There's a moment in Apollo 13 where we discover that the team has to manually maneuver the ship for reentry. To make matters worse, the margin of error is equivalent to the width of a piece of paper if the earth was the size of a basketball. If they don't do it just right, they'll either burn up in the atmosphere or skip off it into the frozen emptiness of space.

Reentry into the daily grind of homeschooling can feel similarly daunting. Especially with Christmas break. Here we've had a nice long time of celebrating with friends and family, and now there are no more holidays on the horizon. The coming months can seem overwhelming. And the sugar-induced haze isn't helping anything.

What can you do to start this year off right?

1. Remember the things you do which bring you joy. Think back to the things that you were really enjoying prior to the break. Was it one of the amazing books you were reading together? Was it some skill your child just started to master? Did you discover some new topic that really excites you? Keep those victories and delights in mind as you get back into the swing of things. If you need a little inspiration, check out a few of the Sonlight Moments like this one.

2. Look over your priorities and goals again. This is the season for making plans and resolutions for the coming year. But before you do that, it's a good idea to review your goals for your homeschool. Your resolutions and plans for the coming year will become clearer as you consider the progress you've made and the things you need to emphasize more.

If you've seen Apollo 13--spoiler alert--you know the team makes splashdown safely. There's a reminder in that as well: You can do this. While you may feel like you're burning out or bouncing off into nothingness, you can make it.

What do you do when facing reentry into homeschooling?

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

"Would you like to read the instructions before continuing?"

The program was trying to be helpful, but I quickly clicked the "no" button. Not 45 seconds later I turned to my wife and said, "I probably should have read those instructions."

It's not the first time I haven't felt like reading the directions before jumping in. And it's not the last time I'm going to end up confused because of it. The trouble is, even fun things like games have a learning curve. The rules of chess are essential to enjoying the game. And if you want to be able to best someone like, say, my little brother, you have to go to the trouble of reading books on chess theory and such.

I no longer play chess with my brother.

Some games have really, really annoying methods of learning the rules. I don't play those games either.

This same knowledge gathering requirement extends into the homeschool world. Choosing homeschool curriculum can be a frustrating experience, even if you've tried to read the instructions on choosing the right homeschool program. To make matters worse, much like trying to dig through a book on chess game play, there are simply a ton of details to consider when choosing homeschooling curriculum. But when we want to find the best of something, we tend to read everything.

I know I did when I purchased my first video camera. And then, armed with what I had read, I went to the store and talked through everything again with the salesman. I wanted to be sure.

You have similar opportunities with Sonlight. If you are having trouble choosing your homeschooling curriculum, you have options. The first, and most immediate, option would be to chat with a Sonlight Advisor. Or, swing by the Choosing Sonlight forum.

If you've got a little more time to make your selection, visit a homeschool convention and chat with a Sonlight Consultant. You can also get some convention information right now by clicking over to Sonlight's Virtual Booth.

Choosing the homeschool curriculum program that is right for your family can be a lot of work. But once you have the information you need, you can be confident that you've made the best choice for you and your students.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

My dad called me on Saturday morning. He was so excited about what he had learned about Temple Grandin he just had to share. And I'm glad he did.

Dr. Grandin is an insightful person--due in large part to her incredibly visual method of thinking which is tied to her autism. Her TED talk contains many interesting observations, but my favorite was her point that in order to get students "turned on" to learning "you've got to show kids interesting stuff."

Absolutely.

Sonlight's homeschooling curriculum is packed full of fascinating books. I have fond memories of listening to the books my mom read to us. But I also spent hours just looking through many of the Usborne books. These titles were brimming over with interesting stuff. In fact, The Usborne Time Traveler inspired me so much, I drew castles in my high school drafting class:

Beast's Castle: Jr. Year of High School

In other words: The best way to get kids (and adults) interested in something is to show them interesting stuff.

How fortuitous, then, to bump into this interesting video in my RSS reader today. Granted, Vi Hart talks crazy-fast and doesn't exactly explain what's going on in her videos...

But that, I believe, is the point. She's not trying to teach here, she's trying to show you interesting stuff.

And it is interesting stuff.

In fact, you may just find yourself looking up something about math after watching one of her videos.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester