Sonlight Homeschooling Blog

Aug. 23, 2013

She Said She Hates Learning

By Luke

Lunchtime. I'm waiting for my leftovers to reheat. She's already eating. We exchange the pleasantries typical of strangers and coworkers, but because we're mere acquaintances I'm not sure if she's in college or what. So I ask.

She decided not to go to college. I have several friends who chose that path. Most just couldn't stand school anymore. "Yeah," she says, "I hate learning."

Really? That surprises me. I love learning. I hated homework.

"I guess I don't hate learning. I hate the learning process." I give her a quizzical look. "I hate being lectured at."

That makes sense. Lectures are often devoid of stories, and stories make learning fun and effective. I am definitely not a fan of using lectures for learning. The people I know who "hate learning" are bright, interested individuals who have had the misfortune of being "taught" in a way that discourages curiosity and growth. They were taught in a system where "failure" is to be feared. I was raised in a system where failure is okay.

So I was encouraged to hear that MIT and Google are moving toward a better model.

Have you heard people say they hate learning? Were you able to find out why they felt that way?

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

P.S. Remember My Passport to India? It's okay if you don't remember and/or missed it. More details to come, but here's a little something for you to see now. <shh>

Tagged giving, grades, learning, lectures, mastery, stories | 3 Comments

Aug. 20, 2013

The way you wish you'd been taught

By Jonelle

Almost all of the schools around us have started the new year and my Facebook feed is clogged with photos of children heading back to school. It's a special time to mark the start of another season of growth. And, I'm missing it.

We started school sometime in July. We took some books on vacation and, voilà!, school is in session. I think I have the start date recorded. I have no first day photo. I made no grand announcement school was starting. In fact, if Natalia didn't like the books so much, I don't think she would have noticed anything about our life was different. For example, last weekend we skipped school on Friday and by Sunday night she said, "Can we please do school? We haven't done it in days and days!"

I check everything off in the schedule but my days of the week are on as often as a broken clock tells the time. We do school most evenings after Elaina is in bed. After the first week or so, Dave wanted to be the one to read History, Science and the Read-Alouds; he thought the books looked just too good to miss. So, evening school it is! A nice quiet way to wind down the day and get ready for bed. The only problem is, you don't always have a wind down period. Sometimes, you just have to go straight to bed. I like to think of us as just being flexible.

So, I guess this is the way we do school.

The start of school on vacation in Florida

My friend Kathy just started homeschooling as well. She is much more organized and planned. On the first day (which she had decided would be her first day!), she said, "Welcome to kindergarten! I'm your teacher..." She has time set aside each day for them to do school. She has her materials out and ready to go. They take a "recess" when they meet us at the park.

This is her version of doing school.

It makes me laugh that we are so different. I didn't grow up doing school "most evenings". My mom wasn't quite as formal as my friend Kathy might be, but she was very organized and planned. We knew what we were supposed to get done and had school at the same time each morning. So, growing up we did school in a third way. I loved the way I was taught growing up, that's why I am so excited to homeschool my own girls. But, I'm very grateful that the schedule, and the material in general, allow us to make school something that works for our family.

Will we always do school this way? Probably not. But, it sure fits where we are right now.

I just want to encourage you, whatever your style, if you are just starting a new year or if you are continuing what you started earlier this year, you can do things your way. If something feels off, try something new to find out what works for your family. Children learn in lots of different ways, and, depending on your stage in life, school might end up looking pretty different.

As always, we have advisors standing by to help you with any questions you might have and forums to discuss any issues you might need help working through. We are part of a beautiful community of parents stepping out in this challenge. You are not alone! May you be encouraged today as you walk this journey.

Until next time,
Jonelle

Tagged Encouragement, planning, schedule, school | Leave a comment

Aug. 19, 2013

On the Piracy of Books

By Luke

Digital music sharing--also known as piracy--was a big deal back when I was in high school. Napster rose and fell right before I entered college. We talked about piracy a lot in the mass communications department as I studied motion picture production. As a filmmaker, the digital implosion of the music industry was sobering.

But we movie makers had a buffer: The internet was slow, movies were huge, and there wasn't a great format to share. Also, while it makes sense to spend a few minutes downloading a song you'll listen to a hundred times, was it really worth the bandwidth to take a few days to download a low-quality video you'd watch once?

Then YouTube came along and things have been heating up ever since.

But with the advent of ebooks, why aren't we hearing much about piracy? Tech is certainly not the problem. We now have a plethora of devices that can display text which takes up minuscule amounts of bandwidth. And there are plenty of opportunities to download ebooks across the internet, including sites like Project Gutenberg. So what's going on?

Is it true, as Steve Job's famously said, that "people don't read anymore"? Is it due to the fact that "most people don't think books are worth stealing" because of years of terrible experiences in school?

Perhaps.

I think we don't hear much about book piracy because:

Books aren't a "sexy" media like music and movies. There are high profile names in writing, but for all the READ posters that adorn my library's walls, I don't recognize the faces. The newer/cooler versions are littered with TV and movie stars... which is ironic to me. So, the fact the ebook piracy is a big deal to publishers doesn't get much play when there are, you know, royal babies and such to report on.
Piracy is motivated by ease of access. I hear less and less about music piracy now that iTunes and Pandora exist. What started as a fun way to share your favorite songs quickly became the easiest way to get music. It took the industry a while to figure out how to use this to their advantage, but now that they have, the desire to torrent music has decreased. For me, if I can find a movie or show on Netflix, I don't even consider trying to find it elsewhere. With books, reading on a common screen isn't easier, so a good reading device--which is conveniently connected to your purchasing space--makes it worth it to spend a few bucks and be done with it.
Similarly, there is a strong cost-benefit ratio to piracy. When it took twenty bucks and a trip to the store to get the song you wanted, it was worth poking around online for a decent virus-free recording. Make my favorite song less than a buck and have it instantly available for playback? Sweet. From what I've read, the biggest text targets for piracy are over-priced textbooks. Would you rather spend $200 for a ream of black and white text, or get the latest gadget and find the text for free? <hmm> (this also applies to computer software)
Reading books for pleasure is a dying art. There are so many ways to ingest media today. Books are no longer the cheapest, easiest form of entertainment. In fact, books have had a rather short run of that. Before Gutenberg, it was rare to see a book, let alone read one. And today, with blogs, and computer games, and streaming videos, and internet cats, who has time to read? A few. A few who have discovered the joy of reading. The rest? We wallow in the over-stimulated world of flickering screens. Why did we lose this skill? Time--there are other distractions. Emphasis--we were fed terrible literature in school. Sloth--it's easier to pull up a video.

There's more to this tale, I am sure. But these are the ideas tapping at the edges of my brain.

There is a real fear amongst book publishers. They do not want what happened to music to befall them. So, they are dragging their feet as we rush headlong into the electronic reader frontier. Very important questions surrounding DRM, licensing, and security have kept many companies out of the ebook world. How would it work to, say, base your schooling on an electronic text to suddenly have it disappear from your device? How are you going to turn a profit when the price of a book drops from $142 to $14.99? Everyone is playing their cards close to the chest.

This has profound impact on us here at Sonlight as well. Shipping books is expensive--and the prices keep climbing. We would love to offer curriculum electronically, but full-color ebook readers (not to mention books) aren't available yet. Sure, tablets exist, but that's a non-optimal screen to read. Plus, while book piracy may not be that big, we do have to protect our intellectual property. Our Instructor's Guides are incredibly valuable and useful. As we continue to look for ways to offer them electronically, we must find ways to do so that do not encourage people to pirate our work.

Please continue to pray for us as we seek the best ways to serve you and others around the globe. We have no desire to get rid of printed materials, but if electronic options become useful to some of you, we want to be able to help you in that way as well.

Do you have any observations about piracy and ebooks?

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

Tagged books, digital media | 8 Comments

Aug. 13, 2013

Technology and Homeschooling: What Do You Think?

By Robert

My first computer--the Atari 400, released in 1979.

Ever since I got my first computer more than thirty years ago I've had an ongoing fascination with technology and its applications. I've since studied and written on the topic of philosophy of technology--a branch of philosophy concerned with all sorts of questions relating to technology.

Although I grew up in an era before the advent of the World Wide Web, cell phones in every pocket, and personal computers in nearly every home, I've done a pretty good job of keeping up with technology. In relation to education the topic of technology is of definite interest to me. Considering that Sonlight offers literature-rich curriculum, the rise of ebooks and ebook readers is also of interest. I first began reading ebooks in the '90s with the advent of the PalmPilot. Granted, my printed library of books far exceeds what I have read in ebook form.

Marshall McLuhan in the 1960s began to explore some important questions regarding technology, especially in his seminal book Understanding Media. He wrote about extensions and amputations. Technology often offers extensions. Talking with someone in person, for instance, is extended by the telephone. But McLuhan also wrote about amputations. Consequently, a phone call allows an extension of communication, but something is also lost, such as a visual reference as well as body language and other factors present when we are in face-to-face interaction.

Nevertheless, technology presents tremendous opportunities, especially in relation to education. With so much information instantly accessible, though, we must be careful to balance knowledge with what the Greeks considered a key virtue: practical wisdom.

At any rate, I'm curious as to how (or even if) you integrate technology into your homeschooling.

What kinds of technology do you use?
How often are they utilized?
Do you continue to prefer printed books or are you integrating ebooks to any extent?
What concerns, if any, do you have about the rise of technology and its implications in relation to education?
Is technology a benefit to your homeschooling? If so, how?
Are there detriments to using technology in your homeschooling?

Let us know what you think!

Robert Velarde
Author/Educator/Philosopher

Tagged computers, ebooks, education, Homeschooling, learning, literature, philosophy of technology, technology | 5 Comments

Aug. 9, 2013

Feeling Concerned? Encouragement, Mirth, and a Thought or Two

By Luke

One of my cousins from Germany is coming to live with us for a year. She'll be able to experience American culture, go to the same high school I did, and hang out with her most amazing cousins! <cough> But my wife is really concerned. She was homeschooled through high school, so the idea of sending our sweet relative into that "wretched hive of scum and villainy" is terrifying.

Also, she's not looking forward to figuring out how to navigate the halls and bureaucracy of a public school.

You may not be doing anything as dramatic as all that. But if you are feeling any trepidation about this coming year at all, I think you--like me--will find great comfort in some of these back to school prayers. I regularly need the reminder to cast my cares on the Lord. And if you're returning to homeschooling this year, and feeling overwhelmed by the more advanced things you'll need to teach, I highly recommend you check out the post The Kindergarten Box.

God is writing your student's story. I am regularly overwhelmed by the feeling of responsibility to see "my kids" turn out well. But I'm not the one making that happen. My job is to demonstrate Christ's grace in my life and let His love lead them in following Him.

That's easy to write. It's hard to live.

As Brittany and I were discussing the upcoming transition to being high school "parents/guardians," we realized we needed to figure out how the school handles their schedule. Way back in the day, I had four classes a day. It was easy. A year or two after I graduated, the school switched to an incredibly complex schedule with eight periods a day which alternated every other day unless there a half day in which case some classes were put on a difference schedule and ...honestly, it never made sense. But then it struck me. "I wonder if the current, constantly-in-flux schedules of schools are designed to prepare kids for working in retail?"

Schools were originally designed to produce factory workers. That fit with my ridged, consistent schedule in high school. But today, few kids work in factories. Most of my friends work in retail. Their schedules are constantly changing, never set, and all over the place. So too with modern school schedules. I doubt anyone sat down to create classes this way, but it certainly feels like the idea to structure a schedule in this fashion came from the retail model.

Just the latest crazy idea to strike my brain. Thoughts?

And I don't know about your house, but laundry is a reality in ours. So is forgetting to set it out to dry. If you've felt you've been losing that battle, perhaps this haiku will make you smile.

Continuing in this random humor conclusion, I enjoyed this brief post about missionaries.

Finally, as we move into the weekend and more people have time to post things on Facebook, their blogs, and other dark places of the internet, I found the step-by-step guide on How to Be Outraged on the Internet to be strangely uplifting. The comments, in particular, brought tears of mirth to my eyes.

Hat Tip
Mrs. C

Lots of rather random stuff for you on this Friday afternoon. Enjoy!

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

Tagged Encouragement, funny, musings, school | 7 Comments

Aug. 7, 2013

Just Wait Till...

By Jill

Chad, Dusty and Cris Winter of 1982

I came across my third son’s baby book this past week and I immediately was taken back over 30 years ago. He was our third son born in 4 ½ years. The year he was born was hard--very hard. We were living in Michigan and it was an extremely cold winter with many days in a row under -20 degrees. It was hard to get out of our small house with three young boys and some days the walls seemed to close in on me.

But, most days were lovely. They were filled with baby kisses, games, laughter and wonderful memories of reading to all three, waiting for Daddy to get home and teaching the baby to do a great many things.

It made me remember all the advice I got…bad advice really. Advice from people who knew me and those who didn't. “Just wait,” they’d say. “Wait till the baby is running, wait till they are teens, wait till ….” The implication was that my family was doomed to disappoint me and I was a fool to think they wouldn't.

My eldest granddaughter.

Actually, I just got some like it the other day. I had my sweet three-year-old granddaughter with me and a well meaning woman said, “Oh, she sure is cute, with that curly hair and blue eyes. Enjoy the time now, in a few years she won’t want to be seen with you.”

Really?

Those words to the wise, just like the baby book, took me back 30 years when people used to predict my three sons would become lazy menaces when they were teens. Twenty-five ago people predicted my daughter would not want to be seen with me in public in a few short years and some basically said my kids [and all kids] bring nothing but pain and sadness to a family.

I am happy to say none of their predictions came true.

I say this to encourage those of you who are in the child rearing stage right now and have nay-sayers predicting all sorts of dire consequences and heartaches in a sort of “I know better, you will see; your kids will be a disappointment, so enjoy them while they are young,” way. Or, if you are homeschooling, they like to predict your children will be uneducated, unsocialized citizens and that you are ruining them by teaching them at home.

Don’t listen and don’t worry. I firmly believe that God will equip you as you come to difficulties and chances are you will enjoy your children and grandchildren at every stage.

Oh, there may be a few rough patches. I think most families have a few, but maybe your kids will like to be around you, will enjoy your company, will still be part of the team you dream of.

I have enjoyed every stage with my kids. Sure, there may be long days or weeks, or times when you pray like crazy-- even more than normal-- that God’s will be done in their lives and for His extra protection over them. But I am here to say, looking back from the other side [my kids are all adults with homes and families of their own], that every age was a joy.

The teen years were lots of fun, with kids coming and going at all hours of the days and nights. It was exciting to see where they would go, who they would marry and what they would do. I loved listening to their hopes and dreams. I loved that I was part of their world.

The dire predictions did not come true and I don’t think they will come true as I enjoy the next generation either. I enjoy the time with my little granddaughters but I also look forward to the young ladies and women they will become. I look forward to discussing books, shopping, hiking and canning applesauce with them. I look forward to passing on our family heritage and to years and years of wonderful family times together.

Be encouraged. When you get unwanted advice, you can smile sweetly, but don’t listen. They think they have walked the road ahead of you and are warning you about the perils along the way, but what they don’t know is that you are on a different road altogether.

Take care,

Jill

Tagged children, education, Encouragement, family, priorities, reading | 7 Comments

Aug. 5, 2013

Suffrage: What Did You Learn from History?

By Luke

They are an incredibly brilliant couple. One is studying some kind of computer engineering. The other is now pursuing a degree in medicine. Both are in fields with labels so advanced I can't even recall the titles.

They hadn't seen Too Late to Apologize: A Declaration (a example of a parody infinitely better than the original). From there we linked to Bad Romance: Women's Suffrage video.^* [NB: Like the original Bad Romance, this video has some less-than-happy imagery. Please preview it before showing children.]

As the video came to a close, she said, "That probably would have been more engaging if we knew more about that part of history."

I agreed. The characters in the Declaration of Independence are well-known. But the women portraying the suffrage movement were not familiar faces. "But," I said, "you know some of the history, right?"

They both looked at me blankly. "We know there was an amendment," she said.

He nodded. "They didn't teach us more than that in school."

It was my turn to consider. In my high school and college American History classes, did we ever discuss this part of history? Not that I recall.

Crazy.

These are the times I wish I had been able to use Sonlight's high school programs. Core 300 tackles suffrage and more. If you've used Core 300, did you recognize what was going on in the video?

As usual, I wanted to learn more. So I started digging. I clicked over to the video creators' page about suffrage but found little useful information. Most of it, in fact, was so "classroomified" that it numbed my brain. So I pulled out Sonlight's incredibly accessible biography on the subject, but I haven't had time to read the whole thing (let alone discuss it, which is often the best part).

The things that are currently bumping around in the back of my mind:

People use God to promote all kinds of bad ideas. This is certainly not new. Christ took issue with the religious scholars of His day who did much the same. This should be humbling to us today who, for various reasons, presume to have it all figured out. May we humbly follow Him and not simply our traditions!
I think it's ironic that Congress shut down women's right to vote in Utah after the government's attempt to reduce polygamy by that method failed. To read more about how/why women support polygamy, check out the fascinating National Geographic article The Polygamists.
I'm becoming more and more curious about the shifts and twists within the Republican and Democratic parties over the years. In the last century, things have changed that make the voting records strange for us today. Since keeping a humble attitude before God when it comes to our interpretation of Scripture is important to me, I'm not big on "voting a party line" either. Definitely something to keep learning about.
There is so much more to learn about history. But I like that even YouTube videos can spark an interest. As life-long learners, there are so many opportunities to discover more!

What did you learn about women's suffrage in school? Any knowledge-acquisition-inspiring videos you've seen recently you'd care to share?

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

*I don't know what it is about Lady Gaga, but Bad Romance seems particularly useful for teaching history. I blogged about Revolution in France two and a half years ago.

Tagged American history, Bible, high school, politics | 4 Comments

She Said She Hates Learning

The way you wish you'd been taught

On the Piracy of Books

Technology and Homeschooling: What Do You Think?

Feeling Concerned? Encouragement, Mirth, and a Thought or Two

Just Wait Till...

Suffrage: What Did You Learn from History?

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