Jan. 15, 2022

Reading Aloud Without Squashing the Life out of Your Lively Child

By Deana Wood
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He bounces out of bed like a pogo stick, dashes outside to jump on the trampoline, eats breakfast while hanging upside down from the bar stool asking a minimum of 523 questions, and then—just when you think he’s worn out—he races back to his room to get his dinosaur so he can show you just how loud he can roar. And it’s only 6:30 a.m.

Did I just describe your kid?  If so, you’ve probably thought, “I’d love to use a literature-based curriculum, but my child would never be able to sit and listen during the read alouds.”

After all, you’ve already sat down with him several times and tried picture books.  How will he ever be able to listen to chapter books? You might be surprised. You can read aloud without squashing the life out of your lively child.

A few tweaks to your read aloud time will set your lively child on the right path for developing a love for read aloud time.

1. Keep Their Hands Busy

This is one of my top tips because my kids love to draw and create. Read aloud time is their favorite time to practice their craft. Handiwork keeps hands busy while minds can stay focused. Sewing, crafting, crochet, and building with blocks are all great options.

2. Engage Them in Discussion

Kids will listen much more intently if they know that we genuinely value their opinion on a topic. Look for opportunities to pause your reading and discuss themes and ideas raised in the book. Your Sonlight Instructor’s Guides provide an excellent jumping board of discussion starters for each read aloud.

3. Create an Atmosphere

In the winter, gather in the living room. Pile up on the couch with blankets and light a few candles.  Maybe offer your children a special read aloud tea or hot chocolate. In the summertime, grab a quilt and some lemonade and take your read aloud outside. Cultivate an atmosphere that connects reading aloud to warm, family memories.

4. Break it Up

Few people can sit still for two hours, listening to a parade of books. So spread it out. Take care of your longest Read-Aloud in the morning when attention spans are longest and then sprinkle in the rest through the day. Snack times, lunch time, and bedtime provide a captive audience when kids are more prone to listen.

5. Increase Reading Time Gradually

Your first read aloud session won’t be perfect, so don’t set yourself up for failure by expecting it to be. Plan for a short session the first time and increase it gradually as the weeks go by. By the end of the year, you’ll be surprised by how long they can listen to great books.

You probably just glanced out the window to find that your sweet, active child is hanging from a tree limb outside, right? Don’t sweat it mama. Good books fuel imagination and play for lively children every day.  Sometimes it just takes a little training and some outside-of-the-box thinking to coax your energetic boys and girls into the land of literature.

Celebrate World Read-Aloud Day 2022 with Sonlight! And enter to win prizes!

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Jan. 14, 2022

6 Unique Solutions for the Child Who Hates to Read

By Sonlight
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Some children hate to read. Whether because of personality or ability, whether because they haven’t yet fallen in love with any book or because their interests really do lie elsewhere, some children are not yet bookworms. Maybe some will never be bookworms.

But if you want to encourage the child who hates to read toward a love of books, what can you do? Here are some of the best tips I’ve seen over the years.

Continue reading below or listen here:

1. Use Graphic Novels and Comic Books

Cartoon or comic book collections aren't intimidating to the child who hates to read. Garfield has few words per panel, and after three short panels . . . the punch line! This offers maximum storytelling in minimum words, a great sense of accomplishment, and high entertainment value. Calvin and Hobbes is another favorite, but the vocabulary and ability level for these cartoons is a good bit more challenging.

2. Let Them Stay Up Past Bedtime

If your children have a bedtime of, say, 8:30 p.m., allow your child who hates to read to stay up until 9:00. (Or as late as they want if the child self-regulates wisely.) Of course, the catch is that the extra time past bedtime must be used reading. This treat is highly motivating for some children.

Offer a stack of cartoons, comic books, magazines, and high-interest novels by the bed with a battery operated lantern or flashlight to set the stage for a nightly reading habit.

3. Stop Reading at an Inopportune Time

If you know of a dramatic cliff-hanger book, you might start reading it aloud, but then have to go elsewhere right at an exciting moment. Ideally, your children will keep reading themselves.

This trick doesn't always work, but it can at least create a sense of anticipation for the next read aloud session with your child who hates to read.

4. Capitalize on the Momentum of a Series

Along these same lines, you might try reading the first book in a series aloud, then leaving the rest of the books for your children to carry on.

Or if a book has no sequel, you may be able to convince the child who hate to read to look for more titles by the same author or even more works in that genre. Use whatever hooks you have!

Need help choosing great books? Discover Sonlight Summer Readers.

5. Lean on Audiobooks

For those struggling with the actual reading, either because of eye tracking issues, or dyslexia, or whatever, get audiobooks. These are available to borrow from the library for free, and services like Audible often run significant sales. Audiobooks allow your struggling readers to listen and follow along in their own books, or to listen, like a read-aloud, when you are not available to do the reading yourself.

6. Choose a Literature-Based Curriculum

This suggestion may seem backward. Why use a literature-based program to teach a child who doesn't like to read? The reason is that a child can love books and adore great literature but still hate to read. If you can establish a love of books through reading aloud and exposure to high-quality biographies, historical fiction, and nonfiction, the reading bug may eventually kick in.

Even if you have a child who hates to read, try Sonlight with your family and watch your reluctant readers become enthralled with their books.

If you have questions about your reluctant reader—or any other questions!—you can schedule an appointment to talk to an Advisor. One of our experienced homeschooling moms would love to talk to you.

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Jan. 14, 2022

Teaching Young Children How to Listen to Read-Alouds

By Veronica Soto
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While many children seem to naturally understand the skills that go along with listening to stories, it is not a skill that all children intuitively learn. Since Sonlight is a literature-rich program, developing listening skills is as important as developing reading or writing skills. When we feed children information or teach them to read for it, it can get harder for them to listen for it. But being able to hear and understand is an essential skill.

Determine if Listening Skill Is the Issue

Sonlight tends to use books that are interesting and engaging wherever possible. But because not all children develop in the same areas at the same pace, a child who is ahead in reading might need more time to work on math skills. Or a child who is ahead in science might not do as well with history. It’s important, then, to determine if the issue you are having with your child is their ability to listen to stories or if the material they are listening to is simply a little bit more advanced than they are currently ready for. 

There is nothing wrong with a child who isn’t quite ready yet. It simply means his or her brain might have been more devoted to sports or singing skills or math ability, and hasn’t quite caught up in listening or vocabulary quite yet. Being at different levels in different subjects or activities (asynchronous) is very normal for children, and, barring learning disorders, they usually catch up when their brain is ready to.

In the meantime, if you seem to notice your child is having trouble listening to most of what you are reading to her or him, then you might simply be working one level above their current ability. Dropping back a level will allow their brain time to develop. 

But if your child is having trouble concentrating on one type of book, or at certain times of day, or sometimes does well and sometimes doesn’t, then the problem might be they have trouble listening. 

Teaching Them to Pay Attention

First, make sure your child is paying attention. She may be zoning out. Stop every few sentences and ask a question about the last thing you read to see if she is listening. If she does well, extend the time between questions. For example, if I read, "John put on his red coat and went outside," I could ask "What color coat did he wear?" Between reading aloud and asking the question, I try to not change my tempo or voice to see if they are really listening.

If your child has trouble with this, do it often. Knowing you will expect it often will help his brain get used to listening for your questions, and then, get used to listening for the information in the story that might become a question, and by default, get used to listening to everything else.

Teaching Comprehension

When you believe your child is listening to the words well and is hearing what you are reading, it’s easy to transition into teaching overall comprehension. Every time you finish a daily Reader or Read-Aloud passage, ask "What are three things you learned from this chapter," or, "Tell me three things you remember about this." Let her choose any three things.

Compliment her on her choices and discuss them if you’d like. Then, respond with "The three most important things to me from this chapter were…” and then insert a good summary or narration of the passage. You might need to let your child know that you chose different key highlights because of things you remember from your past or things you found interesting, and that it’s okay if your 3 items are different from his.

If your child struggles to come up with three items, try having them find just one the first days, and then increasing up to two after a month or two, and slowly building up to three.

If your student struggles with either comprehension or listening ability, consider having him or her tested for an auditory processing disorder. They might be hearing well, but it might not be making all the connections in their brain.

You might need to combine teaching comprehension with continuing work on building listening skills for a few months.  

Let Your Child Stim While Listening

While stimming (self-stimulating) behaviors (actions where your child uses repetitive movements or sounds to help them concentrate or adapt) is often found in some developmental disorders, we all self-stimulate to some degree. Whether it’s doodling on a pad of paper while listening to a lecture, or twirling our hair while on the phone, or even knitting during church service, certain behaviors help us to listen better by distracting the brain from other distractions. 

Children also sometimes need to keep their hands or bodies busy while listening if they want to listen better. Other children just struggle to focus if they are quiet and still, and while seemingly contradictory, learn faster and better when their bodies are in motion. Here are many ways you can keep your child’s body in motion while listening to read-alouds. 

But, watch for patterns. Other children will struggle to listen if there is too much movement or noise, and need to be quiet and sitting still to listen at their best. 

Teach Your Child to Want to Listen

We’ve all heard boring speakers or watched documentaries that put us to sleep. Our brain is not equally engaged or excited about listening to all topics equally. There are times when listening to something is much harder work than it ought to be. When that happens, incentivize your children to listen. Offer him something to reward him for working at something hard for him, whether it be stickers or earning points toward a trip to the store, or extra screen time.

Give him a reason to want to listen.

Children are often eager learners, so learning how to listen doesn’t take most children very long, although you will find some who would rather be doing anything else rather than listening. However, teaching listening skills should gradually increase over time, and you might need to start at a lower level to really solidify those skills before moving on. In time, with continued use of a literature-rich program that uses the engaging, imagination-sparking books that Sonlight uses, will help your children to be better listeners in general, as well as better at grasping and learning information through a variety of input methods. 

Celebrate World Read-Aloud Day 2022 with Sonlight! And enter to win prizes!

JOIN WORLD READ ALOUD DAY
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Jan. 6, 2022

Mid-Year Homeschool Doldrums & How to Beat Them

By Sarita
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Mid-Year Homeschool Doldrums & How to Beat Them

Do you or your kids have a little cabin fever? If so, you are definitely not alone. This time of year is often very hard for homeschoolers ... even those who aren't in the middle of a snow-packed winter or a year with a pandemic.

When I was homeschooling, I often appreciated some extra encouragement in the weeks (months?) before spring. So let me encourage you: January will end, and there is light at the end of the tunnel. Sooner or later, spring will come again. I promise!

I was going to offer some practical advice about how to face the winter doldrums in your family and homeschool, but I found that a fellow Sonlight mom Robin E. Williams had already put that advice into words better than my own. She composed these thoughts in 2011 and gave me permission to share them here. The original article has been updated to suit the special circumstances of 2022.

Sooner or later every homeschool mother feels it —a feeling, most commonly in January or February, of burnout, weariness, or despair that comes upon us like a slow fog or sudden storm. I call these feelings the doldrums in reference to the area near the equator known to sailors for both stagnant calms and abrupt squalls.

As the sailors in the days of the great clipper ships had to face the doldrums in order to reach their destinations, so we too must face our own doldrums to reach our goal of a successful homeschool year.

How the doldrums manifest varies from parent to parent and from year to year.

So, what’s a homeschool mom to do when staring into the face of the doldrums?

Realize the Doldrums Are Common

Well, the first thing to do is be aware that you aren’t the only one to ever feel this way. Such feelings, in one form or the other, are common among homeschoolers, especially at this time of year.

You may think it's only the pandemic and the huge shift we've all faced over the last year. Yes, that's a big part of it! But homeschool moms typically feel this friction even in the best of years.

Don’t you for one second believe that all the other moms have it all together, no matter how together they look or sound. Be willing to open up and share your feelings with another homeschooler, and you will find just how common the doldrums are.

What Not To Do

While in the grip of the doldrums is not the time to make drastic changes or decisions concerning your homeschool. It may be the doldrums are the stimulus that sends you searching for new curriculum, but delay
spending money or setting anything in stone until the feelings have passed.

Give yourself time, maybe lots of time, before making any radical decisions so that you can avoid the possibility of serious regret later.

Try a Small Something New

I know I just said not to purchase all new curriculum during this time in your homeschool, but sometimes adding in a single new thing can go a long way toward breathing new life into your school year.

Whoever said you have to begin every subject fresh at the start of August? Maybe you could start a new art curriculum or take a week off of your normal work to do a unit study on a topic of special interest to your
family.

If you are worried your child is behind, take a week off to work through one of the What Your X Grader Needs to Know books, a phonics workbook, or a spelling curriculum.

Do Something Different

Sometimes the best way to get a more realistic picture of your homeschool is to get out of your home. If you haven’t been taking part in a local support group’s field trips or events, maybe now is the time to do so. The pandemic makes outings challenging, and it's easy to stay at home and grouse about our lack of options. Instead pair sunny days with outdoor activities that you can safely enjoy by bundling up in warm clothes. The sunshine will do you a world of good.

Or stay indoors and hold a family science fair. Or start making a bucket list of field trips, festivals, and museums you want to take advantage of once everything opens back fully. Sometimes just dreaming of and planning for fun you can have in the future is enough to put pep back in your step.

Another idea would be to start a new small group; the theme of the group is less important than the getting together. Let me let you in on a couple small group secrets

  1. If you organize it, they will show up.
  2. Other people care less about how clean your house is than you think they do.

Simplify

In normal years, I'd suggest that maybe the cause of your doldrums is that there isn’t enough home in your homeschool. It's easy to find yourself tied down and on the go with too many extracurricular activities and homeschool co-ops.

This cutting back on outside commitments has been a silver lining in the pandemic for many families. They've realized that being pulled in all directions was draining instead of enriching.

Of course, right now, we're longing for at least a bit of that helter-skelter dash to get everyone ready, out the door, and across town for an activity. Remember this feeling in 18 months when you're harried and busy. It's okay to say no when you have a plethora of options in front of you.

Don't Assume Homeschooling Is the Culprit

Maybe the problem isn’t your homeschool. Because of the day-in and day-out, intimate nature of homeschooling our children, sometimes problems that would exist whether we homeschooled or not make homeschooling more unbearable. Character issues, in the children or in you, are particularly difficult on your school day. From a habit of laziness to just plain rebellion, the possibilities are diverse.

Addressing character faults isn’t easy, but at least you can comfort yourself that it is work that would need to be done no matter what method of schooling your family used.

Another possible cause of problems that is not related directly to homeschooling is a continually messy or clutter filled home. Taking a week off your studies to focus on household deep cleaning, decluttering, and organizing may be just the ticket.

Seek Positive Help

I purposefully wrote positive help, because the middle of the homeschool doldrums is not the time to confide in a homeschool skeptic friend or relative. It would do more harm to you than good. Rather, seek those you know will give you positive and supportive help. Reach out to your spouse if at all possible, sharing that you need more prayer and understanding than before.

Lastly, I urge you to seek the help our heavenly Father. I mention this last not as an afterthought or because it is least important, but rather because if we remember best what we read last I want this to be what you remember best. He has offered us many precious promises that will sustain you during the trying times of the doldrums, but we have not because we ask not (James 4:2).

We're praying hard here at the Sonlight office for God to sustain and encourage you through 2021. May Robin's words be an encouragement as well. And may you press on toward the long-term hope to which God has called you!

Refuel Your Homeschool

A Guide to Setting Goals and Remembering the Reason You Homeschool — a free gift to you

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Jan. 3, 2022

Sonlight Spotlight - Meet the Shank Family

By Sonlight
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We are excited to continue our series: Sonlight Spotlight. Each month the Sonlight team will choose a current family to highlight by sharing their #sonlightstories. If you’d like to shine a light on your family, apply here for a chance to be featured.

Meet the Shank Family!

Adam and Bonnie Shank have been homeschooling since 2010 with their children Lily (17), Jonathan (14), Josiah (12), Emmanuel (9). Their 5th child Hezekiah (age 6 months) is a future Sonlighter, listening in occasionally to what's going on, and giving his opinion when necessary.

The Shanks chose to homeschool because they felt their children's school years were an important and fleeting time in their lives and a home education would help to set the foundation for who they would become as adults. They made the decision to be the primary influence in their children's upbringing.

"We had concerns about in the public schools in the U.S., about negative peer influences, and about the tremendous amount of time our kids would spend away from home each day, starting at very young ages. In other words, we didn't want to "farm out" our responsibility to train and educate our children."

A Christ-Centered Education

Mom, Bonnie, expressed her growing family's top priority when it came to her children's education, "We want our children to have a Christ-centered education, beginning and ending all studies with the understanding that God is the One who gives us life, breath, and every good thing. We wanted to be able to share with them the exciting moments of discovery, and even the difficult struggles when concepts were hard to grasp. We wanted their character training to be as (or more) important than simply teaching them facts and information.

We wanted the truth of God and His Word to be the lense through which they viewed all other realms of knowledge. And we just plain wanted to spend time with them!"

A Literature-Rich Education

Reading has played a large role in the Shank household since their children were newborns. When a friend referred Sonlight, it seemed like a natural fit to start the literature-rich homeschool curriculum. Additionally, the preplanned lesson plans created a smooth and easy "open and go" style.

"Sonlight offers a well-organized, thorough, broad, Christ-centered, global education for families."

An International Education

Living in a third world country (a remote village in Africa!) as part of a Bible translation team, Adam and Bonnie knew many other families in their mission organization also used Sonlight curriculum to school their children, so they were able to a share similar journey in the foreign field.

A Flexible Education

The Shanks are back stateside now and currently living and operating a family farm in the Midwest taking full advantage of one of homeschooling's biggest perks: flexibility.

"Our school day typically involves waking up and taking care of barn chores and animals first thing in the morning, followed by breakfast, family worship, inside chores, table subjects, piano practice, etc. While no day ever really goes as smoothly as we envision in our idealistic imaginations, we are still all grateful for the freedom and ability we have to homeschool. Our kids wouldn't want it any other way, and neither would we!"

One of the best things about Sonlight books is that there are no boring textbooks to gather dust or donate to the thrift store! "Sonlight books will be enjoyed over and over again, and will become like old friends. The memories you create and the discussions you have, as you learn together, forge a bond that strengthens the family unit," Bonnie concludes.

Some of the Shank Sonlight family favorites are:

You can learn more about the Shank family’s Sonlight experience by listening to their full interview on the Sonlight Connections podcast.

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Dec. 3, 2021

Sonlight Spotlight - Portes Medina Family

By Sonlight
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We are excited to continue our series: Sonlight Spotlight. Each month the Sonlight team will choose a current family to highlight by sharing their #sonlightstories. If you’d like to shine a light on your family, apply here for a chance to be featured. 

Meet the Portes Medina Family!

Originally from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Sara and Ronal along with their three-year-old son Eduardo, “Edu” are currently working through Sonlight’s Preschool Program (and, “Loving it!"). 

Mom Sara has an Early Childhood Education background with a Master’s Degree in Education that provides insights on the type of schooling she wants for Edu. 

"I studied abroad and met some wonderful homeschool families, so even before we got married, the idea was in our heads.  When Edu was born we saw the benefits of teaching him, being with him, and being his primary influence.  We saw the fruits of that and decided to stick with it instead of joining a private or public school."

The Portes Medina’s were researching homeschool curriculums, and they had a specific set of criteria on educational programs. Their requirements included the following:

  •  Curriculum that aligns with their faith and values
  •  An educational philosophy with a strong foundation
  •  Literature-rich programs

When they came across Sonlight, they quickly realized those boxes were checked and more. 

"We are bookworms, so when we encountered Sonlight with the literature and beautiful books, we fell in love with the idea of teaching with tons of books.  The philosophy of why you educate with books that aren't textbooks really appealed to us."

Confirmation came from dad Ronal, "I see that he is learning way more (with homeschooling) than he would have in regular school."

Homeschooling Abroad

Schooling looks different in the Dominican Republic.  

“In our country, homeschooling is not that popular. That is why the support and advice from the Sonlight Connections Community is a huge blessing to us.” 

In addition to community support, Sonlight provides a personal library of books no matter how many other options are available.

“We don't have libraries (in the Dominican Republic) where you can check out books.  You can go there to read them but not bring them home. The fact that we have #sonlightboxday with everything we actually need is really nice and encouraged us to continue. We are assured to have everything we need when we place a Sonlight order. We're really excited about all the books we're going to get with future levels!" - Sara states.

Bilingual Homeschooling

On Sonlight school days, the family speaks, writes, and learns in English. On non-school days for extra-curricular activities, like Edu’s art classes, only Spanish is spoken. They plan to continue the same practice during their homeschool journey to promote both languages.

“As a bilingual family, it helps and inspires us to get the books he really loves in our mother tongue as well.  That's been really nice.” 

Routine

Routine for the Portes Medina’s is extremely important and necessary for this active family of three. A typical school day begins around 9:00am as they dive into their Sonlight Preschool program. 

"I wake up an hour before Edu to have my quiet time. That really helps me with my attitude to have time with the Lord. The preschool program has given me great ideas because it's Montessori-inspired.  It's great how Sonlight gives you ideas to get the kids involved in chores - teaching how to wash the dishes, make the bed, and set the table. The Instructor’s Guide ideas help him be involved in our day-to-day life.” 

One of the advantages the Portes Medina family has found homeschooling with Sonlight is the flexibility to adjust their schedule as they see fit. Once Edu has completed his daily curriculum, they head outside and enjoy the warm Dominican weather at a local park or enjoy playdates with other children.

“We adore the book selection, and the activities are developmentally appropriate. The Preschool Hands-on Materials are great!”

Edu’s favorite books and stories include:

Sara confirms teaching Edu with a literature-rich curriculum has been a blessing saying, "We have confirmation from the Lord that this is the path he wants for us."

You can learn more about the Portes Medina family’s Sonlight experience by listening to their full interview on the Sonlight Connections podcast.

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Nov. 23, 2021

Sonlight Scholarship Winners: Where Are They Now?

By Sonlight
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Last month, we highlighted recent Sonlight Scholarship winners. There were so many success stories we decided to feature a second group of these incredible young adults.

Since 1990, Sonlight has been blessed to be a significant part of the educational foundation to so many students across the nations. Sonlight’s President, Sarita Holzmann, wanted to support Sonlight students beyond their homeschool graduation. 

The Sonlight Scholarship Foundation was created, and each year, the scholarship committee evaluates applicants, selects winners, and awards $4,000 to $20,000 total to each. 

We offer scholarships based on two different sets of criteria. One puts greater weight on academic performance, and the other focuses on mission mindedness and acts of kindness. If you are a high school senior, we encourage you to apply here. Deadline is December 1, 2021. 

From leading businesses to academia, churches to the mission field, from neighborhoods to home - we are grateful to have been part of these amazing students’ lives. 

Meet Anna R. 2021 Sonlight Graduate

Anna R. is a recent Sonlight Graduate and is currently attending Wheaton College and studying biochemistry. 

When asked how her Sonlight prepared her for college and beyond, Anna states: “I have learned to prioritize what I care most about and individualize my learning to the way I learn best. I've also learned to be more independent with my assignments.”

“There are so many ways to learn. As a parent, don't let yourself be trapped in a box of formal assignments/curriculum and fail to explore what your child is curious about.” is the advice Anna offers to homeschool teachers.  

Anna encourages students to:  

Split Photo of Anna 

“Find something you are so passionate about that you never want to stop learning about it. Let that motivate you to work towards your goals. Don't let people discourage you from pursuing what you are interested in, but also don't be afraid to ask for help. No one can do it all alone!” 

Meet Jeoffrey D. 2018 Sonlight Graduate 

Upon Sonlight graduation, Jeoffrey attended Lansing Community College for two years where he attained an associates degree, and is currently finishing his bachelors in Supply Chain Management at  Michigan State University. 

“Homeschooling taught me the value of planning, beginning with the end in mind, knowing where to prioritize your time and energy and how to effectively handle multiple projects at one time. This has greatly helped me in my adult life and equipped me well to succeed in college and beyond.

Jeoffrey’s advice to both homeschool leaders and students is would be to utilize your time as best as you can. “Be intentional with activities, relationships, your faith, and passions. Work hard at work worth doing and everything will fall into place.” 

“Homeschooling equipped me for adulthood by teaching me to take ownership of life. As a homeschooled student, I had to ownership of my time, attention, schedule, and academic life from an early age.” - Jeoffrey D.

One last tip from this young man is to, “Allow for pursuit of passions outside the classroom and make room for extracurricular pursuits. Emphasize character development and the meaning behind the school work and most importantly, emphasize and build a mindset of continuous learning and a thirst for knowledge.”

Meet Kaycie C. 2018 Sonlight Graduate

After graduation, Kaycie attended New Saint Andrews College, where she is currently finishing up her senior year with a NSA Liberal Arts degree. This field has sharpened Kaycie’s analytical and communication skills while showing her what faithfulness looks like in serious scholarship.  Kaycie also got married this summer to her husband Josiah and they plan to move to Seattle for career growth.

Kaycie provides insights on how her experience applying to Sonlight’s Scholarship was great preparation for applying to schools and future jobs. She encourages high school seniors, “To see it as an opportunity to train how to present themselves professionally, and to enjoy the process regardless of whether or not they receive a scholarship.”


She learned the importance of finding the balance between school work and friends/church, and not becoming a slave to her own schedule. 

Kaycie’s favorite Sonlight book is William Zisner's book On Writing Well. which allowed her to succeed in her college assignments.

“It's easy to compare yourself to a public school and think how much better your education is–but with true education comes true humility, as you recognize what you really don't know!” - Kaycie C.

One last tidbit from Kaycie is: “Push your kids. Expect high standards of them. Don't let them settle. My mom had us rewrite assignments over and over again until we did them well. Your kids will thank you for requiring excellence.” 

Meet Daniel N. 2017 Sonlight Graduate

Sonlight and John Brown University graduate Daniel N. is currently working as an Applications Engineer at Texas Instruments in Dallas, supporting the use of TI's semiconductors in power electronics. 

Outside of work he volunteers with the children's ministry at his church, and enjoys cooking and wood carving.

“Homeschooling taught me how to learn and think critically. In a new city with a new job I am constantly learning. At work many of the systems I am supporting were not covered in school, so I need to be able to do research myself to get up to speed quickly. Outside of work I am able to manage my finances, my housing, whatever it may be, by doing my research and thinking critically, skills homeschooling taught me early on.” Daniel states. 

One of his favorite Sonlight memories is completing science experiments including dissections and titration in the kitchen with his brothers. Daniel really enjoyed going beyond the prescribed experiments, testing other conditions that sparked further curiosity.  

“Homeschooling provides an opportunity for students to develop a love of learning, and for parents to learn alongside their kids. As I see it, the primary requirement for a successful homeschool is a family that has a desire to learn.” - Daniel N.

Meet Grace A. 2019 Sonlight Graduate

After graduation, Grace started school at Kingswood University where she is third year pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Business as Ministry.

Grace attributes Sonlight for helping her not only learn facts and information, but also to “develop critical thinking skills and to be a person of integrity. This equipped me well for adulthood, for communicating well with others, being responsible and hardworking, and thinking for myself.”

Some advice she offers to high schoolers and college students is to be intentional about setting good habits and goals for studying and life. “Now is a very formative time, and the routines, habits, and priorities that you establish for yourself will carry with you into the seasons of life to follow.”

“Homeschooling provides a unique opportunity for you to specifically shape the curriculum to fit with your child's learning style, interests, and talents. It results in a lot of good memories and a rewarding education for your children that can prepare them for life.” - Grace A.

Grace’s favorite memory from Sonlight is reading history books with her brother and mom while making lunch every day.

Sonlight counts it a huge blessing when hearing about all of the great success stories from our recent graduates. These young adults are truly making an impact in our world in no small part because of their Sonlight educations. With a Sonlight education, your children will not merely absorb basic information, but, far more, they’ll develop an inquisitive spirit and love for learning. With Sonlight, you set the stage for your students to continue learning even after they have completed their formal education.

To hear more Scholarship winners' testimonies, head over to the Sonlight Connections Podcast.

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