Parenting can be overwhelming. Here you are, expected to raise these little people to adulthood. You must feed, clothe, shelter, love, protect, guide, and nurture them. Sometimes I marvel that any of us are up for the task.
I don't think she's alone in that. It can be hard to be the family who chooses a different path for their children. If you're second-guessing your choice to homeschool, or if you just want some reassurance, I would love to encourage you with three ideas:
1. Find Peace through Prayer
First, take this to the Lord in prayer. Pray earnestly with your spouse for God to help you raise your children well. Trust that God will answer that prayer and guide you. Then trust the path where it seems God is leading you.
2. Know Homeschooling Works
Second, remember that homeschooling is a fabulous way for children to learn. Consider that elite private schools boast of a low student to teacher ratio. When students struggle in any school, parents often pay for expensive private tutoring. We know that children thrive on personalized attention. This is a huge strength of homeschooling.
3. Remember the Student to Teacher Ratio
Homeschooling gives your children their own private tutor. The heart of homeschooling is personalized attention and customized learning. Though your student to teacher ratio may not be one to one, it is still lower than any public school. (It was four to one in my case ... or four to two, if you include my husband, who helped with some of the homeschooling.)
And who is this tutor giving personalized attention to your children's education? It's you—someone who knows your children intimately and loves them deeply. I've never seen a homeschool mom who just let her children fail. Some may have had to redefine what success means for their children's situations, and some find themselves in the tough place of letting older children be responsible for their own decisions. But homeschool moms and dads will beat the bushes and find ways to help their children succeed.
Sonlight is designed to equip you and give you confidence. With all your materials and plans laid out for you to just open and teach, you do have what it takes to homeschool! We are so happy to be part of your homeschool and walk alongside you in this journey!
If you ever have doubts about your homeschool and want personalized reassurance, please contact our trained Sonlight advisors, free of charge. You'll get one-on-one help, new ideas, and renewed confidence.
for homeschool parents who have snapped at a child recently, after explaining the same thing for the umpteenth time
If you’re worried, like I was, that your child is absorbing your frustration with a subject, this method may be for you. Taper-scheduling takes the pressure off a subject without taking lengthy breaks from it.
What is Taper Scheduling?
Taper scheduling places the most difficult learning activities first, and tapers down throughout the day to the most enjoyable and passive activities. It tapers in the same way from difficult to enjoyable throughout the week.
It also tapers down the quantity of work. Because mathis my daughter’s weakest subject, that is the subject we focus on at the start of the week. At the end of the week, only the beloved Read-Alouds are left.
The progression in taper scheduling is from activities that require active participation, like memorization, repetition and writing, to activities that require expression of learned ideas, discussion, or simply listening.
The colors of the words in the diagram above indicate levels of difficulty from red, being the most difficult for my eldest child at the moment, to blue, being the easiest. The arrow indicates the decrease in volume of work throughout the week. The green line highlights the emphasis of that day’s work.
Notice that the green line highlights two subjects each day. I might, for example, ask my daughter to write out what she notices about dividing the Math-U-Seemanipulative blocks. By connecting Math and writing, I help her process both from a different angle, and help plant it in long term memory. Marking out the locations of the history of science books you read on the Markable Mapis one way of connecting the emphasized subjects on Wednesday.
Auditing in the Morning Meeting
It is the child’s active work that tapers down on this model. Crucially, the morning meeting stays consistent. We meet at the table every morning, we discuss our week, and I explain two key concepts for that week. I explain the main concept from Monday’s hardest lesson and one other concept.
This week I explained during the meeting about, dividing the clock-face and about the fall of Rome. I spent only a few minutes on each, explaining them in the clearest terms possible. I didn’t ask any questions;, I just asked them to audit the lesson. They simply listened in while doodling on paper.
How Does Tapering Increase a Child’s Confidence?
Actively studying math only once per week does relieve the pressure for my daughter. She is spared the indignity of failing a series of little verbal tests that usually result in focused tutoring. She maintains her dignity to make progress on her own terms.
But if we left math there, at one weekly lesson, she would not retain enough information each week to achieve the reward of progress. It would be discouragingly slow.
That is why auditing during the morning meeting is important. It protects retention without condescension. This week I played with sixty manipulative blocks and used technical phrases like divide to express my discoveries. When she audits my two-minute lecture, I’m not testing her; I’m displaying what I’m excited about discovering. That amounts to an invitation to conduct the same experiment for herself. Monday will give her the chance to do so.
Notice that Friday is nearly a day off. This light schedule is maintained, regardless of the work done on the previous days. Though tapering does communicate that the freedom of Fridays grows out of the soil of Monday’s discipline, it should never be contingent on work done. Even if they fail to work hard on Monday, Friday ought to be reserved for play, just as the Sabbath must be kept holy regardless of the week’s failings.
Tapering in this form may not be suitable as we get closer to preparing for exams, but it may work as a period of resetting. It has certainly helped us get out of a rut with our problem-subject. Taper Scheduling has restored the flow between memorization and expression, work and rest.
The relaxed pace of summer learning provides the perfect opportunity to put away the schedule and enjoy unstructured reading. Summer reading keeps the skills your kids learned during the school year sharp while still providing entertainment. There’s no need to settle for fluff, though—you can still provide your children with thoughtful, age-appropriate literature that’s both edifying and fun!
Throughout the years, we’ve used the same seven-part test that we use for our curriculum to compile the best-of-the-best summer reader choices. If your eager readers are already finished with this year’s reader collection and are begging for more, take a peek at some of our favorites from past summer reader packs. Keep your family supplied with exceptional reading material all summer long!
For even more recommendations, check out part two here.
The following links to Amazon are affiliate links.
Summer Readers for Elementary Boys
The prize is in sight: a brand-new computer system. All Jake has to do is beat third-grade's biggest know-it-alls in the school science fair. – Jake Drake Know-It-All
At the Rainbow Street Animal Shelter, you may encounter a talking parrot, a three-legged goat, and a puppy that resembles a peanut. And that's just the start. – Lost! A Dog Called Bear
Unlikely pen pal—the city-dwelling boy and the wheat farmer. But that's what can happen when you send off a helium balloon tied to an index card with your name on it. – The Silver Balloon
Miles is moving to a sleepy town with lots of cows. Then he learns that there's already a guy at his new school who's the king prankster-in-residence. – The Terrible Two
The animals panic when they hear that a new guest, a Komodo Dragon, is coming to stay. What will they do? – Animal Inn: A Furry Fiasco
Three sweet stories of an elementary school boy dealing with a grumpy bus driver and learning about honesty and friendship. – Martin Bridge: Ready for Takeoff
The first in a series of Hardy Boys mysteries for young readers, your mystery-lover will enjoy trying to solve the case along with the young detectives. – The Video Game Bandit
Fluffy show dog Fizz decides he wants to become a police dog. What will happen when he follows his dreams? – Fizz and the Police Dog Tryouts
A Sherlock Holmes style mystery for young readers. Solve the mystery with the Great Mouse Detective! – Basil of Baker Street
Summer Readers for Elementary Girls
When they arrive at the San Francisco Hotel and learn there are no available rooms, they decide to stay in the best space of all: one that has its ups…and its downs. – The Elevator Family
Lulu and Mellie go on vacation with Lulu's family. What will happen to the stray dog that keeps pestering them? – Lulu and the Dog from the Sea
A magical story about Annabel Tippens, who has no parents, but does have a dog who talks and a cat who tells her an important secret! – No Flying in the House
If she's ever caught in a bad situation, Roxie knows what to do. But when she ends up on an island with her classmates, she is tested with bringing all home to safety. – Roxie and the Hooligans
Zoey loves to sew and blog, and as she gains some recognition, she appears successful. But her friendships are falling apart. A creative story that celebrates connection. – Sew Zoey: Pins and Needles
Two siblings reluctantly head to their dad's house for the summer. There, Caroline babysits her twin siblings and J.P. coaches the 6-year-old's baseball team. – Just the Tates: Switcharound
Homeschooling Hilde writes her own online newspaper for the locals. When she hears reports of a bear on the loose, she and her older sister investigate to determine what happened. – Bear on the Loose
A story told from the perspective of a dog who works at a vet shop. When an animal needs a home, he faces a challenge. – Cranky Paws
Mia thought she was a klutz, and then she learns her parents are superheroes in hiding! Cheery illustrated story about a happy superhero family. – Mia Mayhem is a Superhero
Sam is having the worst Christmas ever—his dad's bakery is going bankrupt and his mom is spending the holidays elsewhere. A heartfelt coming-of-age story that will make you believe in the power of second chances. – Nickel Bay Nick
A humorous chronicle of one very strange field trip to Washington, D.C., where hijinks and hilarity ensue as two students try to save the president from an attack…that may not actually happen. – The Worst Class Trip Ever
A fantasy tale of a boy born into a family renowned for generations of clever thievery. Then, on his first solo heist, he makes a big mistake. – The Vengekeep Prophecies
When a prankster ends up in a gifted and talented program due to an administration error, he is out of his depth academically, but, surprisingly, ends up exactly where he belongs. – Ungifted
When 12-year-old Max's actor parents leave for parts unknown without taking him, he is forced to survive by his wits. – Mister Max: The Book of Lost Things
When several paintings go missing at the National Gallery, Florian gets to put into practice his "Theory of All Small Things," where he does his best to notice details—a young Sherlock Holmes. – Framed!
Chrstina’s father keeps her safe in an isolated stone mansion and forbids her talking to the orphans down the road. But when she meets orphan Taft, she helps him search for a secret tunnel. – The Secret of Zoom
A very uninquisitive boy stumbles upon a very mysterious society. After that, he finds danger and adventure, plus a hidden box, and a lost map. – The Explorers: The Door in the Alley
Thousands of travelers have come together from all over to watch a total eclipse of the sun. Watch as the lives of three unlikely strangers converge. – Every Soul a Star
Join Mibs on an amazing adventure full of talking tattoos, kidnapping and fantastical stories. – Savvy
The Incorrigibles are children found running wild in the forest, apparently raised by wolves. Can a governess from the Swanburne Academy civilize and educate the bunch in time for the holiday ball? - The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place
Lucy loves photography and would love to win a photography contest. One problem: her photographer father is a contest judge. Second problem: what should she photograph? – Half a Chance
When Tabitha and five other children arrive at the house of the Countess Camilla DeMoss, they start disappearing one-by-one. Tabitha is determined to investigate what's going on. – Nooks and Crannies
Haleigh paints her favorite day—the last day of summer at the New Jersey shore—and wishes she could stay forever. The next day, she finds that her wish has come true. – The First Last Day
Darling works in the cellar of the palace, until she is unexpectedly promoted. She finds some magic—the 100 dresses in the closet transform her to look like someone different. – If the Magic Fits
A story of magic and whimsy. Emma faces an impossible task: finding a legendary treasure. – The Key to Extraordinary
Dragons are supposed to have a specialty, like poetry, history, or philosophy. Aventurine hasn't found her specialty, but after she is turned into a human, she discovers her passion: chocolate. – The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart
An average girl thinks she’s going to a boarding school, but she snoops and realizes it’s a spy school. Even more surprising: her mother is a top spy! – Mrs Smith’s Spy School for Girls
Summer Readers for High School Boys
After global catastrophes have altered the landscape of the world, there are only two places for people to live: Topside, where humans live packed into stack cities, and Dark Life, where people live on the ocean floor. – Dark Life
As a "mudlark," the orphan, Eel, spends his days in the River Thames, searching for odds and ends to sell. –The Great Trouble
For Russell Culver in 1904, school has been nothing but a chain holding him back from his dreams. Maybe now that his teacher has passed on, they'll shut the school down and leave him free to roam. – The Teacher’s Funeral
The streets of 1893 New York are crowded and filthy. For newsboy Maks, they are also danger. A riveting adventure set against a backdrop of New York. – City of Orphans
When Peak is given the choice to go to Juvenile Detention or live with his father in Thailand, he chooses the latter. And finds that his father wants him to be the youngest person to climb Mount Everest. –Peak
A man about to become a monk suddenly starts to scale the exterior of Notre Dame when someone starts shooting at him (and just who is the green-eyed girl watching this happen?) – Vango
In this alternate history, a pair of twins set about creating their vision of skyscrapers and dazzling machines. When they disappear, they leave a puzzle for the people to solve. – York: The Shadow Cipher
Set in the years after WWII, after Jake's mother dies, he is uprooted from his Kansas home and sent to boarding school in Maine. Out-of-place, he goes on a canoe quest with an unusual friend. – Navigating Early
A forgery mystery, with a boy with amnesia and creeps who are trying to rip off a museum for $189 million. – The Van Gogh Deception
A fun steampunk story, including disturbing deadly beetles, a magical device that will incinerate London, and a magical evil magician who needs a young boy. – The Lost Property Office
Summer Readers for High School Girls
Ask Thankful Curtis to sail across a stormy sea, and she is suited better than no other. But when she attends school on the mainland, she finds herself in uncertain waters with nowhere to paddle. – Bright Island
Jack and Hazel were best friends; that is, until Jack disappeared into a forest with a mysterious woman made of ice! Now, Hazel must go after her friend. –Breadcrumbs
Truly's family moves to New Hampshire after her military father loses an arm near the end of his tour of duty. Will they be able to keep the family bookstore going? – Absolutely Truly
An Agatha Christie masterpiece. Told from the point of view of a village doctor, it opens with a suspicious death that draws Hercule Poirot to investigate. – The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Master thief Eugenides, one of the best characters in all of fiction, has married the Queen of Attolia. The thief has become a king, and he does not seem to be suited to it. – The King of Attolia
In the early 1900s, an orphan finds friends in unexpected places. When falsely accused, she must embark on an adventure to clear her name. – The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow
Seattle during the Civil War isn't exactly the paradise that was promised, so Jane's stubbornness and good humor must carry her from skinning an otter to building a canoe. – The Many Reflections of Miss Jane Deming
Desperado Detective Mo is ready to testify and put a kidnapper in jail for a long time. But when he escapes from jail right before his trial, so much quickly goes wrong. – The Odds of Getting Even
This play on Rapunzel has a wise enchantress, a good-hearted father, and a (shockingly) bald Rapunzel. Charming and thought-provoking. – Golden: A Retelling of Rapnuzel
When puzzle-loving Emily arrives in San Francisco, she and her neighbor James find a book with clues, and race to discover what is behind this new game. –Book Scavenger
Children with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) present a special challenge to new homeschooling parents. The differences between a child with ADHD and a child without lead to very different learning styles which require unique teaching techniques. However, homeschooling comes with many advantages for children with ADHD so they can thrive in ways are are unlikely in a classroom setting.
What Makes Homeschooling a Child with ADHD Different?
Children with ADHD can be especially frustrating to parents because while they can perform certain tasks just fine, they can’t do them all the time. This inconsistency makes it look like they aren’t trying hard enough or don’t care enough. For example, a child with ADHD might struggle to focus on a math worksheet, but have no trouble focusing on a video game. Or they might struggle to sit still while listening to a book, but have no trouble sitting still during a television program.
Here are two exercises a parent can try to help understand why focusing and sitting still are so difficult for their child and how the child feels during these episodes.
1. Sitting Still is Challenging: Try It Yourself
Try sitting in a straight-backed chair without moving at all. You can breathe normally, and blink as much as you need to, but try to limit all other movements. See how long you can sit still.
Pay careful attention to the signals your body is sending you. Messages to shift when it becomes a little bit uncomfortable, or messages to twitch, stretch, or just move. Pay attention to how much harder it is to sit completely still as time goes on.
Children with ADHD get these same impulses, but they are much stronger, more frequent, and more insistent.
Children with ADHD impulsive/hyperactive type have a hard time resisting the impulse to fidget. Asking a child not to move while engaging their brain with math problems and while learning new information means they are constantly having to fight against their own body. They can sit still better when their brains are not being strained, but even then, the longer they try, the harder it gets.
2. Paying Attention is Difficult: Try It Yourself
Put on something that’s extremely boring for you: a child’s audiobook, a dull TV program you’ve heard 1000 times, or a documentary about something you’ve never been interested in. Try to keep track of how often your brain starts to think about other things not related to what you are watching or listening to. Then try listening or watching while doing other tasks that take up a lot of mental energy, such as doing math problems or making a complicated lunch. Then try turning on some music or reading a book while paying attention. Add in as many distractions as you can.
Children with ADHD inattentive type have intrusive or racing thoughts that constantly interrupt or distract them. They try to pay attention, but with so many thoughts going in so many different directions, it can be far more difficult to not get distracted than it is to stay on task. Their own brain distracts them frequently, and they often have a very hard time filtering out outside distractions as well. Things most people can ignore, like dripping water, lawnmowers across the street, and lights that are just a little too bright can all be major distractions away from their homeschooling curriculum.
11 ADHD Traits That Are More Easily Managed in a Homeschool Setting
While symptoms of ADHD can work against a child, especially in a traditional school setting, homeschooling provides many advantages that can help a child to overcome those difficulties.
1. Fidgeting
Children with ADHD often need to be moving some part of their body. Even while doing math problems or reading, they have trouble focusing on the task on hand if their body isn’t moving. Consider adding in tactile, sensory activities such as sitting upside-down, using a balance ball, or having fidgets handy to help them learn.
2. Difficulty Remaining Seated
Unless the task at hand requires them to be seated, allow them to move around. Children with ADHD often do better
standing on one foot for math
playing while listening to Read-Alouds
reciting spelling words while jumping on a trampoline
3. Constant Movement
While movement can be distracting to parents, it is often beneficial to children. Use a variety of small and large movements to help your child’s body move, which allows them to focus better.
4. Excessive Talking
While traditional schools often require students to be quiet to help other children concentrate, in your homeschool, your child is free to talk as much as they need. Talking through problems often helps children learn better and retain more, so use this trait to your child’s advantage.
5. Difficulty Taking Turns
While this covers everything from blurting out answers to starting before given permission, this isn’t necessarily a bad trait in homeschooling. While you might need to work on skills like not interrupting in a conversation, you don’t need to make your child wait for many things unless it benefits them.
6. Trouble Staying on Task
Constant internal and external distractions means staying on task can be a frustrating challenge for children with ADHD and their parents. But children who are in a homeschool environment often have fewer overall distractions, and have someone nearby to help them stay on task and teach them how to follow through. Consider using action-linking exercises to help them remember to do tasks to completion, and work with them to develop good habits.
7. Struggles with Completing Assignments
Incomplete assignments are the bane of any teacher’s existence, but with homeschooling, you are able to quickly get to the root of any incomplete assignments and help the child finish. You don’t need to wait a week or two down the road to realize a child hasn’t done their homework.
8. Difficulty Paying Attention
Unlike in a crowded classroom, with fewer students at home, it's easier to detect when a child isn’t paying attention and quickly redirect their attention. Also, with homeschooling, the school day is often shorter, especially in the elementary years when children seem to struggle the most.
9. Difficulty Listening
Children with ADHD are often distracted by their own thoughts, so they can appear to not be listening or even hear that you are speaking to them at times. However, since the home allows you to catch these episodes quickly, you can get the child’s attention, hold eye contact, and have the child repeat the instructions back to you to make sure they truly hear and understand.
10. Forgetfulness
As a parent with many children, I realize all children are forgetful, but my children with ADHD take this to a new level. They can forget they are looking for their shoes with one shoe in their hand, and act like they never heard me give them a math assignment, even though they were complaining about the assignment five minutes earlier.
Homeschooling allows me to establish routines to reduce the amount of forgetfulness on daily items, as well as intervene quickly and teach them good habits to use as an adult to reduce forgetfulness.
11. Distractability
As I’ve mentioned many times, children with ADHD don’t need to actually be distracted to get distracted. They can get distracted in the labyrinth of their own thoughts. Homeschool parents can easily work with their child to reduce external distractions and provide reminders (such as alarms, apps, and sticky notes) to help children learn how to cope with forgetfulness and build lasting skills they can use as adults.
Homeschooling a child with ADHD typically provides more opportunity for lifelong coping mechanisms and better tracking methods. As a parent with ADHD myself, raising two children who also struggle with it, I can attest that not only can homeschooling a child with ADHD be done, but it can be worthwhile and successful.
Quarantine-schooling and homeschooling are apples and oranges, but multitudes of parents have taken this period with kids at home as a snapshot of what a home education means. Before you take the snapshot seriously, take a step back and view the panoramic beyond the pandemic.
Homeschooling was never suited to be an emergency replacement for school, but it is suited to support you in recovering from grief together and rebuilding life together.
Quarantine Schooling is Not Homeschooling
Just as the world seems to be adjusting to homeschooling, I have never missed it more. Meaningful learning is
with other people
about other people,
and for other people.
Social isolation, therefore, has maimed our education beyond recognition.
But life will not always be like this. More home-education communities will arise from these ashes. Whether in school or out of it, rebuilding community will be hard work. Will you join one that is provided by a school system or help create one that is aimed at service, life-long learning, and devotion to God?
It Gets Easier
Having the kids home all day is difficult.
Doing it in isolation is among the most difficult tasks you will face as a parent, and you have nearly completed it.
Every step from now on, towards sustainable routine and mutual re-connection, makes homeschool life more rewarding and balanced. Don’t make a life for yourself in the tunnel, watch for the light at the end of the tunnel. Being a homeschool parent before lockdown was the most gratifying work I had ever done.
Give the Whole Family Space to Recover from Grief
This morning I burst into tears while hanging up the washing. I was thinking of our routine on a Thursday: the people we saw and the life we had. Every day in our week has been gutted of major projects and social commitments. That is a serious loss.
We are grieving for a life lost. It will return, but not as before, and not without healing. The home is the best context for that healing, where hugging and singing is permitted, and where learners collaborate to bless a broken world.
Putting children back in school may give us parents some space in the short-term, but if you plan on putting them on a fast-track to exams in the cultural war-zone of school, you might experience disruption to your family’s recovery.
Boost Academic Success at Home
Among the many myths about homeschooling is the obdurate lie that grades will suffer. Although it is worth putting away a preoccupation with measurable success, those of us who are worried about grades ought to look at the evidence. Sandra Martin-Chang of Concordia University, for example, led a study in 2011, examining 37 structured homeschoolers and 37 public school students. She found that homeschoolers using lesson plans or a curriculum were at least one grade ahead of public schoolers on 5 of 7 test areas.
For many, school grades have suffered in the lockdown, but homeschooling is not the problem here—the lockdown is. In fact, if you’re looking to bump up grades, homeschooling seems to present a solution.
I, personally, flourished academically after being homeschooled with Sonlight curriculum. Reading about these Sonlight students is also a remarkable encouragement.
A World-class Christian Education
A master carpenter does not send his new apprentice out on his own to an important client. Nor does the master keep the apprentice cooped up at home to get book-smart. The apprentice goes with the master to the work site, where he learns the trade from the master. Eventually the apprentice is sent out to build his own business, using his acquired skills.
Before sending our children into the world to be ambassadors for Christ, allow your children to be apprentices at home alongside you.
Let’s be an apprentice to Gladys Aylward on how to be unashamed of the gospel in the face of government pressures.
Let’s be an apprentice to David Livingstone on how to be both a Christian and a scientist among unreached peoples.
Our children must be an apprentice to Jesus on what it means to be sent of the Father.
And they must be our apprentices of what wisdom looks like in the midst of a worldwide crisis.
Let your children be children before they hit the front-lines.
You may feel, like me, knocked down by the lockdown. We are still reeling, trying to redefine our place in the world. Not only will homeschooling with a high-quality Chirstian curriculum nurture your recovery, it will re-orientate you in the world, academically, and as ambassadors of Jesus.
Young children tend to have great memories, and can often memorize things faster and easier than older children or adults. This summer is a great time to work on memorizing key information with your child, as a way to keep their minds active, and provide a great resource for later years when they will need this information.
Keep in mind, memorization works best when children learn small bits of information at a time. So, instead of trying to memorize everything on the list, or memorize large amounts of information, start with small nuggets, such as one phone number, and then gradually add to it over time, such as adding a second phone number once the first phone number is complete.
Tip: Use Music
My favorite way to help children memorize information is to use educational songs, but not everything can be found in music form. If you have musically talented individuals in your family, see if they can set your phone number to the tune of a simple song or create their own songs.
Tip: Create a System
I like to use index cards and book rings to create my own flash card sets. I simply punch a hole in the top corner of some index cards, and then using different colored cards, markers, or highlighters, color code the cards to different types of information. I create 3 rings.
Ring A is for new things we are memorizing. We read through these each day, out loud together.
Ring B is for things we have already memorized. We review this set of cards on days when we have more time, but not daily.
Ring C is for things I want to work on in the future.
As soon as we can recite information 3 days in a row without mistakes, it moves Ring A to Ring B. Then, we choose another card to move from Ring C to Ring A. The rings make it easy to flip through and find information.
Eventually, I feel absolutely confident that we have memorized everything we need to from a card, and that card gets removed from the rings and placed in a drawer to wait for the next child.
Personal Information to Memorize
Their full name
Parents' full names
Complete address
Parents' full telephone number
The full name and phone number of at least one emergency contact
The name of the place each parent's workplace
The names of all of their allergies, medications (and dosages, for older children) and/or medical conditions and those of their siblings/parents, if needed
Emergency numbers (911, but if you live in or are travelling to other countries, this number may be different)
Emergency meeting place in case of disaster/fire
Birth date and/or social security number
Kindergarten Basics to Memorize
Days of the week
Months of the year
Colors of the rainbow
The 3 states of matter
Traffic light colors (green for go, yellow for slow, red for stop)
Seasons of the year
Shapes (trapezoid, sphere, etc)
Major holidays
Thirty Days Hath September poem
Right hand/left hand
History/Geography Facts to Memorize
States and capitals
Names of presidents (or prime ministers or other rulers)
Kings and queens of England
Countries and capitals
The Seven Wonders of the World (ancient and modern)
Continents and oceans
Directions on a compass
The Declaration of Independence
The Preamble to the Constitution
Favorite famous speeches (I Have a Dream from Martin Luther King, Jr., The Gettysburg Address, Susan B. Anthony’s speech after being arrested for voting, etc.)
English Facts to Memorize
Vowels
Parts of speech
Definition of each part of speech
List of prepositions
List of pronouns (possessive, subject, object)
Coordinating conjunctions
Subordinating conjunctions
Articles
How to spell the 1000 most common words in the English language or 100 most commonly misspelled words
Forms of the verb to be
Math Facts to Memorize
Addition tables
Times tables/skip counting
Metric conversions
Equivalencies
Order of operations
Digits of Pi
Roman numerals
Formulas (radius of a circle, quadratic equation, etc.)
Prime numbers
Commonly used laws (associative, communicative, etc.)
Science Facts to Memorize
Names of planets in our solar system
Order of taxonomy classifications
Characteristics/needs of living things
Types of bacteria/viruses
Bones/muscles/systems of the body
Types of ecosystems/biomes/habitats
Types of weather/clouds
Periodic table of the elements
Units of measurement
Scientific laws and theories (laws of motion, thermodynamics, cell theory, etc.)
Language Topics to Memorize
Colors in other languages
Numbers in other languages
Sign language
Braille alphabet
Morse code
Songs for children in foreign languages
Secret codes
Latin roots, prefixes, and suffixes
Greek roots, prefixes, and suffixes
Hieroglyphic basic alphabet
Literature Topics to Memorize
Synonyms/antonyms
Literary elements (plot, characters, setting, theme, point of view, etc.)
Literary devices related to sound (onomatopoeia, assonance, consonance, alliteration)
Types of writing styles (expository, descriptive, creative, narrative, and persuasive)
Parts and order of citations for MLA and/or APA format
Types of punctuation
Proofreading symbols
Bible Topics to Memorize
Names of the twelve disciples
Names of the twelve sons of Jacob
The books of the Bible
The Ten Commandments
The Kings of Israel/Judah
The Lord’s Prayer
Days of creation and what was created on each day
Names/attributes of God/Jesus
Full armor of God and the Fruits of the Spirit
A catechism
Extra Topics to Memorize
Favorite Bible verses
Favorite hymns
Favorite children’s church songs
Favorite quotes
Common idioms and their meanings
Favorite poems
Common facts and mnemonic devices
NATO’s phonetic alphabet
Types of knots and how to tie them
Musical terminology
This list is by no means complete. It’s simply a starting place to give you ideas. Every child does not need to learn to memorize each item, and there may be many facts and skillsyou feel are important for your family that didn't make my list.
For example, as a nurse, I often cover important medical situations with my children, such as using the FAST (Facial drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulties, Time) with my children to identify if someone is having a stroke, or Stop, Drop and Roll in case of a fire.
Often, these items can be completed during a circle time or morning basket time with your children, or even a poetry tea time. Even though the list is long, by picking just a few items to work on at a time, it shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to cycle through them.
When I started homeschooling, not only was I the only full-time father in my community, and the only homeschooling father in my community, I was the only homeschooling single-father that I had ever heard of.
Sometimes it was met with encouragement, sometimes with derision, usually with bafflement. “How little,” I imagined them saying, “must such a man consider his own masculinity?” Maybe the breed of masculinity that is preoccupied with its own public image is not worth having at all. Learning a sense of masculinity that centered on moral courage, I tuned out the gossip and turned to my responsibilities.
1. Get up Early; Sleep in the Wasted Evening
When my toddler was my alarm clock, I always seemed to wake up cranky. I wasn’t starting my day. The day was starting me. I knew I had to start getting up before him. For a few months, that meant inflicting an alarm app on myself at 4:30 am that would not turn off unless I took a picture of my kettle. Because I was starting the day earlier, I started sleeping earlier too, instead of wiling the evening away on Netflix. After a few weeks, I was awake enough at 6am to apply myself to something before the kids got up. I could use the time to…
2. Read Like My Life Depends on it
Having emerged from a tricky degree in theology, I thought the intellectual side of homeschooling would be a breeze. I was wrong. I encountered problems that could only be surmounted with careful reading and examination of my principles. Must my daughter stick to the literature assigned to her age? I had to create time for myself to think and read about it. With Sonlight Advisorson the other end of a phone line, I was in a better position than some to tackle these questions.
3. Use Failure to Connect
After months of discussing Aesop’s Fables, Sonlight’s daily Bible readings in the History, Bible and Literature program, and the discussion questions for the literature in the Instructor’s Guide, I noticed that the curriculum was inviting us to examine our life. Taking the invitation, I was seeing things about my heart that I’d rather not see. I could either hide my impatience, hubris, fragility, or I could make a habit of facing it with my children. I started the daily habit of apologizing for my own wrongdoing.
4. The Compromises of Young Kids are Temporary
It takes a certain frame of mind to bear the mental burden of caring for an under-five-year-old in the long term. One is expected to listen to countless impassioned cries and respond with perfect equanimity. It takes a strong sense of hope to continue doing so at all, let alone with purpose and creativity. I’ll admit that on some evenings it felt like the impositions of my needful children were walling me in. But, “Follow the wall far enough and there will be a door in it” (A Door in the Wall, p16).
When I keep the end in sight, suddenly the wall is no longer walling me in. Walls mark a city to be defended, just as the impositions of my children mark a sacred life to be cherished. I will man the walls.
5. Less Is More
I started to think seriously about toys when my three-year-old ignored his gifted toy truck in favour of the cardboard box. I experimented with keeping all the toys upstairs, and ditching the TV. They spent more time in rewarding imaginative play, and I spent less time officiating disputes. What I learned about curating an environment became crucial for understanding how to direct a child’s attention during lessons.
6. Call My Friends
I always knew that crises test friendships. What I didn’t understand until I had my own personal crisis, is that I actually have to call my friends.
7. When I Rest, Rest
With three little hearts in my sole care, I felt that if I looked away for a moment, chaos would ensue. Every moment I spent with them was spent focused on keeping order. I could be with the kids every hour of the day, without spending a single moment with them. My Atlas-complex begged the question of what I loved more: my children or my to-do-list. It shouldn’t have taken me that long to take the sabbath seriously and to set apart a day for unbroken rest.
8. Take My Shoes and Socks off
Everything my children do without prompting, I had to relearn as strategies for mental health. I turned my phone off and went on barefoot adventures. Removing artifice helped me ground myself. I relearned how to play and cry and adventure and sing and feel untrod soil under my toes. I wanted to prevent myself from closing in on myself, in bitter rumination. I wanted to leave myself open to feel the world. As if my toes were roots, seeking soil to re-root an uprooted family.
We will always remember reading Red Sails to Capri by bonfire-light on one of those adventures, or A Door in the Wall, leaning against the ruins of a 12th century manor house in England. We were planting our learning in the world- in the old earth. They were crucial successes in the business of re-rooting.
9. Lift Up the Boy
Ishmael is born in Genesis 16 amongst hatred, self-importance and recrimination. When he was left in the desert to die, the news was brought to his mother by an angel who said, ““God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”” God listened, and His lovingkindness was Ishmael’s, “Door in the wall.”
My days as a single-father bear the scars of sin and sickness. Every one of those days I hear the command to, “Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand.” God has promised to heal, even the gruesome wounds of sin in my family. Even when the, “Door in the wall” is difficult to make out, I commit myself to “follow the wall far enough.” I will “lift up the boy.”
