Sonlight Homeschooling Blog

Aug. 21, 2012

A Sweet Home

By Jonelle

I love homes. I love looking at the way people choose to decorate. I love the different styles and colors, patterns, pictures, art, everything. I love it all.

I have a dear friend, Julie, from the south. She is one of the sweetest people I know. Whenever I go to her house I leave refreshed. It struck me, her house is definitely a place of peace, with extra sweetness splashed about. So, I’m giving you a glimpse of some of my favorite places.

The first thing you see when you walk in is this beautiful old bookcase, filled with a few treasures from their life and travels. The framed photo booth photos of Julie and her husband from when they were young makes me smile, it's so fun to see my friend at that different stage.

I feel like their front room is inviting and attractive. I like that it is lived in.

I grew up in a home with no photographs on the wall (I'm pretty sure that was my Mom's culture coming through). I never missed them, but I love this photo wall. It makes me want to print some photos and hang them up! *

In the kitchen area, Julie has several recipes that she was given, handwritten, by her grandmother. Instead of putting them in the recipe box, she framed them so everyone can see. She also has a plain sheet of paper framed under glass that she uses to write notes or draw something fun. I think it's a great way to interact with her older boys.

In the dining room, one of my favorite things is her built in book shelves. I love how "effortless" everything arranged appears. I know that almost all things "effortless" are really lots of hard work, so I appreciate it even more.

The last idea I plan to steal is to frame special notes. Similarly to the recipes, she has a letter written by her middle child, and a letter her grandmother wrote, both framed and arranged with more snap shots of her extended family. I think this is a great use for those notes that you don't want to just put in a file folder.

I would love to hear about how you display your "treasures" or why a certain home has left you with a sense of sweetness or peace.

Until next time!

Jonelle

*Speaking of photos, these were all shot on my phone, so please excuse the less than stellar quality!

Tagged decorating, home, pictures | 4 Comments

Aug. 17, 2012

What's the Deal with Sonlight's Language Arts?

By Luke

I ran across a fascinating discussion about Sonlight's Language Arts on Facebook. The original poster said she felt Sonlight's Language Arts was "a bit weak and abstract." The comments that follow are very encouraging:

"Stick with it! You won't regret it."
"My family has ONLY used Sonlight. Here's a sample of my girls' work."
"My kids seem to do really well with Sonlight's writing."

Granted, there are less than stellar reviews as well. "Sonlight's LA is pure torture." "SL LA is truly awful!" "I think in theory Sonlight's LA works, I just don't like teaching it."

Talk about polarizing!

The theory behind Sonlight's Language Arts is very practical.

Listen to good writing
Look at good writing
Copy good writing
Then write on your own

The strong literature I grew up with highly influenced my prose. And reading/copying great writing is precisely what writing coach Daphne Gray-Grant recommends as well. Dr. Ruth Beechick originally alerted my mom to this natural approach to Language Arts.

But we decided to make our homeschool LA programs even better.

Language Arts Improvements

We re-evaluated every assignment in the Language Arts programs for Cores A through G. You now receive a better balance of grammar and creative writing assignments.

You'll find more grammar instruction in each Language Arts program.
- You will use the copywork/dictation passage to introduce a specific grammar concept each week.
- Your Instructor's Guide explains that concept and shows you how it works.
- Your students will do engaging exercises to practice the concept.
We also re-evaluated every Creative Writing assignment, removed anything that could be considered "fluff" and rewrote many of the instructions to make sure you know exactly what to do.

Language Arts is now included in every Core program, but we kept the package prices competitive. We wanted to make sure you could check out the improvements and give your students an opportunity to learn how to write using this natural approach.

I know the year is just getting started. Have you had a chance to try out the new Sonlight^® Language Arts programs? Are you (and your children) loving the improved LA?

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

Tagged language arts, reading, writing | 4 Comments

Aug. 16, 2012

Run to win!

By Judy

A precious, long-time friend of mine graduated into heaven this week. I kissed her good-bye Monday evening and a few hours later she stepped into the arms of her friend, Jesus.

As I chat with many, many homeschoolers this week ... anxious over curriculum choices for the coming year ... I keep thinking of Gayle's lasting legacy through homeschooling. While academics are definitely important, her greatest impact on her children's lives was the time she invested. Her daughters and son are growing into the young adults they are becoming in large part because of her consistent love and interest in who they are as individuals. The constant evidence of God's presence in her life was probably the single, greatest example she set for them.

So as you wrestle with handwriting and elective choices this week, don't lose sight of the impact you already have on your children's lives simply through investing time in educating them. The time spent together reading, your patience and understanding with difficult math problems, the hours you just listen and laugh ... these are the things that give your children endurance to run the race.

As I said of my friend this week ... she ran the race well (I Cor. 9:24-25) ... and she prepared her children to continue running even after she was gone. May we be encouraged to do the same for our "runners".

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

Tagged curriculum, Homeschooling, legacy | 2 Comments

Aug. 15, 2012

Failure is Okay on the Road to Mastery

By Luke

I really liked the video in Suji's post Learn. Fail. Repeat. Paul Anderson played video games in '80s. And now, as a teacher, he's learning to apply what he learned from games to his classroom.

I've written about gaming before (what we learn easily in games, the amount of time we spend in games, games and the future of education). But I wanted to write about this because Anderson has hit on two key lessons that are spot on:

1. Failure is okay. When I finally entered the official school system, I was horrified by grades. They were so counter-intuitive to how I had experienced learning to that point. My education was about mastering a task or a topic. The speed at which I progressed or how I fit into "standards" weren't even on my radar. I wanted (or needed) to learn; that was that. If I failed to properly cross-stitch, or didn't spell a word correctly, or smudged my drawing, or broke my computer code, or got a poor recording... oh well. The frustration was purely one of "wasted" time and a bruised ego. In high school--and again in college--suddenly I had to prove, right now and in a pre-defined way, how well I was doing. It didn't make sense. Much better is to look at learning as growing (leveling). Rather than losing points, you gain experience as you progress.

2. Mastery is the goal. The end game of education should be mastery. How well can we apply and use what we have learned? In video games, this achievement is clear because you've completed your objectives. The number of times you've failed doesn't matter. What matters is that you are now standing victorious. No one really cares about how fast you got there. I love that Anderson's colleague mentions shop classes: You learn skills and then apply them. This is the hope for every learning experience.

Three main lessons Anderson has learned: Kids need structure to keep moving forward... however unspecified that direction is. Kids need to be able to read... not just listen to a teacher give them information. Kids like interaction... interactive worksheets are not the future of education.

This fits perfectly with Sonlight. Your Instructor's Guide provides a flexible structure so you can move at your pace and where you need to go. You don't need tests because you know how well your student is progressing (though, they can be a nice way to get outside confirmation that you're doing well). There's nothing better for learning how to read than a literature-based program made of the best books available. And you and your child will absolutely interact as you discuss the stories you've read.

We can learn a lot about about education by looking at video games. The nice thing is that every time I do, Sonlight continues to dominate the scoreboard in the points that matter.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

Tagged curriculum, education, games, grades, learning, literature, mastery, Teaching Tips | 2 Comments

Aug. 14, 2012

How Do We Know What's True?

By Robert

You're probably familiar with the encounter between Pilate and Jesus that ends with Pilate asking, "What is truth?" (John 18:38).

Although we don't know the tone in his voice when he asked the question, we do know that he didn't seem to linger for an answer (the passage continues, "After he had said this, he went back outside").

The truth question remains relevant to this day, but how do we know what's true? When we ask the question it's already charged with ideas. "How do we know" falls under the branch of philosophy known as epistemology, which addresses all sorts of questions about knowledge.

We might then ask, what is knowledge? Those who have studied the subject may quickly answer, knowledge is justified true belief. We don't have time or space here to offer an introductory course in epistemology, but we can offer some ideas for approaching the truth question.

If truth is what corresponds to reality, then it is to our benefit to understand ways of determining what actually does correspond to reality (what is true). When it comes to worldviews, for instance, there are many conflicting approaches to how people explain and interpret the world.

I'm reminded of a great quote in the C.S. Lewis novel That Hideous Strength. One character makes the remark, "I suppose there are two views about everything." A fellow named Hingest replies, "Eh? Two views? There are a dozen views about everything, until you know the answer. Then there's never more than one."

So how can we put ideas and claims about reality to the test? There are many methods we can employ, but I'll share just two here. (Those who wish to pursue further study of worldview tests can see chapter 2 of A World of Difference by Kenneth Samples and chapter 3 of Christian Apologetics by Douglas Groothuis.)

The coherence test asks whether or not a worldview is logically consistent. As Samples writes, "Truth will always be wholly consistent within itself, displaying internal logical harmony. The coherence test stresses the crucial unity and relatedness of all truth. Therefore any logical inconsistency in the basic elements of a worldview is a mark of essential error."

The coherence test, however, on its own is not enough to determine whether or not a worldview is wholly true. It may be internally consistent, but externally inconsistent with known facts of science, history, etc.

Another helpful test is the explanatory power and scope test. As Samples puts it, this test asks, "How well does a worldview explain the facts of reality ('power') and how wide is the range of the explanation ('scope')?" Any worldview contending for its position as the true worldview should explain reality in a manner that is convincing, broad in scope, profound, and viable.

How does all this relate to home education? Sonlight strives to present and explore various perspectives and viewpoints. We're not known for avoiding controversial issues or dogmatically indoctrinating children. Instead, we want to help parents raise children who think critically and are able to sift through various ideas and come to conclusions that offer the best explanation of reality.

What do you do to help your children know what's true?

Robert Velarde
Author/Educator/Philosopher

Tagged education, epistemology, Homeschooling, knowledge, philosophy, reality, truth, worldviews | Leave a comment

Aug. 13, 2012

Reading and Decoding

By Luke

Perhaps you've seen the f1gur471v3ly 5p34k1ng passage? If not, I'll reproduce most of it here. (I'll gladly provide a link to the original author, but have been unable to find any kind of reference.)

7H15 M3554G3

53RV35 7O PR0V3

H0W 0UR M1ND5 C4N

D0 4M4Z1NG 7H1NG5!

1MPR3551V3 7H1NG5!

1N 7H3 B3G1NN1NG

17 WA5 H4RD BU7

N0W, 0N 7H15 LIN3,

Y0UR M1ND 1S

R34D1NG 4U70M471C4LLY

W17H0U7 3V3N

7H1NK1NG 4B0U7 17

This reminded me of the similar aoccdrnig to rscheearch text. And as someone who struggled for years with the mechanics of reading -- finally becoming confident sometime after college -- these paragraphs fascinate me. What's going on?

First, I believe much of 1337 speak boils down font recognition. Reading becomes easier the more familiar you become with translating 1s to ls and 3s to Es. There are plenty of fonts that confuse me because the Js and Ts are almost identical. Old English scripts are terrible!

Second, context is key. Much like trying to decipher my handwriting five minutes after scribbling something down, my notes are only legible by considering the content around each word blob. In fact, in college, I created my own shorthand code for notes because it was easier for me to read than my chicken scratch. We use the words we're reading to figure out the meaning of a passage. This is how we grow our vocabulary naturally by reading rather than memorizing a dictionary.

Handwriting

Third, we predict what's coming next in a sentence. I noticed this just yesterday in church when the pastor read a familiar passage, completely reordering certain words. I frequently do the same thing. This is also one reason why it is so difficult to proofread (especially something you've written). You know what the text is supposed to say, so that's what you read.

These skills enable us to read incredibly quickly, and accurately comprehend the meaning. What blows my mind are the people -- like my mom -- who can read sentences or paragraphs with the ease at which I read words.

There has actually been a ton of research into how we comprehend the words on a page. I took a few minutes to skim through The Science of Word Recognition. ...skimming... yet another incredible feat.

What most impresses you about reading?

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

Tagged reading | 2 Comments

Aug. 8, 2012

Gender and the Books We Read

By Luke

Sonlighter Christina L sent me a link to the blog post Why boys don't read girls (sometimes). I'm so glad she did! Take a minute to give it a read.

Back?

Good.

A young man I knew in high school had a high pitched voice and effeminate mannerisms. "Naturally" he was teased constantly. After years of such abuse, he decided it was easier to "come out" as a homosexual. It boggles my mind when people say that Christians are hateful;* none of my Christian friends ever insulted people in the manner. It feels far more hateful to tear someone down by calling them "gay" than to disagree about the moral values of such a lifestyle.

Boys aren't alone in this. A friend of mine is very concerned about her little sister who is starting high school in a few weeks. They both tend to dress "tomboyish" and sport shorter hair. The sexual slurs they endure day after day in school are not fit to print and make me want to weep. So, yes: I have no trouble believing kids in school learn to avoid certain things to save themselves from the cruelty of their classmates.

I also find it completely plausible that adults mindlessly reinforce these harmful "boundaries" between the sexes. Dr. Sax in Why Gender Matters makes a strong case for social pressures negatively impacting children. But the message of his book is brilliant: Once we understand the differences between the genders, we can all better excel in every field. Boys aren't destined to be bad at reading and girls aren't required to give up on math.

Gender Divide

As Shannon Hale points out in her post above, homeschoolers are able to shake free of the current school "norms" that paint the genders into narrow boxes of pink and blue. We can enjoy great literature, and we don't have to worry about the gender of the author or judge the book by its cover. And this gives us the freedom to define ourselves by more than our sex. We can focus on our strengths and be blissfully ignorant of the limitations the rest of the world places on what books and interests we "should" pursue.

...now, having said all that, there is something to the idea of "boy" books and "girl" books. Dr. Sax points to this in his book, but you'll have to read it because I'm out of time for today.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

*I am well aware of a few high profile "Christian" groups that spew such hate. But to label a calm disagreement as "hate" on par with bullying/teasing simply does not make sense to me.

Tagged books, gender, reading | 2 Comments

A Sweet Home

What's the Deal with Sonlight's Language Arts?

Run to win!

Failure is Okay on the Road to Mastery

How Do We Know What's True?

Reading and Decoding

Gender and the Books We Read

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