Home

I wore that shirt as we headed home yesterday.

I'm a homebody. And ever since college I've defined home as "anywhere I have my computer setup and connected to the internet." So the shirt totally applies.

I also love what I do. There was more than one occasion amidst the stress of travel and the cacophony of 8 children and 9 adults that I turned to Brittany and said, "I could be at work right now!" And I have a computer at work. And it is connected to the internet. I feel at home here.

The vacation was good. I got to "bond" more with the girls. But that was difficult as well. Bonding with children takes more patience than I often have. My conclusion: Family vacations are wonderful things. But there will be times when you wish you could just go home.

This would be the perfect time to talk about how there's no place like home for learning. This would be the place to praise homeschooling. Here is the opportunity to put home education on a pedestal. There's no place like home!

But I'm not going to.

It's entirely possible that prior to children your definition of home was "peace and quiet;" "a place to unwind after work;" "time spent with my spouse." But no more. Children decimate that. And being on vacation with two little ones just drove that home for me.

Homeschooling is hard. There are days and times when it really doesn't feel worth the trouble. Just like vacationing on the beach with 8 children under 7.

But no matter how horrible it gets, homeschooling is worth it.

Just like vacationing on the beach.

Because, really, there's no place like home.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

I used to quip that I could write faster than I could read. And it was almost true.

I've been a fairly good typist ever since I taught myself by attempting to write a mystery novel at age 10 or so. I got to 83 pages of single-spaced text. That's when I went back to read what I had written. Horrified by my pathetic prose, I abandoned the project.

But reading blogs has forced me to learn how to skim. So my reading speed has much improved. I hope the same is true of my writing. That said...

While burning through hundreds of posts in my RSS reader this week, I saw a recurring theme: Major problems within public schools. Things like poor mental math ability, Hollywood in the classroom, and the lack of acceptance of those who are different [NB: that last post has mild profanity]. Stories like these cause me to pause. 'What's changed in the last few years? Was it like that when I was a kid?'

I am not a proponent of a "the world's getting perpetually worse" mentality. I think such a perspective ignores human history. But there are certainly shifts in culture. What is acceptable and proper ebbs and flows. So it is entirely possible that this is a low point--or a shift downward--for our nation's public schools.

If you find your students in similarly less-than-ideal educational environments, perhaps it's time to consider a home education. Yes?

Absolutely. Yes.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

P.S. I am going on vacation next week. I won't be back until a few days into December; at which time I will need to skim quickly to try to catch up with the thousands of posts I'll have missed. Have a wonderful time of thanksgiving! And I'll see you next month.

...and other reasons to homeschool

I attended a small Christian school for kindergarten.

But I started late.

I was "held back" a year because of my September birthday. And from what I've been reading over the past week, I'm really glad my parents kept me back.

Since I had some downtime while out in California, I picked up Outliers. I've wanted to read it for a while now. Malcolm Gladwell has some pretty brilliant insights into the world. In this book, Gladwell points to--among other things--the inherent flaw in cut-off dates for school. Students who are on the young side of the early grades tend not to fare as well as those who have almost a year advantage. That's why some parents hold their children back for a year, so as to not handicap them from life. And, yes, Gladwell insists, the disadvantage does not go away with time.

I had an advantage, I guess, because when I finally started school, I was older than many of my classmates.

But then I had an even greater advantage: I got to start homeschooling.

Gladwell has his own solution to the problem. It involves starting school in three month shifts so that no student is too far behind developmentally than the others. And while I think his suggestion should be adopted in the school system, I have an even better idea: Start homeschooling.

Homeschooling overcomes just about every single potential barrier to success that Gladwell has covered thus far in his book.

In fact, while reading I jumped up from the couch and said, "Everything I read points to the benefits of homeschooling! This is crazy!"

So, for those of you already homeschooling: You're helping your children start off on the right foot toward success.

For those of you not yet homschooling, you should really consider it. Sonlight has prepared all the materials for you. Just check out our customizable complete programs. And if you need help figuring out which program will be best for you and your family, be sure to chat with a Sonlight Advisor on our website.

Homeschooling doesn't guarantee success. But from what I've been reading in Outliers, teaching your children at home provides many opportunities that make success possible.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

I first bumped into Greg early in my Sonlight blogging career because someone linked to one of his anti-homeschool posts. Interested in hearing his dissenting opinion, I was even more pleased to discover that he was a huge anti-creationist as well.

I've been happily following him ever since.

And honestly, if you can get beyond the language that slips in--and pours out in the comments--it is fascinating to browse his posts. Like the one from yesterday about a common Christian lie. You've heard the chalk story, yes?

I've seen it pop up now and again across the blogosphere. It seems that people, and we Christians are no exception, really love to hear tales about how our side "wins" in this or that situation. But the Snopes article says it well, I think.

Chalk this one up as a charming parable, one not grounded in the facts as reported. It's David and Goliath in a classroom setting, the shaking-in-his-boots student taking on the ogre of non-belief in the form of a fearsome professor.

And I think it is important to keep this parable in the back of our minds as we listen to other things. What other lies are out there that we may be in danger of spreading?

Homeschooling allows us the unique opportunity to walk through these topics with our children. May we use these opportunities well!

Now, for something lighter from Greg: A very fun video about Auto-Tune. I know I've heard the sound before, but I didn't know the history. And, come on... this video has Weird Al in it. [NB: Obligatory notice: The video contains some pop-rapper-type video clips that contain women in typical pop-rapper-type apparel.]

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

Brittany is a young mom. She has the common frustrations, fears and failures. The kids act up. She wonders if she's having a positive impact. She gets upset (but no more than her husband). Brittany currently has two little girls who try her patience, pick their noses and get incredibly excited when the rat takes a piece of hot dog from their hands. It's a fairly typical young family.

I mean, you have a pet rat. Right? Right?

And like most young families, these girls are learning at home. They're learning how to get dressed, how to not talk with their mouths full, how to identify shapes and colors, as well as how to play well with their sister.

But the fear lingers: Are the kids learning anything?

Brittany is happy to announce that, yes, yes they are! In fact, after many... many... many admonitions to keep her mouth closed while chewing, Brittany has seen some considerable improvement in the three year old. Brittany was so excited, she told me about it on the phone today.

This is home education.

And home education works.

Children all over the world learn how to tie their shoes, scribble pictures, count, sing, recognize shapes, identify animals and plants, attach significance to dates and so much more!

...all at home.

And that is why homeschooling is such a great option. Homeschooling is merely a natural continuation of something every parent does with the children they care for.

I've said all this before. But today I'm seeing it play out in my own house.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father