Sonlight Homeschooling Blog

Jul. 6, 2011

Summer Boredom--A Simple Schedule

By Jill

Last week I talked about ways to beat boredom in the summer and it reminded me of how we made the most of summer when my children were young. I found if I didn't have some sort of plan the days got away from me, the work piled up and we still hadn't made any memories. But, when I had a plan, or at least a rough schedule, the chores got done, we had fun outings and the whole household was calmer and happier.

I was reading a thread in the Sonlighter Club Forums about summer schedules and it made me think about the basic schedule we followed for years. You may want to have some sort of summer schedule. It can be loose, but something like:

Monday-Laundry, everyone takes their laundry to the laundry room, straighten their own room, room chores [such as vacuuming the living room, unloading the dishwasher, dusting, etc.] then everyone can have free time. You may have a child or two that works on the laundry or at least helps fold and put away the clothes. If you go to the library weekly, this is a good day to have the children collect all their library books and put in a designated place or tote bag.
Tuesday-Lunch at the park, or a nature walk day, then to the library [make sure to put last weeks book in the car!]--maybe invite a friend.
Wednesday-Laundry again, and cooking day. Have kids join you and teach them basic cooking, or maybe just make something fun like ice cream. We loved making cookie ice cream sandwiches, wrapping them individually and pulling them out a few at a time for a treat.
Thursday- Shopping day, maybe take in a movie or [one my personal favorites] play in the play place at a McDonalds while you drink some iced tea!
Friday-Tidy the house and do laundry so the weekend can be relaxing. You may want to do craft, or maybe this could be science day. Lots of folks like to do some science in the summer to lessen the school work in the fall and it keeps the mess of the experiments outside. You may want Fridays to be an at home family movie or game night. You can pop some popcorn and enjoy each other.

You also might want to let all the kids sleep out in the living room or in a tent in the back yard one night a week.

I hope this helps make your summer fun and productive. Also, I was talking to my Sonlighting cousin a while ago and she mentioned that is hard to read all the Sonlight read-alouds during the school year so they save many for summer. She said it is so much fun and takes some of the reading pressure off during the school year.

Whether you homeschool or not--read your kids great books this summer, a chapter or so a day. I highly recommend the Ralph Moody books as a place to start. The first one, "Little Britches" is one of our family favorites and has lots of great character lessons as well.

Please, let me know if you have suggestions to add. I would love to be able to share more ideas in the future.

Take care,

Jill

Tagged Homeschooling, reading, summer, Time Management | 2 Comments

Jul. 5, 2011

Getting Ready

By Luke

Yesterday we had an "epic" party. We had somewhere around 25 people milling about. We attempted to keep preparations as simple as possible. Still, with several food sensitivities (wheat, sugar or dairy, depending on the person), it took some work. We also did a bit of tidying before everyone came over, to keep up appearances <smile>.

All that to say, the more variables you need to account for, the longer it takes to get ready.

We've got a website update in the works that will bring Electives to you in the choosing process. I really want to share it with you. Unfortunately, as we test the handful of common browsers out there, we find we have more work to do. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Chrome don't have sensitivities to wheat, sugar or dairy, but they do behave differently when you feed them Javascript, CSS and AJAX.

I still have some general tidying to do as well.

Once again I am reminded of just how long and difficult it can be to get something ready. I imagine the same can be true if you're new to homeschooling or have several students and are considering your options. With all the variables you need to keep in mind, picking the best homeschool resources can be difficult. If you'd like to chat with a homeschool mom who has "been there and done that" before you purchase your curriculum, please don't hesitate to contact a of Sonlight homeschool Advisor.

How was your 4th of July? What variables make getting ready difficult for you?

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

Tagged celebrations, sonlight.com | 2 Comments

Jun. 29, 2011

Mom...I'm bored

By Jill

The most dreaded words in the summer vocabulary.

And I wonder, how could a kid be bored in the summer? I can't ever remember saying those words in my whole life-and certainly not in the summer. Maybe because if I said them out loud as a child I would be given chores?

I think some basic play equipment is very helpful to beat boredom. Depending on your living situation, some of these may be practical and some may not:

swing set
sand box-the bigger the better, you can't have too big of a sandbox
various balls
bean-bag toss game
basket ball net
soccer goal
tether ball
play house or designated play area in the shed or garage, if practical
hammer, wood, nails
perhaps a small wading pool
a pet
wagon
old stroller
bikes
chalk
paintbrushes and water [to paint on the sidewalk]
bubbles
sticks
own garden area
rope [jump rope]
pogo stick
mini [or full size] trampoline
camp in the backyard

For indoor boredom busters--my first and best advice-limit TV/Computer time. Maybe they have to read an hour a day and then they can play video games or watch the TV for a a half an hour . Be careful with this, though.

If you have multiple children they may play the computer for 30 minutes, then watch their brother play for 30 minutes, then watch their other brother play for 30 minutes and now they have used up 1 1/2 hours with the computer. [Ask me how I know about this loop hole in the computer time rule!]

My best friend in the summer was a timer. We used it to limit the time to something reasonable. For TV, we had a rule-- no TV during the day. Then at night we would watch some show or DVD for about an hour as a family. I have a friend who lets her children watch 60 minutes of cartoons in the morning, then the TV is off all day unless they watch something together as a family.

My best advice is to try something that seems reasonable for your family and stick with it for a month or so and see how it goes. You can always modify it if you need to. But, in my experience, the more computer/TV time children have, the more easily they are bored when the TV/Computer is not in use.

Now, for indoor boredom busters:

board games
card games
making forts under tables or on couches
puppet shows done behind the couch, any type of puppets, socks work great
making movies if your kids are old enough to use a video recorder. We have some awesome ones that the kids made years ago that make us laugh every time we watch them
blocks
action figures/dolls
child kitchen
child workbench
match-box cars
Legos
play mobile
reading [you might want to require so many pages/minutes a day]
cooking/baking
science experiments
dusting
vacuuming
doing laundry
straighten room
sweep floor
empty dishwasher or wash dishes
camp in the family room-my dad actually pitched a real tent in the living room once--he nailed the stakes right through the carpeting into the sub-floor!
water plants
draw, paint, color, stickers
play an instrument
sing
dance to music
have a tea party
dress up--keep a box with dress up clothes
etc.

Perhaps make a set of index cards with one thing do on each one and train your children to pull a card if they can't think of anything to do. {This could be a great creative writing project as well. During the school year have your children fill out a card anytime they think of something they would like to do but don't have time to do. They could get as descriptive as they want to on the card and then they put the card in with the others and wait till they have some "I'm bored" time.}

I suggest banning the words "I'm bored" or "There's nothing to do" and instead teach your children to say, "I am looking for a job to do." My guess is this will eliminate the need whine around and will encourage them to entertain themselves.

Part two next week...how to have a loose summer schedule that you can live with.

Take care,

Jill

Tagged activities, summer | Leave a comment

Jun. 24, 2011

Stories of Longing for More

By Luke

I must be on a Disney kick this week. Monday it was Beauty and the Beast, Wednesday The Incredibles, and today I've been thinking about The Little Mermaid, Lion King, Hunchback and Tangled. Why do these Disney flicks--for better or worse--focus on rebelling against authority?

I ask because I don't remember reading (any?) "rebellion" stories in Sonlight. I recall tales of questioning presuppositions, of stepping out beyond yourself, of mischievous escapades, but none about children shaking off the shackles of parental figures. The award winning stories I read and listened to as a child were about doing great things. I don't remember being told that I was "kept down" but rather that I should keep looking up.

If you are locked in a tower, please get out. But for those of us whose parents encouraged us to follow our path, rebelling against authority shouldn't be our story. Ours is a story of longing for more as well, but we long for a dream not yet realized.

Do we confuse the longing for a dream yet to come with an act of repression?

I wonder if reading missionary biographies--in particular--helped me to more accurately see my position in the world. Learning about how God has worked through people in the past helped me develop an appetite for the future.

Do you resonate with "rebellion" stories? What books have encouraged you the most?

May the stories you hear and read and watch encourage you to continue to look up as you walk the path before you.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

Tagged stories | 9 Comments

Jun. 21, 2011

Q: Could Sonlight Fail You? A: Only If Your Goals Don’t Match Ours

By Luke

Depending on your goals for homeschooling, Sonlight might fail your kids.

Sonlight won’t fail you if your goals are to

instill a love of great books and reading
develop empathy
lay a broad foundation of cultural literacy
expose children to multiple viewpoints and world cultures
root children in an overarching Christian worldview
train children who know how to reason, question, and dialogue about tough topics

If your goals don’t match those upon which Sonlight is based, yes, the curriculum might appear a colossal failure.

A Story of Mismatched Goals

For example, one mom said online that she regretted choosing Sonlight. She said that our literature-based approach failed her daughter miserably.

Why? Why did Sonlight fail in this case? Or, perhaps more telling, what did Sonlight fail to do?

This mom homeschooled with Sonlight A for Kindergarten and then chose to enroll her daughter in a Christian classical school for first grade. The results of the school's required placement test showed that this young child of the tender age of 5 or maybe 6 was “behind” because she didn’t have the phonics foundation this school expected.

The mother admitted that the school is advanced. For example, it uses Saxon Math 2 in first grade. But that admission didn’t curb her irritation that she now has to spend the summer getting her daughter “caught up” for this elite academy. She said, “I wish I would have skipped all of the fantasy stories and spent more time having her read to me and more effort on Phonics and Math.”

So the question here is whose goals did Sonlight fail to achieve?

Because of the emphasis on reading aloud to this Kindergarten child, Sonlight failed to get this girl ready for a first grade phonics test she needed to get into a private school.

Does that mean that Sonlight is a failure? We don’t think so! Passing that phonics test was not a goal for our History / Bible / Literature A program, so we wouldn’t measure our curriculum against that standard.

Does Sonlight Prepare Children for a Classroom Setting?

Sonlight may not prepare your child for a specialized classroom setting. And we’re okay with that!

First, Sonlight will not likely match a school's narrow requirements, not because Sonlight is somehow academically inferior, but because the emphasis is different. Every transition from one schooling approach to another requires a reassignment of priorities.

Second, Sonlight's Top 10 Goals could be (and probably are) different from the school you are considering. If excellence on phonics and math tests for young elementary students are the goals of a school, Sonlight's goals will not align.

If you are looking for a program that will cram testable standards into your child's mind in the first year or two of school, Sonlight may not be for you.

Sonlight Prepares Children and Teens for Life Beyond High School

To clarify, Sonlight is not a curriculum for slackers or dullards. Sonlight students excel at all levels—elementary school, middle school, high school, college, and beyond. If you want to see just a few examples of Sonlight students' success, see our Where Are They Now series. It’s both inspiring and reassuring to see where a Sonlight education has taken so many graduates: from missions to science careers and everything in between.

We can tell you boldly that Sonlight works. It has worked for over 30 years for tens of thousands of students to achieve the goals it sets out to accomplish.

If you are questioning whether Sonlight matches your goals, reach out to our homeschool consultants. Click here to schedule an appointment.

Tagged education, failure, goals, Homeschooling, Sonlight, Testing | 29 Comments

Jun. 20, 2011

Memorization is Not Understanding

By Luke

Lumiere invites Belle to enjoy her dinner and sings, "Tie your napkin 'round your necksery and..."

Wait.

I'm standing in my kitchen and I realize there's a comma between "neck" and the next word. Suddenly the line makes way more sense. Excited, I share my discovery with Brittany, "He says, '...neck, chérie!'"

My wife stares at me, like I've just announced that "teh" isn't the correct spelling. Looks like I've got to explain myself. "I always thought it was a made-up word to make the line flow better."

My wife isn't impressed by my creativity in the face of ignorance.

I knew the song. I knew the movie. I knew the cultural context of the characters' names. But I didn't know there was a comma. All my memorization and knowledge had failed me. Until last night, I didn't understand what the candlestick was really saying.

This demonstrates the different strata of learning. Some of these layers are:

Comprehend
Recall
and Apply

I had the gist of the song, I knew it's meaning, and I could sing it to you if you were inclined to listen. But even though neither you nor I would realize I was singing it wrong, I wouldn't have been singing it correctly.

We need to be able to recall information we understand if we're going to apply it. Too often, however, we can get lazy and believe memorization is enough. This is the fundamental flaw of "teaching to the test": We never build on the foundation.

Homeschooling allows us to focus on the application of our knowledge. And if we can apply what we have learned, we know we also comprehend and recall the information as well. If you'd like some ideas on how to do this with your homeschool curriculum, Sonlight's Instructor's Guides offer notes and comprehension questions to help get you started.

Have you ever had a moment where you suddenly understood something you've "known" forever?

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

Tagged education | 4 Comments

Jun. 17, 2011

Building Off Something Great

By Luke

There is a fantastic article in the latest edition of Wired. (Unfortunately, it's not on their website yet, so I can't link to it.) The article presents the radical shift in computing that is upon us because of the Kinect (and our ability to tap into its power). The short, short, short version: The Kinect solves a long-standing robotics problem and now that Microsoft supports the use of their hardware outside of the Xbox, we are moving into a new world of computing.

Wired is really promoting the ability to build off something great. The article cheers when tightfisted corporations surrender to the ingenious hacker who can take their product and use it in a new way. And I cheer right along with them. As you may recall, I tend to tweak my tools too. It's important to note that this is modding, not piracy. Modding creates more with what is there, piracy takes what isn't yours.^*

How does this relate to homeschooling?

From what I've gathered, many people begin their homeschool journey by getting the recommended items or "boxed curriculum." Over the years, as they gain confidence in their homeschooling and insight into their children's learning styles, they begin to modify their curriculum selections to meet their needs.

In the end, you build off something great to make a home education just right for you and your family.

Modding Your Curriculum

Sonlight fully supports this customization. That's why we offer so many different homeschool curriculum options from complete packages to individual items. Of course, having such a great approach to homeschooling means that others "mod" Sonlight's foundation to create their own products as well. I admit that's a tad frustrating for me, but I also appreciate how this has brought homeschooling to a whole new level over the last 20 years. May your studies--no matter the form they take--enable you and your family to do amazing things and experience the joy of learning together.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

*This is probably why I have such mixed feelings about derivative works online: It's rather a cross between modding and piracy. Fascinating!

Tagged curriculum, customize | 2 Comments

Summer Boredom--A Simple Schedule

Getting Ready

Mom...I'm bored

Stories of Longing for More

Q: Could Sonlight Fail You? A: Only If Your Goals Don’t Match Ours

A Story of Mismatched Goals

Does Sonlight Prepare Children for a Classroom Setting?

Sonlight Prepares Children and Teens for Life Beyond High School

Memorization is Not Understanding

Building Off Something Great

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