Sonlight Homeschooling Blog

Dec. 6, 2012

Christmas School . . .

By Judy

It's that time of year again ... when department stores, grocery stores, television commercials, email, postal mail ... are all saturated with Christmas images and messages. What child stands a chance of focusing on anything but Christmas? Certainly not any of mine!

So instead of battling the onslaught, yet not willing to allow the holiday to totally hijack our school schedule, I learned to look for ways to integrate Christmas into our homeschooling during November and December. Following are some suggestions that worked well for our family over the years. Hopefully they will jumpstart some of your own ideas!

"Unit" Studies ... Don't be afraid to step away from your regular school schedule to do something totally different. Do a unit on candy making, bread baking, or cookie creating. Incorporate math concepts (fractions, increasing or decreasing recipe amounts), science concepts (what causes syrup to "sugar"? what happens when you "temper" chocolate?), and art and writing (design a "cookbook" of favorite recipes for kids to share with family members).

"Gifts" for Jesus ... One of the best ways we found to teach servanthood came during the Christmas season each year. A gift for Jesus is simply the act of giving to someone who has a need. Some years we would create "kid-decorated" gift bags of baked goods and share them with our neighbors. Other years our church offered us the opportunity to fill boxes to be sent to members of the military. Heading to the store with a "soldier list" and a pre-determined amount of money is a great way to teach children how to get the most for their hard-earned dollars. Encourage your co-op group to put together a brief program of Christmas carols and take it to a local nursing home. So many opportunities to "give" during this season.

Literature ... Often, when little minds just couldn't focus on addition or subtraction, they would love to be read to. I used to scour our local library each November to find titles about Christmas. Whether books of poetry or fiction, we enjoyed many fun afternoons curled up on the couch reading together. It was a special time, made even better by turning on the tree lights and enjoying a Christmas cookie together.

So don't despair during this season of hustle and bustle. Look for practical ways to integrate Christmas into your school schedule, instead of abandoning it altogether.

Still on the journey ...
~Judy Wnuk
Sonlight Customer Champion

Tagged baking, Christmas, holidays, unit studies | 2 Comments

Dec. 4, 2012

What Do You Work Hard to Memorize?

By Luke

Growing up in a Jewish home, he memorized everything he needed to for his Bar Mitzvah. It's something you pick up when you're exposed to it week after week after week. Similarly, he never sat down to memorize Scripture. He just read it enough that he learned it by heart. Today, God uses his excellent memory, Jewish heritage, and knowledge of Scripture to share fascinating insights that bridge the Old and New Testament. The fact that he never worked to memorize Scripture impressed me.

I grew up doing Awana. Memorizing Scripture took work! I was up to the challenge, but it certainly wasn't easy. What was easy was memorizing lines from Adventures in Odyssey. Or Star Wars. Or just about anything funny (except the brilliant excerpt from Alice in Wonderland about mustard, which took me three days to learn).

One of my personal ideas is that we tend to memorize what we need to. I've memorized the image heights we use for our homeschool curriculum web product shots. I looked it up a few times, wrote it on a reference sheet, and after a couple years only need to reference it if I've had a particularly long day and my brain is no longer braining. I also know how to get to work, how to tie my shoes, and even how to run the washing machine. I struggle to remember people's names unless I've spent, like, years hanging out with them. I find I'm still not good at remembering Bible references, so I adopted Scripture's method of saying, "He has said somewhere..."

Yes, I also memorized some of Pi

Every so often Catherine Johnson writes about memorization in learning. I find such posts fascinating. And I certainly don't know enough to be able to come to any great pedagogical principles or suggestions from all this. But I continue to find that I tend to remember stuff that's important and lose the rest. That's because of the "use it or lose it" nature of our brains. That's why, today, I can't recall the angle of the tilt of the earth--it's somewhere around 23.4 to 23.5°--but I can explain the difference between interlaced and progressive video formats.

How about you? What do you have to work hard to memorize? Have your kids impressed you with the things they just seem to soak up?

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

"Oh, I know!" exclaimed Alice, who had not attended to this last remark, "it's a vegetable. It doesn't look like one, but it is."

"I quite agree with you," said the Duchess; "and the moral of that is--'Be what you would seem to be'--or if you'd like it put more simply--'Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise.'"

...which reminds me of one of the most complex sentences I've read in a while from one of today's Other Posts of Note: "Now, I'm not talking about the dubious apologetic claim about 'different kinds of knowing'; I'm referring to 'different kinds of questions' which we answer in the most practical ways we can considering the intractability of epistemological indeterminacy." I found all of Steve's thoughts on the science/religion rift to be very interesting. And not all of them made me wish I had memorized more of the dictionary. <smile>

Tagged education, learning, memorization | Leave a comment

Dec. 3, 2012

What Has Sonlight Helped You Grow?

By Luke

As Buck Denver so sagely observes, Sonlight "won't make your plants grow." But as I spent this afternoon with Henry Reyenga of Christian Leaders Institute, I was reminded that things do grow out of Sonlight. And I'm not just talking kids and their education, or families and their bonds, or a love of learning. I was reminded of all the organizations and families we've been privileged to partner with in our giving opportunities. In fact, I got to meet Henry because of a guy we both knew over at Mission India, which hosted our first giving opportunity. Henry also talked a lot about how much his family loved using Sonlight, how successful his kids are today, and how one has already published a couple of books!

Hearing about how successful and bright and talented and amazing and world-changing and accomplished his five kids are made me wonder about my own life. But only a little. <cough>

"You should really start something that talks about all the books written by Sonlighters," he said. And I was immediately reminded of my Alma Mater's Books by Biolans. But then I remember that we already have something a little like that in the Sonlight Moments and Student Recognition forums.

Henry also said that without Sonlight showing him that there was another way to educate, he never would have had the idea to help start the Christian Leaders Institute. "This ministry, that trains indigenous ministers, literally wouldn't exist with what you do," he told me. ...granted, not me, of course. But us, here at Sonlight.

So, now I'm curious, what have you been a part of that Sonlight could help grow?

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

Tagged books, missions, Sonlight | 2 Comments

Nov. 29, 2012

Is Generosity a Life Skill? Should it be?

By Sarita

As a homeschooling parent, I know you want your children to be well-educated. They should know the 3Rs, be able to think critically, have a clear understanding of their world and more.

At Sonlight, we add "learn to be generous" to that list. Is that a proper function of education?

I think it is.

Sonlight student with bread
Sonlight student Gracie L bakes bread to share

Jesus taught us to be extravagantly generous with the story of the widow who gave her last small coins to the Lord's service. (See Mark 12:42-43.)

Therefore, we partner with various mission agencies to train our children to give, and give joyfully. Sonlight families, children and friends recently raised $157,487.14 to share the Good News through radio broadcasts via the Phoenix Phaxx project. With the matching grant, the total amount comes to $314,974.28. I couldn't be more grateful for both the money raised and the heart attitude demonstrated.

A key reason we host these projects is to help children learn to be generous. Studies show that generous people are more joyful. But, generosity also helps prepare children to do whatever God calls them to do. How?

When we model cheerful giving, we show children that we don't "own" money. When we tithe at church, bring meals to a needy family, or support missionaries, we demonstrate that we are stewards of the resources God gives us, that we are responsible to God for how we use our money. When children are allowed to give of their own limited resources, those lessons get written on their hearts.

One way we've helped teach our children a right attitude for money is to use the "envelope system." When John and I would give our children an allowance (which didn't happen as regularly as it should have) we taught them to divide it up. We explained that 10% needed to go in the saving envelope, at least 10% in the giving one, and then they could spend the rest with joy.

I believe the concrete lesson of financial stewardship can extend outward to other areas. By showing our children that a portion belongs to God's work, our children see that their money does not belong to them, but to God. From there, you can teach that their time (a different kind of resource) also belongs to God. God has bigger plans for their time than just their own pleasure.

This foundation can support the lesson that our children's entire lives belong to God. God entrusts them with time, personality, talents and resources. He gives them a call to follow. And they are responsible for stewarding their life to live it fully for God.

For we were created to serve God. We find great joy and purpose when we do so. When we give children the chance to bless others with their money, we give them a chance to experience the great joy of living for something beyond themselves.

So I'm curious: How can we do this more effectively? How can parents better teach generosity? The almost-annual Sonlight giving projects such as Phoenix Phaxx and My Passport to India provide great opportunities, but what can parents do the rest of the year? Have you had success with anything? Should Sonlight do something year-round?

I'd really love to hear your thoughts.
Sarita

Tagged education, giving, missions | 1 Comment

Nov. 28, 2012

Bias, Data, and Homeschooling

By Luke

If you google "Graham Badman" the number one hit is a Wikipedia article about the Badman Review. Google believes the most important--or highest internet ranking--thing about this man's life is how he handled a government report about homeschooling. The short, short version: He recommended increased regulation, mandatory annual registration, and surprise home visits.

He had no data to support his suggestions. In other words, his 40+ years in Education and Children's Services have left him biased against homeschooling. Or, at least, he is drawn to his areas of expertise. Sadly, homeschool researchers aren't immune to bias either.

Where else do we see bias in education? It looks like female teachers are biased against boys. I certainly had bad teachers in high school, but I did just fine. I didn't notice any sexist discrimination in the classes I was in. Did you? [I realize that the majority of my readers are female, so this is certainly not a representative sample. <smile>]

In the home, I could see favoritism as an issue. That's certainly been around for a while. So we're also not immune to these kinds of things. I'm well aware that kids know how to push their parent's buttons, but some personalities clash more than others. Have you dealt with that? How have you been able to overcome it?

I've run out of time for today, so I don't have any insights or conclusions from all this. Mostly, I've just found this topic fascinating and would love your input!

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

Tagged children, homeschool research, parenting | Leave a comment

Nov. 26, 2012

Reading Aloud vs Private Study

By Luke

He sits, silently reading, his mind prying the words off the page. The meaning is hard to decipher because the text is crammed together without vowels:

bcthtxtscrmmdtgthrwthtvwls

Read aloud, the words come to life, but quiet study is almost impossible.

My dad shared a fascinating link about the theological implications of adding spaces to the text of the Bible. I knew Hebrew didn't have spaces (or vowels), but I hadn't realized that breaking up words was introduced so "late" in the game.

I quipped that perhaps texting was pushing us back to a world without spaces. But the more I thought about it--and skimmed through S. Joel Garver's Inventing "The Bible" article--I realized that, even after all these years of Sonlight, Bible study, Scripture memorization, college courses, and excellent teaching from the pulpit... there's so much more for me to learn about the Bible! That's part depressing--I should know something by now--but it's also exciting because there is so much to discover and uncover.

If you or your children are just starting out in Scripture study, academic essays about the impact of printing on hermeneutics may not be the best place to start. I'd recommend something more gentle, like What's in the Bible? or singing along with Seeds Family Worship. But if you're getting deeper, it may be time to check out BibleMesh. I'm just thrilled to find even more things to study and ponder... like our changes in understanding that come with technological and cultural shifts such as spaces, punctuation, grammar, or no.

That's what I've got for you today.

kthxbi

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

P.S. Okay, one more thing: pre-order the new Piano Wizard and get a $50 Sonlight gift certificate! It has nothing to do with the Bible, but it is a pretty sweet deal.

Tagged Bible, history, reading | Leave a comment

Nov. 21, 2012

New Rate and Review

By Luke

You're researching a product online. If you're anything like me, one of the first things you look for is customer ratings and reviews. There's always someone who marked it one star for a reason completely unrelated to the product itself. There's also often a review that, strangely enough, raves about the product just a little too well... almost as if the marketing team from the company wrote it. But you and I are pretty good at filtering these kinds of things out and getting to the meat of customer experience.

You know what's difficult? Deciding when no one has rating something! I get this lost feeling in the pit of my stomach when the latest video camera or hard drive or Netflix flick hasn't been rated by anyone. "Seriously? No one has used this product yet? Better not risk it..." And so, sometimes, I miss out on something awesome because no one left a review or rating.

Of course, who am I to complain? I don't rate things very often myself. It feels so final, so permanent. I didn't want you to feel that on Sonlight's website. So our latest update makes it easy and painless for you to rate things.

You do have to be logged in, but once you are, it's cake. You can quickly rate a product by clicking on the stars under the image. You can also rate and review the product on the Reviews tab. In either place, you can instantly update your star rating by clicking on the stars. Updating your review is as easy as changing your text and pressing the update button. And if you're dissatisfied with your review, simply press the delete button.

Done.

4 Stars

Please take a few seconds to rate (and even review!) products you've used.

And let me know what you think of the new rating system. This is the first one I've designed, so I'm interested in how it works for you.

[NB: If you find a bug, please let me know! It's amazing how computers find ways to mess things up <smile> We'll work on fixing it Monday morning.]

Thanks! Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

Tagged sonlight.com, updates | Leave a comment

Christmas School . . .

What Do You Work Hard to Memorize?

What Has Sonlight Helped You Grow?

Is Generosity a Life Skill? Should it be?

Bias, Data, and Homeschooling

Reading Aloud vs Private Study

New Rate and Review

Most Popular

Article Categories

#sonlightstories