Sonlight Homeschooling Blog

Sep. 13, 2021

Understanding Your Homeschool Options & Types of Homeschooling

When choosing to homeschool, sometimes making the choice to learn at home may seem like the biggest decision. But perhaps the bigger choices come next: what type of curriculum should you choose? There are a number of homeschool options and a growing number of homeschool philosophies out there. We’ve condensed the main homeschool options and a few key questions here to help make your journey easier.

What Are the Different Styles of Homeschooling?

Whether you’re first starting out on a homeschool journey or you’re a seasoned homeschool family, you may get asked more often than not, “What’s your homeschooling style?” Whether you can rattle off your homeschooling philosophy with ease – or that question leaves you scratching your head a bit – you likely already fit into one or more of the types of homeschooling philosophies listed below.

The Classical Approach

Classical homeschool curriculum families follow the Trivium, an age-old education style. Students are generally broken up into three age groups:

In the grammar stage, young students focus on memorizing facts and gaining knowledge.
In the logic stage, middle-grade students begin to understand that knowledge on a deeper level.
In the rhetoric stage, the goal is for upper-grade students to turn that understanding into wisdom, applying it and learning to express themselves.

Classical homeschool curriculum prioritizes great books, subjects like classical history, and Socratic discussion.

Charlotte Mason

Devotees of Charlotte Mason homeschool curriculum may focus their schooling time on high-quality living books (usually narratives or stories, rather than textbooks), nature study, short lessons, dictation, and copy work. Based on the teachings of a British educator from the late 1800s and early 1900s, Charlotte Mason is known for her beliefs that children are born and must be educated as a whole person, not only a mind. She defined education as “an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.” Many Charlotte Mason families focus on spreading a feast of ideas before their children, including art and music appreciation and handicrafts.

Unit Studies

Unit studies are a homeschool option that allow you to customize curriculum based on your child’s particular interests. Do you have a child who loves geology? Legos? Minecraft? All three? Chances are you can create a unit study on the topic, or find someone who has. The benefits of unit studies are they’re customizable, flexible, and there are many available in the homeschool community. The downside is they require significant work from parents to piece together, and may leave curriculum gaps.

School at Home

Conjure an image of traditional homeschooling in your mind. You may see school refashioned at home, built on a complete homeschool curriculum package. This image might include stacks of workbooks or textbooks, pencil and paper tests, a rigid schedule, and a predefined scope and sequence for each specific grade level. Such curriculums are common and a popular homeschool method.

School at home may also be conducted through an online homeschool program, a public school district, or under the umbrella of a charter school.

Montessori

Montessori is often overlooked as a homeschooling method but many of Dr. Maria Montessori’s (an Italian educator) principles are easily adapted into homeschool life. Montessori homeschool families may focus on long blocks of uninterrupted time, carefully-selected environments that promote learning and hands-on activities. Montessori also encourages mixed-age classes, and incorporates home life as part of learning (such as using actual kitchen items to mix and pour instead of toy kitchen tools). The Montessori homeschool philosophy is particularly well-suited to children with special needs.

Montessori is popular particularly in early education. Sonlight’s new homeschool preschool program, for example, includes Montessori-type materials such as tactile letters, numbers, and shapes that help reinforce pre-writing, pre-reading, and pre-math skills.

Eclectic Homeschooling

Don’t feel like you fit into any of these categories? Or maybe more than one? Chances are your style may simply be eclectic homeschooling. Many families combine approaches from two (or more!) of these styles into their homeschool routine.

Sonlight is a great example. Ask a Sonlight family to describe their homeschool style and many times they may simply say, we use Sonlight! With classical and Charlotte Mason influences and a complete Instructor’s Guide, it’s tough to fit Sonlight into a particular homeschool philosophy. The beauty of homeschooling is choosing what works best for you and your family.

What Are the Best Homeschool Programs?

The best homeschool program, much like the best homeschool philosophy, is the one that works best for you and your family. There are not only different philosophies to consider within homeschooling, there are also many different curriculum choices for core subjects such as math, Language Arts, and history. Narrowing down a homeschool philosophy (or two) that you think may work for your children is a good place to begin.

Next, consider, do you want your children to spend much of their time learning online? If so, you may want to consider some of the best online homeschool programs. Or are living books more your style? Or, would you like to opt for a little of both? Do you have a child with special needs? One who enjoys being outside, or prefers desk learning? Also, consider your own teaching style. Do you prefer to plan things yourself, or do you enjoy having a curriculum ready for you? How will you handle student assessments or feedback? A helpful site to compare homeschool curriculum providers is Cathy Duffy Reviews, where you can search for various styles and types of curriculum.

What Is the Best Homeschooling Method?

To answer this question, it may be best to ask, what works best for your family, for your children, and for you? There are as many homeschool curriculum options as there are types of homeschool moms. You can find complete homeschool curriculum packages, piece together unit studies to suit your family’s interests, or find online programs that engage your student in virtual classroom learning. There is simply no top homeschool curriculum. What is best is what works best for your student. The beauty of learning at home is that it allows you to choose.

You can also add extras into your homeschool routine, such as co-ops that help teach certain subjects, regular field trips, or extracurricular activities that contribute to learning.

What Is Unschooling Homeschooling?

If you read through the homeschool options and didn’t see a fit for your family in the homeschool philosophies mentioned, you may consider unschooling. A shift in traditional schooling and homeschooling, this philosophy takes a child-led approach to learning, relying on students to choose their own interests and what they would like to study. Parents are responsible for providing supplies, experiences, and support the child may need to facilitate learning.

Students who might do well with unschooling are self-motivated, self-directed learners, able to be trusted to study on their own. Unschooling families don’t typically use tests, grades, or set schedules. The pro? Some call this philosophy delight-driven and say it offers students more time to pursue their passions. The downside? It may leave gaps in areas of study if students aren’t interested in focusing on a particular topic.

How Much Does It Cost to Homeschool Your Child?

Homeschool costs vary as much as families do! Whether you choose to purchase homeschool curriculum packages, track down resources from your local library, unschool your child, or enroll your child in an online homeschool program, costs can range to hundreds or even thousands of dollars per year, per child.

When choosing a homeschool curriculum, consider the value of what you are purchasing. Investing in your child’s education is an important decision. Proven curriculum providers are a reliable resource, where less expensive unit studies may leave gaps and shortchange tweens and teens.

If you are enrolling your child in an online curriculum, is there a fee per semester? Per course? Per year? Per child? If you are purchasing a textbook and workbook-based curriculum, how many copies of materials will you need per child? If you opt for a hands-on curriculum such as Montessori, materials are beautiful and high quality but can be expensive. If you choose a literary-based curriculum, consider combining students who are close in age in multiple subjects to save money (and time!). Sonlight makes it easy to teach multiple children, and have fun doing so. One initial investment pays off for multiple children as your family grows and/or as your children get older.

Can You Start Homeschooling At Any Time?

Whether it’s the middle of the school year or the middle of summer, you can start homeschooling anytime that’s best for your family. One of the greatest parts of homeschool is the flexibility it brings to the family calendar. Your school year can even go year-round. Read more about your homeschool options and how to schedule a year that works best for you.

What about homeschooling an older student who previously attended public or private school? It’s never too late to start homeschooling if you feel it’s best for your family. There are plenty of people who would choose to learn at home if they could relive their middle school years, and there are some very compelling reasons as a parent why teaching your high schooler at home might be the best option. Taking these years to spend time with your older children, set the bar higher, tailor learning to their interests, and give them a taste of real-life before they graduate are just a few.

Do Parents Get Paid for Homeschooling?

Although most homeschool parents will tell you it is at least a part- if not a full-time job, homeschooling your own children is unpaid. A handful of states may allow parents to apply for tax benefits or stipends if educating their child under the umbrella of a charter school (which comes with its own set of requirements), but these are rare.

What is possible is getting paid while homeschooling, by working part-time from home, freelancing, or even homeschooling or tutoring a student from outside your family, if your state allows it.

How Can I Start Homeschooling Immediately?

You can start homeschooling today! Before you begin, check your state’s homeschooling regulations and how to comply. Find other homeschool parents to connect with, who can offer words of advice as you start this exciting chapter. Sonlight has a Sonlight Connections app for homeschooling parents, where you can talk with a Sonlight mentor or advisor.

Still not sure which homeschool philosophy is right for your family? Sonlight makes it easy to get started today. Check out a sample Sonlight Instructor’s Guide. Take a visit to the local library and enjoy picking out a feast of living books. Don’t be afraid to learn more about the homeschool options on this list. Then give yourself some grace as you learn what works best and create a homeschool you love.

LEARN HOW TO SWITCH

Tagged Homeschooling, Sonlight | Leave a comment

Sep. 8, 2021

Should You Homeschool Your Missionary Kid?

By Rachel W

For missionary families around the world, the education of our missionary kids (MKs) can be one of the most challenging issues we face. The choices we parents make for our MKs can bring our families together, giving us opportunities to serve together and producing well-adjusted TCKs (Third Culture Kids) who love the Lord and are capable of serving Him in many contexts. Or it can take our families off the field and cause lifelong turmoil for our MKs.

So… no pressure, right?!

There are three keys to make a wise, educated decision.

Know our options.
Know our children.
Know our responsibilities as Christian parents.

The Boarding School Option

Not so long ago most missionaries felt that boarding school was their only option in educating their children. Homeschooling was unheard of, and resources were unavailable. Missionaries believed that being separated from their children in this way was one of the sacrifices that went along with missionary work.

Some missionary families still choose boarding school for one of two reasons:

The child feels isolated and needs more social interaction.
The parents don’t feel that they can offer the education the child needs, either through local schools or homeschooling.

While these are valid reasons, the obvious downside to boarding school is the separation. Boarding school requires that missionary parents essentially hand over the raising of their children to the teachers and house parents at the boarding school. However, Deuteronomy 6:7 tells us as parents to teach God’s ways diligently to our children, “when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” From my perspective, that calling is impossible to fulfill if we don’t even live in the same city for the majority of the year.

The International School Option

International schools are private day schools. They usually offer a high quality education, but with equally high fees. My MK husband attended an international schoolthrough 8^th grade and enjoyed it very much. To this day he has friends of multiple nationalities all around the world because of his international school experience.

Pros for sending MKs to an international school

Parents don’t feel capable (or desirous) of teaching their children.
Parents want their children to be a part of sports and other extracurricular activities that might not be available otherwise.
Parents want their children to have the friendships that a school setting can provide.
International schools can provide MKs with friendships with other Third Culture Kids.
There is an international school nearby and it seems like an easy, safe option.

Cons for sending MKs to an international school

International schools are typically expensive.
Most of the students come from wealthy international families, so many missionary kids of more modest means often feel out of place.
The parents want their children to spend more time in the local community with the nationals than with other international children.

The Local School Option

The idea of local school is a bit more complex. In some countries all residents are required to attend local public schools. I have MK friends who grew up attending public school in Europe who today are bilingual and feel very attached to their host country. Attending the local schools helped them be more a part of the culture in which they lived.

On the flip side, these MKs seemed to have a harder time adjusting back to life and college in America since they had been educated in a different language and culture.

In developing countries, public education is not mandatory for missionaries. The education is lacking, and corporal punishment is extreme. For these reasons, most missionary parents in those countries steer clear of local schools.

However, because local schools are a good way for MKs to learn the local language and get involved in the community, some missionary parents still go that route for a short time in order for their young children to learn the language and culture. I have seen families have both good and bad experiences with this. It is crucial to know the situation well before enrolling impressionable missionary kids.

The Homeschool Option

There are many reasons why missionary families choose to homeschool their MKs. Some of these reasons include

There are no other reasonable schooling options where they live.
They want their children to live at home with the family.
They want their children to be educated in English.
They want their MKs to have more freedom to be involved in the ministry.
Homeschooling offers stability in the transitory life of missionaries.
They want to have control of what their children learn and give them a solid Christian education.
Other reasons

Alternatively, some of the reasons missionary parents choose not to homeschool are

They are afraid their children will be too secluded if they homeschool.
They don’t believe they can effectively teach their children.

For my family, homeschooling has given my children stability in the midst of multiple international moves and allowed them to receive a quality education. Most importantly it has allowed my husband and me to intentionally shepherd them thanks to all the time we spend together.

The literature-based curriculum we use through Sonlight allows my MKs to learn about many different situations through great books, and we are able to discuss the responses of characters and compare them to Biblical responses. I love how it aids us in training our children “when [we] sit in [the] house, and when [we] walk by the way” (Deut. 6:7).

Narrowing the Options and Choosing Wisely

How can we best shepherd our children and fulfill our responsibilities as Christian parents? If we provide our MKs with a great education, great friends, and great opportunities, but fail to train them in the ways of the Lord, we have failed as Christian parents.

That is a scary thought, and the choices can seem overwhelming at first. Yet as we prayerfully seek God’s wisdom, He will guide us in making the best educational choice for our MKs. As James reminds us, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him” (James 1:5).

Yes, Homeschoolers Can Get into College!

By Karen Koch

When my oldest was five, we went to the doctor for his annual well-check. The pediatrician’s receptionist was an acquaintance, and immediately asked, “Where will your son be attending kindergarten this fall?” I told her we had decided to homeschool. She was aghast and asked me, quite rudely, “What on Earth makes you think you are qualified to do that? How will he ever get into college?”

It was an awkward exchange.

At the time, my son was reading at a third grade level, and I couldn’t bear to send him to school to learn his ABCs. He already knew how to read, knew his colors and numbers, could write, and more, so we figured we were doing okay. It was kindergarten, not rocket science! I really wasn’t thinking about college yet. I just preferred to keep him home longer and work on learning together.

Homeschooling Did Not Ruin His Chances

Almost twenty years later, I would love to tell that receptionist this same child got his BA in Communications a month before his 20^th birthday, is now married, bought a house, and is gainfully employed in his field after being homeschooled K-12.

While we all have varied concerns about homeschooling, one question many of us get bombarded with is, “How will your children ever get into college or be ready for college?”

Obviously, to them, we are not only weird but permanently jeopardizing our children’s long-term worldly success. I remember thinking, “God is perfectly capable of guiding us through this. We’ll figure it out and make adjustments as needed.”

Of course, I often fretted about the future as well, but my worries proved unfounded.

Ironically, after homeschooling, particularly thanks to Sonlight and all the History / Bible / Literature levels we completed, I feel my kids were more ready for college work than their peers. They all started college work at age 16.

Homeschooling Is Not an Obstacle for College

Obviously everyone’s homeschool journey is going to be different, but homeschooling did not prove to be an obstacle to college for my kids. Our goal was never Harvard or Stanford, so that’s a different story if you’re aiming for the Ivy Leagues. But we are happy with where our kids landed. I believe Sonlight provided my children exactly what they needed for success in college:

strong reading and writing skills
critical thinking skills
self-organization/management

Three of my children have already launched into adulthood (after homeschooling K-12 with some community college, etc.). My 13-year-old is still in the homeschool pipeline. Here is a summary of their varied college paths so far.

Child #1—He tested out of most general education credits with CLEP (College Level Examination Program) and DSST (formerly DANTES Subject Standardized Tests) taken at a local military base, and online courses through College Plus. He finished the second half of his degree online after transferring everything into an East coast college that accepted all his credits.

Result: BA in Communications before his 20^th birthday. No debt.

Child #2—He took almost a year of community college dual credit through Washington State’s Running Start program and was accepted to all three universities where he applied. Last year during Covid-19, he finished at a four-year Division III Christian university which accepted all his community college credits.

Result: BA in Finance before 22^nd birthday. Four years of college golf. Acquired a very small amount of debt.

Child #3 She is completing two full years of dual-credit Running Start. She is continuing to a four-year Christian university this fall for Art: Illustration. This university accepts her AA as a direct transfer, so she has all her general education except a few Bible courses.

Result: Saved cost of two years of college so far and has her AA at age 18.

Child #4 He will probably pursue a Running Start AA during his junior and senior years of high school then transfer to a four-year college.

Result: Time will tell. Right now we are deep in HBL H.

People sometimes forget that not everyone wants or should pursue a college degree. Various other options are equally valid:

the military
the workforce
family business
trade school
apprentice options

Homeschooling with College in Mind: My Takeaways

So looking back over 20 years of homeschooling, my main takeaways for college and/or adult readiness are as follows:

Ignore the homeschool naysayers. They are your children, not theirs.
Read a lot. Sonlight has this covered.
Encourage your children to be analytical thinkers.
Let your kids explore their strengths and interests.
Pray. God can guide you through this, and others have gone before you.
Read some more.

Schooling is not a one-size fits all. We will not all be rocket scientists or go to Harvard. My overall homeschool style can best be described as haphazard with all the different ages, but we very consistently worked through each HBL Level and read every book.

Many different paths can lead our children to their futures. Consider homeschool an enormous asset instead of an obstacle. And you are qualified because you love your children and are willing to do the work.

Tagged college, high school, Homeschooling, teens | Leave a comment

Aug. 25, 2021

Being a Scribe for Your Child: The Secret to Easier Homeschool Lessons

By Melissa Schofield-Linnell

Some children love writing and choose to write little notes or annotate pictures they have drawn just for fun. Others are less keen and write only when they must. Reluctance can make writing a battle, and language arts becomes the dreaded subject of the day.

When our children aren’t loving language arts because of the writing, it can make us question our choice of curriculum. But all is not lost. Before we give up, start looking into a different curriculum, or think that our children are never going to grasp the idea of creative writing, there is one method that can provide a solution to many different writing-based issues—being a scribe for your child!

Reasons to Scribe for Your Child

Being a scribe simply means writing for your child. This technique works in many homeschool situations:

Your child hasn’t yet grasped handwriting. Letters are sometimes misshapen, spellings are incorrect, and spacing between letters and words is all of a muddle. If you write down the words for your child, you can see a legible answer.
Your child finds writing difficult. They may have special needs, or their strengths just may be in other areas, but the challenge of writing is getting in the way of their thoughts being put to paper. In this case, your writing down what they say allows them to focus on what they want to say next.
Your child knows what they want to say, and plenty of it too, but the process of writing it down is slowing the flow of creative ideas. You can write faster than they can, so you can jot down their words as they speak, summarize them, and remind them where they were for them to continue.

Being a Scribe for Your Child Makes Learning Easier

In a nutshell, you scribe when you want your child to be able to focus more on the lesson you’re teaching and less on the process of writing.

For example, when your child is still learning to perfect their reading and writing skills, their handwriting may be work in progress. In this case, scribing has a great benefit.

If the point of the writing is to answer a scientific question, the purpose of the learning is that your child understands the scientific principle. The science is what you want them to think about and remember; focusing on the spelling or letter formation can detract from this learning. So, in this case, your acting as a scribe is almost certainly a good idea.

When you serve as a scribe, your child benefits from the homeschool lesson without adding in the complexities of simultaneously perfecting their writing skills.

Scribing for Your Child at Different Grade Levels

Simply writing down what your child says is not all there is to being a scribe. There are different ways to scribe, and you may use different methods and approaches at different ages and stages along the way. At any level, there are several different ways to scribe.

Scribing in Early Years

In the early years of kindergarten through grades 3 or 4,

Simply write what your child says, word for word.
Write what they say, faintly, on the paper, and have them trace over your writing,
Write down what they say on similar paper, and have them copy your words onto the activity sheet.

Scribing in Intermediate Years

In grades 4 and up,

Scribe for your child as you discuss the writing together. You can jot things in bullet form, then they can write the full text later, or you can act as their scribe at this point too.
You can write in full, help them to edit the work, and then require them to write out the final copy.
You can first act as scribe and then get them to type the work in full later. This can be especially useful to a learner with dyslexia.

Only you can decide what is the best method for your child, and even then this can vary from day to day and from subject to subject.

By acting as a scribe, you are making your child’s learning easier but not doing the work for them. So, unless there is no improvement in your child's desire and ability to write, then go with your instincts and scribe when it suits you both. That way, they’ll love to learn, and you’ll love to teach!

Tagged Homeschooling, language arts, writing | Leave a comment

Aug. 22, 2021

How to Create a Homeschool High School Plan for Your Student

By Amber Smith

Are you a homeschool planner or a panster who flies by the seat of your pants? No matter where you fall on the planning spectrum, homeschooling your high schooler requires intentional preparation. The good news is that creating a comprehensive 4-year high school plan doesn't take a lot of work. You can do it! This article covers much of the information you need to create a homeschool plan from the first step to high school graduation.

Continue reading →

Tagged high school, homeschool, transcript | Leave a comment

Aug. 18, 2021

Trading an IEP for Homeschool Curriculum

By Crystal Garrick

When my family made the choice to homeschool our daughter, it was no small decision. Today almost 7, she had been in public school since age 3, getting needed therapies through a lengthy Individualized Education Plan (IEP).

Trading an IEP for a homeschool curriculum was scary. But it was the right decision. One of the best parts of choosing a Sonlight curriculum is that it is open-and-go, meaning your homeschool day is pre-planned for you. That might seem like a tall order for out-of-the-box kids. Yet after using Sonlight for several years with my own, I believe your Sonlight Instructor’s Guide is a powerful tool you can customize to fit your family’s preferences. Here are a few things you might consider.

1. Discover Your Child’s Learning Style

You know your family best. Consider the Instructor’s Guide (IG) your road map to homeschooling and use it as a launching point to create a learning environment tailored specifically for them.

With neurodiverse kids, the opportunity to teach to their strength is particularly important. While they may struggle with attention challenges in a traditional classroom, as their teacher you can choose curriculum and activities to keep them engaged.

Do they learn visually?
Through song?
Or are hands-on activities more their style?

Your guide offers suggestions for activities to suit all learning styles, but you can always add others to supplement what best meets your student’s needs. My kids love Hands-on History kits, and learning styles are also a consideration when choosing a math curriculum. In our house, Math-U-See blocks often become cities or even people who talk with one another.

2. Allow for Interest-Based Learning

Many differently-wired kids may get laser focused on a topic or a subject and enjoy spending a lot of time in one area or finishing an entire week’s worth of reading in one day!

You might consider a loop schedule if this works for your family, focusing on one subject at a time, rotating so you never feel behind. Our family likes to supplement topics our kids are very interested in with library books, crafts, or videos. Supplementing works well if you happen to get ahead in reading or you’d like to delve deeper into a history or science topic.

3. Chunk Your Work

When my daughter had an IEP in public school, one of her accommodations was for her work to be broken into chunks to help her focus. Chunking can mean doing a few questions at a time or writing only small amounts.

By teaching our kids at home, we can chunk their work into a smaller, more manageable day than a typical, lengthy school day. And the great news is your Sonlight day is already chunked for you! You can open and go, choosing to group together as many boxes of your IG as you like–all, none, or a few at a time.

Most Sonlighters are familiar with Couch Time and Table Time. But for wiggly kids, sitting still for either one of those can be difficult. We’ve had luck breaking those up into shorter sections:

Ten minutes of school work, followed by a brief break.
Ten more minutes, then break.

For our family, that usually looks like one or two check boxes on our IG at a time. Chunking work can also mean physically chunking:

Cutting Activity Sheets into sections
Covering sections with another paper as you go
Writing individual questions on notecards or on a white board
Using task boxes (like these) as a fun way to promote independence and break work (or even play or therapy) into manageable sizes. (They’re great for spelling word activities and math manipulatives.)

4. Make Your Instructor’s Guide Work for You

Remember you’re on your own timetable. Your guide is set for 36 weeks, but the pace is up to you. Make sure you are meeting your state’s homeschooling requirements, but generally you can take longer (or less time) to complete your IG if you like. You may fly through some subjects but go more slowly on others. That’s ok!

In our family, we work at a different pace in each subject. As such, I keep our complete IG in a blue Sonlight binder and pull out just a week or two at a time of each subject into a smaller binder, to help keep track of different weeks at once.

Your guide can also be your one-stop planner. In our family we incorporate occupational and speech activities, scouting, and other extracurricular activities right into our guide. Therapy counts as school, too!

5. Put the Right Tools in Your Teaching Toolbox

When you’re working with an out-of-the-box thinker, you may need some out-of-the-box tools to keep your lessons on track. A few that have helped the Instructor’s Guide work for our family include:

Visual timer: Using visual timers can help kids with ADHD and other neurotypical thinkers see time–and they provide a tangible reminder for you of how much time and attention your student can really devote to an activity.
Laminated pockets or a laminator: Using any sort of material that helps you turn an Activity Sheet into a wipe-clean activity can help add variety and fun. Writing on a vertical white board can also help if your child has poor hand strength.
A sensory diet: Think beyond the fidget spinner. A variety of sensory tools–or the right sensory diet, when appropriate–can help make your homeschool day run smoothly. Whether it’s starting your day with outdoor play, offering frequent breaks for heavy work around the house, or a simple basket of fidgets during Read-Alouds or wobble cushions for Table Time, there are many ways to incorporate this into your day. A tip we like in our family: write a sensory break right into your guide and check it off as you move through your schedule.
Alternative seating: You’ve probably heard of using a yoga ball as a desk chair. But if your child is struggling to sit at a table, how about ditching the table altogether? Take table subjects to the floor, outside, or to whatever spot suits them best. At our house we love clipboards (with paper holders) for this.

6. Reach Out and Speak Up Because You Are Not Alone

At times, we can feel alone on this homeschool journey. But there are others who have been on journeys similar to yours, and mine. I’ve learned so much from other homeschool mamas, on this blog, in the Sonlight app and Facebook groups, and elsewhere.

Don’t be afraid to be honest, ask questions, and share your experience.

Remember God is using you to create something beautiful in your home. Your Sonlight Instructor’s Guide is a tool as you teach your children every day. As author Sally Clarkson writes in her book, Different, The Story of an Outside-the-Box Kid and the Mom Who Loved Him, “I often thought of my role in our home as that of a conductor of God’s beautiful music there–planning and directing the details of atmosphere and activity in ways that would convey His love, His mercy, and His grace to all who entered my home.”

Here’s to that song.

Tagged Homeschooling, special needs | 1 Comment

Aug. 11, 2021

Three Things I Wish I Had Known When I Started Homeschooling

By Rheea Hermoso-Prudente

I remember the day we started homeschooling. My daughters were first and fourth grade, and besides my high hopes I had

two sets of Sonlight boxed curriculum that a friend with older kids had loaned us
a detailed schedule
all the supplementary activities we would be doing

But R, my older daughter, was a world-weary 9-year-old with five years of private school experience under her tiny belt. She resisted my plans with the refrain “But my teacher said…”

Our Sonlight program happened to be History / Bible / Literature D+E, which is American History. R always questioned why she had to study American History, since we aren’t Americans.

One of the perks of homeschooling—the ability to set our own schedule and pace—actually worked against us because it turns out that we are a family of laid-back crammers. We enrolled under a local homeschool provider because we thought we needed the accreditation with our Department of Education of the Philippines. So when it came time to present the kids’ portfolios, we were stressed out and cramming like crazy.

In other words, our first year of homeschool was not the serene, Sonlight catalog-worthy picture I had in mind.

In fact, it took us about three years to get into the right groove. And we still keep tweaking our homeschool as we go along. Now going on our sixth year, I feel that we’re more relaxed and closer to my homeschool ideal. Also, I have somehow redeemed myself in my daughters’ eyes, and am now an acceptable source of knowledge.

I do wish though that I had known then what I know now. Here are three things I learned along the way.

1. Plans Don’t Always Go as…Planned

I was a box checker. So we followed the Instructor’s Guides faithfully. I also added other language arts workbooks, art history and art activities, a formal P.E. curriculum, music theory lessons, and life skills lessons.

You can guess what happened next.

By the third or fourth week, we were behind on the schedule I had so carefully laid out. The kids started dreading school, and sometimes I would catch R muttering that she “liked real school much better.”

B, my younger daughter, wasn’t as mutinous, but I could see that she was struggling to keep up with the frenetic pace Mommy set. Also the History / Bible / Literature B+C I was using with her was just too heavy for B at that time.

A couple of months in, I knew I had to rethink what I was doing. What did I really want for my kids and why did we decide to homeschool in the first place?

Although I wanted them to love learning, and I wanted them to learn how to learn, my regimented schedule and the heavy workload certainly wasn’t getting to those goals.

So, first we slowed down. We decided that R would cover History/Bible/Literature D+E over two years, and we halved the number of Readers, Read-alouds and discussions we did in a week. For B, we also decided to do the individual History / Bible / Literature B and History / Bible / Literature C instead of doing the condensed version, even if this meant that we would need to buy new IGs and the required books that we didn’t have.

And we simply had to drop a lot of the activities and supplements that I lined up. There was no way we could do everything I had planned unless we slept only three hours every day

Lesson learned: It’s good to plan. It gives me direction and helps me focus. But I also need to be flexible enough to let go of my beloved plans even if they took me two sleepless weekends to put in place. Also, I need to plan for unexpected disruptions.

2. Sometimes They Just Have to Eat

While I am not the most domestic of people, I do try to make sure that my kids eat yummy, healthy meals, with the recommended balance of veggies, fruits, protein, and carbs. But there are days that I simply cannot cook a decent meal.

These are usually the days that I have multiple deadlines looming, and I just have to tell the kids, “Girls, can you just fix yourselves some sandwiches or something for lunch? Mommy needs to finish stuff.” These are also the days that I let the girls read their books on their own, correct their activity sheets, score their math tests…And I feel so much mother guilt.

But on one such Bad Mother episode, I actually looked up from my computer and saw my girls gleefully preparing what they called their “treat lunch.” They actually looked forward to the times that they could have peanut butter sandwiches as a legitimate main meal.

That was a liberating lesson, that I don’t have to make fantastic meals each time. Sometimes, they just need to have some food in their tummies.

That goes for most things.

Perfection isn’t required. I don’t need to check off every item on my lesson plan.

The girls don’t need to finish every worksheet (or score perfectly each time). The house doesn’t need to be House Beautiful-ready; relatively tidy will do. My more-fastidious husband has also learned to live in slightly wrinkled, but clean, clothes.

By letting go of the need for perfection all the time, I save myself from mother guilt, and I have more energy for things that matter more. Like spending time with the girls watching movies or playing board games or settling down on the couch for an extra chapter from their Read-alouds.

3. You’re Unique, Just Like Everyone Else

Before we started homeschooling, I looked to other homeschool families for guidance. I followed dozens of mom and homeschool blogs, bookmarked countless pages, added homeschool-related quotations to my ever-growing OneNote Homeschool References folder.

In my imagination, I wanted to do everything that looked fun.

We would do nature walks and narration.
We would gather around the kitchen table doing photogenic Science experiments.
And my children would always be smiling and eager.

This ideal picture in my head led to my overzealous planning. I wanted to do one field trip a week like Family X and make handicrafts like Family Y. If Family Z can stage their own Shakespearean plays, then so can we! I tried to incorporate all the books and suggested activities. And we kept yo-yoing between doing school like this, and after two weeks, doing school like that.

Experimentation is not bad, and flexibility and adaptability are good things. But what I was trying to do though, was be like all those Pinterest/Instagram moms. We all know that what can work splendidly for one family can crash and burn with another.

We had to find what worked for us.

For example, most moms love the Read-Aloud times. I used to, until we came to the really long chapters in the higher levels. Besides, the girls preferred to read the books themselves. So even if reading aloud was meant to go on until before high school, we stopped doing it by the time R was on History / Bible / Literature F and B on History / Bible / Literature D+E.

I’ve also discovered that what works well one year or one season may not work for the next. While I learned my lesson about over-scheduling and micromanaging, my children needed a more detailed routine when they were younger. Now that they’re older, they’re free to set their own schedules as long as they get the required school work done. We used to check for done-ness at the end of each day, but now they’ve graduated to a weekly check-in.

I found out that what works for my family will not always work for any other family. I need not be scared to make adjustments or feel that I have to stick with something obviously not working (we have switched math and language arts materials midway through the school year).

One caveat though: there is a fine line between tweaking our homeschool so that it works better for us, and constantly trying out new things just for the sake of it. The first will make things run more smoothly; the second will lead to endless chaos. Ask me how I know.

The bottom line? We just keep going back to the reason we homeschool. And even if things don’t work out the way we plan it, homeschool is still one of the best decisions we made for our family.

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