Homeschooling Philosophy vs Curriculum: Which Comes First?

Discover how different educational philosophies can transform homeschooling, making learning engaging, effective, and tailored to your child's interests. Tiffany shares insights on Montessori, Reggio Emilia, Waldorf, and more to help parents build a personalized learning journey.

Key Topics
The importance of starting with educational philosophies rather than fixed curricula
Montessori: hands-on, self-directed learning activities for motor skills and focus
Reggio Emilia: outdoor, art-based, project-driven learning emphasizing nature and creativity
Waldorf: holistic education incorporating movement, singing, storytelling, and environment
Project-based learning: real-world applications such as community garden design
Forest school: outdoor learning environments that promote independence and nature connection
Sensory play activities for all ages to develop motor and cognitive skills
Using creative resources like Instagram accounts for inspiration and ideas
The value of individualized learning approaches that adapt to each child's interests

Resources & Links
The Reggio Emilia Approach
Maria Montessori Official
Waldorf Education Overview
Instagram: where_learning_meets_play
Instagram: Mulberry House Play School
Instagram: Tinker Wonder Play
Forest School Resources
Rewrite Method for Writing
Connect with Tiffany
LinkedIn
Twitter
Enjoy exploring a diverse set of approaches that make homeschooling rich, dynamic, and tailored to your child's unique needs!

Episode Chapters 
00:00 - Introduction to homeschooling philosophies and Tiffany's success tips
00:29 - Exploring the Montessori approach to hands-on, self-directed activities
03:10 - Practical example of motor skill development through pouring activities
07:27 - Overview of Reggio Emilia philosophy emphasizing outdoor and art-based learning
8:20 - Using nature for creativity and art projects in Reggio Emilia style
10:21 - Waldorf philosophy integrating art, nature, holistic development, and movement
12:44 - Combining philosophies and tailoring experiences to child's interests
14:00 - Project-based learning: designing community gardens and real-world skills
15:51 - Implementing forest school concepts with outdoor, nature-centered lessons
18:14 - The importance of engaging resources and social aspects in homeschooling
19:16 - Customizing homeschooling plans that match your child's interests and learning style
20:17 - Adjusting curriculum to fit individual needs rather than one-size-fits-all
22:46 - Sensory play ideas: water activities, building blocks, and hands-on exploration
25:13 - Creative movement activities for kinesthetic learning and fun
26:14 - Inspiring Instagram accounts for homeschooling ideas: Where Learning Meets Play, Mulberry House, Tinker Wonder Play
29:01 - Wrap-up and additional resources for homeschooling success

Transcript

T.D. Flenaugh: 0:00

Often I see people asking about how to start their homeschool journey and what should they do. And I often hear people, em you know, just recommend a particular curriculum. But, you know, Tiffany, her wisdom of starting with philosophies and she'll really get into what she means by that and the structures and some of them you have heard of and you'll know exactly what she means. And some of them you may not have heard of, but it is a way of approaching the learning uh and structuring the learning that uh is the secret to her success for her children being above grade level and really doing well. She is a homeschooling mom. She's been on our show before and she's gonna give us some tips about what she does to really fill her role as the first teachers and the continuous teachers of her children. She's a mom of three. We're gonna discuss her teaching philosophies that she used to base her homeschooling journey on. She is not an educator by career before she became a homeschool parent. So these are some ways that she structured her, the learning for her student, her children, her students, right? uh Based on these uh tried and true teaching structures and philosophies. Hi, thank you so much for joining the Falling for Learning podcast. I am TD Flenaugh. We have this podcast to help parents and caregivers with having the resources, strategies, and tools needed to make sure that their children are on track for learning and to stay on track for success. Tell us more Tiffany. Yeah, so thanks for having me again. And I, like you said, when I got into homeschooling, didn't know where to start. It kind of felt overwhelming. Even though I have to give the caveat here, I am married to an educator. So I did have an advantage in there. And my best friend is also an educator. So I have people that... Yeah. go to that have the experience. But at the end of the day, was, I'm the one there with the kid, right? Every day, yes? So what I did to kind of help me was I learned about different philosophies that have been around for years that people kind of face the way that they teach on, you know, in the homeschool environments. One of them I think is probably the most known, one of the most known strategies or philosophies of teaching a child is called Montessori. So this was uh founded by Maria Montessori and basically it focuses on the child having self-directed activities and being hands-on with their learning and being like a collaborator in the learning process and having collaborative play like before we mentioned about uh play-based learning. So this philosophy also incorporates that. So for example, some of the ways that a child who is doing uh learning in a Montessori style, they would kind of work on their fine motor skills by pouring. So they would have a picture. one second you you skipped so do that part again just say it was like the sit back at the beginning of that maybe the play bait like I don't where I was saying that they would use how they would learn their motor skills. Yeah, so let's just start that. I think I just started recording again, so that's fine. Just start there, like how they would learn, how they would build their motor skills or whatever. Yeah, so with a Montessori style of learning a child that was working on the same motor skills uh An activity that they would have set up is you would have them work on pouring uh So you would have a pitcher and various vessels that they needed to fill with uh water or a liquid so The different vessels that they're gonna fill would have a guide for where they needed to stop filling. So each one has a different amount that they're going to fill it up to. So this helps them work on, like I said, their motor skills, their concentration and their focus. Because as they're like pouring this water, they have to really focus on how much they're putting in each vessel. Okay. And um that's also, you know, a play based activity, right? It's a fun and engaging way. So Montessori has all types of uh different activities that are kind of um similar to that. And it's just the style of, you know, the child is really engaged with setting up the lunch table. You know, they do all oh of the prep and they set it up. They put out their mat and then they put their plate and their cup and they have a whole routine and then they put all their food on their plate. and then they eat and then they clean up. And it's just the child is really kind of just collaborating alongside the teacher. know, it's their, they have different assignments that they call work and at different stations and they, you know, engage with things like, you know, one of the examples that I gave or just even using different wooden tools to count, know, manipulatives and different stations are set up for, you know, the children to go and engage in that way. So they're not using like worksheets and things that um are more um conventional. They're using um materials that m are like, you know, for the kid to touch and feel and use all their senses. Okay. So I was really inspired by that when I began my um One of the babies is upset. You need to pause or you want to? Okay, go ahead. No problem. I'm just gonna plug in my computer. realize it was D. Are we on the next one yet? Yeah, we can start with the next one now. So another one is called Reggio Amelia and this is something that originated in Italy I believe and this emphasizes as well child-led project-based learning but they use a lot of art and nature in the environment so um For example, you know, with this style of learning, a child would maybe go outside with a piece of paper and something to draw with, whether it be a crayon, a marker, a pencil, whatever. And they could maybe use the paper to use a paper and other objects in nature to create shadows on the paper and then trace the shadows. Then they can engage with whatever the materials are that they've gathered And kind of talk about the textures the colors You know just have an engaging moment and activity They could then color the shadows that they've traced and paint or paint You know and make a beautiful art project, you know, so this style of learning of the children create a lot of really beautiful art which I was really drawn to because I'm someone who really likes making art projects and doing things with art materials and nature. So I do those things with my kids um in this style like when we go on nature walks we're always like picking up different leaves that look interesting or pine cones and we come back home and make art out of it. So um that's what I liked about um the Reggie O Amelia philosophy when I learned about it. So I just kind of took bits and pieces from each of these philosophies and put it together to teach my kids. So I didn't stick to just one. And you know, my whole style of learning is just It wasn't just on that one style. was a mix of all of them. And another one is um the Waldorf. I think a lot of people know about the Waldorf centers. There's a lot of Waldorf schools I've heard of as well. The pre-schools and just schools in general that are based on this philosophy and um This one is kind of more also, you know, nature and art is engaged in it. But this school, mean, this philosophy also uses a lot of like holistic point of view, you know, that the child's mind and their heart and their physical body is incorporated in the learning process. So it's not um just about direct teaching and answering and asking questions. In that way, it's dancing, it's movement, it's singing, it's um meditation, it's talking about the environment and recycling and taking care of the earth and just healthy eating and healthy living and um having that all incorporated in. learning process also. So um I can give an example of an activity um with this style of this philosophy, this Waldorf style. Children could engage in making like nature puppets. So you could be going on a nature walk or just go outside and gather some leaves and some sticks and you could glue the leaves and the sticks together to make little puppets and tell a story. You know, have the child create a story and engage with them and ask questions that are open-ended that, you know, let the children act it out and maybe create songs and characters with the little puppets, you know? So that's another one that also confines art and nature, which is another reason why I was kind of drawn to that. So for the parents out there, you can just kind of not only want to pick up a philosophy or, you know, create things based on a philosophy that your child would be drawn to, but also you, you know, as the parent being the teacher, you also want to feel engaged and uh encouraged and, you know, excited. Right. So uh let's say you're maybe you're not someone that maybe you have a really physical child, right? Yeah. And maybe you're not a sports person. The Rewrite Method and the Rewrite Method Workbook are your go-to resource for helping kids to learn to fall in love with writing. It has the tips, tools, resources, strategies, skill-building activities to help kids fall out of writing hate and into loving to write. Get your book set today! and yourself, like you are maybe you're not athletic, right? And you're more artistic. So maybe trying to combine the both of them, you know, the art and the athletics, so that you both are, you the parent and the child are both engaged, you know, having, I just wanted to, you know, give that tip too, because um you don't want to feel like it's a burden. Right. your child, you want to feel like excited about it as well. Yes. Yeah. So another one is that's really popular is project based learning, where the child is focused on something that is going to be a project that is going to take more time and it's going to be a little bit more elaborate and they can clap. um They can work with other children on this project and it may take a number of days or weeks for them to complete it. So it could be something like designing like a community garden, but like a miniature version of it, right? And they could. map it out on paper, they work together, collaborate, come up with ideas like I want the garden to have a fountain and I want the garden to have a vertical, you know, plant wall and I want the garden to have this and that all the children, you know, put in their ideas and they collaborate together and they figure out where everything is going to go and then they gather the materials and they have to like measure it out and they just learn so much on as they go along doing this project that is kind of elaborate and kind of their time, takes a lot of time and effort. So I really like that too because it teaches them like. you know, social skills, working with other people. It teaches them, you know, how to manage their time, for example, all these other things. oh Yeah. Real world application. Like we've created this rather than like I finished this assignment to give to my teacher. Like we've created this and that was part of our learning, which is real life, right? If you're like a construction worker or you know you helped do city planning or whatever it is. Baker or anything you have to manage your time. have to measure out what you need and gather your materials in the right amount. And, know, you have to rely on other people sometimes to. Yes. Exactly. So that's the real life application of that one, which is really good, especially for children that are homeschooled. They. can just have that more social uh aspect of their learning. um And then the last one that I wanted to talk about is forest school. And this is basically. um something where children are just outdoors all day in nature learning. So there are some families that I know that this is the way that they do like 90 % of their learning. are outside. There's a nature school that I knew about em and I kind of visited but I didn't like drop my kids off because it's like you can drop your kids off literally in a forest. There's a creek and there's trees and they're there all day working together to create little projects and Sometimes they may be given an assignment to go and build like a little structure for an animal or for Whatever they come up with right they're go build this structure and they're gonna have a whole story to go along with who lives in this structure How did you make it strong? did it, how did you make it sturdy enough to stay up? And does rain get in? Are the elements gonna come in? You know, they have to think about all of these. It's another project-based learning as well, but completely in nature. So. Then nature's the is that the one with the nature's a third teacher? No. yeah, I think that was also, that particular, um, was with the, Reggie Amelia. Okay. That was their, um, philosophy on that. The nature being the third teacher. All these approaches are in the show notes. So I really am glad that you brought up these different ideas because I think this is more what people need when they're asking about how they should do their homeschooling journey. And I hear just a curriculum or I even hear things like just do unschooling and I hear a lot too. Yeah, so I don't know how helpful that is. Like maybe if, you know, these have specific books and approaches and things that people could latch onto and build. And, you know, I think uh a part of homeschooling for some people that they need to think about is that it is individualized learning, right? um And sometimes people don't know how to engage their kids and part of it is is this, like, you're not considering um what is interesting for the kid and what their interests are. And yes, you're maybe just focusing on this curriculum. Like, this is the curriculum that I need for my child because it's already packaged, it's already there. But sometimes, uh you know, if you felt like I need to put my child, do homeschooling for my child, they probably need an individualized experience and something that is more tailored to them. So not to throw curriculum out the window, but also have some kind of basis or foundation to help continue to build when maybe that curriculum doesn't fit. And I don't think any curriculum is going to be a hundred percent fit. Like even as a teacher, I'm making adjustments and how, you know, I do deliver curriculum or for the students that I have, it's not, I don't think it's the best idea anytime to just say, open the page and talk. And just do the book work and. just print it out and done. And that's something maybe you may not know if you're like, not, you don't have the basis or the experience or whatever, but it's a uh good thing to consider. Yes, yes, of course. I knew that I wanted to make it engaging for me as well. And I knew that it would feel kind of boring in a drag if I just had a website or just had a book and just opened it. And you know, that doesn't seem exciting to me because I'm like a very creative person. So I needed to put that creativity in there. So. for any teacher. Yeah, any teacher, you know, when it's like a book that I love that I'm teaching my students, they'll pick up on that and they will be more engaged. uh Obviously, sometimes there's things that I don't necessarily want to teach, but they'll, you know, say that I need to or whatever. And so, you know, I'll find out, I'll do some innovation and try to find things that are. are engaging for me or like I could pull out of it that's going to be something very compelling to me that I could convey to my students. But with homeschooling, don't have those same constraints and you could really use the creativity. And this is a way to build right on these structures that they already have. having them do things that also help build their motor, their fine motor skills, like it's using sensory play. So using water, anything that engages all of the senses, like water, right? That engages touch and. the hearing and the sight and the smell, all the senses are engaged in this activity. So that's what you want to think about when you think about sensory play. Play-doh, water, tapioca pearls, you know, you can boil those and they're like squishy and they have this interesting texture and you can dye them different colors. Okay. that's really cool for, you know, younger kids and bigger kids too. mean, hey, it doesn't have to be an age limit. um For example, know, filling and pouring different vessels is a great way to engage those skills with sensory play, play dough, rolling and cutting. You know, they have little cutters and just engaging in all those kinds of activities like that. And then of course, like building blocks is a great way to work on. all kinds of math, colors, know, uh thinking about like uh learning about like dimension as well with the blocks and maybe building a town or a home or, you know, we can go on and on, you know, um with blocks, whether it be Legos or wooden blocks or plastic blocks, whatever, you know. I think you said magnet tab. sorry, those the same? Yeah, magnet tiles are so cool because they're like these translucent uh colored tile like blocks and magnets on the sides. And so they stay together when you build your structure, you know. You can put things inside them, you can even make like those like marble run type. structures where you have different state you know levels and you can put balls or cars and they can oh okay it's cool you know since I translated use them on light tables or with flashlights or little I like to use those little candles you know the little battery operated T and kind of light up your house and Things like that movement is another way just maybe making uh thing like uh a freeze dance type of thing a year like have the music going and then you have like um a magic word that makes everybody freeze or you know, you're counting and you're Jumping around, you know, and you're hopping you're counting as your hop and Just all kinds of fun ways that are learning that aren't as the conventional ways. Yes. Typically think of sitting at a desk with your pencil and your book and your paper and things like that, you know, kind of thinking outside of the box in that way. And I also wanted to share some of the Instagram accounts that really inspire me. when I'm trying to come up with ideas and things to do with the kids, um just three of them. uh One of them is where learning meets play. So it's like where underscore learning underscore meets underscore play. Okay. That's a really cool um teacher in Australia actually. And she has this big, beautiful classroom with so many just engaging um toys and manipulatives and textures and colors and it's just like a dream. um So I like to see what she comes up with, what she sets out for the children. Each day she just makes it so beautiful and engaging and it's like, wanna go to her class and do some of the activities. I'm so inspired by her. And then there's um Mulberry House. play school. um And they are um also a play based learning preschool. And uh it's just beautiful how everything is set up for the kids. It's very engaging and the kids just their creativity is on full display. They are just in there creating and playing and building and making all day long in such m a fun environment. So I get a lot of inspiration from that Instagram account. And she has an amazing Amazon storefront where you see all the materials that she has at her school. You could buy them, you know, some of them to kind of help your kids. But I really find her really helpful. And then another one is called uh Tinker Wonder Play. And she's lots of creative ideas as well for play-based learning. I just think that it just helps the child become more engaged. And as we mentioned in another tip about noticing what your kids are interested in and incorporating that into play and learning. could be really powerful in giving them the competitive advantage like I know you are. Yes. Helping parents and teachers understand. yeah, play-based learning is really important and powerful for the kiddos. Thank you so much for giving us those tips. They're all in the show notes. It is great. Thank you so much for sharing. Thanks again for supporting the Falling for Learning podcast. New episodes go live every Saturday at 5 p.m. You can watch us on youtube.com at Falling for Learning or listen on all major podcast platforms. such as Apple, Google, Audible, Spotify, and much more. For more resources, visit fallinginlovewithlearning.com. We really appreciate you. Have a wonderful week.