Method?

I guess, by now, as homeschoolers, we should have an official homeschooling method.
Classical, Charlotte Mason, Traditional,  Montessori, Waldorf, Unit Studies, Notebooking, Unschooling... ?

Trying to fit into any of these makes my toes curl and my head hurt worse than the Enlarged Middle Turbinate.  I find that I homeschool the same way I taught public school.  I was never satisfied with a boxed curriculum.  I was never really satisfied with doing the same things the same way day after day.  I got bored as easily as my children.  Earlier this week I posted about officially calling ourselves homeschoolers and the peace that it brought me.  I think at the same time I realized that being comfortable with our "method" also brought peace.  Even though I didn't know until this morning that I was even suppose to have a "method".

We are Eclectic homeschoolers.  According to the homeschooling world, this isn't an actual method but a term for a mixed bag homeschooling approach.  So for us that means... and is all subject to change when Zachary starts showing his learning style...

Charlotte Mason's small 5-20 minute lessons, living books, nature studies, art, and habits.

Theme Units to organize our curriculum and tie everything together.  Nathan and I like to have some glue between things.  Units make it easy to tie our Reading, Science, and Social Studies together while still allowing flexibility on specifics.

Montessori's hands-on approach. I introduce every math concept with manipulatives. The manipulatives are out and available for use and play at all times.  I didn't use them much for Nathan when he was learning to read because he just seemed to know how from the beginning.  But I am using a very montessori sensory approach to teach Zachary reading.

Unschooling to emphasis the important relationship being siblings.  A great deal of our day is spent with my boys just playing together.  They hardly ever fight and come up with some truly amazing things to play.  I easily see this as learning.  We often "study" something that arose from a playtime.  This is one of the top benefits to homeschooling... the relationships between brothers.  Unschooling to allow student's interest to lead curriculum.  I'm planning to allow a lot more of this upcoming school year.

We throw an occasional lap book into the mix. Nathan really likes them.  And I guess I'm still a little Traditional too.  I do think there is value in seat work to learn and practice math, handwriting, spelling, grammar, and map skills.  Nathan and I have worked out a deal. I promise to keep seat work  to a minimum daily and he gives it his full attention for the short amount of time it takes.  Funny, as I typed this all out, I answered a few questions I had of myself.  I actually think all the things I listed above could fall into a CM method.... hmmm. I guess I need to keep thinking about it.