Some families follow quite a routine framework, much the same as schools do. This is excellent for those parents and children who are very methodical and thrive on the routine and security that a structured approach offers. The day begins much the same as a school day, and progresses through the various subjects steadily, with appropriate breaks in between. The children have the benefit of one-on-one tuition (as all methods of home education provide), and various excursions and community groups can be used to enhance their educational programme. Carefully selected texts usually provide the basis for the selected program of work.

"I am, I can, I ought, I will" is the motto of the CM child, as they endeavour to form good habits as a discipline of their will and behaviour.

Charlotte Mason was a pioneer in the education system, with her ideas of 'delayed' learning (some subjects she felt were better left until the child was older rather than younger) and immersion in a subject. Her method is holistic in approach and emphasises learning through experience, rather than passive listening, storing information or filtering information through a middle man/teacher.

Charlotte Mason also encouraged reading a lot of books, but in the form of biographies and first person accounts of history, rather than dry textbooks recounting events with dates and highlights. She felt that immersing in 'living books' would enable the child to better remember and empathise with the people, animals and events, rather than memorising plain facts.

Language Arts are learned through narration, or retelling a story, which encourages sequencing, logic skills, and writing skills, and also through copywork, which encourages writing through developing skills of transcribing from well-written literature and modelling the techniques of correctly written English. Science is taught primarily through nature walks and observation with written records in personal notebooks, similar to famous historic botanists.

Waldorf education aims to balance artistic, academic and practical work, to educate the whole child, hand, heart, as well as mind. Its methodology and developmentally-oriented curriculum, permeated with the arts, address the child's changing needs as they unfold, stage by stage. Imagination and creativity are cultivated as well as cognitive growth and a sense of responsibility for the earth and its inhabitants. An emphasis is placed on art, music and language to enrich and enliven academic subjects.

Montessori Education was founded in 1907 by Dr Maria Montessori, who was the first woman in Italy to become a physician. This form of education encourages learning through the five senses, rather than just through reading, writing and listening. Children learn at their own individual pace, from a wide range of activities they can choose from, in a child-friendly prepared environment.

This method, similar to natural learning, also follows the child, not interrupting their concentration and their interests, and where individual activities are the main thrust of the whole philosophy. Three hour blocks are the recommended allotted time for learning opportunities, either once or twice a day, allowing free flow from one activity to another as the child desires.