Episode 72: A Magical Blend of Homeschooling Styles

The Layers of Learning Podcast with Karen and Michelle is here to help you get your whole family learning together in your homeschool. We are the sisters behind Layers of Learning. We love getting together to chat about homeschooling and this podcast is just a series of our chats. We’re inviting you to listen in on our conversations. We both have big families, but we teach almost all of our school subjects to everyone at once. We want to help you find the joy in that too, so we talk a lot about family homeschooling. To see all of our episodes, visit our Layers of Learning Podcast Page. Join us as we explore how to have a happy, hands-on, family-style homeschool. A Magical Blend of Homeschooling Styles Layers of Learning is an oddly eclectic blend of lots of different homeschooling styles—Classical, Charlotte Mason, unit studies, Montessori, unschooling—it has a bit of each. It begins with the 4-year cycle organization that is the framework of the Classical style. It is intentionally organized and repetitive. Layers of Learning also borrows from more relaxed Charlotte Mason style, including lots of living books and hands-on experiences. The units of Layers of Learning loosely resemble unit studies because of the interrelated topics, additional layers, and rabbit trails. We borrow from Maria Montessori’s philosophy by encouraging you to create a learning environment in your homeschool. If your school day is truly fun and rewarding, your kids will be able to independently learn far beyond your normal school hours and your checklist of to-dos. The curriculum is also a great scaffolding for unschoolers and can become a plan for those times when you need ideas and plans. Here Are A Few Topics You’ll Hear About In This Podcast What the Layers of Learning program borrows from each sty