent, make up my own "class", or only do one part of a book.

 

I would love to find a prefect scheduling plan, but I can't get more specific than- here's what I would like to get done this week, and here's what we should try to accomplish today.

[Mommyfaithe]

Well, I guess I meant more working with each child. With my 7 yo, we'll sit down and just work through the list of subjects we need to cover that day. So we are changing topics, but we're doing everything in one session. This might not work with a really ancy (is that how you spell that?) child. I wouldn't want to be calling him several times a day, like "OK, now we're going to do math. OK, now you can go play. Now we're going to do history" etc. We just do it all at once, minus the fifty million interruptions!

 

We school like this as well. We sit down....and go through our subjects. If we take a break....they take off. I like a captive audience.:D

Faithe

[Mommyfaithe]

I have learned that nothing works for me.

 

It must be simple and fast .... efficient... yeah, that sounds better.

 

I have learned that it must be efficient.

 

This. :glare:

[Mommyfaithe]

I'm afraid I'm a cut to the basics person in almost all aspects of life. I always have too much to do so just do what MUST be done and move on. I tend to school the same way. I want efficiency baby!:D And I want to fit school in at odd moments. Math, laundry, LA, vaccum, reading in the van on the way to the bank, etc. CLE works for the basics for us because it does just that. Then if we have time we can explore history and science and life. I wish I were more 'fun' but there it is, I've got too much to do for puttering around:glare:

 

Thank you for posting this!! You made me smile...and recognize myself in this post. It goes back the real/ ideal post .....my reality is I am too busy with life for nonsense or puttering....or even a groovy trip lol...:D

I stick yo the basics for our table time....and history and science are relegated to bedtime reads....again...my captive audience theory ....listen or lights out!

Faithe

[Poke Salad Annie]

I was thinking today that when I started homeschooling, I thought I'd be the vaguely hippie-ish homeschooler who was happy to pursue rabbit trails all day, her children hanging in hammocks in the back yard (no, we don't have hammocks), reading books.

 

That would be me. :D

 

Seriously, we have tried very scripted programs, and I guess it's the Birkie-wearing, no make-up wearing, long-haired me that can't deal with them. Too rigid. So.

 

The one thing that has become crystal clear to me over the year is this. It is possible to take any book and teach with it, as is, no script, no nothing. Yes, I do have to make some notes for myself to keep on track, but this is much better than trying to step into that ubiquitous box and fit in. Can't do it. So.

 

We are taking the book The Boy Who Sailed Around the World Alone (the story of Robin Lee Graham), and using it for a summer study. I didn't first go looking for a unit study of oceans, sailing or anything like that, but instead brainstormed what kinds of things we could use that I have on hand or could be found at the library. (Some of you here offered some great suggestions for further exploration.) We hope to have the chance to top it all off with an opportunity to go aboard a real sailboat, but that hasn't been arranged yet. Will we learn something? I hope so, but in the meantime I haven't purchased another program that I may end up disappointed with and ready to sell. So.

 

That's what I've learned about myself over this last year. I am at peace with it, and it's certainly making our days better and less stressful. Looks like nice weather today. Guess we'll go take a book outside and lie around in those hammocks. :D

[Mom-ninja.]

Scripted, planned out, open and go.

[JennyD]

My oldest is only just almost 6, finishing his K year, but I can already see that we are going to be way more unit-study-ish than I originally envisioned. My husband and I are both academics who do a lot of interdisciplinary work in our own (totally different kinds of) research, and I realized that I am always going to be thinking in terms of blurred lines rather than tabbed binders.

[woolybear]

I love having a schedule already planned out for me (ie. Noeo and Sonlight). And I love that my big girl is so self taught because I think that I am terrible at explaining things sometimes!

 

 

I love doing my own planning, but I finally am coming to the conclusion that I should let someone else do the bulk of it. I am buying our main curriculum set to go and then doing some of my own planning. If I never finish it or we only use bits it's okay, because our main stuff is planned!

[Guest RecumbentHeart]

I'm still figuring out what works best for me overall but for math and handwriting I've found fluffless and direct - the shortest, most efficient route to the goal - to be my thing. Cursive First is doing the job for handwriting but I could have achieved the same from free print-out tracers - learn the formation and get straight into applying and practicing via copywork and dictation in another subject (currently just phonics/spelling). For Math it's been Professor B. I just don't see the point of taking longer to formally teach a skill than absolutely necessary.

 

I have noticed that I do a lot more informally than I ever thought I would and I'm entirely comfortable with it. Education is becoming an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.

[Luckymama]

I've learned that scripted curriculum is not a good fit for me! I need the freedom to speed up/slow down as needed to suit the lesson(s).

 

I like doing my own planning. I tried following a LA plan during the fall and scrapped that by Christmas.

 

I've learned that I do have a lot of patience :D

[twoforjoy]

It's really taken a while to figure out what works for both me and DS, and we're still somewhat figuring it out.

 

Initially I thought we'd totally be about real books and hands-on projects, but that just didn't work out for us. I do like using real books, but I think I'm uptight enough to need the security of some textbook/workbook work, and DS likes having information presented in a systematic way, as well.

 

And I'm just so not a project person. I hate doing projects, honestly. DS loves them, so I try to incorporate some, but probably the most I can handle is about two projects per week that require cutting, gluing, picking up random materials at the dollar store, or anything else of that nature. Doing that stuff just puts me in a really bad mood.

 

I've realized I'm okay with being a lot more unschooly about history and science, at this age, than I am about math and language arts. So we're pretty flexible with history and science (we read from SOTW and use R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey Life, although pretty loosely), and a lot of that is him picking out non-fiction books that interest him from the library and just reading, but I'm pretty structured with math and language arts.

 

I CANNOT plan long-term. If I do, I manage to last about two weeks, at most, then feel like a failure. So I try to take it a week at a time at this point.

 

I'll admit, too, that I kind of imagined we'd be spending most of the day engaged in enriching educational activities. It hasn't quite worked out that way. ;) We finish school in 1-2 hours (usually about 90 minutes), and then we're done. If DS chooses to do something with educational value after that, that's fine, but if he wants to just hang out, that's cool, too. Aside from putting limits on video game and TV time, he's really free to do whatever he wants the rest of the day and I don't worry about making the entire day some sort of meaningful learning experience.

[kalanamak]

Well, I've learned, Halcyon, that we have similar tastes. :001_smile:

 

I like a strong spine with wiggle room in some subjects. Grammar, math, e.g. but like the step by step of WWE. I think, on reflection, if I feel confident, I want a scope and sequence and a couple of examples, and let me fly, but if I don't feel confident, I want more scripted. Duh.

[Love2teach0307]

I've learned for me that if it doesn't get planned, it doesn't get done. I'm very independent so I can take any curr. and plan it out my way and we'll learn from it. But scripted curr. do not go well here. We like organic lessons to flow, but need rigorous curr to keep us going. So, I'm always trying to find the balance without overwhelming.

[Farrar]

I absolutely cannot do a scripted curriculum. I have trouble with curricula that tell me what to do and when to do it. Doesn't work for me.

 

Things that do:

 

* Good books to read to the kids - I've had some issues with SOTW, but a good read-aloud spine is definitely my thing, also go along "living books" in every subject - if I'm reading a good book, ideas for activities to go with it usually present themselves to me

 

* Good idea books - things like the Peggy Kaye "Games for..." series, books of art projects, books of crafts from different historical periods, books of science experiments like the Janice VanCleave books - anything that's meant to be a pick and choose sort of thing

 

* Workbooks - I didn't think we would be this workbooky when we started, but I've found that workbooks are a really good way for us to work - in MM, for example, the kids do the pages and then I find it easy to see where they're stuck and, like when we're reading a book, find impromptu or slightly planned out ways to do activities and games and help them through it.

 

* Planning it myself. I don't create from scratch nearly as much of our curricula as I thought I might (back when I was teaching in schools, as soon as I could, I ditched the horrible programs they gave me and always wrote my own curricula) but I work best with the plans *I* make instead of someone else. We did this for science this year and I loved it.

[SnMomof7]

Homeschooling has humbled me, there can be no doubt.

 

At first I thought we wanted to unschool - my kids would just learn everything naturally without ANY instruction, right?

 

Then we went Waldorf.

 

Then I got saved :).

 

Then we were going to delay math until, oh at least 10 - until DD started asking for math when she was 6: enter MUS.

 

And I realized DD wasn't 'just learning how to read' and I didn't want to wait: enter phonics.

 

And I realized she wasn't just going to start reading 'real books' right off the bat: enter phonetically leveled readers.

 

And I realized she wasn't a natural speller either: enter AAS.

 

And on and on it goes! Ha! Nothing has gone the way I imagined it would before I actually got started and had some miles under my belt. Well, I suppose one thing has - we read a lot of books out loud and are pretty lit-based for science and history, I always wanted to read a lot of books together :).

 

What I have realized for myself is that I NEED something printed down that I can refer to. I love SL-style schedules that I can just open and pick-up where I left off in case we take an extended break ;). Takes very little brain power.

 

I also really like scripted programs - I might not use the script, but at least I know what I'm supposed to be teaching. I also really like the gap-filling power of R&S English, I'm a natural writer but my daughter has needed some hand holding, and though I can write, I had no idea how to teach it. I love the incremental approach that I get from R&S, AAS, phonics, MUS, you name it. Incremental = love for my daughter and I (because SHE needs it, I thought we'd have huge intuitive leaps in understanding, not so!)

 

What DOES NOT work for me as a teacher is watching a DVD and then trying to teach my children! We use the MUS DVD together and that works out great because it is chaptered in short chunks, but PR was a bust for me because I couldn't figure out how to translate the DVDs into ME teaching it! There was barely anything on paper, and I've realized that I need that :).

 

So, there you go :). Fun thread. Like many of you I was totally, totally wrong, and knew nothing about my daughter and myself in terms of learning and teaching styles before we got started. What we do looks a lot more like one-on-one school (when it comes to the skill subjects) than I ever expected it to!

[Aquinas Academy]

When I started I honestly had no clue what I was doing. I was trying to teach my child, not find my style. So, I can't really tell you what kind of homeschooler I thought I'd be because I didn't know that there were different types.

What I have found out about myself is that I value academics very, very highly. I can be a big meanie who makes my kids work hard. But I'm not the kind of teacher who likes desks and textbooks. We sit on floor, lie on the couch, stretch out on the grass, and (sometimes) sit at the kitchen table. I love living books; I think they really help to make lessons engaging. And, despite my seemingly old fashioned discipline and rigour, engagement is what I'm all about. If I can't get my kids to love learning then I will have failed at one of my most important goals.

I've also found, to my surprise, that even though I consider myself a devout Catholic, I don't really like religious curricula. Another thing is that I love planning my own history curriculum, but dislike doing the same for science.

Just thought of one other thing. I dislike computer and DVD based curriculum. I'm a book girl all the way.

[Just Robyn]

I thought I would be unschooly, then when I saw that that wasn't going to work for me I thought I would do unit studies made by me, then when I saw that I just didn't have time for that I started exploring curricula. Honestly, I think part of why I didn't explore a lot of curricula sooner is because of all the bad mouthing of it I read and all the accusations of all of it being school-at-home. I think I have found things that help me balance that part of me that thought I would unschool with that part of me that quickly realized unschooling wasn't for me. I have evolved into a very eclectic homeschooler influenced by TWTM, CM, and waldorf methods - and always tweaking and supplementing everything.