Last Thursday, Sonlighter Hannah Keeley interviewed me for her radio show. While she asked a host of great questions, I found her final one particularly intriguing: "Can you give me a big picture overview of what you think education is?"

This is a question that we as parents, homeschoolers and non-homeschoolers alike may seldom think about. Too often we may choose to send our children off to school assuming that traditional schools have a united and sound answer to this question. I am not certain they do. I also wonder if most of us who homeschool have thought deeply enough about this question. After Hannah asked me, I've decided this is a question I need to ask myself every year.

The following is (something like) what I said in response to Hannah's intriguing question:

As home educators, we must teach at least the Three R's--readin', 'ritin' and 'rithmetic.

Within reading, we must provide our students a wide variety of material to expand their cultural literacy. In E.D. Hirsch's book, Cultural Literacy, he describes two very basic, simple reading assignments teachers gave a group of junior college students. The first assignment discussed "love" in a generic manner. All the students were able to decode all the words in the assigned article and, since "love" is something almost everyone has some knowledge of, all were well able to respond to the comprehension questions.

The second assignment, however, had to do with the meeting between generals Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Court House in April of 1865. All the students could decode (i.e., "read") all the words in the article. But some students were culturally illiterate—some didn't even know that the Civil War had taken place, much less when it occurred or that Lee and Grant were the key generals on the opposing sides. These students were completely lost. The article simply "didn't make sense" to them. They were unable to interpret what they were reading and, therefore, were unable to answer basic comprehension questions about what they read.

Hirsch states that authors assume their readers have enough background information to understand what they are writing. Based on the study of these junior college students, however, it is clear that people who are not widely read can struggle with even the most basic texts.

Therefore, to be well-educated, students must read materials covering a wide range of subject matter.

We must encourage our children to write clearly and well.

I read recently that if two candidates for a job seem equally qualified, the Human Resources person should hire the one who writes better. Much of the working world relies on well-written communication.

Regarding math, we should help our children achieve the highest level of math mastery that they can. Many careers require a strong foundation in mathematics.

But, from my perspective, quality education encompasses so much more than the Three R's.

As parents, we must train our children to love the Lord. We should read the Bible with our children daily and require them to memorize passages. Young children memorize much more easily than adults, so draw on that reality.

May we strive to provide our children with heroes—ordinary people whom God has used to impact the world. Read biographies and encourage your children to attempt great things for God.

Help your children understand history. To effectively live in today's world, we need to study and learn from the history that has gone before.

We must train our children to think. While textbooks help expose students to cultural literacy topics (that, hopefully, they remember after reading), I fear that textbooks authored by one person (or a small team) come across as too authoritative. I believe children read textbooks and believe that the information included must all be "true." On the other hand, when students read a wide variety of books by diverse authors, they are forced to critically evaluate the text they read. I believe that is a valuable life skill. May our children read the newspaper or listen to the news carefully, with the ability to discern the biases of the authors, the "spin," the truth and the error.

While electives, of course, are optional, we can use them to help our children discern their strengths and career interests. I didn't know my daughter Jonelle had an art aptitude until she took an art class. She ended up as an art major in college and has enjoyed a successful career in something I would have never imagined had she never taken that optional, "stray" class!

And, finally, we want to raise up children who love to learn. We don't want our children simply to have heads stuffed full of facts, children who "finish" school and never crack a book again. May we and our children be people who consistently learn new things.

I ended there in my answer to Hannah, but I plan to think more about this. Would you join me? I'd greatly appreciate hearing your thoughts on this big idea.

Blessings,
Sarita

Reflections on Twenty Years
Tuesday's Virtual Meetup was a huge blessing to me. If you joined fellow Sonlighters for the celebration, thank you! The live chat conversations, feedback and questions (or at least what I could catch of them—since it was so fast) greatly encouraged me.

Over the past months, I've reflected on what it means to celebrate Sonlight's 20th anniversary.

Last week at a special luncheon, John and I and our current Sonlight team celebrated 20 years of serving some of our favorite people—our customers. During the luncheon I shared the following reflections with our team and thought you might enjoy reading them as well. Please know, I count our work at Sonlight a huge privilege.

I began with a sober reflection of the somewhat rare privilege we have been granted—to be in business for 20 years. One-third of all companies fail in their first year, and many struggle with various milestones beyond that. From what I read, new companies are fortunate to break the five-year barrier and survive the move from a Mom-and-Pop shop to a more formal business with multiple employees and partners. But by God's grace, here we stand.

Over these 20 years, we've had the opportunity, indeed the gift, to impact many, many families. I believe we've encouraged members of these families to love to read. As a sub-set of that, I believe we have engendered a deep and abiding love to learn. We've helped families knit together in a unique way as they enjoyed tens of dozens of stories snuggled together on the couch. We've had a part in raising up multiple generations of scholars—kids with wide-ranging interests, unique talents, and God's covering who are then empowered to go out and impact their world. And we've supported potentially isolated homeschooling moms (and dads) in our Sonlight community via our forums, where we've hosted more than five million threads to date.

In these 20 years, we've touched our employees. I know I'm thankful to work in a company that doesn't work weekends and lets employees go home on time in the evenings. And through these many years, I can testify that our employees get along. We don't experience political jockeying or mean-spirited gossip. When I read the comic Dilbert, I find I can't relate; our business does not match that portrayal. We share a pleasant physical environment, and from the beginning, John and I have sought to provide our employees a fair, livable and generous wage.

During these 20 years, I'm convinced, we've influenced education. Several years ago, one of our employees visited a local homeschool convention. When he came back to the office he stated (somewhat disgustedly), "Everyone's selling the same stuff we are. How can we stand out?" I found his comment striking, for when I started homeschooling, that was not at all true. Back when I started, "a hundred years ago," the only option for homeschooling was a choice between various textbooks. The rest of the convention hall included adjunct materials like an abacus or games. When John and I founded Sonlight, I used to say that the Sonlight model wasn't for everyone; I thought it would be too "odd" for most people. I don't say that anymore. The Sonlight model of education has proven itself and has now spun off multiple competitors. I'm grateful even for those competitors. If Sonlight doesn't work for a family, may it be that one of the alternative literature-based models works. I pray that, in whatever manner, many families will read and grow together.

Similarly, Sonlight has had the opportunity to influence publishers. Over these 20 years, I've watched the publishing world embrace many styles and fads of books, many of which I have no interest in (understated). By recommending and selling a host of good titles, I believe Sonlight has been able to influence the industry in a positive manner. Though publishers continue to sell less worthy titles, we have been able to ensure many solid titles stay in print. I pray that homeschoolers will continue to greatly impact and alter society through the book choices we make.

Throughout these last 20 years, I believe Sonlight has impacted the world. Sonlight's original goal was to enable a missionary to stay on the field for one more year by making education doable at home—in the family. We wanted to ensure that families serving God in out-of-the-way places didn't feel their only option was to send their children to boarding schools hundreds or thousands of miles away.

I believe we've been able to accomplish that goal for many people who live overseas. Not long ago, John and I attended a large meeting of overseas workers in obscure fields. When the leader of the meeting asked those present to please stand if they used Sonlight, about a third of them stood up! I am humbled that God would use Sonlight to help these precious people achieve their goal; what a privilege!

Then, too, when I think of the various fund-raisers we have run, I'm thankful for the chance both to touch the hearts of Sonlight students and to influence our world. As I remember Sonlight students giving up their precious cash to educate 7,000 Indian women through Mission India—to pull them from a life of bondage in illiteracy and give them an opportunity to meet their Savior, I'm grateful. In this past year, Sonlight students chose to invest in the translation of an entire New Testament for the Meetto people of Mozambique, plus a large portion of the New Testament for the Ning people. I can't but imagine the good that God will accomplish through those projects. May we one day shake hands with believers from those peoples whom Sonlighters have had an opportunity to touch.

And finally, I'm thankful that Sonlight as a company has had an opportunity to release large amounts of funds for the unreached/hidden peoples of this world. As God brings in profits, John and I rejoice to give funds in support of the unreached groups highlighted by the acronym THUMB (Tribals, Hindus, Unreached Chinese, Muslims and Buddhists). May all have a chance to hear the Good News!

As Sonlighters, please rejoice with us in the good things God has brought to life. We count the work we do a solemn privilege and a huge joy.

Many blessings,
Sarita