Dictionary definition:  Selecting or employing individual elements from a variety of sources, systems, or styles

A question I recently read on another blog:  Can you be an Eclectic Homeschooler and yet still follow CM method….it got me thinking.

The very definition of Eclectic means that you select elements from a variety of sources, systems or styles.  So I think the question should be “Can you be a CM homeschooler and yet be Eclectic.”  Charlotte Mason herself was not about a set method – her heart was for the children.  What was it that gave them the best….  So I think – sure – be eclectic and have your children at heart.

My mother has long called me Eclectic and though I would hate to disagree with her I never really saw what she saw! LOL.  I do now.  Charlotte Mason has hugely influenced me, so too have lifestyle writers such as Marilyn Howshall, and Chris Davies.  At times I think the Classic education model flavours us, and at other times we are far removed from it.  We are natural learners with a Classic plan, we endorse Charlotte Mason yet don’t do the Arts or much Nature, we grab hold of Heart of Wisdom’s encouragement to spend time in the Word, Sally Clarkson helps me balance my day, I swing between the Classic model for writing and Cindy Rushton’s Notebooking.  The bottom line is not what label helps others to understand our direction, the important thing is that I know what God wants for me and my family and that I stay on track there.

I recently wrote a list of resources that I would pass onto new homeschoolers.  There is a list of books and websites that have helped me on my journey.   I wonder how long this will remain as my list of recommended resources.  My journey is always growing and changing as God remains faithful to my growing and changing family.  If I hold tightly to a method or label for raising my family I wonder how hard God is going to have to shake before I let go and move on with Him. 

So with this in mind I would have to say that if you must have a title I’d have to be Eclectic.  “Selecting or employing individual elements from a variety of sources, systems, or styles” that is in keeping with what God puts on our hearts and places in front of us!