Sonlight Homeschooling Blog

Nov. 16, 2017

5 Reasons Not to Supplement Your Sonlight Curriculum

This post was originally published as 5 Reasons I Don't Supplement our Homeschool Curriculum on Raising the Extraordinary. It is reposted here with permission of the author, Amy Mattson.

I’ve noticed there are several traps homeschool moms tend to fall into. Many of these traps all come from good intentions of giving our kids the best possible education. I understand the appeal of these traps and have fallen for a few myself. Today I want to talk about one in particular that I see far too often (my opinion of course). It’s the trap of believing we need to supplement our homeschool curriculum.

What I’m Not Saying

One of the beautiful aspects of homeschooling is allowing our children to dive deeper into topics that interest them. I want to clarify that this post is not meant to discourage further study. If our kids are interested in a topic and want to know more I encourage them to continue to learn all they can on that subject. The difference is, I don’t assign it.

I will gladly take my son to the library and help him find more books on a topic. I won’t discourage him from reading more on his own. However, I’m not going to supplement our curriculum by piling on additional resources.

The following is a list of reasons why.

1. I Chose a Comprehensive Curriculum So I Don’t Need To Supplement

When I explored the different curriculum options for our homeschool, I picked Sonlight because they already had everything I needed. One of the biggest things I look for in a curriculum is that it’s a turn key product. Meaning, I can open and go with it. No lesson planning, no running out to buy supplies, and no need to fill in any educational gaps with additional resources.

Using a comprehensive curriculum like Sonlight means I don’t need to search out and supplement the curriculum for my child to have an excellent education.

2. I Don’t Need The Added Pressure

I think sometimes as moms we get in our own way. There are countless book and other resources out there an every subject making it easy to supplement our curriculum. We’re currently studying Introduction to American History. Now if I were to buy into the lie that I need to get my hands on every great book on this topic we would never get past Columbus’ voyage across the Atlantic.

We have enough pressure as moms already. We don’t need to go adding to the pressure by placing unrealistic expectations on our child’s educational needs. Our children won’t miss out if we don’t add to their assigned reading from the curriculum.

Is my child going to learn absolutely everything on a particular topic? No. But, he also doesn’t NEED to. I mean even college level courses can’t teach every little detail on a subject.

Supplementing our curriculum can also mean added pressure to even completing the curriculum we set out with at the beginning of the year. What good is that investment if we don’t have time to finish it because of all the extras we felt we needed?

Nope, I have enough to do without supplementing our curriculum!

3. I Don’t Have Time For To Supplement Curriculum

This kind of ties into reason number one. Supplementing your curriculum means you’re spending time searching out book, activities, movies, and projects. Then once you’ve searched them out and pick a few, it takes time to get the resources. Finally, you actually need to spend time using these additional resources.

I’m busy. I know you are too. I have already sacrificed the dishes and the laundry to homeschool. I’m not going to give up lunch too. Nope, my time is valuable. I’ll stick to the books on my Sonlight shelf.

4. Our Children Don’t Need The Extra Assignments

Can I tell you a secret? Extra assignments, or supplementing our curriculum does NOT mean our children learn more. I don’t care how many books you read about Columbus sailing across the Atlantic ocean, they’re not learning anything new by reading it from a dozen different books. Sure, they might get an extra nugget of information here and there. But, are these extra nuggets life changing? I would argue no.

Sometimes all this extra supplemental material just becomes busy work. Sonlight already has some activities incorporated into the reading assignments like the timeline figures or markable map to reinforce the lessons. Why do we feel we need to add even more to supplement the material?

At the end of the day, we need to remember our kids are just kids. Don’t expect them to study like college students. All of these extra assignments means they loose out on learning through play, which is just as important to their development.

5. Risk Ruining the Love of Learning

Again, like I stated at the beginning of this post. If your children are fascinated with a topic (like Columbus) by all means let them run with it. But please, don’t force it on them.

We only want what’s best for our kids. I get that. In fact, I believe that is the driving force behind the desire to supplement our curriculum. We want our children to have the best possible education. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But what happens when our drive for a stellar education results in burnout?

As homeschool moms we can burn out. Our teaching and parenting will suffer from it. Not only can we burn out from over supplementing our curriculum, but our kids can to. I for one am not willing to risk my child feeling burned out to the point where he looses his fascination with learning.

I want my son to want to learn. Better yet, I want him to love learning. If I’m constantly forcing more school work with extra resources on top of our curriculum I run the risk of the opposite happening.

Let’s Just Enjoy Homeschooling Without Added Pressure

Homeschooling should be an enjoyable experience for the whole family. I know we are more likely to enjoy our homeschool journey if I don’t pile on all the added pressure of supplementing our curriculum. If I expect too much from a homeschool day, everyone ends up crabby. It’s not fun. More importantly, it’s not worth it.

Sometimes, less really is more.

Discover a curriculum that is enough and requires no supplements. Go to SmoothCourse and get started today.

Tagged curriculum, Sonlight, supplement, syndicated | Leave a comment

Nov. 15, 2017

Teaching Our Children to Learn From Mistakes with Read-Alouds

By Sonlight

Sonlight Read-Alouds give students a breadth and depth of knowledge—of world changers and famous stories, of poems and important events. This foundation of cultural literacy comes easily and pleasantly through reading and discussing great books. Reading great books also increases connection between parent and child which is another perk of the Sonlight lifestyle!

But here’s something else—both important and wonderful—that Sonlight Read-Alouds do for your children.

Sonlight books teach that mistakes are a part of life.

The Mistakes are Where the Growth Happens

This lesson shows up in most books. After all, a book without conflict would be a long (and possibly dull) description, not a story. And a perfect character isn't as endearing as one who has foibles. Just look at the very first principle from Pixar's Rules of Storytelling:

#1 You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.

The mistakes are where the learning and maturation happen both for the character and the reader.

We could do this exercise for all the Sonlight History / Bible / Literature programs, but for the sake of brevity, let's consider a few of the Read-Alouds from Sonlight A. In this program you’ll find all these mistakes:

An animal-loving boy getting an unusual pet that wasn’t well-suited to suburbia in Capyboppy.
Children teasing an outsider in The Hundred Dresses.
An adult treasure-hunter almost dying because of his impatience and hard-headedness in Dolphin Treasure.
A king making a foolish agreement—which was okay, because the law itself was foolish—in A Grain of Rice.
A lighthousekeeper making a bad choice, and the substitute keeper needing to make a better choice, in The Light at Tern Rock.
Evil governments enforcing bad laws in Twenty and Ten.

This is a range of mistakes, from evil sin to unwitting miscalculation—mistakes made by children, by teens, by adults, by kings, and by governments.

And guess what? Mistakes are part of the human experience! Sometimes we willfully sin, and sometimes we mess up in a calculation. These failures, big and little, happen to us all.

We Learn from Mistakes

Research has demonstrated that biographies are beneficial for this very reason! It's the struggle of the character that teaches kids how to persevere. This truth is why we encourage a growth mindset with our kids, praising hard work—something in their control— versus being "smart"—something seemingly fixed and out of their control.

Maturity Means Persevering Despite Mistakes

We all make mistakes, but the key is what we do once we recognize the error or sin. Children who deal with perfectionism need extra help with this lesson because they have such a huge fear of being labeled as a failure.

Seeing characters in Read-Alouds who make mistakes and then overcome them gives perfectionists the understanding that mistakes are not a final condemnation. There is always grace to fix a mistake and learn from it, sometimes even rising gloriously from the mistake into a huge triumph.

And this is also where Sonlight books help you teach your children by portraying so many different ways to deal with a mistake. Using the earlier books as examples:

Unwitting miscalculation? Do what you must to make it right. You might need to be creative in how you resolve the problem, but usually you can find a solution.
Guilty of unkindness toward others? Ask forgiveness, change your behavior, and move towards better relationship.
Caught up in a mistaken idea of what’s important? It’s never too late to change. You can do it now!
When you disagree with a law, it’s okay to work to change it.
Frustrated with the bad behavior of others? You have a choice in how to deal with that frustration. One of the better ways is to empathize with where they’re coming from.
Dealing with oppression from an evil government? Civil disobedience is an excellent option, and has been happening back to the time of the birth of Moses (if not before).

You’ll make mistakes. Your children will make mistakes. You have the option to make things right and learn from mistakes, both your own and those of characters in books. Let your Read-Alouds guide your children into thinking about mistakes and how to recover from them.

Get started on your Read-Aloud journey today. Go to SmoothCourse and get started today.

Tagged learning, mistakes, read-alouds, Sonlight, wrad | Leave a comment

Nov. 13, 2017

Extend the Sonlight Experience at a Christian Liberal Arts College

By Heather Mills Schwarzen

Photo credit: Gutenberg College

I remember researching colleges when I was in high school. I had relatively few criteria for choosing the university I would attend. My intended major was fairly easy to find, and finances were such that I knew grants, scholarships, and student loans were my only ticket to higher education. I stepped onto multiple campuses, toured the grounds, and tried to get a feel for the vibe of the school. In the end, I settled on a perfectly fine state college, based almost entirely on the financial burden I’d be taking on.

It wasn’t a terrible way to choose a university, but it wasn't a brilliant one, either. When my husband and I sat down with our first high schooler, I realized that although I’d had the benefit of professional school counselors during my own college hunt, I hadn’t asked any questions that ultimately had any bearing on my day-to-day college experience—or the larger lessons of those years that have impacted my life ever since.

Envisioning a Post-Homeschool Education

With that in mind, our family has cast a vision of the post-homeschool years as a time when our children will continue their education, yes. But more so, post-graduation will be a season when they explore their calling, grapple with the bigger questions of faith and society, and enter into a more mature ownership of their relationship with Christ. These, we feel, are the important milestones of the college years—and to meet them, a school needs much more than a world-class chemistry lab, an impressive record of publication, or a sports team with a winning record.

Having invested 12 years in challenging our children to think with the help of Sonlight, to weigh truth by a Biblical standard, and to live out their faith by choosing to homeschool them with books and materials that foster a love of God first and a love of learning second, it makes no sense to abandon that commitment after graduation.

Is it difficult to find a college that measures up to that standard? Yes. Yes, it is.

Photo credit: Gutenberg College

I wish I could say that quality schools with a focus on challenging young adults to embrace their walk as a Christian in a fallen world were a dime a dozen, and that you really can’t go wrong in encouraging your child to apply to the local Christian university down the road.

Instead, I have to deliver this depressing news: your average Christian college is virtually indistinguishable from most public universities. Sure, they have some required Bible courses. They may even offer Greek. But if what you’re looking for is the opportunity for your child to sit under the instruction of mature, Bible-believing Christians with a dedication to rigorous academic standards and a desire to see their students impact the world with the truth of the Gospel, you’re going to have to look hard.

But the search is worthwhile.

Having already rejected the notion that a secular, socially-conformed education is less than what we want to offer our children in their youth, it’s our job as homeschooling parents to encourage our children to continue to think outside of the box when it comes to post-secondary education. We’ve already proven the naysayers wrong; homeschool graduates successfully get into colleges every day. Now let’s do what we can to raise the bar for college education the same way we’ve raised it for the early years. Let’s be selective. Let’s ask the right questions. Let’s look for the schools that continue the work of honing our children's skills as they embark on their God-given calling. Let’s continue the commitment to excellence, for the glory of God.

Christian Liberal Arts Colleges for Homeschool Graduates

College-bound homeschoolers can take comfort in the fact that there are a handful of strong liberal arts colleges still dedicated to the idea that a true Christian education is more than a mandatory mission trip in your junior year and a weekly chapel services complete with a concert-style worship experience and themed snacks afterward.

I could list a few. But in this post, I want to focus on Gutenberg College, a small, Christian, Great Books school in Eugene, Oregon, because, in general, they share Sonlight’s desire to help students function in the world with understanding and compassion . . . and they offered a special opportunity we thought you should know about.

The L'Abri Model of Gutenberg College

While I admit that I’m fairly skeptical about the true value of most so-called “Christian colleges,” I’m personally excited by the prospect that more schools will follow the L’Abri model. Founded by Christian thinker and academic Francis Schaeffer, L’Abri communities encourage holistic integration of faith and discovery through study and relationship. Students from many Christian traditions work through discussion-based courses in cohort groupings.

Mentorship is a high priority at Gutenberg. With a 5:1 student ratio, small groups hash out the intent behind the authors of the classics, as well as grapple with worldview, and debate philosophy behind the sciences. All of this will feel familiar to Sonlighters. The bulk of the literature studied is secular, as the goal of the entire program is to understand the world we inhabit and how to interact with the culture as Christ-followers.

The Gutenberg College Grant for Sonlight Curriculum Students

Sonlight is excited to announce a $500-per-year, renewable (for up to four years of undergraduate study) Gutenberg College Grant for Sonlight Curriculum Students.

Gutenberg has offered to let Sonlighters who have used at least two Sonlight curricula** to apply for the grant.

Gutenberg's goal in offering this grant is to equip Sonlight families to press forward in meaningful higher education, continuing their quest to engage with Biblical truth through the gospels and the Great Books.

Learn more and apply for the grant here.

A Few Notes of Clarification and Explanation

Sonlight also offers a Sonlight Scholarship, and to prevent any misunderstandings, please note these important details.

The Gutenberg College Grant is distinct from the Sonlight Curriculum Foundation Scholarship. Students may apply for either or both.
Students who win a Sonlight Scholarship are free to attend any accredited institution of higher learning.
A student could potentially win both a Sonlight Curriculum Scholarship as well as a Gutenberg College Grant. The two programs are completely separate and administered by completely separate entities.

Visit Gutenberg College's website to learn how to apply for the Gutenberg College Grant for Sonlight Students.

* Sonlight’s promotion of the Gutenberg Grant for Sonlight students is by way of information only; it is not an endorsement of the school, because our own knowledge of the school is only slight, consisting of a relatively quick review of what Gutenberg makes publicly available on its website. What we have found looks promising for a certain segment of the Sonlight audience. We urge prospective students and their parents to engage in their own due diligence on the school, perhaps starting with Gutenberg’s Mission Statement, Objective and Philosophy of Education, and Biblical Foundation Statement.

** At least two History / Bible /Literature [formerly, “Core”] packages and/or packages that include History / Bible / Literature or Core packages (i.e., for example, what we now call the Sonlight All-Subjects Packages). Please contact Gutenberg College for full eligibility details and application.

Tagged college, grant, gutenberg, high school, liberal arts | Leave a comment

Nov. 10, 2017

Five Reasons to Teach Our Children to Give

By Sarita

We're wrapping up our WorldViews learning and giving project soon. What an exciting time for the Sonlight community to learn and grow and give together!

There's still time to join in.

If your family would like to participate, you can access the free WorldViews curriculum and videos here, and you can donate toward our shared goal by Nov. 17, 2017 to see every dollar you give doubled.

We are watching students grow in their knowledge of different worldviews, but we also see them taking action and growing in compassion and generosity.

Whole families (4,600 of them. Wow!) are pulling together to learn and pray and raise money so they can give generously to help spread the gospel. What a team building time for these families!

Your Stories Inspire

I'm inspired by the generosity and creativity of the families that are participating in WorldViews this year. Kids are

setting up lemonade stands,
running bake sales,
sacrificing their allowances,
selling plants,
and more, all to turn their learning into serving.

These students searched for lost golf balls and sold them to raise money for their generous jars:

Holland (10), Calvin (10), and Theo (8) collected lost golf balls and sold them (along with limeade) to raise money for our generous jar. -Valerie W.

Why a Learning and Giving Campaign?

You might be wondering why a curriculum company would even take the time to do a charitable project like this, or use all these resources in this way. First, missions is at the heart of Sonlight. In fact, it's one of the reasons we originally founded our company in the first place—to keep a missionary on the field for one more year by providing the best resources to those who are serving.

But we also offer these learning and giving projects to our Sonlight community because we really believe that learning the art of generosity at a young age is a skill that will set children free.

Teaching Our Children to Give

If our kids can learn to

give out of the abundance of that which God has blessed them–with a cheerful heart,
if they can see needs and joyfully desire to meet those needs,
if they can use their creativity and resources to participate in kingdom work,
if their character can be formed to consider others above themselves,
if they can give especially when it hurts,

they will have gained a true victory.

This is a critical part of a good education and a major way we form our children's hearts and minds from a Christian worldview. Where our treasure is, there are our hearts. So we want to partner with families to give inspiring, Christ-centered, mission-driven opportunities to teach just that!

That said, here are five reasons to teach our children to give:

1. Giving Battles Entitlement

It's human nature to want what we want, when we want it. Putting others first by working hard to provide for someone else's needs helps our kids learn the lesson of "Thee before me" in a memorable way.

2. Giving Grows Gratitude

Giving to others reminds us that everything we have is a gift. We walk in grace we have not earned; we breathe air we did not create. When we give, we become more thankful.

3. Giving Puts the World on Their Radar

In a selfie-plastered society, getting beyond our own four walls or newsfeed is important. A program like WorldViews is a chance to hear what's going on in the world and find out the needs of people who are different from us. When we hear their stories and walk in their shoes, we start to better understand their pain and hopes.

4. Giving Encourages Proactive Solutions

We can be overwhelmed when we see the news and hear about massive needs in vague generalities, not knowing what can be done to help. Giving kids a chance to take ownership is part of the solution to problems they learn about.

5. Giving Strengthens Family Bonds

Working together to raise money for a cause you believe in is an incredible chance to make memories together. Camaraderie and deep conversations happen when we work side by side with others with a common goal. We learn about each other and test the limits of our strength and creativity.

Learning to be generous is a life skill we all keep learning. Let's ask God to grow our hearts and align our faith with the lavish love He offers.

Double Your Giving Impact by November 17

The videos and free curriculum will still be available after November 17, 2017, but if you want to see your money doubled and have twice the impact, this week is your window!

Is your family participating in WorldViews? I'd love to hear your stories of what your family is doing to change the world. Leave a comment here.

If you feel the Lord leading you to give, don't forget to get your donations in at world-views.com by Nov. 17, 2017 so Sonlight can double your gift and meet our goal of a quarter million dollars to aid people around the world and share Christ's love.

Tagged giving, ministry, missions, worldviews | Leave a comment

Nov. 8, 2017

Let the Reformation Inspire You to Raise World-Changers

By Sarita

This year we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the birth of the Reformation when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of his church in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517. Today if you are able to hold a Bible–in a translation in your own language–in your own two hands, you can be thankful for this influential movement. The Protestant Reformation can even impact your homeschool with godly principles to model after and fodder for discussion.

This anniversary year is a great time to read and talk about this time period with our kids. If you're looking for a good resource to fuel discussion, you might want to check out The Monk Who Shook the World by Cyril Davey from Sonlight History/Bible/Literature G.

The Legacy of the Reformation

Consider just a few transformations that sprang from the Reformation:

a shift away from the idea of earning salvation through good deeds or money, but accepting grace,
a focus on missions and evangelism,
a foundation for ideas that formed the basis of democracy,
an emphasis on the value of the individual,
a renewed interest in education,
even a return to the tradition of congregational hymns!

The ramifications of this time are substantial and I am thankful for the life-giving, liberating force of God's Word.

As I contemplate the changes in society set in motion at the time of the Reformation, I can't help but consider what it means for someone to go against the flow of culture and unchecked authority, to search the Scriptures, and not be afraid to ask hard questions. I think of how we want to equip Sonlighters.

Let the Reformation Inspire You to Raise World-Changers

"I appreciate that Sonlight cares as much about the spiritual lives of our students as they do about their academic standards."
Kellyanne E. from Bryson City, NC

How to Raise World-Changers

We are called to raise world-changers: students who are equipped to do whatever Christ calls them to do. Students who can delve into the Word of God, listen with humility, speak with confidence, think carefully, and love boldly. We want to raise servant leaders who follow God unafraid. Here are practical ways Sonlight seeks to help parents raise world-changers.

Within Sonlight, we encourage students to know and love God's Word and to discuss it with their parents. One of the benefits of the Reformation (and the printing press in particular) was an emphasis on education and the ability of each person to access the printed word; to read and study and learn about God and the world, not just based on what someone else has said, but by digging into these issues for themselves. This is a hallmark of Sonlight!
We want our students to learn how to learn, to take initiative in searching out ideas and testing them. In the course of K-12, a Sonlight student would actually read through the entire Bible several times and commit much Scripture to memory. This work is eternally satisfying and well-worth our time.
We encourage students to see both sides of an argument and not be afraid to wrestle with hard questions. We need to remember that we delve into issues in the context of relationships. In Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey encourages people to “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” Doing so opens doors to share with others, promotes harmony even among those that are different than we are, and gains us the prize of faith that springs not from ourselves, but from the Creator Himself.
We encourage students to read widely and to think deeply. You have to stand on the shoulders of great thinkers if you want to be a leader. If our kids are taking in only the shallow stuff everyone else is reading, they will only be prepared to think what everyone else is thinking. We must prepare them to lead with insight and wisdom, with a sense of history and a vision for the future.
We encourage students to know and care about the world. We don't homeschool in a bubble, but nurture our children as they grow and intentionally prepare them to be lights in a dark world. We help them learn about the whole world and develop empathy, compassion and mission-focused hearts.
We encourage students to engage in solid, rigorous academic preparation that prepares them for excellence in all they do. We want students to love God with heart, soul and mind and bring Him honor in their work.

As you faithfully prepare your future leaders today, may you find wisdom in His Word, comfort in His grace, leadership in his Spirit, and courage in the company of a cloud of witnesses that have gone before us!

Tagged Christianity, heart for the world, missions, reformation | Leave a comment

Nov. 6, 2017

How to Clean Up Your Homeschool Schedule Like You Tidy a Room

By Amber Smith

I can clean a child’s room, spotless, in under 10 minutes—even the biggest disaster of a room. All it takes is a broom and some determination. The trouble with cleaning a messy room isn’t the stuff in the room—it's the overwhelm. It is too much effort for a child, or for me, to start by sorting every item in the room. So where do I begin when clutter makes it difficult to pick out the best things? I start with a clean room. You can apply this method to clean up your homeschool schedule. Here's how.

Continue reading →

Tagged cleaning, curriculum, homeschool, organizing, schedule, Sonlight, switch | Leave a comment

Nov. 3, 2017

The Myth of Fairness: Permission to be Unfair in Your Homeschool

By Deana Wood

“It’s not fair!” my youngest son wailed. This wasn't the first time that week those forbidden words had been uttered in our home, accusing me of being unfair in our homeschool. I can tolerate a lot of things, but the “It’s not fair!” complaint is not one of them.

If you’re anything like me, you tend to fall into the trap of making sure that everything is fair and equal for your kids. Rather than helping them though, this thought process can actually set them up for a more difficult time navigating life.

Life’s Not Fair, and I’m Glad

I can remember it so well. I was raised in public school, and my class was known among many of the teachers as a “rough class.” I can’t even count how many recesses I spent inside the classroom with my head on the desk because of what a few rowdy kids did. When students and parents complained, the teacher would shrug and simply say, “Well, life’s not fair.” By the time I exited grade school, I was sick of that argument.

But, my teacher wasn’t entirely wrong. The problem was that she only had half of the phrase. She was right that life isn’t fair. But she left off the positive part. Life’s not fair, and I’m glad.

I regularly tell my kids that that life is not fair and I’m glad. When they start that signature whine, I sit them down to remind them that if life were fair, we would all deserve death. Out of His great goodness, God saw fit to send Jesus Christ to die on the cross for all of our sins, saving us from certain eternal separation from Him.

I’m so glad that God isn’t fair.

Every Child is Different, So You Can Be Unfair

Isn’t that our mantra as homeschooling parents? The fact that every child is different and deserves a custom education is a cornerstone of homeschool philosophy. Yet, when it comes to our own families, we struggle to apply this principle. If Johnny did x, Susie should do x, too, right? It’s only fair after all.

But, instead of requiring the same from each of your children, remember that they are individual and unique. One of the blessings of homeschooling is addressing the individual intricacies that make your children tick.

My oldest child struggles to write. So as often as I can, I allow him to do assignments orally. However, my oldest daughter writes well. Since composition comes easy to her, I require her to write most of her assignments.

My youngest son is only one year younger than my oldest, but he struggles in school. Even though I have them in the same Sonlight HBL, occasionally, I allow him to skip assignments or give him an alternative assignment. These different requirements are not equal, but they are not unfair. I'm providing an education specifically modified for a particular child.

The Grocery Store Trap of Being Fair

Have you ever been on a solo grocery store visit and seen something that one of your kids would really like? You decide to surprise them with this little gift, but then you immediately start feeling guilty, thinking you need to also get something small for all your other children. An extra forty-five minutes and twenty dollars later, you leave the store frustrated. First, you bought junk for all the other kids that they probably won’t even appreciate. Then, you spent too much money and you wasted time…all for the sake of fairness.

It just almost sounds ridiculous when you say it like that right? And yet, I’ve been right there with you…a few days ago, in fact. My husband is the one who usually blows the whistle when I’m getting too “fairness-minded”.

So I’m going to give you the gift that my husband gave me—permission.

Permission to treat my kids differently.
Permission to pick up a little surprise for just one of them.
Permission to tailor their schoolwork to fit their needs, not their brother’s needs.
Permission to relax and realize that it’s okay to not be fair all the time.

It’s a worthwhile lesson to learn that life isn’t fair. It’s even more worthwhile to understand that there is goodness in unfairness.

Love Unconditionally Because Love Beats Fairness

One of the greatest gifts we can ever give our kids is not fairness. It is unconditional love.

Love them when they win the grand prize ribbon at the fair. Love them when they cry because their sister won the grand prize ribbon.
Love them when they zip through a page of 100 math problems. Love them when they take hours to do five problems.

Love them no matter what. Because love always beats fairness, and that’s the heart lesson that you want them to learn. Life may be filled with unfair moments, but love covers a multitude of unfairness.

SmoothCourse will guide you through creating a unique curriculum plan for each of your children because same is not always fair.

Tagged christian, fairness, parenting | 3 Comments