Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers made a case for the link between 10,000 hours of practice and being an expert in something. It's a fascinating connection, and I've spent some time trying to figure out what I've put 10,000 hours into over the course of my life thus far. It's definitely something to consider.

I was reminded of this again today when I read Megan Dunham's article Addicted to Gaming. Kids these days, studies show, spend 10,000 playing video games and browsing the internet by the time they graduate high school.

Sounds pretty bad.

Until you read comment #7 (wish I could figure out how to link to it) which points out that 10,000 is less than a couple hours every day for fifteen years. And Facebook takes up a ton of that time. And considering the national average for TV consumption is twice that... well... <shrug>

Of course, there's also this.

I was thinking about going on to discuss pastimes of the past, hobbies, the reasons for "wasting time" as well as the many Biblical examples of people left out in the middle of nowhere for years--doing not much of anything. But that got cumbersome.

Instead, I was struck by just how little time 10,000 hours is. Consider:

• If you've got a high schooler, you've likely spent well over 10,000 hours preparing meals.
• Your husband hit that number in just 5 years of employment.
• I put in close to 10,000 hours over the course of my sports career.
• You'll be approaching that much time reading to your children when you become an Heirloom Member with Sonlight.

Sure, your children will be well on their educational journey, but I'm not an Olympian (not even close). While your husband is good at his job, it's likely he's not progressed to a level worthy of the tens of thousands of hours required to make him a success (as posited by Gladwell). And even though you've put all that time into feeding your family, not many of you have been asked to host a cooking show.

Right?

In other words, Gladwell is right to emphasize the many other factors that go into success (including "luck"). And while we certainly don't want to skip out on doing something we should be doing, I'm not going to blame my lack of success on the times I take a break.

Sure, a wise man once noted that a little laziness can bring poverty, but he also realized that time and chance happen to all of us.

So, please, don't let your kids become a couch potatoes. But, at the same time, please don't push them in the hopes that they become outliers. We need to find satisfaction in what we do. Follow where God leads. And rejoice in the rest and time God has given us... including the time to goof off.

What are you up to this weekend? Have any of your 10,000 hours paid off recently?

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

Incredulity bathes her face as she stares at me.

"You've never had a massage¹ before?!"

I shake my head. Brittany and I are celebrating our 5^th Anniversary and have sprung for a couple's massage. The room is dim. Soothing music drips in the background. Somewhere incense is smoldering. This place is all about the experience.

Brittany loved it. Me? It was nice. ...but let's just say that it's a good thing special events only roll around once in a while. My budget wouldn't handle much more. <smile>

When you visit Sonlight--via the web--we can't set the ambiance for your room. I can't make your computer suddenly smell like lavender. And we don't have the technology to work the knots out of your neck. No. Your Sonlight web experience has much more to do with how quickly we can help you find the right homeschool materials.

It's all about user experience (which, I learned today, is abbreviated UX). Melanie Seibert left us a wonderful message about how we were doing a good job. We did a little happy dance and felt fired up to make the site even better.

I thanked her for her kind words, and she immediately tweeted me back:

Thanks for Creating a Website that Works

Cloud nine. It was better than a massage (though Brittany may disagree).

We want your experience of Sonlight--both on the web and in your homeschool--a wonderful one. That's why we rely heavily on your feedback and reviews.

If you haven't swung by to tell us what you thought about your most recent Sonlight program, we'd love to know what worked and what we could do to improve your experience.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

¹There are words that tend confuse me:

• County ...too much like Country
• Demands ...too much like Demons
• Clever ...too much like Cleaver
• Angle ...too much like Angel
• Massage ...too much like Message

For whatever reason, I find myself triple-checking those words.

Daily devotions. Quiet time. Spending time in God's Word.

Something we're supposed to do, right?

Right.

I read a chapter out loud every morning to Brittany--who is still mostly asleep. If the chapter is long, I stop halfway through. If I miss a morning, I don't sweat it. I tend to start in Genesis and go straight through to Revelation. Then, start again. It's a simple reading program and I'm surprised how quickly we get through the Bible this way.

Sure, it's no "read the Bible in a year because then you're really holy" plan, but I've been consistent. And it's been good.

Mostly.

A few years ago, however, I shrugged off the uneasy feeling that I wasn't getting much out of this spiritual discipline. 'I want to know more about the Bible,' I complained to myself. 'I wonder what tools I should be using?'

I spent about four days regularly reading a few columns in my Bible Background Commentary. It was interesting, but it wasn't quite working. Reading the dictionary is interesting too, but it's so disjointed that the stuff just falls out of my head.

So I stopped before all my brains fell out. <smile>

Then yesterday, over lunch, I got talking with my dad about Scripture. He mentioned that there are--at least--two ways to read the Bible: Devotionally and critically. Growing up in church, I was told it was important to read the Bible devotionally. Read and meditate. Let it permeate my soul and change me. Cool. Mystical. Good. But... lacking something.

That "something" is criticism, scholarship, study. I loved my Bible classes in college which tore open well-known passages to show even more depth and information and ideas. Concepts I didn't even know were in question opened into an incredibly wide world of fascinating truths and uncertainties. The Bible was alive again! And looking closer, it really was incredibly sharp.

And then I went back to reading a chapter a day, like a good boy, and that fire dissipated. Devotionals are good, and I'll keep with my reading plan, but I want more.

So here's my question:

Where can I find daily study tools? Do you know of a "365 day introduction to Biblical literary criticism" resource? Something that keeps it short, to the point, because if it's too much work I'm likely to stop doing it. I'm just sayin'.

A blog, perhaps?

Because, while I firmly believe in the importance of "being in the Word"--Sonlight schedules Bible reading every day in our programs--I'm at a place in life where I'd like to get back to where I was in Bible classes: Learning more about the depth of Scripture.

What tools do you use for Bible study?

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

"I have to read this to you!"

She's already in bed, happily browsing the internet with the iPod I got her for Christmas. "It turns out that rats have metacognition!"

She's ecstatic. This latest insight gives her even more reason to love Rambo the Rat, happily consuming his dinner pellet in his cage in the basement below us. He may be able to determine his knowledge of a subject--like "is this edible?"--but he doesn't care much about that skill. He just wants to know if anyone is going to swing by to give him seconds.

Brittany and Rambo

I smile at my wife. "How'd you find that?"

"I googled 'do rats have metacognition?' and it's the second one down."

"Ah."

Scientists have known about this for three years now. But I've only been aware of it for about 18 hours. Still, it got me thinking: What kinds of things do we think about thinking about?

Character.

My mom presents something at one of Sonlight's large group prayer meetings every month. This morning she talked about how we teach character. She recently read The Wisdom of Pixar by Robert Velarde (who works 10 feet from me once a week here at Sonlight). She was inspired by the book's presentation of virtue and talked about how stories seem to be the best way to teach goodness. Christ, she noted, used many parables when He walked the earth.

And this is why Sonlight has no formal tools to teach character.

<gasp>

That's because we, like the scientists developing clever ways of testing metacognition in rats, are more interested in what our children think about virtue than their ability to recreate pat answers on worksheets.

Read more about this reason NOT to buy Sonlight...

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

My July is dedicated to finishing MathTacular4.

Whether I meet that goal or not has yet to be seen.

The point: I'm not going to be bored this month. At least, not while here at work. But once I get home, things slow down. My brain is fried so I don't feel like doing anything. But the evening stretches on, so I have to find something to do. Sometimes the thought passes through my mind: Maybe I should just stay at Sonlight a while longer at get further on MathTacular...

Brittany wouldn't be okay with that. So, I head home, and lounge around. Sometimes, I'll admit, I feel bored. Or lethargic. Or both.

So here are four ways I plan to beat my summer boredom:

1. Start a Project
   The "brown paper bag floor" test turned out so great we're going to do the rest of the basement area with it. That means I need to tear and crumple a ton of paper so Brittany can glue it down. Nothing like a mindless task while vegging out to a documentary, podcast or movie.
2. Go for a Walk
   I know physical activity does not sound like fun at the end of the day. But a nice comfortable walk with someone you love can be very nice. Especially if you've been cooped up inside all day.
3. Read
   Have a few Read-Alouds left over from one of your Sonlight programs? Now would be a great time to gather round and read. If you're not feeling up to it, get someone else in the family to do the reading. Great books are a fantastic way to spend your time together.
4. Watch Something
   There are a many fantastic documentaries and educational videos that are well worth watching. But I don't always feel in the mood for that. So, frequently, you can catch me watching something frivolous and fun. And I'm okay with that. I also sometimes watch my wife or best friend carry out some incredible conquest in their favorite game. If you're not a gamer but have children who are, try watching over their shoulder. You may still decide that EverWorld of Halo Theft Fantasy Gears Island VII isn't for you, but I've discovered I enjoy watching skilled gamers in their element. You may also discover a new point of connection. The great part about this suggestion: It fits in nicely with #1.

What do you do for fun over the summer when you're fried at the end of the day?

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

As a child, I never paid attention to schedules. I had a routine, and that worked for me. I knew I had to go to swimming at a certain time. I knew that we left for Awanas after dinner. I knew when church started on Sundays. But the rest of the time: I was free. Well, I was free from the worry of time restraints. I still had to do the work my mom told me to do <smile>.

Public high school changed that.

Suddenly my day was ruled by 90 minute blocks of time denoted by a shrill bell. Ten minutes later, I had to be in an entirely new location ready with the right textbook and binder on my desk. Assignments were now arbitrary and constantly in flux. Events shifted regularly. I had to keep track of it all.

So I used the handy day planner I was given. This I dutifully filled with cryptic scribbled commands. "p22 1-13 odd" I also discovered the joy of crossing off completed work.

A few years into keeping a schedule, I decided it was time to join the nineties. I convinced my parents that I would benefit from owning a Palm. I didn't, but I felt cool for a while.

As we look toward the future of scheduling and homeschooler's needs, I'd really appreciate your feedback here. Please let me know by "voting" in the poll above.

If you don't see the poll on Facebook, please swing by the Sonlight Blog to give your answer. Thanks!

I appreciate it.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester