Holistic approach: In medicine, holiatry refers to care of the entire patient. (dictionary.com) In homeschooling, a holistic approach is giving attention to the entire child. This means paying attention to the mind, body, and spirit of the child. Instead of academic “curriculum” that comes in instructional packages, the child learns through direct engagement with the environment. Holistic education nurtures a sense of wonder. The Montessori and Waldorf methods are types of the holistic approach to learning.
Homeschooling: Simply put, homeschooling is educating at home instead of in private or government schools. While also written as ‘home schooling’ and ‘home education’, homeschooling is the technically correct word.
Homeschool Support Group – When any number of homeschooling families meet or correspond with each other on a regular basis, they have formed a homeschool support group. The purpose of homeschool support group is to eliminate the isolation that many homeschoolers feel. Some homeschool support groups are formal and include a signed belief statement (usually Christian groups). Some homeschool support groups have membership fees. Other homeschool support groups are informal and others only meet by email.
HSLDA – The Home School Legal Defense Association is a non-profit organization and advocate for the parental rights of homeschoolers. The HSLDA website is a wealth of information for homeschoolers though not all homeschoolers agree with all of the causes they support.
IEP: An Individual Educational Plan is used by public schools to write plans and set goals, primarily for disabled students. Some states, like NY, require all homeschooling parents write an IEP for each child.
Inclusive homeschool groups: Unlike exclusive homeschool groups that are generally faith based, an “inclusive” homeschool group accepts and includes all homeschoolers, irrespective of their beliefs or reasons for seeking an alternative to “traditional” education.
Find the rest of the homeschool glossary here
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