Sonlight Homeschooling Blog

Jul. 14, 2011

Are homeschooled students really all that different?

By Judy

I've been watching a fascinating conversation unfold on the Sonlight Forums regarding whether or not kids who are homeschooled are really all that "different" than their public or private-schooled peers. It's certainly a legitimate question to ask ... none of us wants our kids to be "oddly" different or socially inept, or to stand out in a crowd in a negative way.

This homeschool mom shared that in a conversation with someone she knew, the statement was made that a relative had noted that they could easily "spot homeschooled kids in a crowd" because they stood out in a less than positive fashion. The rest of the thread explores the validity of that statement and whether or not it is something that should concern us as homeschoolers.

I must admit, I have sometimes worried about the big *S* (socialization) as every good homeschooler does! I often come to the conclusion that social awkwardness is not unique to homeschool students ... nor is it unique just to school-aged individuals. I know plenty of public schooled adults who struggle in social settings ... including myself at times!

Do we want our children to be "different"? Perhaps we do in some ways. If my students are more gracious, more giving, or more mature than their peers (homeschooled or otherwise), then that difference is a positive thing! If my children struggle with social settings and would rather spend time alone, then maybe I should reassure myself that there is room in this world for the quiet thinkers and allow them to be who they are. Perhaps we need to carefully consider our definition of "socially acceptable" and determine if it needs changing.

In the end, I recall the verse that speaks to the folly of comparing ourselves with one another, and using ourselves as the standard of measurement. God has created each of us for a unique purpose ... some to be a hand, some to be an arm, some to be the big toe. My prayer is that my kids will be the best hand, arm or big toe God has designed them to be!

Still on the journey,
~Judy
Sonlight Customer Champion

Tagged character, socialization | 3 Comments

Jul. 12, 2011

What is true education?

By Robert

Christian thinker Francis Schaeffer wrote, "In our modern forms of specialized education there is a tendency to lose the whole in the parts, and in this sense we can say that our generation produces few truly educated people. True education means thinking by associating across the various disciplines, and not just being highly qualified in one field, as a technician might be" (The God Who is There, IVP 30th anniversary edition, p. 32).

The late American philosopher Mortimer Adler shared Schaeffer's concerns and referred to "the barbarism of specialization." Adler pointed out that the great books of the Western world were all written by generalists, not by specialists (The Great Conversation, p. 35).

But what did Adler and Schaeffer mean? After all, specialization is helpful to some extent. No one wants to have brain surgery performed by a physician who is not a specialist! Schaeffer and Adler didn't dispute this. Instead, they were concerned with the overall lack of knowledge in areas of great importance. What are these areas? Some include science, literature, philosophy, the fine arts, history, and religion.

At Sonlight we seek to provide well-rounded curricula, sometimes concentrating on areas of specialization, but often looking at educational topics broadly and across disciplines so we don't "lose the whole in the parts." We also want children to think across disciplines, not just viewing certain subjects in isolation.

To more fully integrate the Christian worldview into every area of our lives, we need a better understanding of the significant areas and intellectual contributions of many subject areas.

Do you agree with Schaeffer's definition of "true education"? If not, how would you define it? What steps are you taking to help your children strive to become truly educated? Let us know!

Robert Velarde
Product Development
Sonlight Curriculum

Tagged education, Francis Schaeffer, Mortimer Adler | 2 Comments

Jul. 11, 2011

Odd Pastimes

By Luke

My mother-in-law placed a domino on the table and gleefully announced, "Chickie four!" It was our third round of Chicken Foot. I was doing well, but ultimately didn't win.

Dominoes

As we shuffled the plastic tiles again, I started thinking about pastimes. We are blessed people indeed to have time enough to wonder about how we spend our free time. Dominoes is a game of matching the number/color of dots. Games involving cards, dice or spinning wheels have similar mechanics. These are great for teaching early math and such, but why are we adults so often involved in playing them?

Puzzles--another pastime currently in the works at my house--puzzle me. Last night I ask my wife, "Who was the first person to say, 'I'm going to take a perfectly good piece of art, cut it into tiny pieces and then put it back together again. What fun!'?" Don't get me wrong, I'll spend hours on a puzzle if you get me started. But isn't that a bit odd?

Other forms of entertainment make much more sense to me. Books, movies, video games can all transport you to other worlds where you experience adventure, friendship, loss and victory. But even here there are arguably only a handful of story lines, and the mechanics of computer games are virtual dice thrown behind the scenes.

What is it that drives these diversions? Is it the discovery of how this particular hand of cards will play out for me? Is it the joy of experiencing yet another adventure, however closely it matches one we've already been on? Is it seeing just how clever we can be at fitting pieces together? Or is it simply the joy of spending time with friends and family?

This is to say nothing of the creative pastimes of writing and recording and performing, or of gardening, sports and art; the expressive, less-passive pastimes, if you will.

So, what about you? Do you enjoy "killing time" around a board game or with a deck of cards? Do you prefer the more creative games of finding words within a jumble of letters or acting out a well-known phrase? Would you rather curl up with a fantastic book and be swept away to another time or place? What's the oddest pastime you enjoy?

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

Tagged summer | 5 Comments

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

Are homeschooled students really all that different?

What is true education?

Odd Pastimes

Summer Boredom--A Simple Schedule

Getting Ready

Mom...I'm bored

Stories of Longing for More

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