How Many Hours a Day Do You Spend on School?

Way back in the day, my siblings and I were done with school by 10am or noon, at the latest. I guess, technically, we also had some school as bedtime stories... but the fantastic books didn't feel like school. In fact, few things felt "like school" to me back then.

Then came Algebra 1/2. But that's a different story. Spelling wasn't much fun either. Thankfully, if we worked hard, we could move on quickly.

As we grew older, school started to take up more of the day. (Looking for estimates of how much time a day each Sonlight Core takes to complete?) We still had plenty of time to pursue our interests, be in sports, perform in a band, go to Awana, and play with friends. I think I developed this idea that things didn't take much time.

Even at the start of film school, I would imagine that a movie trailer was for a film already completed. That's why it would make no sense to me when the final film didn't include one of my favorite lines from the trailer. Even as I worked on my own student productions and educational DVDs (Discover & Do and MathTacular), I still clung to this idea that movies were done by the time they stared talking about them.

But that is clearly not the case.

They are already talking about The Hobbit, and have been for some time now. And I clearly remember what Peter Jackson said on one of the Behind the Scenes clips for Lord of the Rings. A fan came up to him opening night and said, "I hope I like this movie!" Jackson replied, "Me too!" He hadn't seen it all the way through yet!

Crazy.

But it now makes more sense. First, stuff takes an incredible amount of time to do. Even homeschooling--for all it's efficiency--still takes some years to complete <smile>. And second, as a production company, why sit on something for months and years when you could have it in people's hands? So you start working with a deadline. And you go for it.

Cool stuff coming with the website. Is it done? ...not yet. But it's getting there. We're four weeks out, and I'll give you two tidbits:

1. If you want to use Sonia, she'll be integrated into the website.
2. You'll be able to select packages for multiple students and group your children on the site.

I can't express how much work we have poured into those two massive updates, but I am really excited to share them with you come April 2. We still have a ways to go, but we're plugging along as our deadline approaches.

How's your school year going? Are you on schedule? Rocketing ahead? Enjoying the flexibility and efficiency of your homeschool day?

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester