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Our family's home school journey
began in 1990 and continues today. At the time I
had a preschool son - the middle of three sons - who had
begged to learn to read. When it was time for
Kindergarten, we attended the local public school's
orientation and realized very quickly that our son would
not be sufficiently challenged in their course of study.
Having several friends who home schooled was great
encouragement to me as we decided to bring our oldest
son home and begin home schooling with a 3rd grader, a
Kindergartener and a baby.
Of course, we started off with
traditional textbooks because that was what I knew from
my school experience. We managed through our first
years this way, but frankly, it got boring...and quite
challenging for me to cover all subjects for so many
different grade levels. Eventually I decided to
leave the textbooks for a more hands-on learning
approach and joined 4 families in a co-op using
unit-based materials. Learning in this way was
much more exciting, but it was not uncommon for me to
spend at least 3 hours each weekend preparing for our
lessons.
As our oldest son approached
high school, I began looking for a method that would
provide for this level of study, help me break away from
a pile of textbooks for each child, and release me from
extensive preparation time. I found my answer in
Sonlight Curriculum. The Instructor's Guides
minimize the need for preparation, we enjoyed reading
much of our materials as a family, and instead of a pile
of textbooks written for a captive audience, we enjoyed a
collection of books that immersed our family in the
environment and lives of the people who made history.
Just months into our first year using Sonlight
Curriculum, my children voted unanimously that it was
the most fun they had had in school.
Now our oldest son has graduated
from college, while the middle
son has begun his college studies, and the youngest is
in high school. For those of you who think that
high school is simply too big an undertaking for the
home environment, I would encourage you to reconsider.
While we would all agree that it is best for parents to
be home with preschoolers, I personally feel that our
teenagers need us just as much. By home schooling
in the high school years, you can help to shape your
child's studies to prepare him for his future and
provide stable support and guidance as your teen tests
his or her wings.
I now work as a consultant for
Sonlight Curriculum. If you would like guidance in
selecting the materials that would best fit your family,
or have other questions concerning home schooling, I
would be glad to help you. Please contact me at
klutman@sonlight.com
and include "Home Teaching Help" in your subject line.
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