Sonlight Homeschooling Blog

Nov. 5, 2009

Why People Hate Sonlight

By Luke

One of my bloggy friends mentioned googling hate sonlight. And I thought, 'Hmm... I should write a blog post about the things that make Sonlight horrible so when people search for it, they hit my blog!' <Bwahahaha ha!>

Of course, those who have swung by my blog searching for "sonlight curriculum bad" only stuck around for 40 seconds.

So, please, before you close this tab, here are 27 Reasons NOT to Buy from Sonlight. The article contains a list of 27 things that make Sonlight a bad choice for your family. If you're looking for reasons to hate using Sonlight, 27 Reasons is the article for you.

What are the reasons I've heard? For your reading pleasure:

3 Reasons People Hate Sonlight:

I once chatted with a homeschooler--my age--who said that Sonlight was way too easy and it bored him. Not sure how that could be true, but I can't really argue with his experience. My guess is that he just didn't have a properly selected Core. If you need help choosing a Core that will best fit your family, chat with an Advisor (yes, it's free).

I've read several blog posts about how Sonlight brainwashes people and feeds them lies. Unfortunately, people on both sides of issues claim this. So Sonlight is probably more in the middle than is comfortable for some (see Reason 11).

Sonlight has way too much to do! This complaint is raised in Reason 6, so you should already know about it..

Bonus 4th Reason: And, of course, Sonlight costs money. That's because you get a hundred pounds of books and materials. And, well, that costs money. So that's not a good reason to hate Sonlight, but it is a legitimate complaint: When you buy lots of good stuff it costs money. I don't like it either.

What are some the reasons you've heard why people hate Sonlight?

Granted, I love Sonlight. But I know Sonlight's not for everyone.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

11 Comments

Nov. 4, 2009

Silence and Spin

By Luke

Last night one of my friends mentioned that the director of Planned Parenthood had resigned and was now working for the Coalition for Life.

"Whoa! That's crazy," I said.

And a little misleading.

Turns out that it was a director of an abortion clinic in Texas.

Still... it's interesting. To me, at least.

First: Cool "win" for pro-lifers. So why haven't I seen this on the blogs? Have I just missed the ones that are talking about it?

Second: Lame "spin" that boarders on lying. Some small-time director had a change of heart. That's nice, but hardly earth-shattering. Is that why I'm not hearing about this more?

Third: Why can't I find any major news stations--or news websites--talking about this? I mean, KBTX isn't exactly nationally known... right?

So where is the spin and what is the cause of the silence?

And what do you make of this post?

How long do we have to wait before 20-20 hindsight starts to kick in? Or is that just a myth? What do we really know of history and how do we interpret it? What of people's motivations? And how do we get beyond our own biases and, as Simon and Garfunkel put it, seeing the things we want to see and disregarding the rest?

I just got the strange sensation that news reports are like textbooks. Somehow the presentation feels similar. The vignettes of solid facts that often lack emotion or, worse still, present a monochromatic world. I don't like that. That can't be the way things are.

And that's why I like the wild, emotional, conflicting world of blogs. This jumble of opinion and personal experience reminds me of the literature that made up my historical studies as a child. Granted, there are few blogs that match the literary quality of the award-winning books I experience because of Sonlight. But the human reality is similar. And I like that. What's more, I think more literary modes of presentation allow us to see more clearly what is spin and what is better left unsaid.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

5 Comments

Nov. 3, 2009

The Holidays are Coming ...

By Judy

For some people that statement brings feelings of excitement and fond memories of childhood holidays ... for others it creates a feeling of dread and the wish to just fast-forward to January.

I suppose there are a multitude of reasons why some folks love the holidays as much as others hate them. In fact, I've had some years where I couldn't wait for Thanksgiving to arrive, and other years when I wished we could just avoid the whole mess. Current family dynamics, age, the economy, and a whole slew of other factors play into how you perceive the holiday season.

So how to avoid the holiday doldrums when they come rushing in? Two simple approaches have helped me immensely in past years. 1) Get my focus off myself, and 2) Do some advanced planning.

Get your focus off yourself

Those years when I've struggled the most, and tried to determine why, I've usually found that I am hyper-focused on my physical struggles, family struggles, or disappointment in others. It has been very helpful for me to name the issue, whatever it might be, and consciously work to leave it with the Lord. If I can daily shift my focus off from me and on to those around me, my attitude improves tremendously. Certainly the holidays are not the time to become a martyr, so I'm not suggesting totally ignoring personal needs. But looking for little things that might work to improve my spirits is much more fruitful than using that time to dwell on life's troubles or injustices.

Do some advanced planning

Most often the stress and hair-tearing of the holiday season can be avoided with a little proactive planning. As much as I'm able, I try to map out the events of November and December well in advance. Around those activities I plan our meal schedule. Based on that schedule I try to plan my grocery shopping so I only have to go once or twice. There's nothing more frustrating to me than being stuck in an over-crowded grocery store during the holidays.

Getting my kids involved with the planning is also tremendously helpful. With my focus on others instead of myself, it becomes less important that every event is planned "correctly" than working on the project as a family. We schedule hospitality times in our home, create a menu, and brainstorm decoration ideas.

I also take a serious, realistic look at our budget, and plan our gift giving based on what is possible. 61% of Americans list lack of money as being their greatest holiday stress point. Shifting our focus to relationships and creativity can go a long way toward relieving this issue.

I'd love to hear your ideas for a stress-free, enjoyable holiday season. Feel free to share! And most of all ... I wish you a relaxing, family and Christ-centered holiday season.

Blessings ...
~Judy

Tagged holidays, Meditation | Leave a comment

Oct. 30, 2009

Get It Right

By Luke

I hated grades in school.

Grades were a game to be won. And I won that game by graduating Valedictorian. But as cool as it is to be able to whip out that title to try to impress people--people who are, sadly, all too often unimpressed by my title--I don't think it has much meaning. At least, it says very little about my knowledge, intelligence, insight, brilliance, work-ethic, achievements, future or even my academic success. All the Valedictorian label meant was that I had been sufficiently clever so as to satisfy my teacher's requirements.

Okay, sure, it also meant that I paid attention, completed my assignments, and "did my time" in the acceptable way.

But grades--the basis of my accolade--are simply the wrong way to measure learning. I much prefer what I did with my parents when I was using Sonlight: We did it until we got it right. Theorists call this approach "mastery" or some other impressive sounding term. But the concept is incredibly easy: Keep doing it until you've got it.

Okay, sure, this means that sometimes you've got to do the same thing over and over again... but that's life.

That's an aspect of life that I am dealing with today.

What's more, often what was right yesterday is wrong today and must be redone. Beyond that, the changes I make today will need to be undone tomorrow when what was wrong becomes wrong again. Reports must be rewritten. Web updates must be kept current. The latest manuscript must be tweaked--again--to make it acceptable. And on and on it goes.

And this isn't an exercise in futility. Getting it right, albeit frustrating, is ultimately the best practice because that is how we are successful.

Grades, even good ones, do not determine success. What matters is that you get it right.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

Tagged grades, mastery | 4 Comments

Oct. 28, 2009

Implementing Feedback

By Luke

Yesterday I wrote about how we love getting your feedback. In fact, when you reach week 30 in your Instructor's Guide, we ask you to send us your thoughts. We want to know what you liked, what didn't work for you, of any errors you found as well as any other tidbits you'd like to share with us.

But one of my Product Development friends mentioned something crazy: We may not be able to implement your feedback for two years!

What? Is the Sonlight ship so staggering that she simply can't change course?

Sonlight Ship

Not at all!

Rather, to get next year's curriculum ready for you, we have to finish producing it before many families have even begun using the current version. For example, let's say that you just started Core K. Well, the next version of Core 1 will be available for you April 1, 2010. To get it ready in time, we need to be wrapping up on it now. But someone using Core 1 right now hasn't made it to week 30 yet.

That's one reason why it can take a while for us to implement your suggestions: We're already almost done with next year's products.

Like I said: Crazy.

At least, I thought so. That's why I shared it with you.

But we read every single feedback form we receive. We love hearing from you! And we seriously consider your insights and impressions. Just remember: You may not see the changes until the year after next. Not because we're not willing, but because while you're using this year's Core we're making next year's Core so it's ready when you are.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

2 Comments

Oct. 27, 2009

The Home Court Advantage

By Luke

Soccer was not my forte.

Luke Shoots! He Falls

I never advanced beyond t-ball.

Basketball, football, volleyball, curling? Never go into those either. So, I think it's fair to say that sports aren't really my thing.^*

But there is something almost magical that happens when a team is playing for the home crowd. Screaming fans must naturally boost adrenaline, or something. I don't know how it works exactly. But I do often hear people talk about the home court advantage. And there's a great parallel in homeschooling. Mike, an avid runner who works in returns, pointed this out last week. I thought he made a great observation, so I decided to blog about it.

The Sonlight Moments are certainly one way of cheering on the home~~team~~schoolers around you. In fact, every time you share an encouraging word with a friend or blogger, you're cheering them on.

And every time you leave a review on any one of our product pages or on Facebook or on a homeschool review site, you're cheering Sonlight on as well.

Speaking of which: Brenda has asked for reviews of Sonlight to put on The Curriculum Choice website. So please, contact her if you'd be willing, or drop me a line and I can pass your information along to her.

Your involvement via comments, feedback, encouragement, prayer requests, discussion and more make you not only part of the Sonlight family, a player on the homeschool team, but also a cheering fan for all of us as we enjoy the opportunities we have to teach our children at home.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

^*I know, I know: I was a rather good swimmer and I did okay in 4A Cross Country. And those are absolutely sports. But team sports--which is more to the point of this post--have never been my strong suit.

2 Comments

Oct. 22, 2009

The Future of Books

By Sarita

I've been thinking lately about the future of books.

Obviously, I don't know what the future holds. What I do know are a few reasons why physical, paper books are such critical treasures for children and adults alike.

You probably know how much I value time spent reading aloud to children. There's nothing like the affirming physical touch, emotional maturation, and intellectual discovery that occurs when you snuggle up with your children for a gripping Read-Aloud. Even if your little ones are playing or drawing quietly on the floor while you read (so their hands are busy even as their minds engage in the story), these are precious times with manifold rewards.

One of the extra rewards of reading aloud is that reading trains children to stay focused on one task and ignore potential interruptions until they complete the task. When you read, there is nothing to do but focus on the story and keep going. You might break off into discussions and questions as you progress, but you come back to the story and keep moving forward. There is a definite end in sight. As you flip the pages, you continually see how you're progressing toward that end, and you arrive at a clear ending. Then, depending on your style, you get the satisfaction of checking the box in your IG, crossing the book off a list or adding the title to your ever growing list of books you've read.

Consider an alternative: instead of sitting down to read a book about the American Civil War, you log on to your computer and look up the Wikipedia article on the Civil War. You can certainly read and learn from the online article. But every paragraph (even the first sentence!) contains so many links to other interesting topics, names and events that, chances are, you'll click through to something else before you read one whole section of the original article. Then you see five more interesting links and before you know it, you’ve started down a dozen different paths of learning and come out with some interesting bits of trivia (Did you know that many of the earliest Northern histories of the war called it the "War of the Rebellion"?), but no cohesive or comprehensive understanding of the war's context.

There certainly are advantages to online learning. How great that we can satisfy our curiosity immediately. But if this approach represents the majority of how we learn, we slowly train ourselves (and our children) to think in scattered, non-linear patterns.

Reading a real biography or novel takes you away from electronic distractions and trains you to be satisfied with what you have in hand, instead of chasing the endless resources available online. Once you go online to read something, there is simply no definable "end." You can click links and read more forever. But books train children to start something and carry it through to completion. Could there be an easier or more effective way to encourage and reward this focused completion of a task from start to finish? The sense of satisfaction that comes with finishing a good book encourages children to develop the habit of following through on tasks for the rest of their lives.

That’s just one reason why I love the stories I hear from moms whose children have just discovered that they can read a whole book on their own. (I often hear this about the I Can Read It series.) As children learn to do this repeatedly, they reinforce the lesson that they can take on challenges and complete them. One page at a time.

So while I'm excited about some of the opportunities available as our society becomes increasingly internet-dependent, may it be that in twenty years, we still value the treasure of sitting down to read (and finish) a good book.

Blessings on you and yours,
Sarita

Why People Hate Sonlight

Silence and Spin

The Holidays are Coming ...

Get your focus off yourself

Do some advanced planning

Get It Right

Implementing Feedback

The Home Court Advantage

The Future of Books

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