Showing posts with label Sonlight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sonlight. Show all posts

Homeschooling 10th Grade - Goals

Posted by My Heart Song

6/18/2018


10th Grade! Sophomore year!


Some people start homeschooling with the intention to go all the way through high school while others take a year-by-year approach. We're pretty solid in our conviction to homeschool and our oldest daughter has no desire whatsoever to change things up at this point. 

So we find ourselves gearing up to start 10th grade! I find this a bit daunting. Homeschooling high school carries a pressure that is much heavier than the younger grades. Transcripts loom. College-prep or dual-credit classes become options. Questions abound as to whether our student will be ready for whatever step they'll take after high school. The material itself is complicated and much of it is over my head as "the teacher."


This is where I am thankful for the curriculum we've used for many years now... Sonlight! Sonlight reassures me that they've chosen excellent books to teach what my student needs at this stage of her schooling. We'll be studying 20th Century history and literature this year. I'm excited about this, as more recent history is far easier for me to understand and enjoy than ancient times. Sonlight includes dozens of great books (NOT TEXTBOOKS) that make studying history fun, bringing the people and events to life.

For math this year, my daughter will be using Teaching Textbooks for Geometry. For science, she will be taking a laid-back approach while helping teach science to her younger siblings. Nothing heavy this year for science. Science for the last 2 years has been intense and she's not a science-brained kid so I'm cool with the choice to take a little break in this area. Instead she's going to focus more on Language Arts where we "coasted" last year. There will be more research papers and creative writing this year. I delight in the freedom I have as a homeschooler to adjust our lessons to life, to what works best for our family or for this girl specifically.


We will also be having an ongoing dialogue about her future plans so we can start taking steps in whatever direction she chooses. We will also continue to discuss technology and her use of computers, smartphones, tablets, etc. as it relates to responsibility and growing in trust in these areas. 

And in the far back of my mind... I will start researching options for Driver's Ed! 

But for now, we are enjoying organizing our books and lesson plans. We'll put together a loose calendar for the school year. 


This girl has already found a book or two to start reading immediately. I love that about Sonlight! The books draw you in. The stories "sneak up on you" so you don't even realizing you're learning history while reading a great book!

Here's to another year of loving Jesus by being intentional about spending time with these children learning about this world God created and finding our places in it. We're growing as disciples so we can go make disciples! 

Thank you, Sonlight, for putting together excellent material that helps us meet our goals! 

And thank you, God, for Your faithfulness to us on this homeschooling journey!

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Sonlight Box Day - 3rd Grade

Posted by My Heart Song

8/24/2016 

Box Day is here again... sort of! 


 Box Day is the day when our new curriculum arrives. However, as my son is second in line to use this curriculum, we already own it. I did pack it away after my daughter used it 5 years ago, though, and brought it back out now for my son to open and uncover for himself.



Digging for true treasure in the box!



This boy is ready to start 3rd grade. 

We are using this homeschool curriculum from Sonlight. Sonlight is a literature based program, that includes dozens and dozens of great books. This boy of mine has been a reluctant reader (when reading by himself) but he LOVES to be read to. So, at least at the start, I will probably be doing double-duty with him - reading both the read-aloud books and those that are intended for the student to read by himself. 

This year he will be studying American History, Part 1 (of 2). We've already begun reading the first few books about Native Americans. Pocahontas, Squanto, Mayans and Incans and Aztecs. Why wait?! 

 Happy Box Day, my son! And may God bless our school year!

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Sonlight Box Day - 8th Grade

Posted by My Heart Song

8/22/2016 

 Box Day is here again! 

This is the day when our new school year curriculum arrives. And it rivals Christmas Day in excitement at our house! 



My daughter. She's 13 now and ready to start 8th grade.


 We've homeschooled all the way. I am so very thankful that we've spent all of those hours of school together rather than apart! I wouldn't trade the relationship we've built for anything!

We use a curriculum called Sonlight. We have used it for the last 5 years and really enjoy it. Sonlight is based on great literature and our family LOVES to read together. I'm a little sad that this year, she reads all of these great books independently with no help from me. I'll miss out, but she won't! (Truth be told, I wouldn't have time to read a lot to her since I'm also teaching her 3rd grade brother).

She's a ham, as you can tell from these pictures. She has become such a fun kid to be around. I'm really enjoying her at this stage! 



She wrapped up like a mummy in the packing paper.

And was just all-around goofy!

 Happy Box Day and here's to a wonderful school year! 

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Homeschool Year Over

Posted by My Heart Song

6/24/2016 


Our school year is *finally* done! 

This year was more challenging than ever, but we made it! 


We had a 7th grade girl, who worked independently on many subjects. We had a 2nd grade boy who is a reluctant reader. We had a toddler who is constantly seeking attention. And we had a baby born in the middle of our school year. 

BUT... God is faithful. He provided strength and patience and perseverance. And now we can stand at the end of the school year and give Him the thanks and praise He deserves! 

Our 7th grade girl used Sonlight Core H this year (year 2 of 2 studying world history). We enjoyed lots of great books together. Next year there will be no more "read alouds" as Sonlight expects 8th graders to do all of their own reading of the excellent literature that makes up the curriculum. But we might slip in a few to read outloud together anyway! 

Our 2nd grade boy used Sonlight Core B+C (a condensed 1-year focus on world history). We used it loosely with him, as much of the material was simply over his head. But we did read almost every book together and he made MAJOR strides in his reading ability this year. 

We are covering some basics with our 2-year-old girl. She can sing the ABCs and count to 12 and spell her name. And she LOVES books. The most common phrase we hear from her is "Read this" as she hands us a book from the shelf. 


And our baby is learning lots too, but not from books yet. He has recently learned how to eat solid foods and how to scoot on the floor and how to babble words that we don't understand quite yet. 

I have to include myself in the list as I recount what we've learned this year. I've learned to trust God more and to lean on Him for strength, as I am so very weak. We have worked together as a family to memorize Scripture. Together we sing a hymn before bed each night and often pray together as well. We are all still growing and learning. 

But to my two official homeschooled kids, 
I want to say this as we wrap up another year: 

Way to go, dear daughter! 
I truly enjoy the homeschooling journey we're on together! 
I am proud of you and the young lady you are becoming! 

And way to go, dear son! 
You add spunk and spark to our days and 
I am so proud of the growth I've seen in you this year!

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Homeschool: Box Day Again

Posted by My Heart Song

6/26/2015

Another school year is over. We actually just ended this week, which is much later than most public school students or homeschool students. We put in over 190 school days (only 180 are required) but we were itching to finish our curriculum and good books we weren't finished with yet.


But now our focus shifts, as our curriculum for next year has arrived. Box Day is the big day when the boxes arrive from Sonlight. 



My youngest thought the boxes were great for climbing, sitting and laying on. 

But the rest of us were full of anticipation, eager to see all of the new materials and books for next year. 



My 7-year-old son will be using Sonlight officially for the first time, a 2nd grade level called Core B+C, which will provide a broad overview of world history in one year. Here he is with all of his new books and some math linking cubes. 



My 11-year-old daughter (turning 12 soon) will be using a 7th grade level curriculum called Core H, which is year 2 of 2 in a study of world history. She's been using Sonlight for the last 5 years and it's worked very well for us. We really enjoy all of the great books we read together.


Here are the kids with a poster/picture that Sonlight sent as a freebie with our order. Norman Rockwell's "Land of Enchantment" showing two children entering a wonderful land of imagination as they read.

We generally school year-round, which means that we will take a small bit of time off now between "school years" but will then start back up again yet this summer. Having a baby due in September means that we will take a forced break at that time, so I hope to be quite a few weeks into our school year before that. 

This will be my first year teaching 2 "cores" to the kids, which will be challenging. Add to that our toddler and coming baby and I am really not sure how the year will turn out. But I'm ok with that. If we end up taking longer to complete everything, that's ok. I'm also utilizing my oldest daughter's help in teaching her brother, so that will take a small bit off my plate (she's going to be his Science teacher this year; she's so excited about it and is already getting into the teacher's manual to understand the lesson plans, etc). She's also a big help with our toddler and I expect that will continue or increase as we add the new baby. 

So life has some coming challenges. Homeschooling is a challenge. But one of the things I love about it is that we face the challenges together as a family. We'll face it together. We'll come out stronger on the other side. We'll learn through it all and life will go on. 

I am so thankful for the freedom to homeschool. 
I am so thankful for a husband who supports and encourages my efforts in homeschooling. And I am so thankful for the wonderful hours I get to spend with my children, who are a delight and treasure to me. 

1 comments

Homeschool: 6th Grade Box Day

Posted by My Heart Song

6/26/2014 

As homeschoolers, we celebrate "Box Day." This is the day when our box of books and supplies for the next school year arrives at our home. 

Loving books as we do, it's seriously better than Christmas!

I allowed my 6-year-old son to open the box, though it was mostly items for my 10-year-old daughter's next school year. 


Here she is with ALL of the loot - over 60 items. Opening up the box, the comments repeated over and over are "Ooooh, look at this one" and "This one looks like a good one" and "Can I read this one now?" 

I left the room for a few minutes after we opened the box, and when I returned, sure enough, my daughter's nose was in one of the books that look most intriguing. 

Who can wait to start school with this many wonderful resources at hand? We'll be starting up as soon as I can read through my introductory notes for the Instructor's Guide. 

Thank you, Sonlight, for being a wonderful curriculum provider that excites both teacher and student!

1 comments

Reading Missionary Stories

Posted by My Heart Song

6/6/2014

I mentioned before that we have been reading some missionary biographies for our homeschool studies recently. Specifically, we've read about David Livingstone and Mary Slessor who both worked in Africa.

Reading missionary biographies was new to us, but we have really enjoyed it. We've since picked up another book about Amy Carmichael to continue reading about missionaries just for fun. These books opened up some wonderful dialog about missionary concerns. For example, we talked through the difficulties related to being married and raising a family on the mission field (a major issue for David Livingstone's adventurous and pioneering spirit). Mary Slessor (and Amy Carmichael) had to wrestle with English versus native dress, realizing that their traditional clothing could be a hindrance to the gospel. My daughter also asked about whether other religions have missionaries, which led to a great discussion of the Christian faith, the love and mercy and kindness of Jehovah God and how that contrasts with the gods of other religions. 

So again I thank Sonlight, our homeschool curriculum provider, who include wonderful stories like these to raise awareness of missions and missionary concerns, as we learn about history and geography along the way. 

1 comments

Why We Love our Literature-Based Homeschool Curriculum

Posted by My Heart Song

6/5/2014

We homeschool. My 10-year-old daughter is just wrapping up 5th grade. We use a curriculum called Sonlight, which is heavy on reading good literature. 

Recently I was reminded of just why we love our Sonlight curriculum so much. 


We were in the middle of a study on Africa. We had read through two missionary biographies, both published by YWAM - David Livingstone and Mary Slessor. 


Both of these stories were fascinating. We learned about the climate and terrain in Africa, about wild animals there, and about the tense relationships between many indigenous African tribes.

Sonlight then had us read a book called A Long Walk to Water.


What a great (and TRUE) story this is! We learned about what is going on in modern-day Sudan and the introduction of wells to small villages in order to provide clean drinking water. After reading the book, my daughter wanted to learn more about the organization mentioned in the book. We checked out the website for Water for Sudan. Unprompted, my daughter wanted to send in a donation of her chore money to help provide more wells in Sudan. For a girl that struggles to show compassion, this was a huge change. 

Thank you, Sonlight!

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Another Box Day

Posted by My Heart Song


4/11/2013



We use a curriculum called Sonlight.
The most exciting day of our school year is "Box Day." 
This is the day when our boxes arrive from Sonlight, containing dozens and dozens of books and materials we will use for the next school year. 


Oh how excited we are for each box day! 
Here are some pictures of my daughter with her 5th grade curriculum that arrived last week. 

 LOOK AT ALL THOSE BOOKS! 
Excellent resources for studying the lives of some missionaries, for science materials focusing on anatomy, our favorite math curriculum Teaching Textbooks, a kit for teaching calligraphy, and over 50 other titles that we are looking forward to exploring in 5th grade! 


One book - Blood and Guts - got quite a reaction from my daughter!
 
Just for fun, here is the link to our 3rd grade box day
 and here's the link for last year's 4th grade box day

(I enjoy looking at those older posts, to see how far we've come in our "love of learning." We started using Sonlight because we had tried other curriculum and found it just didn't fit well with our family. We were on the verge of throwing in the towel with homeschooling. Then we tried Sonlight and are enjoying school more than I thought possible. We love Sonlight, in case you can't tell, and look forward to continuing to use their excellent curriculum for the remainder of our time as homeschoolers)

2 comments

Science

Posted by My Heart Song

3/29/2013

Science is not my thing, but thankfully my husband loves to tinker and experiment. He has spent a good amount of time recently with my daughter, using a pen-size microscope to analyze anything from hair to feathers to wires to skin to paper. Truly fascinating to see these items close up! 



I'm also thankful that our homeschool curriculum provides fun science projects which my daughter enjoys. Recently we learned about Light and Color. One project involved making jello molds of concave, convex and flat lenses - then using those lenses to see how they affect what you see (you can read here about a similar experiment). Both my kids really enjoyed this science fun.



We have now begun a study about Magnetism. Again, I'm thankful that our curriculum (Sonlight) provides almost everything we need to do these fun hands-on activities to teach my kids basic science concepts, such as the magnetic properties of "like" and "opposite" poles. 

I also love that my 5-year-old son jumps in and learns alongside my 4th grade girl. Homeschooling is truly a family affair that involves each one of us!

Thankful to be a homeschooler, 
Mrs. R

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Connections: Books and Fun

Posted by My Heart Song

1/22/2013

My kids and I have enjoyed a number of great books lately.
I've mentioned before that we use a curriculum called Sonlight which is rich in literature (for some reason I can't get the link to work, but you can visit Sonlight at www.sonlight.com to learn more). All of these books were part of school for us in the last 6 weeks or so.


 Old Yeller was a book my daughter read on her own. She really liked it and was sad to reach the end, as she is with many of our Sonlight books. 

Looking back, I think this book was also good preparation for my daughter. Old Yeller dies at the end of the book. For Christmas my daughter received a fish for a new pet. She'd been asking for a fish for a few months. She was so excited and surprised with this gift! Unfortunately, her new fish only survived a few days. She handled it  very well, though, and perhaps a part of that was the fact that she'd read through (and very much enjoyed) Old Yeller just prior to her own experience with a pet's death.


I read Caddie Woodlawn aloud to the kids a few weeks ago. I'm sure I read this as a child, but I didn't remember it. What a great classic! It reminds me of the Little House on the Prairie series, but is more tomboyish and adventure-filled.


The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs was a fun read-aloud book. A little silly, but a good reminder that there are wondrous, even miraculous, things that surround us no matter where we are, if we only have eyes to see them.


I like that Sonlight strikes a balance between "girl" and "boy" books. The main character in Caddie Woodlawn is a girl, but she is quite tomboyish and spends more time with her brothers than her more refined mother and sisters. The main character in Seven Wonders is a boy and the book we're currently reading - Little Britches - is another great book written from a boy's perspective of farm life. 


The last book I want to highlight is The Great Wheel. This book is all about the first Ferris Wheel, told from the perspective of one of the workers who helped build it. I expected it to be a bit dry, but it had a good storyline that moved it along. There was some technical engineering language, but it generally helped us envision the work as it was going on. 


The timing of this book was neat. We started reading it just after Christmas. For Christmas, my kids got a box of K-Nex toys and the first thing we built with them was a ferris wheel. So between the language and pictures of the book and our own visual, we could more easily imagine the process of putting together that first-ever ferris wheel.

I enjoy these special moments as they come along. It's wonderful to be a part of that eye-opening "aha" moment for my kids, seeing them make connections between what we read and real life. It's what education is all about!

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