May. 10, 2021

Stories from New Homeschoolers: Schools Are Open Again. Now What?

By Sonlight
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As life is slowly returning to normal after Covid-19 upheaval, it’s natural to start thinking ahead to the next school year. We asked families who chose to homeschool in 2020 because of the pandemic about their plans for educating their kids for the coming 2021-2022 school year. We asked:

  • Have you already decided to keep homeschooling or are you still on the fence about sending kids back to public school?
  • Is the choice a hard one or an easy one?
  • What factors are you weighing as you choose?

As we expected, there were some families who are eager to send their kids back to public school or private school. Homeschooling wasn't easy for them, and their children are longing to go back to school.

Plenty of others remain undecided in late April and early May about the fall.

But the vast majority of moms who answered our questions report truly enjoying homeschool to the extent that they want to continue on even when they don't have to because of Covid-19! The pandemic opened the door to an option many of them have never seriously considered. But now with nearly a full school year under their belts, these families have wholeheartedly embraced the lifestyle of home education and plan to stay the course for the next school year.

Here's a peek into their thoughts and experiences.

Families with a Mix of Homeschool and Other Choices

"Kid 1 will go back to public high school. For her mental health, and the sake of normalcy and continuing to work her plan. Kid 2 will stay home, as always. That was always the plan plus Covid-related immune issues. He’ll go to public school eventually, but it’s not time yet." —Jen M. P.

"Kid 1 has been in private high school all year. Kid 2 will join him, as was the plan all along. Kid 3 will be home. Kid 4 is severely/profoundly disabled and will likely return to public school because of his significant needs, assuming Covid is somewhat under control." —Kara P. S.

Homeschooling Works for Us! We're Staying the Course

We will homeschool next year. By God's grace, this year has been very successful in every way. Thank the good Lord!! —Pam S.

"We’ve decided to homeschool again next year. It wasn’t a hard decision for us, since this year had gone well and there’s a good chance that public school will not be quite back to normal yet in the fall. We discovered that homeschool allows us to help our kids manage their learning differences better than in public school. God willing, we hope to homeschool through high school." —Cindy L. F.

"Homeschooling again, for sure! Almost can't imagine sending my kids to school everyday again. (And they were in a great Christian day school!). I love the lifestyle, the pace, the freedom, the relationships being built….and on and on." —Ingrid S.

"I started as a COVID homeschooler. Prior to COVID, I wasn't aware that homeschooling could be done by parents who worked outside the home. Now, after this first year, I am dedicated to homeschool my children for as long as they will tolerate it! Our lives are forever changed by the ability to homeschool, and made so much richer by the curriculum that Sonlight has provided. There has been a lot of darkness associated with this past year, but Sonlight has been exactly that, our sunlight!" —Marcy L.

"We are absolutely homeschooling again next year! This lifestyle change has been fantastic for our family. My son is thriving in school again. My daughter had a fantastic kindergarten year. We have been able to enjoy activities outside our home like karate, swimming, and horseback riding that we didn’t have time for while in public school. My kids are happier than they’ve ever been and even though homeschooling is a lot of work for me, I know it’s what’s best and is also less stress for me. I know my kids are safe, learning, and happy!" —Rachel B.

Stories from New Homeschoolers: The Life Lessons We've Learned

"We were in public school prior to COVID, and fell into homeschooling suddenly this year. My husband and I both work outside the home and didn’t know how easy homeschooling could fit into our lives. What a blessing Sonlight has been for us! It has been hands down the best year my son (who is gifted and has ADHD) has ever had academically. We plan to finish his next four high school years with Sonlight and feel more positive about his future than ever before!" —Tara M.

"I am 99% sure we are homeschooling again next year after beginning last year due to Covid. The amazing books we have read together have been a highlight of the year. I also feel so much less stressed, which seems odd, I know, considering I could spend most of my days with my kids at school if I wanted, but we are all enjoying the slower pace of life, the mornings where we can take time to make a hot breakfast, snuggle on the couch next to a fireplace with good books, and be done by early afternoon with enough time for my four boys to go outside and play and explore. —Audrey A.

"For us it was an easy decision to continue to use Sonlight next year. My kids have learned so much this year and gained confidence in areas that they started to hate and now love. We have grown as a family and I have learned along side each kid. While the pandemic led us to this path, I know the Lord had this in our future. It feels like we are following what God wants for our family." —Kayla M. D.

"We are absolutely going to stick with it! My child has learned more and grown so much more than ever expected! In school. She was always struggling. Always in the office. Now, she is LEARNING! Socially, I thought there would be a concern but actually, play dates and individual time with friends has helped her to be more sensitive to people. We have more time for fitness and learning household responsibilities. A lot more pros than cons. It had been a great experience for us and I was the world's most skeptical mom. I interviewed upwards of 10 homeschool families. So happy with our choice." —Jodi H.

Homeschooling Again, But with Some Reservations

"We started homeschooling last year because of the mask mandate. We have decided to keep homeschooling. My daughter will be going into 2nd grade and my son will start kindergarten. Very excited and anxious because I have not started a child from the ground up. My daughter got her reading basics in public school kindergarten. It’s an easy decision for us but still kind of bittersweet because my son will never experience “school” the traditional way. For some reason I’m feeling guilty about that." —Erica E. W.

"We began homeschooling last year but had been entertaining the idea before the pandemic. Our children are thriving academically and so we plan to continue on. I’m learning so much alongside my children that I am really looking forward to next year. It was a difficult decision because my children miss their school, however we really believe this is the best decision for our family. We considered that one of our children is above grade level and one slightly below. Neither was served well at school. Once more in person activities are available, they will be able to make friends. It is also much less stressful to be on our own schedule and health-wise, my children are finally getting the sleep that they need. The will be safe, well rested and academically challenged at home." —Tracy N. A.

For sure we will homeschool next year and the next. We already bought our curriculum. My son is so happy with Sonlight. One of his friends from school just asked him if he wanted to come back to school and he answered so quickly, 'No. No, I am not coming back. I love to study at home!!'" —Jenny S.

5 Keys to Help You & Your Spouse Decide to Homeschool

We're Are Sending Our Kids Back to Public School

"This was an agonizingly difficult choice. My husband and I prayed through all of Lent and decided to send our kids back to school in the fall. I am homeschooling my 2nd and 5th grade sons this year, and we were considering pulling our rising 9th grader for next year. But we have decided at this time it is better for them to go back. We will be utilizing many Sonlight resources next year and in the years to come to supplement their public school education. We are so thankful for this year I have had at home with our sons." —Amy O. R.

"I am grateful for the opportunity to homeschool during a pandemic. 2020 was our first and last year homeschooling. We have 3 ninth graders and 2 sixth graders. For next year I've applied all five kids to a private Christian school that stayed open the entire school year. Kids were public school educated prior to this year. While I made the best decision I could with the information I had at the time, it has been miserable for us. God is sovereign, and I'm eager to see what He accomplishes in our family through this. It was an easy decision, but will be a huge financial hit. Factors that contributed were my and my one son's mental well being as well as the other kids' academic needs. All thrive on competition that was lacking among the siblings."— Kelli C.

"Seems like I will be in the minority here, but this was our first year homeschooling and while I loved, loved, loved Sonlight, we struggled and so (for the sake of our relationships) we are sending the kids to a charter school. I feel like a failure but every single day ended up in yelling and tears from both parties. Wish it had been different." —Melissa W. G.

"CoraJane will not be able to return to in person school until she is vaccinated, hopefully 2022. She will return, not because we don’t like homeschooling. We actually love it. It’s just the best thing for her. We will always be super thankful that Sonlight was available to us. She has learned so much and I believe will be a much stronger student going forward whenever she returns." —Angela G. S.

Teaching History from Multiple Perspectives for 30 Years

We're Still Trying to Decide

"I am deeply conflicted about what to do next year with my soon-to-be kindergartener. Her father and I always imagined seeing her go to her first day of school—toting a tiny backpack full of supplies—to a brick-and-mortar classroom full of potential friends (just like her two much bigger sisters did). However, we loved the literature-based, Sonlight PreK curriculum we used this last year. Uncle Wiggly, Milly Molly Mandy, and that naughty Brer Rabbit will be characters we love and remember for years to come! While discovering many more fabulous Sonlight books and characters is a great temptation, I lament over the solitude of homeschooling and am horrified at the thought of teaching a child to read! We’ve already begun trying a phonics reading program and it is so challenging! The debate for school next year continues…" —Amy D.

"I'm a COVID homeschooler. So hard to decide. I like homeschooling: the academics, the flexible time, the bonding, the Bible time, and the values I teach him through the curriculum. But my son is the only child at home, and he is very active and sociable. I doubt co-op is enough for him, even if we feel safe for him to go. So we haven't bought the curriculum, and I'm preparing for both scenarios as we monitor the COVID situation." —Queenie C.

"We are Covid homeschoolers, but all in all loved this year. We hope to return to school in the fall (mostly for socializing) but we won’t if the numbers are still concerning😬. We learned this year that we can do this successfully and enjoyed it as a family. We would definitely consider it in the future if we aren’t getting what we need from public schools. We are also going to continue with some things either way: bible lessons at home regularly and history." —Martha R.

We're Homeschooling at Least One More Year

"We have decided to continue homeschooling our 3 kids. There were a lot of positives that came out of homeschooling that we want to continue exploring. Our plan is to homeschool another year and see how things are going. There has been a lot of growth with all 3 kids and I don’t think we would have seen as much if they had done virtual learning." —Nicole V.

"We will be continuing our homeschool journey for another year. We are just not comfortable sending them back yet in terms of COVID, nor the amount of recovery and figuring out the schools will be having to do. We may even continue homeschool indefinitely after that as well." —Andrea J. B.

"We are continuing our Sonlight Journey for the 2021-2022 school year! We watched how our kids thrived with HBL B and Horizons Math and the decisions was very easy to make. I can’t imagine a different lifestyle for us now." —Katie J. B.

"My husband and I both work full-time in very demanding jobs. I have learned so much about how my first grader learns best and have enjoyed learning alongside him. I appreciate the flexibility that homeschooling provides and that we can study what, when, where, and how we want. Our son has been challenged academically this year, I believe to a much greater extent than he would have in public school, and has been allowed to learn at a pace and in an environment that works best for him. Socialization always seems to be a concern of those who are new to homeschooling or don't know much about it, but he has friends nearby and from church and is active in sports and other activities. I have had to start some new habits and get more organized in order to keep up with everything, but these changes have benefited our entire family. Homeschooling on top of everything else is hard but well worth it, and our lives have been enriched as a result. We will continue to re-assess periodically but for now, we are all in on homeschooling for next year!" — Rebecca B.

"We are doing it again! I still can’t believe we are a homeschool family, but it has been a blessing in disguise. I want to do it through high school, but trying to take it year by year. Almost kindergartener and second grader!!" — Brittany G.

"We homeschooled for kindergarten this year, and we feel it was successful, so we decided to go ahead and homeschool again. We ordered next year's curriculum already!! Also we decided to take it year by year." —Katie B.

More From New Homeschoolers

This is the final installment in the Stories from New Homeschoolers Series:

Of course as advocates of homeschooling, we at Sonlight are thrilled to see so many families continuing to homeschool for at least one more year. And it's a tremendous blessing to know that we could walk alongside these parents and children during the difficult year of the pandemic. But we support every family's unique decision even if that means other options. The key to parenting is your loving involvement, whatever path you take for educating your kids.

You Can Homeschool

Are you ready to homeschool? Like the many moms quoted above, you can do this, too! Learn how to get started.

GET STARTED

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May. 7, 2021

3 Reasons I'll Keep Homeschooling Even After Covid-19

By Elisabeth Laudermilch
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We sent our kids to public school for the first five years of their education. In many ways, it was a good experience for us. Our kids learned to read and learned their math facts. They performed well on state testing. They had friends and got along well with their teachers. We were set on our educational trajectory.

And then came Covid. In March of 2020, our educational system came to a grinding halt.  

  • First the kids were sent home for two weeks.  
  • Then they went to online school for two months.  
  • And then schools sent home a list of rules to keep everyone safe for the upcoming school year.  

Masking and distancing and quarantining and pivoting to remote became buzzwords. All of a sudden, public schooling did not seem like a very good option for our family. My husband and I started to look for other options for our three school-aged kids. Homeschooling stood out.

Could Homeschooling Work for Our Family?

Homeschooling has always been an interesting concept to me. As a former public school teacher, I have been curious to see how it might work out in real life.  

With Covid, finally, the risks of homeschooling seemed to be less than the risks of public schooling.  So I decided to try it for the first time.

Getting Started With Homeschooling

With five kids at home and three school-age children, I set out on the adventure of picking a curriculum and learning our state’s homeschooling requirements.

What seemed so intimidating at first was not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be.  

Our homeschooling friends and family were extremely helpful, showing us how to complete the affidavit to homeschool, allowing us to borrow curriculum, and showing us where to find our state’s requirements for homeschooling.  

We started our homeschooling adventure in August of 2020, believing that we could have a good year, but not really knowing what day-to-day homeschooling would look like. After a full year of school at home, we are pleasantly surprised at how well homeschooling works for our family. In fact, we are going to continue homeschooling our kids for three key reasons.

Three Reasons I'll Keep Homeschooling Even After Covid-19

1. Homeschooling Offers a Family-Friendly Lifestyle

My favorite aspect of homeschooling has, surprisingly, been the change in our lifestyle. When you send your kids to school, public or otherwise, so much of your life revolves around the school’s schedule.

  • You base your kids’ bedtimes on when they have to get up for school.  
  • If you drive your kids to school, everyone has to pile in the car twice a day to get the kids at appointed times.  
  • School plays and special occasions and sports make the school experience fun, but they also tend to dominate your family’s life.  

With homeschooling, school is part of your every day and can be done when it’s the most convenient for the family.  If your family likes to go on a lot of trips or has activities at night, you can be flexible with your wake-up time and school day.  Instead of the kids’ school schedule dominating what your family does each day, school is adapted to family life. I have found great freedom this year in the flexibility that homeschooling has offered our family.

2. Homeschooling Can Be Adapted to Each Student’s Needs

Public school has always had the immense challenge of educating large groups of students with various abilities and interests. Because a teacher must teach 20-25 students in a limited amount of time each day, the pace of the class is focused on that of the average student. Students who need more time and support often get left behind, and students who are ahead academically are bored in class.

Homeschooling provides an opportunity to tailor learning to each student’s needs.  If your student needs more work on a given subject, you can give him extra time and support.  If a student has mastered a concept, you can move on to the next subject or add enrichment activities. Homeschooling provides an individualized approach to learning.    

3. Your Homeschool Curriculum Can Support Your Family’s Values

Another blessing of this school year has been the curriculum that we have picked for our kids.  We have been schooling all year with Sonlight, a literature-based curriculum that fits our family’s love of reading. The curriculum introduces history, but in both fiction and nonfiction books instead of textbooks. It also includes daily Bible reading, memorization, and some stellar math programs.  

Reading the Bible regularly as a family and exploring history and literature together is a daily blessing, and there is no doubt that what they are learning will influence our kids’ worldview for years to come. Being able to explore learning from a faith-based perspective is a luxury that is not available in most school systems today.

I listened to the news just this morning, and the reporter noted that households who are homeschooling at least one child have doubled to 11% of households with school-aged children within the last year. Many parents surveyed are not sending their kids back to school, even when the pandemic is over. Post-pandemic, education is going to be one of those things that will never be the same. It’s not all bad. Families will discover that they can successfully educate their kids at home just like I have!

You Can Homeschool
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May. 6, 2021

10 Reasons Why I Homeschool All Summer Long

By Veronica Soto
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10 Reasons Why I Homeschool All Summer Long

Summer is usually viewed as a time of freedom from school, where children can spend long, lazy days with nothing to do, but have fun and relax. So, then, why would anyone want to force their children to do schoolwork during that time? Here are some reasons we choose to keep homeschooling through the summer:

1. Summers Are Hot

We currently live the desert where Southern Texas meets Northern Mexico; it’s dry, dusty, and often above 110 degrees. Since living in the pool during the day would result in sunburn, and it’s too hot to do much else except sit around under the air conditioner during the hottest hours of the day, during the summer I have a captive audience for reading a great book or doing a few pages of math.

During the cooler hours in the morning and evening, my children can still do all the things children love in summer, but during the dangerously hot afternoon hours, school is a great way to keep them from getting bored.

2. Summer Affords Time for Catching Up and Getting Ahead

You know that feeling you get when the end of the year is coming up and you miscalculated how many days it would take to get your math book done? Or, you just seemed to get more and more behind in your Read-Alouds as the year progressed?

Here's a solution. Join with those who believe that not every book needs to be finished, and let it go.

Or try to finish up the book at the beginning of the next year before delving into the new book selections. Also, you can do a little tiny bit each day, over the summer, and catch up at a more relaxed pace, and then start the next book so you don’t have to worry about the same thing happening next year.

3. Studies Show Children Lose Skills Over Long Breaks

Many textbook authors know this, and will purposely schedule review from the previous year at the beginning of their textbooks. They know children need to relearn and review past skills before progressing. However, if your child has been practicing reading, writing, and math skills all summer, they haven’t had a chance to lose those skills, and are ready to delve into the new material without review. You just sidestepped summer slide!

4. School Schedules Are Set by People Who Have Never Met Me

The people who decide when school starts and stops at your local school don’t care when it’s best or more convenient for my family to do school. They pick dates based on arbitrary reasons, such as

  • when they would like to have off
  • what’s always been done
  • what’s most cost-effective

But I get to be the person who sets the schedule for my family, so I can take into account

  • when my vacation would be cheaper
  • when it’s more convenient for me to take breaks
  • what is going on in my life

There's no need to let strangers run the show when it comes to my homeschool schedule. You, too, can homeschool all summer long like I do.

5. Summer Schooling Frees Up Days Elsewhere

  1. Having a new baby halfway through the school year? No problem. You’ve already made up days during the summer.
  2. Grandma suddenly gets sick and you need to spend time helping her get better? That’s OK, you’ve got plenty of days already banked.
  3. Your child breaks a leg trying to do stunts on her bicycle? You can afford to take off a few days until the worst of the pain is over, and even have extra time for the extra doctor’s appointments she’ll be needing.  No need to stress.

And, most importantly, have you ever experienced that day in spring where you absolutely cannot keep your children's focus,because the weather is so beautiful that you all want to be outside? That's the perfect time to call a sun day (as opposed to a snow day) and head outdoors for fun. School will wait.

What about at Christmas time, when you need to decorate, make cookies, buy gifts, and do a million other small things, and school takes a backseat? Summer school days can easily fill in the gaps for the days you miss.

6. Getting Children Back Into Routine is Hard

Even a break as short as a week can mean bad behaviors and complaining increase. A long, 3-month break often means a lot of resistance and behavior issues until my children settle back into their routine. However, because we homeschool all summer long, I don't lose all of the hard work I put in during the year. Starting back goes more smoothly than it would otherwise.

7. You Can Choose How Much to Do

If doing a full day's worth of work sounds like more than you want to do during the summer, then choose what you would like to do. For example, many parents choose half days for summer schooling, whereas other parents feel half a math worksheet, a bit of journaling, and some reading is more than sufficient.

Sonlight offers great Summer Readers that are even more fun than their usual readers to fill those long hours. Many of these have become family favorites, such as The Terrible Two, Savvy, and Absolutely Truly.

DOWNLOAD A FREE SUMMER READING KIT

8. Summer Schooling is a Chance to Add in Fun Extras

Sonlight recently released American History Lap Book kits perfect for my son who just finished History/Bible/Literature D. We can assemble the Lap Book over the summer, and get a great review of what we learned without doing a lot of formal studying. Sonlight has Lap Books available for 2 different levels, as well as a Hands-on Kit to go along with the content learned in HBL A.

You can also choose a few different electives, such as art, typing, or computer coding to do over the summer.  That's not to mention all those great activities and videos you found online but haven’t been able to get to yet.  By using summer to add in all those activities, you don’t have to feel guilty about not getting them done during the year when you meant to.

9. And All Those Books You Haven’t Gotten Around to

I recently discovered that Sonlight has now packaged all the books used exclusively in the 5-day programs into neat little bundles so you don’t have to try to figure out which books aren’t included in the 4-day programs. It’s now convenient and easy to order the missing books, and summer is a great time to add them in. They also have the extra readers bundled up, which make for great summer reading.

It’s a chance to finish all those books that were too much to squeeze into your year, and all the sequels you would love to read but haven’t had time for.

10. (My) Children Thrive with Structure

Our family likes to homeschool all summer long, but a lot of my friends and family prefer to do less because they have a lot of scheduled activities such as Vacation Bible School, summer camps, and summer classes. We work our schedules around those things, but I find if my children have nothing at all to do during the day, they tend to make more mischief and be slightly more destructive than they would otherwise. Children thrive on routine, so a modified routine during the summer helps to corral much of the chaos.

Doing nothing all summer long is great, and it works well for many families. Some of my friends can’t imagine giving up their long summers. However, other families like mine find that adding some school to their summer takes a lot of pressure off throughout the rest of the year and helps them to do more without a lot more effort.

To find out more about Sonlight's book-based homeschool programs, order a complimentary copy of your catalog today. Remember, you can start and finish your school year anytime you want.

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May. 5, 2021

How I Learned to Be Content with My Homeschool Curriculum

By Jennifer Brodie
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How I Learned to Be Content with My Homeschool Curriculum

I recently read a blog post that resonated with me. It’s about being content with the curriculum I have, the one I chose for the year, and trusting God with my homeschool. 

Of course, I know the value of contentment. After all, in Matthew 6:34, Jesus tells us not to worry about tomorrow (or next school year), and Paul tells us in Philippians 4:6-7 to apply prayer and thanksgiving (contentment) as we rest in the knowledge that God is in control. 

However, after reading the post I realized I don't homeschool in faith. 

The Homeschool Curriculum Problem

Year after year, I plan, and plan, and plan with worry, coveting, and a bit of excitement at the prospect of new. Some years I want a boxed curriculum, others a design-my-own, and usually I go for an eclectic mix of both. 

No matter what I buy I can never leave it as it is. 

  • I tweak pre-planned lessons. 
  • I add unit studies, books, activities, and projects. 
  • I combine classical, traditional, and Charlotte Mason. Instead of one spelling or math program, I mix multiple programs of the current best to be sooth my fear of falling behind or having gaps. 
  • Then I try to add all the extras like art, music, P.E., typing, foreign language, Latin, outdoor time, morning time, quiet time, or whatever someone else is doing that I find irresistible. 

Naturally, all of this layering only adds up to stress, unnecessary busyness, unrealistic expectations, disappointment, fatigue, and burn out.

When this happens, I need to pause, take a deep breath, and be comforted by Paul’s words:

"Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)

The Solution to My Curriculum Pressures

It's time to get off the merry-go-round. I have forgotten why I'm homeschooling in the first place. Academics are important to me, but I don't need to follow what everyone else is doing. I want my children to enjoy learning and not groan every time I pull out the latest math manipulatives or spelling program.

I want

  • to enjoy my days spent teaching my children and not feel stressed or like I'm not doing enough  
  • to do what is right for our family and stop comparing my homeschool with other homeschool families 
  • my children to love reading and the pursuit of knowledge 
  • my children to wonder at God's creation and seek understanding 
  • my children to love Jesus with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their mind. (Matthew 22:37) 
  • to slow down and stop feeling like I am in a race

Therefore, I have picked a boxed curriculum that best aligns with my reasons for homeschooling. I don't want to spend time planning, seeking, gathering, and printing. Instead, I want to spend the years I have left homeschooling my youngest in God's peace, and simply be thankful and enjoy our days. I plan to use the curriculum I have chosen as is, without adding anything more to it. 

By trusting that God is in control, I can let go and be content with the knowledgeable people who have taken the time, experience, and research to put together a complete curriculum. Only God can fill in the gaps. In faith, at the end of the day I want to close the planner and walk away, not worrying about tomorrow, but start each day refreshed and confident as I open the planner already laid out for me and simply do the next thing.

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May. 4, 2021

Set Summer Goals You Will be Thankful for in September

By Laura Booz
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Set Summer Goals You Will be Thankful for in September

In our neck of the woods, it has been a long school year, and we’re all looking forward to a summer break. Come June, we’ll trade in our lesson plans for the trampoline, the pool, and popsicles. But because I’m a Type A Mom, I can’t let the whole summer go without some kind of goal setting.

But every summer, I try to do something that sets us up for a successful school year. After all, summer affords me extra time to help my children build good habits, learn useful skills, pursue healthy relationships, and tackle the necessary chores that get overlooked in the hustle and bustle of the school year. So every June, I choose a few things that will be life-giving to our homeschooling schedule come September.

Set Up Your Family for Success This Summer

What might make your upcoming year happier, stronger, or smoother? What habits, chores, skills, or relationships could you build during the summer so that your upcoming school year thrives?

Next year, I’ll be homeschooling grades 9, 6, 3, kindergarten and pre-k, while nurturing a 1 year old. (Wow, that looks intimidating! You can pray for me.)

I want our summer days to be peaceful, but I need to tackle a few basic things this summer that will help us to thrive in September. After brainstorming and prayer, I’ve chosen to focus on these three goals. I hope they inspire you in your summer goal creation.

Summer Goal 1. Potty Training for the Three-year-old

If he’s potty-trained by September, I’ll be one happy momma. Hopefully, I won’t be potty-training while teaching 3rd grade math, 6th grade Language Arts, high school biology, and kindergarten sight words! (Check out our family’s fun potty-training motivation that is free, simple, and child-led.)

Summer Goal 2. Reading for the Soon-to-be-kindergartener

She’s ready and summer is such a happy time to sit side by side for a few minutes each day with one of the Sonlight K Readers. We’ll both be more relaxed. We can snuggle on the couch, sit on the porch swing, or lay on a quilt in the shade. The early days of sounding out words requires lots of patience. Hopefully, I’ll have more of that in the summer!

Summer Goal 3. Recreational Reading for the Rising Third Grader

If I can help my son to become a more confident reader, his upcoming school year will be so much more enjoyable in every subject area. He’ll appreciate the independence and—I believe—will fall in love with books.

Our local library hosts an amazing summer reading program that motivates all of our kids to read as much as possible. I’ll use the Sonlight Summer Readers and stock his shelves with plenty of interesting reads—fiction and nonfiction. Then I’ll enable him to keep track of his accomplishments and to redeem his own tickets at the library.

DOWNLOAD A FREE SUMMER READING KIT

Keep the Goals Simple This Summer

Every summer, I am tempted to tackle too many improvements. I’ve learned the hard way that more than a few summer projects overwhelm and discourage my kids. If we all band together around a couple of manageable goals, we are much happier and much stronger come September.

Go ahead and brainstorm the gazillion things you would like to improve by September 1. Pray about which items are the most essential. Ask your husband and child to weigh in on the decision.

Then choose one to three things from your list. Write each goal in clear wording and communicate this clearly to your family. Identify the outcome that you are hoping to achieve, the behavior you’ll pursue to get there, and the benefit that it will have on your home life. Then, take it all in stride and see how it fits into your summer.

Just think—you and your family are being good stewards, preparing for a hope-filled future!

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May. 3, 2021

Sonlight Summer Readers: Mom's Secret for #Winning Book Choices

By Sonlight
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Sonlight Summer Readers: Mom's Secret for #Winning Book Choices

Homeschool Moms and Reluctant Readers Stunned by the Engaging Adventures in the Sonlight Summer Readers!

It's true. Homeschool moms, reluctant readers, and many more people have all purchased the Sonlight Summer Readers and been stunned by the engaging adventures and thrilling new worlds. So much so that they wrote about how they felt. (You can read what they wrote below.)

But before we get to that, a question: What makes the Sonlight Summer Readers unique?

First and foremost, their quality.

Sonlight Summer Readers are Fun But Fluff-free

Each of our carefully selected packages includes several books. These books are not frivolous "twaddle." Rather, they emphasize the pleasure of reading (something very welcome during the summer!), and they eliminate many of the common frustrations people experience reading lower quality titles (like poor dialogue, clichéd plot lines, inappropriate content, and so on).

After nearly three decades of book reviewing and choosing, Sonlight founder Sarita Holzmann, and her daughter Jonelle, know good books when they read them.

Besides the quality you’ve come to expect from Sonlight’s literature, you can also look forward to good variety. Like the Sonlight History / Bible / Literature programs, each Sonlight Summer Reader release includes a range of genres. A few nonfiction pieces, and a lot of fiction: mysteries, humor, fantasy, historical fiction, coming of age, adventure, science fiction, drama.

Sonlight Summer Readers are divided into packages for three age ranges: elementary, middle, and high school, and divided into boy books and girl books.

This overview only scratches the surface. Let’s go deeper.

How Does Gender Affect Book Choices?

(You only think you know the answer.)

Have you ever read that classic parenting book Why Gender Matters? Written by a medical doctor, the author wanted to know how boys and girls are different. He went through the scientific literature to see what researchers had learned thus far about their physical differences. It’s a fascinating read.

For example:

In the eye, boys have more rods (motion sensors); girls have more cones (color sensors). This is why girls tend to draw scenes, or nouns, because they see in color. Boys tend to draw action, or verbs, because they see motion.

Girls have more sensitive hearing. Thus, a girl might feel like her father or brother is YELLING at her, when he thinks he is just talking normally. (This is also why boys shouldn’t sit at the back of a classroom—they might not hear a female teacher, if she is speaking in her normal tone of voice.)

And, most pertinent to today’s topic, emotions are processed differently in the brain for boys and girls.

For all children, prior to adolescence, the seat of emotions (the amygdala) is far from the verbal part (the cerebral cortex) of the brain. To ask a 6-year-old, “How are you feeling?” is probably not going to get much of a response.

For girls in their teens, though, the brain’s emotions move up to the verbal part of the brain. Teen girls can talk to you about how they feel all day long!

Not so with boys. For boys, their emotional seat doesn’t move. It stays in the amygdala. A teen boy is not much different than a 6-year-old in this regard. A teen boy will be uncomfortable if asked to write a paper about, “How does this make you feel?” He has feelings, but no way to describe them.

The stereotype would be: “In fiction, girls like romance and girl characters, and boys like action and boy characters.” And that is sort of true, but not quite.

Rather, girls prefer books about experiences and emotions. Boys want adventure and excitement.

In every Sonlight History / Bible / Literature program, we try to balance the boy and the girl books.

But in the Sonlight Summer Readers, you can pick books for girls, or books for boys. Let them read good things just for fun.

The Seek and Find for Quality Books

At Sonlight, books are our passion. In early 2016, the marketing writer at Sonlight noticed that there were various numbers about how many books Sonlight founder Sarita reads in a week, or a year, or over the course of Sonlight's existence. And they were some pretty impressive numbers: "twelve books a week," for example, or "tens of thousands of books" since Sonlight's inception.

She was curious about how accurate those numbers are.

Since Sarita is no longer the only person in Product Development who reviews books, she asked the Product Development team to keep track of the number of books that they reviewed in the month of May.

May 2016 was a pretty normal month, overall—certainly not a month that had a concentrated push to review books.

The writer was impressed!

The team read, with pleasure, 68 books.

And the team reviewed—meaning, skimmed or read in spots enough to determine the book wasn't worth their time—an additional 146 books.

Yes. In the month of May, the Sonlight Product Development team reviewed 214 titles.

And not 214 preschool picture books—two hundred fourteen chapter books.

Additionally, one team member went through 832 pages of catalogs, scanning for promising titles that are coming out soon.

This sneak peak at the Sonlight process is the reason our books are so well-loved. It’s why we read comments like this about our Summer Readers:

We get a couple packs every year, and we've not come across any we don't like yet.‬ ~Veronica L.

‬‬‬‬‬‬We appreciate such testimonials. But we also think—if our team reviews somewhere around 2400 books annually (not counting the thousands of books in catalogs we choose not to review), we’d hope the Sonlight titles would be good ones!

Did you catch that?

When Jonelle and Sarita pick Summer Readers, they have the benefit of having reviewed somewhere around 2400 books since the last time they picked Summer Readers.

Most likely, no matter how fast a reader you are, you didn’t read 2400 books in the last year. The Sonlight team did. And you get the benefit.

Reading in the Summer

A Bit About Books and Maturity

There’s a classic rule of thumb that the age of the main character should be approximately the age of the reader. For example, a book set in middle school is usually going to be good for middle schoolers, and less interesting for high schoolers, and too mature for elementary students. (Though the younger students might want to read an “older” book.)

But this is only approximate.

One of the Sonlight reviewers was glancing through Cheryl B. Klein’s book The Magic Words: Writing Great Books for Children and Young Adults and noticed something shocking. Klein, writing to authors hoping to publish books for children, talks briefly about “content.”

I’m using the word “content” here as a catch-all for language or subjects that American adults often wish to keep young people away from: swear words, sex, drug use, and violence and the effects of violence. Just as certain words, images, or subjects will earn a movie a PG-13 or R rating, the appearance of those words, images, or subjects in a book for young readers can push its classification from middle-grade [ages 8-12] to YA [Young Adult, ages 13-18]. (You can write pretty much anything in YA besides erotica.)

When she says that authors “can write pretty much anything in YA besides erotica,” she means that literally. Sonlight reviewers have read ever-increasingly detailed descriptions of teens engaging in the marital act, as well as teen drunkenness, and other behaviors that Christians hope their children avoid.

The Sonlight books purposefully avoid R-rated titles. In some cases, books that would be considered middle-grade (ages 8-12) for a secular publisher may be pushed to high school in Sonlight packages.

Sonlight Summer Readers, separated into elementary, middle, and high school categories, do not always match the secular divisions. And we try to keep within the guidelines of Philippians 4:8, and only include books that are honorable, pure, praiseworthy, and so forth.

Whatever you order from Sonlight, whether homeschool curriculum or a Summer Reader package, we intentionally seek to make sure that your children are not overwhelmed by either length or intensity.

DOWNLOAD A FREE SUMMER READING KIT

A  Celebration of Genres

One of the things Sonlight parents have said for years is, “I wouldn’t have found this book on my own, but I love it!”

That’s one of the best things about Sonlight—the surprise of the unexpected fabulous book.

Some Sonlight History / Bible / Literature books are very obscure. Some suffer from uninspiring titles (The Journeyman doesn’t exactly sound like a fabulous adventure, you know?). Most parents won’t find these books on their own.

But I think another reason Sonlighters are surprised by some books is because we all have genres that we prefer. It’s hard to leave the comfort of, say, mysteries, and branch out to science fiction, or to leave the fascination of historical fiction and branch out to fantasy.

But in almost any genre, you can find outstanding works. And in the Sonlight Summer Reader packages, we seek to include a range of genres.

Because if you’ve never read a fantasy book you enjoy, you’re missing out on some lovely books.

Still Hesitant to Buy Summer Readers?

Maybe you think one or more of these thoughts:

  1. I could probably order these books more inexpensively elsewhere.
  2. My children won’t enjoy these books. They just aren’t strong (or willing) readers.
  3. I already have one of the books in my preferred package.

These are legitimate concerns.

1. All of the Sonlight Summer Readers offer special package pricing, a built-in discount when you buy a package.

Besides the built-in discount, if you ordered a Sonlight program in the last twelve months, you get your additional 10% off and free shipping as well.

But it’s possible that there is some mythical retailer somewhere that offers some crazy discount on every book, more than 15%. What if a Sonlighter could find a lower price somewhere?

Why buy a book from Sonlight if we aren’t offering the very lowest price?

Well, most people, when they go out to lunch, give the waiter a tip. He’s served the people, making sure they have what they need, when they need it, and the waiter earns his living by serving.

Sonlight Summer Readers—actually, all Sonlight products—are similar to that served meal. Sonlight Product Development reviews several thousand books each year, both for updating programs and for Summer Readers. You can imagine that that takes time (and money).

So even if you could get books for a few bucks cheaper, we hope you’ll honor our efforts and purchase from us. It feels good to tip good servers for their good work on your behalf.

2. Dealing with children who aren’t yet readers?

Sometimes children just haven’t met a book that captures their fancy. Keep trying quality, fun books, and it should happen one of these days.

And if your children aren’t readers yet? Well, I’d encourage you to get some of the high school books for you, as you’d be hard-pressed to find better options.

But the Sonlight way is for parents and children to share books together. Keep the Read-Aloud goodness going through the summer by using the Summer Readers as Summer Read-Alouds.

3. If you already own one or more of the books in a Summer Reader package—we congratulate you on your good taste!

You can, as always, order individual titles. Or, you might choose to order a package (to get the special package pricing) and use the duplicate titles as gifts.

Want a few more reasons why you should buy Sonlight Summer Readers? Here are those stories I promised you from homeschool moms  and a reluctant reader.

Because they will become a beloved part of your family’s library.

We got the elementary pack last year, and the selections are still among my daughter's most beloved. Really terrific books! ~Gina M.

Because your children will keep their skills fresh . . . and maybe jump ahead, with a new-found joy of reading.

My then-6-year old loved them last summer. I honestly think they were what kicked off his love for reading. I will be buying them this summer too. At that age they can first listen to them as a Read-Aloud and later pick them up to read on their own. ~Elizabeth C.

Because they are affordable. Pay for the books you read, and be thankful that you didn’t have to buy and preview 2400 books to find these!

They're not super expensive. I say go for it if you can. ~Elizabeth C.

Because many of the Summer Readers are part of enjoyable series, with sequels.

We also discovered some new authors and series through the reader packs, which has provided even more reading!‬ ~Gina M.

From the research we've done, we believe the quality of the Sonlight® Summer Readers is unmatched. Act now to make sure that you get everything described above, including free shipping and handling. Choose your Summer Reader sets here.

Need help choosing great books? Discover Sonlight Summer Readers.
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May. 3, 2021

How to Get Kids (Actually) Excited About Summer Reading

By Laura Lee Ellis
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How to Get Kids (Actually) Excited About Summer Reading

I started my covert mission at the birth of my first child. As my first act in the campaign to raise readers, I zealously held Goodnight Moon in front of my three-day-old baby's face, read those precious words in my most expressive voice, and sighed that he obviously had good taste in books as he smiled back at me. (I might have glared at the nurse who said his smile was probably gas.)

Four children and a little sleep deprivation later, I've relaxed many of my standards. (Anyone else have a crawler who regularly helps himself to stray cheerios off the floor?) However, my belief in the power of helping my children love to read hasn't changed a bit.

We all know reading is important for our kids, but our best intentions often run into this thing called real life. As you gear up for summer, here are seven ideas to set you up for success in lighting that reading fire.

The Dog Days of Summer Reading

The dog just might spark a love for reading in your child. Having your kids read to a pet is not only a fun way to motivate them to read, it also gives them a patient and nonjudgmental audience. Of course, if you don't have a dog, a willing cat, hamster, or even chicken will work.

Research shows that reading to a dog, even 15 minutes a week can dramatically improve reading fluency. In a ten-week study by the University of California, kids increased reading fluency by 12-30 percent.

Create Space for Summer Reading

Take a look around your home. Does every chair face a TV? What activities does your living space encourage?

Try this challenge: Set up at least as many comfortable spaces to read as you have screens in your home (phones included).

Start by thinking about where your family gravitates. Choose something decorative to hold a selection of books and make that space comfy. Don't forget to keep books in the car and the bathroom. You could even have your kids build a reading fort!

I was inspired by my local library to use shallow wooden book crates for my kids. I keep these in strategic locations around the house, filled with books I know they'll love. My kids can rifle through the crates, see the covers, and put the books back easily. This (almost) solved my problem of the always-messy bookshelves. Even my pre-readers spend hours splayed out on the rug "reading," partially because the books are right on their level.

As you think about making space for reading, consider making space in your summer schedule as well. If you have no margin and rush from one activity to another, you won't have time to relax with a good book. Clear a spot on the calendar and take time for reading!

Listen to Your Doctor. Dr. Seuss, That is.

Turns out Dr. Seuss had it right when he said "Fill the house with stacks of books, in all the crannies and all the nooks."

A recent study shows that if you want to boost academic performance, the best thing you can do is build your home library.

The results—gathered from households in 42 nations—were clear: “Regardless of how many books the family already has, each addition to the home library helps children do better (on the standard test),” said Mariah Evans, sociologist and research team lead.

Bonus: Home library=no late fees.

Get Caught Reading this Summer

Have your children ever caught you eating chocolate and not begged for some, too? The same thing happens with books, but with less mess and fewer calories. When my kids see me enamored with a book, they naturally mimic this behavior and get a sense that reading is what we do.

This mirroring of behavior actually happens at the neurological level. Even when you are reading, your child's neurons are firing as they learn to imitate you.

So while you put your feet up to read a good book this summer, you can pat yourself on the back that you are busy modeling a lifestyle of learning for your children. Ah, sacrifice!

Keep Reading Aloud Through the Summer

Even if you take a break from school for the summer, keep reading aloud. Whether you do this over breakfast, after swimming, or before bedtime, reading aloud is one of the best ways to bond with your children, increase vocabulary, and generally help them love books. So don't stop! Cuddle on the couch and enter into new worlds and adventures side by side. You want your kids to see reading as a part of your family DNA, not merely a school thing.

Use Cliffhangers

Want a sneaky tip to whet a reluctant reader's appetite? Read aloud right until you hit a cliffhanger and then take a break, but be sure to leave the book out and easy to find. Your child might just be motivated to keep reading himself to find out what happens! (You can also do this by reading the first book in a series, then leave it up to your emerging reader to read the rest on his own.)

Choose Quality Summer Books

Can you believe that 42 percent of college graduates never pick up a book again after graduation? They got the degree, but they missed out on making the joy of reading a natural part of life.

We want to raise children who will value lifelong learning, who see books less as duty and more like friends. The type of book you hand your children makes a huge difference in their inclination towards summer reading.

Just what makes a great summer book? If you want your kids to fall in love with reading and to establish a mental database of good language patterns, they need books with compelling plots, interesting characters, and beautiful writing. Choose premium fuel for your kids' minds and hearts.

After nearly three decades of book reviewing and choosing, Sonlight founder Sarita Holzmann, knows a good book when she reads one. (You can read about Sarita's All-Star Test for choosing Sonlight books here).

In the search for the best books, Sarita and the Sonlight team comb through hundreds of pages of catalogs for promising titles, and read or review about 214 books a month. And those books aren't preschool picture books, but 214 chapter books. So just in the last year, the team reviewed around 2,400 books. Whew!

“Out of every hundred books I read, I find only two or three that might merit becoming part of one of our programs. That's how few books there are that have the depth, the beauty, the cultural sensitivity, the inspiration, or the winsome, scholarly character I am looking for.” —Sarita Holzmann

Snag Sonlight Summer Readers

If you want to spark a love for reading, but don't think you'll have time to review 2,400 books to find the best of the best this year, we'll do the hard work for you with Sonlight Summer Readers.

Our hand-picked summer reading packages are grouped according to gender and grade range to help you find the set that's sure to get your child excited, and each package comes with a built-in discount. You'll also find a variety of genres. You may be surprised to find a new favorite author or books series you might never have picked yourself.

So if you're trying to build your home library for summer or any season, check out these high-quality, twaddle-free, wholesome books that follow the Philippians 4:8 principle. These page-turners are truly fun—the type you'll have to pry from kids' fingers at lights out. Now that's summer reading at its finest.

Want even more summer reading recommendations?

We asked Sonlight families to share the top picks on their summer reading lists. More than 250 titles were crowdsourced directly from Sonlight families to build the Ultimate Summer Reading list for elementary, middle school, and high school-aged kids.

SEE THE ULTIMATE SUMMER READING LIST
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