I’ve been looking for a way to make the most of the stories, poems, jokes, and plays that my children write as part of their Sonlight Language Arts curriculum. We’ve always added them to homeschooling portfolios and stored them in the basement where they patiently await rediscovery years from now.
It’s sad, I know, but I didn’t know what else to do. Until now. Let me tell you about our Family Anthology.
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Starting a new homeschool year is so exciting! Just the thought of sharpened pencils that still have their erasers, fresh notebooks, and newly cracked books set my heart racing.
Yes, I’m totally that mom.
I’m also the mom who knows from experience that no matter how new my curriculum is or how sparkly my markers are, there is bound to be some struggle a few weeks into the school year.
The transition from summer to fall is tough even for those of us who homeschool year round. As the days get cooler and we spend more and more time inside together during the fall, a few hiccups and occasional train-wrecks are nigh unavoidable.
So how can you save the homeschool year when your first quarter has a rocky start?
Well, it’s not easy, friend, but it’s doable. Here are seven tips to help you stay on course when your homeschool year has a rocky start.
As much as we might like to have a group of cooperative, eager-to-learn kids every single morning, the reality is often different. Starting a new routine or grade level may exacerbate this reality.
Total truth? Some mornings, Mom isn’t all that shiny and happy to be at the morning table either. We can’t always control how we feel, but we can acknowledge it, accept it, and move forward anyway.
When we are rested, fed, and safe, we are more apt to enjoy learning. We can help our kids adjust to a new schedule by ensuring every day has room for
We can also adjust our expectations for days that are plagued by sickness or that follow an emotionally intense or busy day.
Before throwing the new curriculum in the trash or putting your child back on the bus after an intense argument, give yourself and your kids a chance to adjust. Anything new—good or bad—takes practice and exposure before it’s comfortable.
True confession? We almost didn’t do Sonlight Science after a ping pong ball in the toilet incident. How can I trust kids with clay and citric acid if they are having trouble controlling themselves around a ping pong ball? Well, we start with the ping pong ball and other safe materials as we all adjust to the organized chaos that is experiments with four young kids.
Giving up after a couple of rough days would have been a mistake. I’m so grateful we didn’t miss out on Sonlight Science which is now one of our favorite subjects!
If you’re having a rough time getting started and things aren’t clicking, it’s okay to admit that things aren’t going as well as you hoped. When your kids are struggling you might even say to them, “We just haven't found our groove yet.”
Yet is huge! It lets them know you aren’t giving up and that it will happen eventually.
Bad days are as given as gravity. Remind yourself and your kids that bad days are going to happen—even when everything is planned ahead, the curriculum is the best on the market, and everyone is wearing new clothes. Especially when everyone is wearing new clothes. I joke, but you get the point.
No matter how much we prepare and perfectly arrange our homeschool, life has twists and turns we can't anticipate. You'll at times get behind on your homeschool schedule. Facing setbacks with perseverance, grit, and faith goes a long way to defining and strengthening us as a homeschool family.
Homeschool is challenging. When things go right, mind your manners and send a prayer of thanks, because when they go wrong we are quickly reminded how much we need Him in our lives.
Even in the roughest patches there is always something for which to be grateful. Hold onto it, treasure it, and thank God for it! None of us have all of the answers all of the time. If you are in a rough season it’s okay to ask for help from family, friends, church, or other support groups.
Remember that a rough spot at the start of your homeschool year does not need to define your entire year, nor does it define you or your kids. You are so much more than just a homeschool mom! You are an amazing person who has chosen to give so much of themselves for the betterment of your family.
Sure, homeschooling is part of your life, but it’s not your whole life. Be sure to keep this slice of time in perspective and not let it overwhelm.
Make sure to count all those little successes that will add up over time and just keep homeschooling! You can do this!
Choosing the right curriculum makes all the difference for your school year. If your homeschool needs a makeover, consider Sonlight.
It is not that an amount of social interaction should be permitted up until the point that it distracts from academic work. It is more that academic work should be permitted up until the point that it distracts from social interaction.
How often did you hear, “You have not come here to socialise!” at school? Other people were considered a hindrance to proper school-work. Peers certainly were, let alone younger children. We cannot, however, ask a child to ignore his friends for the sake of abstracted knowledge, not just because abstracted knowledge is unduly arduous but because knowledge, abstracted from other people, is actually bad.
Knowledge puffs up, you could say, if it is not in service of others. Even in preparation for future service, lonely knowledge is prideful and inert. In fact, relationship is your curriculum’s most costly resource.
My six-year-old daughter broke a pencil, shading the forests of South America for Science B, and despairingly threw the broken pencil at her four-year-old brother.
“You do it,”she barked. He paused to look at the abandoned pencil. I waited with a sinking heart.
“Okay,” he said, and took up the pencil. She was surprised and disarmed by his response. He had absorbed the fiery advance and made peace. He scribbled with the broken pencil, and she was drawn in once more to gently (but imperiously) improve his grip.
Once the map was completed, they threw it to their two-year-old brother who ripped it to shreds delightedly, to their applause.
I was angry about the whole ordeal. They missed the point of the lesson, only to get caught up in a childish clash. Or maybe there is more to it than that. The six-year-old wrote a quote from Sticks Across the Chimney (from History / Bible / Literature C) in her Discovery Journal that afternoon.
"Good begets good.”
Whether it was a reflection on her brother’s unwillingness to reciprocate her angry outburst, or on her failure to forestall a vicious cycle, or whether it was connected at all, I don’t know. But it made me rethink the result of the lesson, and what the lesson was.
Her four-year-old brother surely saw how frustrated she was with the broken pencil, but took it as an opportunity to help her. He finished the task that her temper had rendered too difficult. He was able to show a glimmer of Joseph’s grace-powered announcement that, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.” Together, they were able to make a straight line with a crooked pencil.
If the lesson I was interested in having was, in the final analysis, the geography lesson, I had failed, and so had the students. If the lesson, on the final analysis, is moral and spiritual, then I can release control.
Not only should the geography lesson be preparation for future loving service of God, but it must be in the very DNA of the lesson. They will forget the majority of the geography lesson, but it is that DNA which will form the basis of tenfold future lessons. That DNA, of relinquishment of self and seeking after God, is the lesson that lasts.
Next time you mark it as a failure when your six-year-old throws a broken pencil or your twelve-year-old storms out of the classroom, consider the DNA of your lesson.
Is the DNA the teacher and her information, or is it God and His work in your children? If so, then your failures are not failures. God never fails. In His upside down kingdom, it is
That is the DNA of a godly lesson in a homeschool family. That is the death of the self.
Permit academic work up until it hinders social interaction. That doesn’t mean limiting the number of geography lessons, but it does mean limiting a sense of control. I can control a lesson plan, but I can’t control a child’s heart. If love is greater than knowledge, then the DNA of your geography lesson is other people. It is learning to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
If our children fill their heads with geography, trampling and ignoring others as they do so, this may become irreparable DNA damage, making geography, I believe, harder and harder to retain.
I treasure sibling conflict for the same reason I treasure whines and distraction and exhaustion: Weak people need a strong God. It is when we are at our most unlovely that Christ is supremely treasured. Let Him be the DNA of your lesson.
As I go through my days, homeschooling six children and serving the Lord in a variety of ways at home, at church, and in the community, I am regularly blessed by a handful of one-liners that invigorate me and help me to do the right thing with the right attitude. These five phrases come to my mind, and shape my life, on an almost daily basis.
“Just Do It”Whenever I long to connect with my children, to read more books, to play more games, and to be more affectionate, I remember the phrase made famous by Nike, “Just do it”. Instead of grabbing the calendar to schedule a time or revamping our homeschool day or, worse, despairing over my failure to do these things, I just do the thing I’m longing to do.
Cindy Rollins writes about this in her lovely memoir Mere Motherhood: Morning Times, Nursery Rhymes, & My Journey Toward Sanctification:
“So often mothers worry about what they are not doing. I hear these things all the time… To these moms, I say, “get up right now and do THAT thing.” Today, now, put down this book and have your child immediately write a narration or have your devotions or take a walk.”
This tidbit of advice transforms my ideals, theories, hopes, and dreams into realities. Grab this little phrase for yourself. I can’t recommend it enough.
“I’ve Changed My Mind”Years ago, I was feeling stuck by one of my decisions for our homeschool.
Things weren’t working for my child, but I didn’t want to second-guess myself, cave into my child’s complaints, or appear uncommitted. My friend, Renee, comforted me with the truth that I could change my mind. She reminded me that only God is perfect and unchanging; humans have limited understanding and are learning new insights all of the time.
Parenting became less burdensome when I realized that it's okay to reassess and modify my decisions. On a regular basis, I need to tell my children that I’ve changed my mind. It is humbling, but it also demonstrates that I am learning and adapting as I go.
You can change your mind, too, you know.
When you need to adjust a rule, a schedule, or a decision because circumstances have changed or you have learned a new insight, go ahead and change. Your child will respect your honesty, humanity, and flexibility.
“They’ll Remember How You Made Them Feel”Instead of prioritizing lessons, field trips, experiences, and educational resources in our homeschool, I’m learning to prioritize the atmosphere, my attitude, and my affection toward my family. More than any historical fact, spelling word, or math concept, my children will remember how I made them feel from day to day.
Becoming a nurturing mother is one reason why I’m keeping a close eye on my stress level and my outside commitments. It’s one of the reasons why I’m prioritizing time with God, exercise, and a healthy diet. It’s also one of the reasons why I read uplifting books and listen to encouraging podcasts about parenting. It’s also a big theme in my closest friendships.
These things strengthen me to be pleasant, present, and self-controlled. When my children reflect on their childhood, I want them to remember feeling loved.
“I Am the Gardener”Sometimes my children’s neediness, whining, crying, sibling rivalry, clutter, and chaos feel like an onslaught. As I move from one child’s need to another—giving, accommodating, consoling, helping, and serving—I feel like a terrible version of Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree. I feel more like the depleted tree. In fact, by the end of the day, I often feel like a mere stump of myself whose fruit, branches, trunk and all have been beaten out of me. Needless to say, this grim outlook has made me sulk once or twice. Until recently.
When I prayed about my burden, I realized that I am not "the depleted tree." I am not a victim of my children’s needs and demands.
Instead, I am the gardener; I am the one with agency, calling, vision, and responsibility. I am the one who is teaching, training, and nurturing my children so that when they demand something, I get to decide the best way to address their needs. When they cry, fight, or make messes, I get to consider the best direction for their lives and act accordingly. By reminding myself “I am the gardener” of my precious children’s souls, I move from feeling like a martyr to feeling like a maker. I move from resentment to rest. This shift in perspective is bringing forth fruit in my home.
Do you ever feel like "the depleted tree"? Try this shift in perspective! Today, remind yourself, “I am the gardener” and see if it helps you to take a proactive step in loving and serving your child with a cheerful heart.
“Serve the Lord with Gladness”Vonette Bright worked alongside her husband, Bill Bright, as he began Campus Crusade for Christ (now called CRU on college campuses). When she was on her deathbed, she reflected on her life—one of joy and sorrow.
She had raised children, supported Bill in his ministry work, endured Bill’s death, and had suffered through her own sickness. At the end of her life, she was asked, “What’s life all about?” Without hesitation Vonette replied with a phrase from Psalm 100:2, “Serve the Lord with gladness.”
Her response echoes in my mind as I work to love my husband, raise our children, build the Church, and reach out to our community. The encouragement to “serve the Lord with gladness” casts a beautiful light on all of my tasks—from the menial to the enjoyable. It makes my work meaningful, and it lifts my eyes to a loving Heavenly Father who cares about me.
What’s your life all about? What will all of your homeschooling moments amount to? Wouldn’t it be lovely, profoundly lovely, if your life—homeschool included—amounted to a happy gift unto the Lord?
I bless you today with this life-shaping one-liner: “Serve the Lord with gladness.” Add it to your daily self-talk. Preach it to yourself, sing it, pray it, whisper it. I am confident that living this one phrase will make all of the difference in the world.
Why are you homeschooling? Refuel your homeschool and keep your motivation at the forefront with our FREE guide.
With God, all things are possible! Stories of God's faithfulness on the mission field and the sacrifice of His missionaries will do more to grow your children's faith in God than a dozen lectures! Use these enjoyable missionary stories as family Read-Alouds for maximum spiritual benefit.
Because Christian missions is at the core of Sonlight, every History / Bible / Literature curriculum package includes at least one missionary biography. If you don't use Sonlight (yet) or aren't a homeschooler at all, be sure to read these twelve books to your children and add them to your home library. The discussions they inspire give you a chance to impart your faith to your children in a natural way. You will be changed, too, by these inspiring accounts.
Let's travel every continent of the globe by way of the stories of these exemplary Christian missionaries!
Hudson Taylor was only 21 when he sailed from England. He had already learned he could trust God with the last coin in his pocket; he would need that faith as he set out to evangelize the Chinese.
This missionary biography is a thrilling true story of daring, danger, and dependence on God in China.
Mama Laird served as a missionary in the Central African Republic for decades and saw great waves of people turning to God.
One dear follower was beaten by drunks until he almost died, but 300 or so people came to his house of death and followed Jesus. Finally one day, no one came. Then he said, "God, let me get up or die."
This is marvelous missionary story that will challenge your faith in the best of ways.
God prepared the way for the Karen people of Burma to come to know him.
When George Boardman and Adoniram Judson arrived, the Burmese were not terribly interested, but the Karen were desperately ready.
This missionary biography is an incredible story of God at work.
This missionary tale is the moving story of how God's word transformed an entire people--as well as the woman whom He had sent to translate the Scriptures for them.
This story of one woman's life of fervent prayer in the Philippines will inspire you and your children to greater faith.
This missionary biography tells the true story of Bruce Olson who, at 19 years of age, leaves his home in Minnesota to reach the Motilone Indians, a murderous tribe in the jungles of Colombia.
Captured by the people with whom he wants to share the Gospel, Olson proves God's strength is made perfect in weakness.
This one is thought provoking and challenging!
One the greatest ways to boost our faith is by seeing how God has been faithful in the past. We may tell children that God answers prayer, but when they experience George Muller praying for bread for an entire orphanage, they can feel the weight of need. When they catch their breath as he gets news of a miraculously broken down bread cart just outside his door at breakfast time, they will never forget this truth.
In this gripping true story, you and your children will come face to face with Muller's massive faith and generosity. With scarcely enough money for his own family, George Muller sponsored a "Breakfast Club" for orphans that eventually filled five large houses and cared for 10,000 children.
This classic missionary biography recounts the work of Gladys Aylward, an uneducated British housemaid who went to China via Russia in the midst of the Soviet-Chinese war in the early 20th century.
Her bravery will inspire your children to do great things for God and trust him at all times. As a bonus, you get a glimpse of the customs and culture of China during that period.
This missionary biography takes you to Ethiopia where you get eighteen glorious chapters of God at work:
It's marvelous.
A translator struggles to help the Falopa people of Papua New Guinea understand what the Bible says in this missionary biography.
Fascinating, thought-provoking, and often funny, these are the stories of a culture's first encounter with God's Word. You will love reading it and will probably want to re-read it at least once!
In this modern day missionary biography, you get fourteen stories of God at work in Colombia, South America.
It's dramatic and exciting: people escape a burning house, see dreams and visions, and try to convert kidnappers.
When you come to the end of this book, you and your children will say, "Wow! He is worthy of praise!"
As a cotton mill worker, Mary Slessor longs to be used by God in a mighty way. Her prayer is answered when she becomes a pioneer missionary in Africa.
In the Calabar region, she not only teaches people about Christ but also helps to put an end to twin-killings and other brutal practices.
This one is a thrilling biography, composed by master biographers.
This missionary biography is an amazing story of a woman who grew up in India and couldn't wait to leave. In one night, three men came to ask her to help their laboring wives. All three refused her father's help (he was a doctor), preferring to let their wives die than break religious taboos. And all three did die.
Ida realized she could make a difference, and so she went to medical school to use her gifts for the Lord in India. She served in India for decades, helping the lepers, founding a teaching hospital, and serving the people.
Biographies of missionaries demonstrate clearly how God is active in the lives of His followers. These books will increase your faith and challenge you and your children to rest in God's provision.
To see more top-notch books and our complete book-based homeschool programs, ask for a complimentary copy of your catalog today.
"Sonlight has given Eli a love for books despite his dyslexia. Reading aloud is the highlight of our day. Audio books are a must in our house. I could never read aloud as many books as he devours. Thank you, Sonlight!"
Stefany A. of Shawnee, KS
As a parent of four children with varying degrees of dyslexia, dysgraphia, and visual processing issues, finding a curriculum that works can be difficult. Most curricula depend heavily on a child’s reading ability: a child must be able to read the written work, comprehend it, and then read the tests in order to answer the questions correctly. Even subjects that aren’t reading-based still require reading skills to be able to read the instructions on a math page or the steps to laying out a science experiment.
Students with dyslexia face challenges in every subject, especially since issues with dyslexia extend far beyond just reading and writing. These children often struggle to memorize math facts and historical dates, often have trouble learning foreign languages, and may have trouble remembering directions and faces.
With all those challenges facing a dyslexic child, why would a parent choose a program that is largely based upon reading books?! And how could a literature-based program help a child for whom books are a major issue?
Based on my experience and that of other parents who agreed to let me share their stories, yes! A literature-based homeschool curriculum like Sonlight does work for a child with dyslexia. Here's why.
Sonlight (as well as most other literature-based curricula) doesn’t wait until your child is reading well independently to teach information. You’ll begin reading to your child about science and history in preschool, and continue reading to them up through middle school. Some parents even continue reading to their children in high school. Many of the History / Bible / Literature programs, and even the Science programs, have the parent reading books to the child well above the typical reading level of that age group.
For example, in Sonlight HBL D, one of the history spines is The Landmark History of the American People: From Plymouth to the West. This is an updated version of a book which was written, not to third through fifth graders as one might expect based on Sonlight’s grade recommendations, but as a social commentary for adults. In the book, you won’t find a watered-down, reading-leveled book with carefully selected vocabulary and content catered to this age group, but a full variety of interesting and engaging topics such as how propaganda created an influx of people from Europe to emigrate to America, how voting practices have changed over the years, and how the housing market in the New Land created business opportunities blocked to many back in the Old World.
[A spine is a book that provides structure to your year of study and is usually the main book used all year long.]
You will be reading to your preschool-aged children about atoms and quarks, and your child in early elementary about how Hammurabi created the first known code of laws, and why many believe that Pharaoh Menes and King Narmer were the same person. Your child doesn’t need to be able to read those things themselves because the program relies on shared reading experiences between parent and child.
My oldest daughter, now age 18, has used Sonlight since she was 4. She was diagnosed with dyslexia at age 8. We have struggled with writing and spelling lessons since the beginning. However, she was surprising adults with her knowledge of history and science well before she was diagnosed. Because I read aloud to her about topics she would have struggled to read her own, her dyslexia didn't hold her back from learning.
The methods used in most classrooms and some homeschool programs are difficult for dyslexic children.
Students are asked to read materials and then answer questions based on the reading. They are assigned several books throughout the day, one or more per subject, where they are asked to pay careful attention to all the details and later regurgitate what they have learned.
Names, dates, and place words are often hard for dyslexic children to retain and remember. They spend so much time struggling to decode the words and remember details that they often miss the main point and have to go back and read it again.
A literature-based approach (instead of a textbook approach) is much easier for dyslexic children to digest. Children are presented with an important character or pivotal event. Then a story is built around it, drawing the child into a narrative, all the while creating mental hook for them to hang information on.
For example, in the book Breaking Stalin’s Nose from Sonlight’s HBL F, my second child wasn’t given a list of people and places to remember about Stalin. Instead, he was given one person to remember—a 10-year-old boy named Sasha. All the other events in the story revolve around that character. Through that character’s eyes, my son was introduced to Stalin and communism.
Those facts about Russia have stayed with him for the past four years. He still remembers not only the book, but many details about life in Russia during that time period—all because of the power of story (not dry facts) to help him understand.
Because dyslexic children vary greatly in ability from subject to subject and display high levels of asynchronicity, they often require a highly customized curriculum. Sonlight allows you the ability to pick and choose the level your child needs for each individual subject.
Below HBL D, reading level isn’t tied to the level of the program your child is working at. You are free to mix and match levels so your child can work on their reading skills without it affecting their learning in other subjects at all. Your child doesn’t need to struggle through difficult reading assignments in order to work at their level in other subjects. They can get a full, rich education in all their subjects, while they wait for their reading and writing skills to catch up.
Elizabeth, a 7-year-old dyslexic daughter of one of my friends, is working through Sonlight’s HBL C program with an older brother. Paired with it, she's using Language Arts 1, and Grade 2 Readers. She is able to get exactly the level of work she needs in each subject and is able to progress at her own rate.
Because Sonlight uses wonderful living books that are far from the drudgery of ordinary textbooks, even if the books are hard to read at times, the captivating plot content and heart-touching characters engage your child. Listening to these stories read by a parent demonstrates that reading is enjoyable and interesting, not a struggle with little reward.
Michael, Elizabeth’s older brother, usually hates sitting still for workbooks and textbooks, but has recently begun asking his mother for “just one more chapter” of many of his favorite Read-Alouds. For a boy who’s not usually interested in stories, he can’t help but want to know more about Robin Hood and Michelangelo.
It’s easy to assume a dyslexic child is less intelligent than she actually is, because she often performs poorly on tests, including tests for intelligence. Or he might not be able to keep up with his schoolwork because he can’t read all the assignments fast enough. However, a large percentage of dyslexic children are above-average in intelligence. They simply struggle to learn in traditional methods.
By taking the tests and the pop quizzes and extra writing assignments out of the equation, we can allow that intelligence to shine.
Cassandra, a 9-year-old in third grade (after having been held back because of her reading and writing issues in public school), was assigned a book report on the book Freckle Juice. She labored over her assignment for a full month, working diligently. When grades were released, she came home in tears. She had gotten a D on an assignment she had worked on longer and harder than most of her younger classmates.
Cassandra’s mother pulled her from school, determined to give homeschooling a shot. She came to me to help her pick the right level to start out at, and together, we concluded she would be happiest starting with HBL B, which would be a little on the easy side, while she worked on her reading and writing skills. One of her writing assignments this year was to give a book report on her favorite book. She chose a book her mother had read out loud to her, and gave a lovely oral book report far greater what she could have written herself, demonstrating a deep and nuanced understanding of the topic, and even adding a little research she had done on her own. She wasn’t tied down to what she could read or write on her own, but was free to display all her knowledge without hindrance.
Because I have so many dyslexic children, I need a program that not only can work with my children, but is easy enough for me to teach while still finding time to focus on the hard subjects. Sonlight allows me to spend large portions of our day enjoying school and reading together, which makes the math, reading, and writing portions of our day not only more tolerable, but more fun. In the end, I am raising dyslexic children who not only can read and write, but love reading and writing.
