Rather than try to reinvent the wheel, I have provided this link to a page that discusses the various ways that homeschoolers use to choose curriculum (or not) for their children. Click here to go to the Homeschool Resource page.
As you can see from my pages, I prefer the Charlotte Mason approach. Click here to read the article "CM in a nutshell". You'll find it very helpful if you are interested in Charlotte Mason's approach. You should use what you feel will fit your family. Many people will start with one method (often school at home) and over time will adjust and move into other methods. The wonderful thing about homeschooling is this freedom.
The more you learn about how your children learn, the better you will be able to choose. This means that what you start out with will not always work. The saying in homeschool circles is "fit the curriculum to the child, NOT the child to the curriculum." Remember, forcing our kids into cookie cutter molds is what we are getting away from.
There are many ways that children learn. Some are visual learners. These children need to be able to see the concept. They like pictures, video, charts etc. Some are auditory learners. They like discussion, read alouds and books on tape, music, etc. Some are tactile-kinesthetic. These childen like to touch, move, do. These are your hands-on learners. They don't like to sit still for long. Another way to think of these is: showing, telling, doing.
In many families (including my own) you may have children with differing styles. You CAN work with them to bring out the best in each. The LD Pride site has a detailed explanation of multiple intelligences and an online quiz to help you determine your child's (and your) learning style.
The teaching method you choose should take into account your child's learning style. If you do school in a box, complete with workbooks, your tactile-kinesthetic learner will probably be miserable (and so will you.)
You will need to make sure that there are manipulatives in the math program, that there is not alot of busy work (some of these programs are meant for schools and they contain alot of busywork.) Let your child do his work standing up, or let him move around when he needs to.
If your child is an auditory learner, you may want to read some of his lessons aloud. Let him listen to some beautiful music in the background.
The visual learner will need you to use a chalkboard or whiteboard, posters and textbooks with color illustrations ( if you use textbooks.)
Many children have a little of all of these styles. One will usually predominate, however.
As you can see, the Charlotte Mason method with it's narration, copywork, nature study, short lessons,art and music study and the use of living books is a way that can be used with all learning styles.
