If you have homeschooled your child, thought of homeschooling, or even spent a short amount of time on forums or sites about homeschooling, you may have been baffled by the terminology common to home educators.  The homeschooling movement has become so prevalent – - especially in online communities – - that a whole new set of vocabulary has emerged.

For instance, you might be surprised to find that an Umbrella School has nothing whatsoever to do with the weather.  This is actually a school that enrolls homeschooling children or families and offers services
supportive of home education. It is also referred to as a “Cover School.”

And when homeschoolers refer to the “S” Word, they aren’t protecting innocent eyes, but rather facetiously referencing the oft-mentioned question of “socialization” that is brought up in association with the idea of home education.

Eclectic homeschooling is a little easier to cypher.  This term describes a homeschooling approach that mixes and matches different teaching styles and curricula to create the best learning environment for each child.

And although many have heard the term unschooling, they usually mistake it to mean the lack of any educational training.  In reality, homeschoolers use the term to refer to an approach to education where each child takes the lead in guiding his or her own learning.

If you are curious about these and other terms common to homeschoolers, you might find it interesting to explore the full Homeschooling Glossary at the Time4Learning website.