What We Love about Sonlighters

My Mom, the founder of Sonlight, sometimes says, "I can always tell when someone is a Sonlight user. There's a connection there."

And that comment is fuzzy, but I think she means that there are things that all Sonlighters love and appreciate. We value similar things.

That's what this series is about. I think of it as a kind of group hug, thinking about and celebrating the way that we Sonlighters enjoy homeschooling.

These are things that we, as Sonlighters, like.

Sonlighters appreciate good books

These days, there are so many options for schooling and entertainment. Reading is not quite dead, but with the rise of television and video games, organized sports and social media, books seem a bit retro.

So I appreciate, first of all, that Sonlighters read.

And I appreciate even more that Sonlighters recognize the Sonlight type of good book.

Books that don't hit us over the head with moralizing, but offer real people who deal with real, and challenging, scenarios.
Books that make us laugh, and love this beautiful world.
Books that make us cry, and grieve for this broken world.
Books that don't overwhelm with darkness, but also don't pretend like darkness doesn't exist.
Books that maybe don't have the best cover . . . but Sonlighters know not to judge a book by its cover anyway, and so we find new favorites, hidden gems, like Red Sails to Capri and Shadow Spinner.
Books that maybe aren't the most cheerful to read, but lead to rich conversations.

In a world of worksheets and textbooks, in a world of digital techno wizardry, I love that Sonlighters remain connected to stories.

Recently I was watching a series of lectures on the importance of physical photo albums. (There is a longer story here, so that’s not quite as random as it sounds). The speaker said that studies have shown that students who use real textbooks, instead of digital textbooks, learn 40% more.

And, of course, Sonlighters use living books, and not boring textbooks, but the point is that a physical, material object is more memorable, and more helpful for learning, than digital information.

So, as Sonlighters, we get the joy of stories, and have the confidence that the research confirms that using real books is an excellent method of learning.

I like that.

Warmly,
Amy's pic