Sonlight has--to my knowledge--an unmatched guarantee in the homeschool marketplace. Buy one of Sonlight's packages. Use half of it. If you decide you don't love it, send it back. We'll refund you the cost of the program.

Incredible.

In other words: Try Sonlight. We'll cover your "trial run" if Sonlight's not for you.

But I'm interested: Did you find Sonlight's Love to Learn Guarantee helpful? Did it encourage you to try Sonlight? Or does it feel like some kind of "too good to be true" scam thingy? Did you even know Sonlight had such a guarantee?

I'm interested in your thoughts for three reasons:

1. I would love to get some testimonials about this.
2. I'm interested in your thoughts.
3. December 1 brought about some changes...

Don't worry: Sonlight's guarantee is still very much in effect. It's just as strong as ever. But the Federal Trade Commission has enacted some "clarifications" as to how companies--especially company bloggers such as myself--can use comments, user feedback and testimonials.

Unfortunately, for all the buzz I'm seeing about the December 1 "change," I can't find it on the FTC site. Which is more than a little frustrating. So I've been reading second-hand information.

I'd like your first-hand impression of Sonlight's guarantee. I invite your comments.

Afraid to post your comment because of the FTC?

Don't worry. They seem to care about the blog owner, not the commentors. I'm taking the risk. Not you. ...much like Sonlight's Sonlight's guarantee.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

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