There are a hundred (perhaps even a hundred million) ways to homeschool a child, but almost all of them fit within three main categories:
STRUCTURED (Traditional)
Structured or traditional home learning is usually what people think of when they think about homeschooling. Structured home schools are similar to public schools. School starts and ends at specified times and lessons are taught in a certain order at certain times. Structured homeschooling parents use textbooks, teacher’s manuals and other materials as guides. Distance learning, such as online schools, are also structured learning.
Structured learning is great for parents and families who are organized and maitnain regular schedules. It is also a great method to transition children from public school to home schooling.
UNSCHOOLING
Unschooling is very misunderstood and is the complete opposite of structured learning. Schooling is directed by the interests of the child. An unschooled child may never open a textbook during his learning process because unschooled children are led by their natural curiosity to learn about the subjects that interest them.
Unschooling is an ideal for extremely young or extremely curious children. Children who "hate" school may discover that they enjoy learning in an unschooled environment. Be careful, though -- unschooling does not work for everybody.
ECLECTIC
Eclectic home schools mix structured schooling and unschooling so that certain subjects are structured while others are not. This way, children can learn as math and reading on time while exploring science and history according to their interests.
AFTER-SCHOOLING
After-schooling parents enhance their children's public/private/charter school education with homework help, extracurricular teaching, field trips, etc. Even though they don't provide the bulk of the instruction, after-school parents reinforce learning at home and ensure that their children are learning well.
