Sometimes it's the small homeschool frustrations that have the largest potential to derail the school day. Take the matter of missing pencils...
Can you relate to the frustration of not being able to find a pencil when it is time to start written work? Where in the world do all the pencils go?!
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"My son works ahead in Explode the Code because he enjoys the fun way of learning phonics!"
Emily P. of Burnsville, MN
This year, I am working through the Explode the Code workbook series for the third time, and we all agree: it’s a winner. I often see homeschoolers asking if they really need the supplemental materials. The answer is no. You don’t need them. Sonlight is an excellent, stand-alone curriculum with no extras. However, I have seen so many benefits from using Explode the Code with my kids that I encourage everyone to add it on. After all, if there are extra benefits to be had, wouldn't you want them?
Explode the Code is truly open-and-go. The instructions are clear and concise, and the activities are self-explanatory. I can literally open it up and teach immediately without any preparation beforehand. This perk is invaluable for a busy homeschool mom of four.
Have you ever bought a book to supplement your curriculum just to get home and realize that you don’t really know how to integrate it into your current curriculum? I hate to say it, but I have a shelf full of things like that. They looked fancy and fun, so I bought them, thinking I could work them in somewhere. But I never could figure out quite how to pair it with what we were currently using.
Sonlight Language Arts Instructor’s Guides schedule Explode the Code pages, giving you page numbers to correspond with what you are teaching. It takes all the guesswork out, and gives you precious time back by doing the hard work for you. That’s a win for me.
Explode the Code (ETC) is simple and purposeful—something I value greatly. I love that I can hand my kids a rare worksheet and know that they can complete it independently.
I also love that it isn’t busywork. There aren’t too many tasks on each page; instead, the work is just right for teaching the concept. I appreciate how well Explode the Code reinforces the phonetic concepts that I’m teaching.
While I have certainly ventured out and tried other supplemental materials, I have never found a phonics study that corresponds with Sonlight and works better than ETC.
My kids have always enjoyed the activities in Explode the Code. From the fun listening activities in the Get Ready for the Code series to the silly sentences in the Explode the Code series, my kids are always tickled about something in their lessons. I mean, “A cake is in the bath?” I don’t think so!
My children have all been early proficient readers, and they have all started with the Explode the Code series. I’ve never had to spend much time and effort on explicit phonics instruction, because ETC is such an easy guide. My children have learned about everything from vowel and blend sounds to prefixes and compound words. It is a complete phonics curriculum, and it has proven effective for my family over and over again.
The only complaint that I ever had on our use of Explode the Code came when my very artsy daughter found the pages to be too void of color for her taste. I quickly took care of that by reframing her thinking. I helped her to see that the creators gave her an excellent gift in that she could decorate and color the pages however she liked, rather than having to depend on someone else’s tastes to make it pretty. That squelched all of her protests, and she promptly pulled out her colored pencils and went to work. I am fairly confident to say that we have the prettiest Explode the Code series worksheets out there.
My boys were exactly the opposite. Not only did they care less about the color on the page, but they preferred the simplicity of the simple line drawings. They stayed focused instead of being distracted by every purple balloon floating on the page.
It is rare to find a curriculum that works so well for both boys and girls, but Sonlight has found the sweet spot. Explode the Code is loved by all of us.
Your child is an advanced reader or otherwise shows being far beyond grade level. Wonderful, right? Because you homeschool, you can zoom that child ahead a grade or two, skipping the grades where your child has already mastered the material!
Wait a minute. There are considerations to weigh first! There are actually a few good reasons not to advance your child to a higher level as soon as you see signs of advanced growth.
Just as children have growth spurts in their physical bodies, their academic progress also grows in leaps and bounds during certain periods. Their ability might make great strides one year and be almost indiscernible the next. Sometimes they seem to develop skills overnight, and other times, you might find yourself frustrated that after several weeks they aren’t progressing at all. This kind of stop-and-start progress is normal!
Many children enter kindergarten a bit advanced. But being ahead in kindergarten isn’t a guarantee they will remain ahead in third, fifth, or even eighth grade. The reasons for this discrepancy are varied, but one main reason is that grade levels are arbitrary.
In kindergarten, it’s easy to see who knows their shapes, and who doesn’t; who can read words and who can’t. But as children mature, the differences between grade level blur. Consider these questions:
As the levels increase, the abilities begin to blend together, too. A child who once was obviously ahead now is exactly on track.
As children mature, they invest more time in pastimes, hobbies, and extracurricular pursuits. Sports, activities, games, clubs, friends, music, and art demand more attention. When you move a child ahead a grade into more challenging academics, there's less margin for these extra—but oh so essential—activities.
Being advanced at an early age doesn't guarantee that same rate of development. For example, it’s not unusual for a child to be reading ahead in kindergarten, but discover they have dyslexia in third grade that stalls progress for a few years.
Just because my 3-year-old could read and could tell me repeat back math sums didn’t mean she was ready to deal older children in a classroom or play advanced sports with them. Looking back, she wouldn’t have been ready to stand up and assert herself in a busy classroom.
Some common ways in which academically advanced children are less mature than older children doing the same work are:
When a child starts early and moves ahead quickly, high school graduation may fall at a very young age. While early graduation may sound like a pro, consider some of the challenges inherent in this situation.
Consider possible disadvantages a 15-year-old entering college may experience:
While these circumstances certainly don’t affect all children, and there are ways to support your child so they don’t suffer from these negatives, finishing early isn’t always a positive.
Another big con to graduating early is not qualifying for dual enrollment. In my state, high school students can apply for dual enrollment, and the state pays their college tuition, including a certain number and type of classes, books, and most fees. My child can earn an AA degree before finishing school, without paying for it. However, once he graduates from high school, regardless of what age he is, the program stops. He must now apply for loans and grants, and pay out-of-pocket (or, out of my pocket) as a college student.
So what do you do when your child is advanced? The key is to simply choose curriculum for each subject that suits their ability and interest and don't worry about the labels of grade levels at all!
I no longer really pay attention to grade levels. Each of my six children is studying each subject at a level that best fits where they are in life with no regard to their age or grade level. If they need extra help in spelling, we spend more time on spelling. If we breeze through math books, we start the next one.
When I do need grade levels for some reason—outside sports, for example, I simply use the lowest grade level they would be called in public school, unless that grade level would not be appropriate. For example, my son took a class he was very knowledgeable in but that wasn’t offered to his grade level, so I enrolled him as the lowest grade level they offered the class to.
I’ve found over time it is easier to bump a child up a grade level, if need be, than to tell an older child they suddenly need to be held back because you advanced them too quickly. Instead of bothering too much with what grade level your child is, instead ask what level in each individual subject they are can comfortably to the schoolwork. Then select curriculum to match that level!
See what skills and topics are taught at each level of Sonlight in these Scope & Sequence charts. The create a customized education that fits your child's unique combination of levels.
We’ve all had those days. Dragging ourselves out of bed on too little sleep, only to find spit up on the floor, lukewarm coffee, and a laundry pile that has transformed into Mount Everest overnight. Oh, this is the glamorous life of a homeschool mom!
This was my morning.
Do you want to know what saved me? The servant heart of my six year old daughter. She sat down and started reading aloud to the younger kids. “Mom, I’ll read this morning,” she said.
Folks, I ugly cried right there in my kitchen. My daughter is not big on reading aloud. When given the chance, she’d much rather listen to an audio book or have one of us read to her. That crummy morning, she did much more than just read a book. She served her family. She knew the calm and comfort reading aloud can offer. She knew because thanks to Sonlight she's growing up on a steady diet of character building Read-Alouds and a heart for the world.
This day marked a change in our homeschool routine. No longer is reading aloud seen as just a chore or one more thing to mark off a homeschool to do list. Reading aloud is powerful—so powerful that it can be used in places beyond our homeschools. Reading aloud can be a service in our homes, in our churches, and in our community.
Here are a few places where the gift of reading aloud can be of service to others.
Consider calling your local elderly care facility and offering to read aloud to some of the seniors. There are many studies showing the advantages of interactions between the young and the elderly. Perhaps you could adopt an individual who doesn’t get many visitors or who is without family. A weekly or even monthly appointment to read together may become a highlight for everyone. Staff can often point you in the right direction.
Preschools and daycare programs are often looking for volunteers to read to the children. Having another child who is slightly older come in and read can be inspiring and fun.
Look for opportunities to read aloud at local hospital and rehabilitation facilities. Children’s hospitals are often looking for volunteers to read aloud to the kids. The stories can help distract from pain and discomfort and give patients an enjoyable experience during a difficult time. Some neonatal intensive care units will permit older children to read aloud to babies since voice and touch are both comforting.
Getting adopted can be challenging for animals that are shy or overcoming adverse events. Positive exposure to children helps smooth this difficulty and increases chances that a pet gets adopted. A chance to listen to a human voice, while being calmly petted is soothing to both dogs and cats.
Think for a minute about a mom of young children who seems overwhelmed and tired. Gift her with a few minutes of peace by offering her a read aloud playdate. Is the overwhelmed mom you? Ask your child to read to his or her siblings when you need a break.
If your church or parish has a children’s service, encourage your child to volunteer for a speaking role. Look for opportunities to read or participate in choir. One of our local parishes has a kid’s book club, where they share moral stories once a month and have children volunteers read the books to the younger kids.
In addition to librarian led storytimes, many libraries offer summer programs or after school events that accept volunteers. Some smaller or more rural libraries, like ours, may be open to families sponsoring read aloud events or themed storytimes.
Chances are if you enjoy audio books with your family, you’ve come across a system or two that has volunteers record those books. This service benefits those who are unable to read or are visually impaired. Encourage community service and reading aloud in our children by taking part in one of these programs and taking them along.
Kids are much more likely to read when they realize it serves a real purpose and fulfills a true need. Reading aloud empowers our kids to do good for others.
Sonlight's literature-based curriculum is everything you need to succeed.
Guaranteed.
Do you or your children ever find yourselves completely lacking motivation to work on school assignments or feeling so discouraged by all that needs to be done that you don’t even know where to begin? It certainly happens in our family, and I know we’re not alone in the experience. One of my favorite solutions to the problem of struggling to get school work accomplished is one I originally used for tackling neglected housework. I set a timer.
How long you set your timer doesn’t really matter, but our family always goes for twenty minutes of uninterrupted work. It never ceases to amaze me how much can be accomplished in that amount of time. It’s long enough to make significant progress on something, but short enough to not be overwhelming.
The key is simply to not allow yourself to be distracted by anything else during that time. Instead, put all your attention toward school while the timer is ticking.
How do you or your child decide what to focus on during your twenty (or ten or thirty) minutes? The answer depends on the greatest need. Here are a few possibilities I've chosen:
At times it will be best to let your children choose the task so they’ll have more motivation to work hard during the allotted time. In other situations, you, having a better grasp of the big picture, will want to pull rank and make the call yourself. Choose whatever seems best for the situation, but know there isn’t a wrong option because the end result will be completed work whichever route you take.
Twenty minutes of focused work has happened, and you hear the timer ding. Now what? Our response varies, depending on the circumstances of the day.
The next time you sense the school day slipping away possibly before it’s even started, go set a timer and see what you and your children can accomplish in just twenty minutes.
As winter (mostly) loosens its grip, and the spring colors and spring weather emerge, it is the perfect time to celebrate being a homeschooler!
While public school children have to take snow days, homeschoolers can school through most of the cold and the ice and celebrate with sun days, when the weather turns nice.
So if your children are dealing with spring fever . . . embrace the season! Celebrate the glorious weather!
But if you don’t want to fall behind in your school year, here are suggestions for tucking schoolwork into your day while still making time to relish spring.
Require the less-pleasant subjects to be finished as a requirement to heading outside. A motivated student can rise and be at work before breakfast, and finished with the less pleasant subjects before the morning chill burns off. This can be a helpful enticement.
Do all yourHistory / Bible / Literature (HBL) reading either in the afternoon, if children are worn out from playing outside, or in the evening. Spring evenings last so long, and often the HBL readings don’t take too long. And there’s no rule that says you have to read in the daytime! If you want to be outside in the sun, simply shift your school schedule to the evening.
See how much you can get done either at meals or in the car. If your children don’t bolt their lunch in under two minutes, you can get through a bit during a meal. And in the car? Maybe you can read while your spouse drives, or maybe there’s an excellent audio recording you can enjoy as a family.
Batch your science on a rainy day. Or join the ranks of Home Educators Neglecting Science Experiments (HENSE), and watch the Discover and Do movies in a down moment, and call it good.
Don’t forget the weekend! Out of the 168 hours in every week, a full 60 of those hours fall from 6 p.m. on Friday evening to 6 a.m. on Monday morning. The weekend is more than a third of your week! If you’ve had a delightful school week outdoors, feel free to use some weekend hours to homeschool.
Release the idea that you have to get everything done. No school teacher ever finishes an entire book. The math students advance to the next class, even though part of the book goes unfinished. This is a benefit of homeschooling: you get to work at your children’s pace. So if a math book doesn’t quite get done, you can carry on with the same book during the next school year, or see if the next book begins with enough review that you’ll be okay leaving this year's book undone.
Plan to have a bit of school happen over the summer. In Caddie Woodlawn, Caddie's school opened only in summer and winter, while the teacher headed to a neighboring community to teach those children in spring and fall. Caddie preferred her schedule—outdoors in the glorious seasons, and indoors when it was extra hot and extra cold. It’s okay to soak up the goodness, then enjoy the air conditioning later, if you so choose.
Homeschooling in the spring is one of the unique pleasures of homeschooling. Happy April to you!
P.S. Wanting to insert just a little culture into your homeschool? One of the best spring poems is the one below—Loveliest of Trees by A. E. Housman. To paraphrase the poem: “The cherry tree is in bloom in the woods, in this Easter period. I’m already twenty, and if I live to be seventy, I only have fifty more springs coming. And fifty springs is hardly enough time to look at the beauty of things in bloom, so I’m heading out to the woods to see the cherry trees in bloom.” It’s a very homeschool-friendly poem, with a sense of, “My priority is to celebrate today.”
Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.
Now, of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.
And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.
Loveliest of Trees by A. E. Housman
An observational approach is terrific for nature study, but doesn’t quite do the trick when it comes to anatomy, does it? It can be challenging to adequately teach about muscles and bones, when all the moving parts all hidden away inside our bodies. We simply can’t see under our skin!
But exciting hands-on activities—like building this set of faux muscles and bones—are an effective way to transform the study of anatomy into something students can actually see and touch.
In addition to the wide array of science and health books included in Science F: Health, Medicine and Human Anatomy, there are also a plethora of hands-on activities, scheduled at regular intervals throughout the year. Linda Allison’s Blood and Guts: A Working Guide to Your Own Insides is particularly full of terrific project ideas (and, yes, animal organ dissection tips, too!) This simple science demonstration adapted from the book shows how skeletal muscles work in pairs.
On an average day, you might not give your elbows more than a passing thought, but have you ever tried to
without bending your elbows at all? You quickly realize how important they are! Of course, even an elbow joint wouldn’t do you much good, if you didn’t also have bones, muscles, and tendons working together to help the elbow bend.
Are you ready to see how these all work together? Let’s build a model of the human arm, using a few items you might even have around the house already.
You may choose to color the poster board a bone-like shade, as we did, or you may opt to leave it white.
Cut two 8”x11” pieces from your posterboard. These will become the radius and ulna.
Roll each of these 8”x11” sections and secure with masking tape, creating two eight-inch-long arm bones (the radius and ulna).
Return to the remainder of your poster board. Cut a section that’s 12”x11” .
Roll this section. Secure with tape to create a twelve-inch-long humerus.
Label each of the three bones. The two 8" bones are the radius and ulna. The one 12" long bone is the humerus.
Use a long straight pin to pierce a hole through the humerus, about a half-inch from the right end. Pierce a hole through the ends of the radius and ulna, too, about a half-inch from the left end.
Straighten a paperclip to create a long flexible wire. Bend a hook at the bottom end.
Place bones on the table. You’ll want the humerus on the left, the radius on the upper right, and the ulna on the bottom right, as shown. Line up the pierced holes, then thread paperclip wire through the holes to create a joint.
Make sure the wire is bent at each end, to keep the wire from pulling out.
You’ll also want to tape over the sharp ends, to keep the wire from popping the balloons.
Partially inflate two long balloons, leaving a tail at both ends. These are your bicep and tricep muscles.
Tie the right end of the bicep balloon to the radius and ulna. (You might want to tie it a little closer to the elbow joint than we originally did.)
Tie the left end of the bicep balloon to the top of the humerus.
Now using the triceps balloon, tie the right end to the right side of the elbow joint.
Bring the balloon around the back of the elbow, and tie the remaining loose end of the tricep to the top of the humerus.
You’ve created a faux, movable arm!
Because our model is simplified, we’ve attached the faux balloon muscles directly to the cardboard bones, leaving out tendons, ligaments, nerves, joint cartilage and fluid, blood vessels. (In fact, we’ve even left out the rest of the arm muscles.) The positioning of the muscles and bones here isn’t precisely anatomically correct; your real flesh-and-blood arm is a lot more complicated. But let’s test our model, discuss the results, and see what we can observe about muscle action.
[Q] Would the model arm work properly with only one balloon muscle?
[A] No. This is because skeletal muscles—like the ones in your arms—must work together in pairs. We call these pairs the flexor and the extensor. In this model (and in your own arms) the bicep is the flexor and the tricep is the extensor.
[Q] Straighten your model arm. What happens to the tricep (extensor) muscle?
[A] Because we used the word extensor to describe the tricep in this muscle pair, you might have expected the tricep to extend. But it contracts, doesn’t it? Extensor muscles must contract in order to straighten a limb.
[Q] Bend your faux elbow joint. What happens to the bicep (flexor) muscle?
[A] It contracts! Just as extensors contract to straighten a limb, flexors contract to bend the limb (at the attached joint, of course. Otherwise, things would get weird.)
[Q] Bend your model arm back and forth several times. Observe the changes that happens to the bicep (flexor) and tricep (extensor) as you bend and straighten, bend and straighten.
[A] That’s a lot of contracting and extending, extending and contracting! Both flexor and extensor need to be able to extend and contract in order to for your elbow to bend back and forth, don’t they? Flexed biceps might get all the attention, but a perpetually contracted flexor muscle would mean a perpetually bent arm. When you need to straighten your arm, the extensor tricep contracts and pulls on your bones via tendons, and your arm stretches out. Ready to bend your arm again? The flexor bicep pulls instead, and the elbow joint bends.
[Q] Is the arm the only place we see a muscle pair act like this?
[A] No. Striated skeletal muscles—those are the long muscles which attach to your bones—work the same way. You probably sat down to read this, right? As you did, your hamstrings contracted to allow your knees to bend. When you stand up again, your quadriceps will contract and pull, your hamstrings will extend, and your legs will straighten.
The human body is a complex and wonderful machine, isn’t it? There are hundreds of joint and muscles in our body, each one expertly designed with myriad interconnected parts.
Sonlight guides students through a fascinating and marvelous exploration of the human body and nutrition with Science F: Health, Medicine and Human Anatomy, a rich literature-based program infused with lots of robust hands-on projects. See it and other Science programs here.
