Twenty years ago, my mom was homeschooling us kids and loving it. When she learned that some families were struggling with their homeschool adventure, she decided to start Sonlight Curriculum.

That's right: My mom started Sonlight while homeschooling. Granted, Sonlight was a bit smaller back then. But my mom worked while homeschooling.

Now, I'm not nearly that on top of things. I didn't work while in college. I went to class and I swam. In reality, swimming on the team took up more time than a part-time job. And, with my scholarship, probably paid better too. But, whatever. The fact remains: I felt way too overwhelmed to work and do school at the same time.

Right now, The Old Schoolhouse is hosting a Blog Cruise on Working and Homeschooling. If you're interested in learning how others pull that off, check out some of the posts.

You can also listen to a fantastic Sonlight podcast on How to Homeschool While Working. This 40 minute presentation is broken up into four parts, so you can catch bits of it when you have time. Because, even if you aren't working yet, I'm sure you're plenty busy.

Even if you're successfully homeschooling and working, you may learn ways you can do both better. If you're interested in learning more about working while homeschooling, check out the How to Homeschool While Working podcast.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

Let's say you're interested in trying out something new. It could be a new digital camera, cookbook, spelling program, dental cream, garden tool or smartphone app. Before you decide to invest in this amazing new thing, you wonder: How do other people like this?

That is, if you're anything like me. Not that I use dental cream. I have, however, used dental wax before. Which isn't really the same thing.

Where was I?

Right. If you're anything like me, you probably read reviews, blog posts and anything else you can find on a product before you shell out your hard-earned money. And you're not alone. We all love to hear about the experiences of others. Like penguins on an iceberg, we'd rather find out if someone else got eaten before we're ready to jump.

That's where you come in.

Several of our more recent products do not have any reviews yet.

MathTacular4 Reviews

Would you be willing to take a couple minutes and rate the homeschool products you're using? You will help other homeschoolers make better choices. Since you've already "tested the waters"--as it were--your insights and experience are invaluable. The number of stars you select will help shape the buying decisions of homeschoolers around the world.

That's huge.

Please feel free to review anything from Sonlight that you've used. But I'd really appreciate your feedback on:

MathTacular4
Grammar 5
Grammar 6
and Piano Wizard

Thank you so much for braving the waters for the rest of us!

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

Tim Hawkins admits he doesn't know. In one of his routines, he says, "The kid knows Greek, but he still eats bugs. What grade is that?"

Henry Cate

Ignore the health benefits of eating bugs for the moment.

Children develop skills at a variety of rates. This fact is far more important to their education than student's "date of manufacture." The practice of grouping students into "grades" is about crowd control, organization and labeling. Saying that a student is in Fifth Grade tells us nothing more than an age span.

This past Sunday, one of the teachers was away. We were given another grade level to teach in our class. Not a problem. A few more children weren't able to read yet, but that wasn't a big deal. We pressed on anyway. I teach Sunday School in such a way that the age of the kids doesn't matter much.

Literature-based curriculum has a similar benefit. Good books don't have a specific age attached to them. In fact, I personally enjoy books in every single one of Sonlight's homeschool curriculum programs. And we get comments every year from well educated parents who tell us that they learned a ton from the year of Sonlight.

Your child isn't best served by focusing on the grade he or she is "in." Far better to choose an appropriate program that covers the topics you want your student to study next. That's why we recommend several of Sonlight's Core programs for a particular age or grade.

What's more, without a specific grade, you can teach students of multiple ages with the same homeschooling curriculum. That saves you time and money. Both of which are good things.

So next time you're asked what grade your child is in, consider quoting Tim Hawkins: "The kid knows Greek, but he still eats bugs. What grade is that?"

If that does not satisfy your interrogator, you could always add: I use a Sonlight program. It's fantastic.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

"Wait. Glass isn't a slowly moving liquid?"

I blinked at the comic on my screen.

Before long I was researching "amorphous solids" and trying to get my head around molecular structures and the general lack of agreement as to what, precisely, glass is.

Then I'm jamming out to a French Revolution history lesson set to a Lady Gaga tune. (Seriously, check that out.)

A few minutes later I'm reading about homeschoolers using their free time to work on a stop motion video. It takes me back to my early days of creativity.

Web comics, "Bad Romance," filmmaking. What's this? Schools closed during the Great Depression?

This is compelling stuff. It makes me want to learn. I'm jumping into the subjects of history, economics, physics, art. And I'm doing it because something grabbed my attention. I feel compelled to learn. What's more: It's a natural part of my day. I love that homeschooling gives us the flexibility to study something we find intriguing.

And yet, I agree with Henry Cate: These things can entice students and pique their interest, but it can't replace focused learning through instruction.

Sonlight is a fantastic homeschool option because the natural compulsion to learn is built into the engaging books of Sonlight's homeschooling curriculum. Sonlight fosters a desire to learn because the books draw you in. The demand for compulsory education is drowned out by the chant that we read more.

Sonlight takes the great parts of homeschooling--such as the flexibility to enjoy life-long learning whenever/however it comes up--and adds to these the wonder and joy of a literature-based home education.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

Post after post today contained pictures of homeschoolers doing their homeschooling thing. Children sitting at their desks with their math textbooks. Kids filling out worksheets. A family spread around a table, pencils in hand.

Conspicuously missing from these pictures of homeschool life is the one thing I remember from my own. Absent were the kinds of photos that pepper the Sonlight Catalog every year. I didn't see a single image reflecting the Sonlight ideal of how we learn together.

This omission reminded me of a proposed marketing theme from years back. The idea capitalized on the way Sonlight is such a radical shift from the norm. I couldn't find a mockup of the concept, so I tossed one together:

Welcome to Your New School

When I think of homeschooling, I picture myself near the couch. The sofa = school. Whether we were crammed onto it during an exciting story, or playing near it while my mom read about far off lands, or draped across it while lost in another world, the couch is the central image of my homeschooling experience.

There's something friendly, inviting, family-oriented, and literature-focused about my memory of the family room couch. And reading--together, alone, or out loud--is my image of homeschooling.

When you think of homeschooling, what image pops into your head?

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

P.S. I couldn't find a picture of the "Welcome to Your New School" image, but I did find an old snapshot of myself. It seemed blog worthy to me:

Worksheets? This is Homeschool!
(said in my best Spartan voice)