Explode the Code teaches children how to follow instructions and to think critically. I would venture to say that most of our everyday teaching requires our children to follow instructions, but I have found Explode the Code reinforces the importance of following direction in a fun and rewarding way.
Some of the sections in the Ready, Set, Go series combine color recognition, penmanship, critical thinking skills, sound recognition, shape recognition, and creative thinking skills.
Critical thinking skills are one of the strengths within the numbered levels of this supplement as well. Each lesson offers exercises teach critical thinking skills in two ways:
It challenges students to study a picture and select the appropriate statement that matches the picture.
It challenges students to recognize and read questions answering yes or no based on vocabulary and common sense knowledge, with no visual cues, while practicing their reading skills.
Explode the Code 1, 2, 3
2. Explode the Code Teaches Phonetics and Spelling
Each lesson starts with a phonetic concept that helps students understand how to decode sounds and form words. The phonetic exercises of each lesson help students really grasp the concepts being taught both visually and audibly (with parental help).
The numbered Explode the Code levels combine visual learning with phonetic learning by associating a word with a picture. This allows the child to not only hear the word and see the word spelled, but also gives them a visual representation of the word. The pictures really help children who learn best with visual cues. The word-picture association really enhances reading and spelling skills.
Each lesson ends with a spelling page that challenges the student to remember how to spell certain words that they have learned within the lesson. Again the workbooks use the picture association. There are also exercises within the lesson that help students practice spelling with visual help. This is enough spelling for families who don’t want to add an extra spelling curriculum.
3. Explode the Code Integrates Seamlessly with Sonlight Language Arts
Because Explode the Code blends seamlessly with Sonlight Language Arts lessons, it's easy to use. As I mentioned before, Sonlight is excellent on its own alone, but it's enhanced with the extra practice found in these workbooks.
Sonlight schedules the ETC pages with just enough practice each day to benefit the student and encourage learning.
Sonlight Language Arts and Explode the Code lessons, if followed according to the Instructor’s Guide (IG), use the same words and sounds concurrently. This overlapping approach gives the student more time to grasp the concept being taught. There is a perfect blend of the two elements without overloading your child with too much work.
As a busy homeschooling parent with a full time job and many children to teach, I need a home cleaning routine that runs smoothly so I can focus on homeschooling my children. In other words, I need everyone to pitch in and help out.
To keep track of which child has which housekeeping duties, we’ve tried many different styles of chore charts—stickers charts, magnet charts, and laminated checkoff lists. I tried dividing chores based on age, drawing chores out of a bowl, and using a spinning wheel.
Disadvantages of Chore Charts
While all of these chore techniques were useful for a time, I quickly discovered that, for me, there were two main disadvantages.
1. Chore Charts Do Not Allow for a Wide Variety of Ages and Abilities
Because large homeschooling families usually have several children ranging across a fairly wide age span, there is no way to make chores equal. A child of five can not be expected to wash the same amount of dishes to the same degree of cleanliness as a child of ten. A child of eight might be much faster at cleaning the same room as a child of four.
2. Chore Charts Require My Involvement and Monitoring
Instead of becoming a tool to help me focus my attention on homeschooling, chore charts quickly became an interruption. I had to track which child had which chores on which day. I moderated whose turn it was to wash dishes and whether I should count a meal using disposable plates or other unusual situations.
Children would interrupt a math problem to inquire whether today’s floor-sweeping assignment also included picking up the dust pile created. (I’m not sure why they even thought that was up for debate.) Or while I was working on spelling with one child, two others would be arguing over whether their chores were part of another child’s chore.
My children were always trying to demonstrate why their share of the chores was not fair.
Making those decisions is stressful for me. I need a way to assign chores without constantly having to arbitrate so I can focus my limited time on helping them with science and math.
Solution 1: Assign Chores by Room Instead of Task
Finally, I decided the fairest way I could assign tasks was to designate one room per each of my four children. The child would maintain responsibility for that room for an extended period of time, rather than constantly changing.
I also assigned each child their bedroom or their portion of their bedroom. I split the girls’ room into sections. One girl had her bed, the dresser, and the closet. The younger had her bed, the shelves, and floor. They were expected to straighten up their rooms twice a day.
Then I divvied up the rest of the house. We had a smaller house then, so I assigned the oldest child the dishes and kitchen, since she was really fast in cleaning those. My second child had the dining room and parents’ bedroom. My third child had the living room, and my fourth was responsible for bathrooms and hallways. She was four at the time, so her chores were limited to wiping down the sink and dusting.
Those chores have grown with them. The older they get, the more I expect a more complete job of cleaning their assigned area.
They keep these room assignments indefinitely. They are allowed, if both parties agree, to trade rooms. I’ve seen my oldest trade the kitchen and dishes for letting siblings use her iPad or agreeing to take them to the park. Even my youngest is pretty good at trading even though she doesn’t have a lot to barter with.
They can also establish a long-term trade. They are responsible for figuring out the trade and then telling me the terms of their agreement. We’ve had a few change-ups over the years.
Now, almost ten years later, our room assignments look like this.
The oldest is back on kitchen duty with dishes three times a week.
My second child is on yard work, garage, and shed.
My third is in charge of living and dining rooms.
The fourth does the rest of the dishes, pantry, and puts away groceries.
My fifth child does bathrooms and hallways.
My sixth cleans my bedroom and the school/toy room.
Now any time I walk into a messy room, I know who needs to work. My children also guard their rooms, preventing messes from being formed, so they have less cleaning to do.
By teaching my kids to take responsibility for one room, I no longer have to worry as much about incomplete housework. We get more homeschooling assignments completed, and I spend less time moderating chore assignments.
Solution 2: Assign Toys by Type Instead of Location
I minimize toys, but with six children across a wide age span who are home more often than not, toys still seem to explode everywhere. When they bring toys into the living room to play with during read-alouds and then we hurry off to an appointment, it isn’t fair for the child assigned the living room to do all the cleaning when we return.
To cut down complaints of “It’s not fair” and “It’s not my fault,” I started dividing the clean-up of toys by type, rather than location.
My oldest is in charge of books, games, and art supplies. She rarely plays with toys anymore, so these are the things she is more apt to be using.
My second is in charge of LEGO and K’nex and other building supplies. He enjoys keeping them tidy with his extensive organization system
Our third child is in charge of cars, trucks, transformer-style toys, toy weaponry, and outdoor toys.
My fourth is in charge of dolls and accessories.
Next comes the child with an extensive Calico Critter collection.
Finally comes the child who is in charge of small collections of assorted toys and homeschool manipulatives.
All other toys are sorted by the children in charge of the rooms they are found in. But we try to limit the amount of overall categories and toys which don’t belong to one of the above categories.
This toys-by-type system allows them a larger selection, but allows them to quickly straighten them and put them away. No one is allowed to prevent siblings from playing with toys, as long as they play respectfully and clean up after themselves most of the time. But this cuts down on assorted pieces lying around or if no one claims responsibility for taking them out.
This system also works equally well for Sonlight science supplies (each child is responsible for their level’s science supplies), math manipulatives, and other educational materials.
By changing how I assigned chores, I was able to reduce friction and arguments in our house, teach children to fully clean an area regularly and thoroughly, and provide them with a sense of responsibility for keeping our family house organized. This non-chore chart method allows me more time and energy to homeschool and enjoy being with my children.
Wouldn't it be wonderful: to not have to worry about what you are doing each day for homeschool, but to simply do it?
With Sonlight's Instructor's Guides, you won't have to worry about scheduling, comprehension questions, activity sheets. None of it. Because we've already done it for you.
When I first started homeschooling, one attractive element of Sonlight’s curriculum was the fact that each age level contains missionary biographies or autobiographies.
Learning about the lives of missionaries—their successes, failures, hardships, and devotion— is awe-inspiring. That awe is something I wanted to introduce to my children.
In the eight years we have homeschooled, they have always begged for more missionary stories. I am thankful Sonlight makes these books a priority and includes them in each History / Bible / Literature level.
Missionary stories are thrilling, heartbreaking, encouraging, and sometimes hard to hear. But even the most heart wrenching events don’t need to deter us from reading them.
I know your family will benefit from them just as my family has for so many years. Here are three major benefits you will discover on your journey with each missionary.
1. Missionary Stories Inspire Us to Seek God
Have you ever finished a book so inspired that you felt you would burst from elation if you didn’t act on the knowledge you just learned?
Missionary stories can inspire us to the point of action—towards other people, towards ourselves, or towards God.
There have been many, many family conversations that resulted from reading missionary stories. Those conversations have drawn us closer to God and helped us talk through hard spiritual questions. The testimonies of missionaries' lives have been an example of how we need to seek God and walk with Him daily, asking Him to use us to further His kingdom.
Sometimes real stories from real people help our children see their need for Jesus in their own life. These amazing testimonies still speak to us and point us to Christ. They also inspire us parents to be more devoted in our own relationship with Christ.
2. Missionary Stories Introduce Us to Peoples of the World
When we study geography or history, we can learn facts and figures and hope that we might remember them a week from now. But with the help of a true story—of real people, and real events in a certain place or time period, all the facts come to life.
The vibrant beauty of stories makex history more memorable. Missionary biographies introduce us to complex people, authentic culture, and one-in-a-lifetime experiences, that will fully educate us about the people in our world, past and current.
3. Missionary Stories Motivate Us to Serve
Not only do these stories draw us closer to God and help us learn about other people, missionary biographies also show us that there is a whole world of people out there to serve.
These inspirational stories challenge us to get beyond our comfort zone to help those in physical, emotional, and spiritual need. Reading the stories of these faithful, yet everyday, servants motivates us to follow suit.
What greater legacy to leave our children than to teach them how to serve and love others by looking for the needs around them and in the world beyond their boundaries?
Relive the amazing adventures of the godly men and women who have gone before us with an open heart, ready to allow God to use their story to challenge you.
What are you waiting for? Go grab your books, gather round as a family, and set off on an incredible journey with a missionary today and see the benefits that are waiting for your family.
Inspire your kids to change the world, strive for personal growth, and persist through trials with this eclectic mix of biographies (and one autobiography) from world history, US history, church history, and more. Use Christian biographies for young readers to inspire perseverance and character!
Walk with these great personalities as they overcome odds to achieve world-altering accomplishments: Archimedes, Peter the Great, Helen Keller, Martin Luther, Harriet Tubman, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Booker T. Washington, William Wilberforce, George Washington Carver, and Wilbur and Orville Wright.
This picture book biography is a perfect introduction to the tsar who brought Russia into the modern world—Peter the Great. Gorgeous illustrations bring the story to life and offer a feel for Russian art of the 17th and 18th centuries.
This multiple award-winning account of Michelangelo's life and achievements includes large, full-color illustrations of Michelangelo's paintings and sculptures.
This unique slant on a biography presents the story of Wliburforce through verse instead of prose.
Despite all obstacles, he fought to end the slave trade in Great Britain. This is a powerful story of tenacity and courage. It's perfect for your young social justice warriors.
This biography of Archimedes is delightful! This Greek mathematician made a number of wonderful discoveries or proved their practical application.
Once he solved a challenging problem while in the bath and was so excited by the discovery, he ran naked through the streets yelling "Eureka! Eureka! (I've found it! I've found it!)"
You get science and history, rolled up into one with this book.
A must-read, this fascinating biography features Harriet Tubman. Called the Moses of her people, she risked her life, helping other slaves reach freedom on the Underground Railroad.
It's a tale of extraordinary courage and righteous civil disobedience that your kids will remember years after reading.
This biography of Helen Keller will amaze your children. Through her own courage and the firm love of a caring teacher, this blind and deaf girl overcame incredible limitations.
This is the kind of story that blows our own personal excuses for failure out of the water. It's a must-read both for cultural literacy and for a healthy growth mindset.
This book is a delightful account of the exploits, the family life, and the character of the two bike builders who are generally credited with having been the first to engage in powered flight.
Through their repeated failures and eventual success, your kids will glean the power of persistence and a growth mindset.
Booker T. Washington was a devoutly Christian man who, as a former slave, navigated a dangerous middle ground in a time of racial backlash and disfranchisement.
As he publicly acquiesced to whites on issues of social equality, he fiercely exhorted blacks to unite and improve their lot. Up From Slavery is his autobiography, recounting life from childhood as a slave, through his struggle for education, his founding and presidency of Tuskegee Institute, and his rise to national prominence.
This simply written, anecdotal life story bears the mark of a man of genuine courage, talent, and dedication.
Mother Teresa is an unlikely hero who went against the grain of our me-first culture. Her story will inspire and challenge you to do more for God by serving others! For more than 40 years, she sought to be the arms of Christ to the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta, India.
Does your child inhale books? Do you get them a big stack of books just to turn around to them telling you that they’ve just finished….all of them? I understand this completely! If you are anything like me, it’s both exciting and frustrating.
I love that my children love to read, but fueling a voracious reader with enough books is a challenge, even after we’ve read through all of our Sonlight curriculum material!
While libraries are shuttered due to the pandemic, it's even more of a challenge to keep your family supplied with good books. Here's how to keep reading even when the library is closed.
1. Use Libraries
Wait... the library is closed. How can I use the library?
Most libraries offer ebooks, audiobooks, and video content as well as physical books. Now is the time to figure out how that system works and start taking advantage of it. Yes, you'll probably have to jump through a few hoops with new log ins and installing an app. But it will be worth it!
Many libraries are offering storyhour via live streaming avenues and recorded video. Having an event to look forward to is good for kids. Put the schedule on your refrigerator and let the kids tune in live.
For live broadcasts, think outside of your own local area. Head straight to the teen or children parts of each website for the most relevant content. Here are a few of the nation's best libraries to get you started:
Not sure about what to read next? Your library's website probably has booklists of What to Read Next and More by This Author. Dig in to the website and find out what treasures await you there.
2. Subscribe to Magazines
Signing up for subscriptions has been a lifesaver for us! For a fairly low cost, you can order a whole year’s worth of periodically new reading material for your child. It’s also so fun to get something in the mail!
In the past, we have subscribed to these loved magazines:
Ranger Rick
Sports Illustrated Kids
Jack & Jill
ZooBooks
All of these were great investments, and it seemed to bridge the gap to our next library or bookstore trip when our kids had finished all their books.
Some of these sites will also sell back issues so you can stock up and binge read without waiting for a new issue.
These sets are a safe bet. You know the books will be age-appropriate, wholesome, and high-quality. It saves you hours of hunting books and reading reviews.
There are also Summer Reader sets of recreational reading to fuel your voracious reader while libraries are closed.
4. Instead of Toys, Buy Books
Our kids know that one way that we show our love for them is to buy them books. We give a lot of thought to what our kids would enjoy reading, and we will sometimes order them a new book and leave it on their bed for them to find. It’s a small way to say, “I was thinking about you.”
The novelty of a new toy typically lasts for a day, and then the kids forget it. My husband and I learned a while back that books are a much better investment than toys for holidays and birthdays. So instead of buying a small, cheap toy, we allow our kids to choose a book or surprise them with one we select.
5. Reread a Favorite
If you're running low on new books, revisit an old favorite. Your kids may be new to rereading a book, but this may be a good season to try it.
When you reread a book, you already know how it turns out, so you are reading for different objectives that merely seeing how the plot unfolds. On a second reading, you can immerse yourself in the way the author writes the dialogue, the way the characters are portrayed, the use of figurative language, and more.
Reading aloud takes longer than reading silently. So slow down the pace with family reading sessions.
You can read aloud to the kids.
Kids and teens can read aloud to each other and to you.
This method means you can slow the consumption of books and intersperse the reading with leisurely discussions:
Why did the character do that?
What would you do?
What do you think will happen next?
Having a voracious reader is a good problem. It just requires a little creativity. We’ve been able to build a pretty extensive home library without spending a fortune, and you can too. What are your favorite ways to keep your child reading?
Your students will ask questions, think of possible answers (hypotheses), and test them with you. They won't just receive information, but will actively explore subjects like cause and effect, patterns, structure and function, systems, stability and change, cycles, and more.
Want to learn more about Sonlight's new Kindergarten Science program? Keep reading!
Why Create a New Science Program?
The idea to create a new science program started with a desire to update the Sonlight's science video resources (Discover & Do). While developing a plan to update video content, we started taking a closer look at all of the content included in our curriculum.
Instead of just replacing out-of-date books and updating information, there was an opportunity to completely rethink Sonlight's approach to the science curriculum. This new approach teaches children to think like scientists, and builds STEM skills that are valuable in an increasingly technological world.
Sonlight's New Approach to Science
A hands-on approach to science is exciting and lets kids see science in action. We didn't want to lose any of that with our new science approach!
But, we also didn't want to stop with demonstrating concepts through science experiments. Science can be used as an opportunity to teach great problem-solving skills and new ways of thinking. Your kids can get actively involved in the scientific process, and learn to think like scientists with a solution-oriented mindset.
1. Teaching Kids to Think Like Scientists
The new Science K experiments book and accompanying videos follow the Scientific Method. Each hands-on activity starts with an observation or a specific question. Why do rain forests grow the way that they do? Or how do boats float? From the observation, students are encouraged to make a prediction, and then carry out an experiment to test their hypothesis.
The learning doesn't stop after just one activity. You'll push forward to see how the concept you've learned applies to other ideas. Science is all connected and always growing. We want to inspire kids to ask big questions and explore God's world.
2. Tying Activities to Engaging Books
One of the most exciting things about Science K is that the experiments tie back to the content in the science books. When you're reading about ants, you're going to do several experiments about ants and where they live, how they move, and what they eat.
We've worked hard to find excellent, engaging, age-appropriate titles that still keep the program affordable and on-topic. The books are filled with great illustrations and photographs. You'll even read a biography about a normal person who started a movement that has dramatically improved the ecology of northern Africa. Kids will see how the study of science can inspire and create positive change in the world.
3. Adding STEM Content
By adding STEM and Engineering Design content to the new kindergarten Science program, we hope to inspire students who have an aptitude for science and engineering fields. STEM is all about learning about a problem and finding creative ways to solve it. Kids get to explore these problems in a structured, scientific way.
With Sonlight's new approach to our science progams, kids are encouraged to step into innovating and experimenting on their own. We're excited to build scientists who follow God's calling and change the world for the better!
Check out Sonlight's complete kindergarten program!
Get the new American History Kindergarten program in one simple order. Includes the NEW Kindergarten History / Bible / Literature Program Readers, Handwriting, Language Arts, the NEW Kindergarten Science program and Math. Everything you need to teach one child, for one year... in one easy order.
NEW FOR 2020 Sonlight's Kindergarten All-Subjects Package AVAILABLE APRIL 1, 2020
If your home library is sorely lacking in the poetry genre, this list solves the problem with 11 poetry anthologies for kids. Although these are specifically for students, each book will appeal to all ages from young children to adults.
