Many homeschooling families experience education in ebbs and flows of structured learning and unstructured, unschoolish learning. Here's how Melissa Wiley, children's book author and homeschooling mother of five (and moderator of this group), describes what she calls "tidal learning":

"People often ask me what kind of homeschoolers we are: Classical? Charlotte Mason? Eclectic? Delight-Directed? Unschoolers? How, they want to know, does learning happen in our home? Am I in charge, or do I let the kids lead the way? And what about math?

"Over the years I have written with enthusiasm about the Charlotte Mason method (which is highly structured) and unschooling (which is not). These educational philosophies seem to have intertwined themselves in my home, so that the *what we do*�read great books, study nature, dive deeply into history, immerse ourselves in picture study and composer study�is highly influenced by Charlotte's writings and their modern counterparts; and the *how we do it*�through strewing and conversation and leisurely, child-led exploration�is influenced by the writings of John Holt, Sandra Dodd, and other advocates of unschooling. But I couldn't say we're 'real CMers' because I don't carry out Miss Mason's recommendations in anything like the structured manner she prescribed; and I probably do too much behind-the-scenes nudging for us to be considered 'real unschoolers.'

"The truth is, I couldn't find any label that completely fit my family, so I made up my own. I call us 'Tidal Learners' because the ways in which we approach education here change with the tide. Now, this doesn't mean that we're flighty or inconsistent, changing direction haphazardly. We aren't Fiddler Crab Homeschoolers. What I mean is that there is a rhythm to the way learning happens here; there are upbeats and downbeats; there is an ebb and flow."

Please join us here for discussion about how tidal learning happens in your home!