Who’s Who & What’s What in Homeschooling

Accreditation – Certification of a school by an accrediting board that inspects a school and, on approval, provides it with a certificate of approval or a certificate of accreditation.
Charlotte Mason Approach – Method of homeschooling founded by Charlotte Mason, a teacher in England who advocated educating by living a gentle, full life with observation of nature, music, the use of living books and high-quality activities.
Charter School – A school that is recognized and funded by the government to operate as an at-home public school. The charter school is owned by an individual or independent company. The difference between a charter school and an independent study school (ISP) is the greater freedom the charter school’s owner has in running the facility.
Child-led – An approach to child rearing in which the child’s needs and interests are considered first and foremost, as opposed to expecting the child to simply conform to parental authority.
Colfax, David and Micki – Couple who homeschooled their four boys on a goat farm in Northern California in the early 1980s and attained national attention as their first son (and subsequently two more) was accepted into Harvard and Yale. They are the authors of two books on homeschooling: Homeschooling for Excellence and Hard Times in Paradise.
Decompression – In the homeschooling sense, the act of releasing the negative pressure built up from a school setting once a child begins homeschooling.
Delayed Academics – Philosophy that young children should not be pressured with instruction in the “academic subjects” (such as reading, writing and math), but rather, be allowed to mature into their skills at their own rate. This philosophy was brought to light by Dr. Raymond Moore and his wife, Dorothy.
DeWEY, JOHN – American philosopher and educator. While a professor at the University of Chicago, he did much work in experimental mass schooling and was an influential educator in the early twentieth century. Dewey was responsible for much of the socialist nature of mass education.
Duffy, Cathy – Veteran Christian homeschooling mother, reviewer and author of the Christian Home Educators’ Curriculum Manuals and the widely-acclaimed book Government Nannies, which details the government’s effort to extend its influence over the home and family through its Goals 2000 public school program. She is also a sought-after conference speaker.
Eclectic Approach – Method of homeschooling that uses materials from any and all sources.
Gatto, John Taylor – A 30-year veteran teacher of Manhattan public junior high schools and three-time winner of the New York City & New York State Teacher of the Year; education reformer, thinker and author of many books about public education and life.
Holt, John – The late pioneer researcher, teacher and founder of Growing Without Schooling magazine. Coined the term “unschooling” and authored many books about children and learning.
Hood, Dr. Mary – A veteran Christian homeschooling mother with a Ph.D. in Education. She and her husband homeschooled their five children for 15 years. She is the author of several books, including The Relaxed Homeschool and The Joyful Homeschooler and has written a series of guidebooks for homeschoolers—Relaxed Recordkeeping and Helping Children Learn to Write. She is a popular conference speaker and editor of The Relaxed HomeSchooler newsletter.
Mann, Horace (1776-1859) – Instrumental in establishing the public school elementary system in Massachusetts, which later served as a model for the United States system. Helped assemble the first state board of education and was its secretary for more than 10 years. He was an aggressive advocate for public education & president of Antioch College, Ohio from 1853 until 1859.
Moore, Dr. Raymond & Dorothy – Parents of two partially homeschooled children and the developers of the Moore Method of homeschooling. Were pioneers in the homeschooling movement and responsible for many of the homeschooling laws in California. They authored Better Late than Early, School Can Wait, Home Grown Kids and more.
Parental Approach – Method of homeschooling based on simply being the child’s parent and making choices according to the family philosophy.
Phonics – A method of teaching reading, spelling and pronunciation by using the phonetic sounds of letters.
Pride, Mary – Publisher of the popular Christian homeschool magazine Practical Homeschooling. Author of The Big Book of Home Learning, Schoolproof, The Child Abuse Industry, and others.
Principle Approach – Method of homeschooling based on Biblical principles.
Reflective Educational Perspectives – Company in Ventura, California, that provides Learning Style Evaluations and consultation for homeschoolers and families in general. They specialize in children who have been negatively labeled. Mariaemma Pelullo-Willis & Victoria Kindle-Hodson are the owners of REP.
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques – Eighteenth-century French philosopher and writer who inadvertently influenced educators with his book Emile (1762), which ultimately led to both public school and unschooling.
Summerhill – Experimental boarding school in England founded by A.S. Neill that took “problem” students and offered them a completely non-compulsory atmosphere in which to learn. Classes were held, but no student was required to attend.
Tactile Learner – One who learns best by touching.
Trivium Approach – Method of teaching that focuses on grammar, logic and rhetoric.
Unschooling Method – Method of schooling in which learning is child-led, rather than the conveyor-belt school style.
Visual Learner – One who learns best by seeing things laid out for them.
Voucher – In the schooling sense, a credit given by the government for taxpayers to use for their choice of private, public or correspondence school.
Whole Language – Method of teaching reading or other subjects that advocated having experiences and memorizing words to develop a total experience that is then blended together, enabling students to learn the material in a more “whole” approach. It is the antithesis of the Phonics method.