Delightful Learning

A Decade of Delightful Learning

2022-07-06T19:30:00.014-06:00

Delightful Learning spans ten years of our homeschool and family life while living in Sheridan, Wyoming. We have moved and changed, so I feel inclined to close this blogging chapter and move on.

Here is a quote from today's reading in Ourselves, by Charlotte Mason–this is the direction I want to move in:

The Way of Humility.–In the first place, we must not try to be humble. That is all make-believe, and a bad sort of pride... The thing is to not think of ourselves at all. . .There are many ways to of getting away from the thought of ourselves; the love and knowledge of birds and flowers, of clouds and stones, of all that nature has to show us; pictures, books, people, anything outside of us, will help us to escape from the tyrant who attacks our hearts. One rather good plan is, when we are talking or writing to our friends, not to talk or write about 'thou and I." There are so many interesting things in the world to discuss that it is a waste of time to talk about ourselves. All the same, it is well to be up to the ways of those tiresome selves, and that is why are are invited to read these chapters. It is very well, too, to know that Humility, who takes no thought of himself, is really at home in each of us:–

"If that in sight of God is great

Which counts itself for small,

We by the law humility

The chiefest grace must call;

Which being such, not knows itself

To be a grace at all.

TRENCH

When I posted We Shell Sea, I was (and am still) not sure what my fresh start will look like, but I know "Try a little harder next time" is relevant to my story moving forward, so I hope to launch from there for a fresh start and talk about love and "birds and flowers, of clouds and stones, of all that nature has to show us."

^-^

If you would like to be a part of that journey, please check back.

Until the trumpet sounds. . .

We Shell Sea

2022-01-06T19:02:00.001-07:00

I do not hope to abandon this blog, but I am looking forward to a fresh start. I'm not really sure what that will look like, but we shell sea!

"Try a little harder next time."

2021-01-08T13:06:00.000-07:00

It was a simple message to encourage me, and it worked. It came while I was doing a French lesson on my phone, but I can't stop thinking about it.

"Try a little harder next time."

See, I wasn't really trying at all.

It's like the time in the 9th grade when I got 3 As and 3 Bs on my midterm report card. I was happy with my grades, but my friends had all As. I loved school and always had, but I never gave much thought to my grades before then nor applied myself.

I wondered if I could get all As, too — if I tried a little harder.

I don't even remember whether or not I paid more attention in class, took better notes, or studied harder for tests, but I do remember that I went to my Biology teacher and asked him how I could bring my grade up.

I did a science fair project that not only brought my grade up but also excused me from the final exam. And when my Enriched English I teacher told me I'd have to go back to regular 9th grade English if I didn't learn the grammar rules, I went to another student in class who I thought would help me. By the end of the semester, I was tied for #1 in my class with a 4.0 GPA — because I tried a little harder.

Walking in relationship with my Savior

I feel like I need to try a little harder in my walk with the Lord.

Following God's law comes easy to me because I sincerely desire to be pleasing to my Heavenly Father, and I love having an instruction manual that teaches me how to be Holy in His eyes. I can follow God's law to the letter, but I forget to follow in the newness of the Spirit. I forget that God's law is a law of LOVE and is therefore a heart condition.

"Do to others as you would have them do to you, for this sums up the law and the prophets... and this is Matthew 7:12" has been playing in our homeschool — it's one of Bo's memory verses for Sonlight A.

Do I treat others the way I want to be treated?

"...‘Teacher, which [is] the great command in the Law?’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thine understanding — this is a first and great command; and the second [is] like to it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; on these — the two commands — all the law and the prophets do hang.’ Matthew 22:34-40."

Do I keep the two greatest commands?

Mark is also a witness to Jesus' words in chapter 12:28-34 — except he is quoting from the Torah, which is the LAW that I follow, specifically Deuteronomy 6:1-19:

"...‘Which is the first command of all?’ and Jesus answered him — ‘The first of all the commands [is], Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God out of all thy heart, and out of thy soul, and out of all thine understanding, and out of all thy strength — this [is] the first command; 1and the second [is] like [it], this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; — greater than these there is no other command.’ And the scribe said to him, ‘Well, Teacher, in truth thou hast spoken that there is one God, and there is none other but He; and to love Him out of all the heart, and out of all the understanding, and out of all the soul, and out of all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as one’s self, is more than all the whole burnt-offerings and the sacrifices.’ And Jesus, having seen him that he answered with understanding, said to him, ‘Thou art not far from the reign of God;’ and no one any more durst question him."

Bearing fruit for the Kingdom of God

This has been on my heart, so I initially thought I would choose "love" for my word this year, but Galatians 5:22-23 came to mind.

"And the fruit of the Spirit is: Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law;" —Young's Literal Translation

There is no law against these things because these things are the heart of His law, His Torah.

God's law points me to my need for a Savior (without the law, I wouldn't know I was a sinner), and even though I have been released from the penalty for breaking the law, which is death, I follow God's law because I love Jesus (Y'shua) (John 14:15) and because God's law is holy, and His commandments are righteous and good (Romans 7), and they show me how to live. Because I'm not under [the penalty of] the law, I am free in that I'm no longer in bondage to sin and deserving of the death penalty. The debt has been paid and I'm free to walk in the newness of the Spirit and not by the oldness of the letter.

This is how we keep God's law — in the newness of the Spirit, which is no different today than 4,000 years ago —God wants our hearts! and He wants us to walk in Truth (keep the law of love inwardly).

I know I can do it if I try a little harder.

Written 01.08.18 during our "long winter." I am sorry I never published it, but it is relevant to my story moving forward. ❤️

Interview with Boaz {10 years}

2020-12-24T20:27:00.000-07:00

What is your favorite color? baby blue

What is your favorite food? pizza

What is your favorite treat? salt-water taffy

What is your favorite subject in school? math

What is your favorite sport? sword fighting

What is your favorite hobby? cutting wood

What is your favorite movie? The Biggest Little Farm

What is your favorite book? the Bible

What is your favorite animal? dog

What is your favorite song? I must tell Jesus

What is your favorite restaurant? Five Guys

What is your favorite vegetable? corn

What is your favorite fruit? cherry

What is your favorite place to visit? home

Where do you WANT to visit some day? Alaska

Who is your best friend? my family

What’s your favorite thing to do with Eliana? Play with honeybun

What’s your favorite thing to do with Malachi? sword fight

What’s your favorite thing to do with dad? sword fight

What’s your favorite thing to do with me? hug

What’s your favorite thing to do with honeybun? cuddle

What do you want to be when you grow up? a country store clerk

What is one thing you want to learn how to do? survival skills

What is one of your greatest talents? (What are you good at?) playing in the woods

What are some of your other strengths? sword fighting

What is something you wonder about? vlogging

Who is someone that you miss? Nathan

What age do you look forward to - and why? 14 so i can go to work with the big boys

We Move | Fall 2020

2020-12-21T14:23:00.005-07:00

Summer 2020

2020-08-15T14:21:00.002-06:00

Spring 2020

2020-05-28T14:17:00.007-06:00

We Move | Winter 2019-2020

2020-03-02T15:47:00.005-07:00

Malachi {15}

2020-02-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

"My life at !5 (well, almost).

First, a quick history:

Last winter, we flipped my world upside down and moved to Baker City Oregon.

In the summer, my team (France) won the first YMCA adult soccer tournament.

From August through the beginning of October, my team won my last youth soccer league.

In November, I wrote a novel about genetically modified humans on ywp.nanowrimo.org. Currently, I am having it edited.

Now my interests:

For my current novel, I have been studying strange or exotic creatures. I am currently studying Civets, Genets, and Wolverines.

I play chess every day, whether online or with Bo. Online, I am expanding my borders to four-player chess, and making up new variations for that.

I have been trying to wake up early to write…

Elli recently got a jaw harp and prompted the rest of us to find another pocket instrument to play (I’m going to buy a duck call.).

I am interested in the creation of new languages.

Animal and Human Psychology.

Leadership and coaching.

I am currently learning French.

Anything where I can learn what I don’t already know." ~Malachi

Henry the Explorer | Winter 2019-2020

2020-01-20T16:00:00.007-07:00

Explorers, navigation, survival skills, and treasure: our adventure with Henry the Explorer.* . .

Exploring Phillips Reservoir

25 Verses to “Treasure”

ESV Translation

Matthew 6:19-21

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 13:44

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Matthew 19:21

Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

Luke 12:33

Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.

Proverbs 2:4-5

If you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

1 Timothy 6:17-19

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

Colossians 2:3

In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

2 Corinthians 4:7

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

Isaiah 33:6

And he will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is Zion's treasure.

Exodus 19:5

Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine;

Deuteronomy 14:2

For you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

Proverbs 21:20

Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man's dwelling, but a foolish man devours it.

Matthew 13:52

And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

Job 23:12

I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.

Proverbs 7:1

My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you;

Proverbs 8:21

Granting an inheritance to those who love me, and filling their treasuries.

1 Timothy 6:19

Thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

Proverbs 15:16

Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble with it.

Matthew 12:35

The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.

1 Timothy 6:19

Thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

Malachi 3:16-17

Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. “They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him.

Deuteronomy 7:6

“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

Proverbs 2:4

If you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,

Philippians 4:19

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 2:11

And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

*Use these verses to play Digging for True Treasure – a game we played while learning about the California Gold Rush. Edit and print them on Google Docs here.

- Boaz is 9 years old here -

*See all the Henry books! Henry the Castaway, Henry Explores the Mountains, Henry Explores the Jungle. (amazon affiliate links)

Writing: IEW–People and Places in Our Community:

Healthy Coconut and Chocolate Chip Layer Bars

Healthy Coconut and Chocolate Chip Layer Bars Recipe:

Line an 8 x 8 pan with parchment paper.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Make a cookie base:

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 tablespoons of coconut sugar

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1/4 teaspoon of fine Celtic salt

1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour (I used fresh ground hard white wheat)

Beat the butter, sugar, egg yolk, vanilla, and salt until well blended. Add the flour and combine until moistened and crumbs form. Press the crumbs into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes until the crust is light brown and set.

Add the topping:

1 cup organic coconut chips, toasted

1/2 cup toasted and salted organic hazelnuts chopped

1/2 cup toasted and salted organic almonds, chopped

1/2 cup organic, bitter chocolate chips

Mix or layer the topping ingredients and place them on the cookie crust. Lightly press the topping and spread one can of Rich Dark Sweetened Condensed Milk over the top. Bake for 25–30 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Marshmallow Constellations for H.A. Ray's Find the Constellations (amazon affiliate link) and Sabbath Mood Homeschooling's Form 2 Astronomy:

Ancient History: Old Testament Days "Chocolate Date Balls" and reading Tirzah (amazon affiliate links)

Moving and organizing our school books:

Seaside | Fall 2019

2019-11-30T14:13:00.002-07:00

We Move | Summer 2019

2019-08-31T14:08:00.003-06:00

Spring 2019

2019-05-31T14:02:00.003-06:00

We move to Eastern Oregon | Winter 2018-2019

2019-02-22T14:25:00.001-07:00

A Slow Cranberry Thanksgiving | Fall 2018

2018-12-14T17:05:00.001-07:00

Settling into our new home. Cloth pumpkins (fabric wrapped around a roll of toilet paper). Homeschooling. Chess. Cranberry Apple Salad. Nature Study. Nature Collecting. Jordan moves back to Wyoming.

We Move To Story | Late Summer/Fall 2018

2018-11-17T17:01:00.000-07:00

I first started blogging when we moved to the Alger house, and we lived there ten years before closing on a decade of delightful learning. I'm so grateful for the time I spent documenting our life. I love having it to look back on.

The summer before we left, I finished up a year long ambassador commitment with Sonlight and was ready for a blogging break. Little did I know that I would be taking a very long break, or that our lives would change in a very big way, but here I am filling in the blanks of a life left off over seven years ago.

We worked on the new house over the summer and closed in August.

We said goodbye to the old house by the end of the month.

We settled into the new house.

We sold the property in Montana.

And enjoyed a season of slow.

Making Everyday Homeschool Moments Special

2018-07-31T16:38:00.001-06:00

I wrote this post, Making Everyday Homeschool Moments Special, for Sonlight Curriculum.

While looking through a family photo album recently, Eliana, 11, said, "You've captured all the special moments. I wish you would have taken more photos of everyday life."

Surprised because I'm intentional about capturing day-to-day life, I looked through a few pages with her pointing out all the everyday things happening such as eating oatmeal at the breakfast table.

"OH! You make it all seem so special!"

By taking photos, you can make routine moments special. In the same way, you can make ordinary homeschool moments special, too. When you document your story, you naturally tend to focus on what kind of life you want to live, so it becomes about living a more purposeful, intentional life.

An intentional homeschool life will look different for each family, but it might mean:

reading good books to your children ~ I can only remember one book from my childhood, so I want my children to have fond childhood memories of reading lots of books!

unplugging to plug into your children ~ I want to give my children my undivided attention. Since putting my phone on do not disturb during the day, I am not easily distracted by it.

tuning in to their individual learning styles to encourage positive growth ~ What a blessing to teach our children the best way for them.

doing something special in your homeschool to create a memory ~ If you make it special, you will have a fond memory to look back on. These memories instill a deep value in my children.

recording those memories to instill a sense of identity and self-worth in your child ~ Taking pictures and recording your child's life tells them they are special and helps create a healthy self-esteem which is vital to our relationship with others and with God. I know that my children feel a stronger sense of who they are and how valued they are as a part of our family with these recorded memories and visual reminders of our life together.

What does it look like for your family?

I love these photos of Bo working on Developing the Early Learner from Sonlight Pre-K because they capture a variety of facial expressions.

Ideas to Make Ordinary Homeschool Moments Special:

❤️ take a photo of your child with their Sonlight stack
❤️ wrap books, new school supplies, or a small gift to unwrap on the first day of school
❤️ create a back to school tradition
❤️ take a picture of your child on the first and last days of school
❤️ take a photo of your child with their favorite book (or stack of books) this year
❤️ celebrate accomplishments/milestones with a special family outing such as a picnic
❤️ make an End of Year Memory Book
❤️ read, recite, sing, or give a presentation at the family dinner table
❤️ have an "It's too nice outside to do school today" day or do school outside
❤️ establish patterns of rhythm, ritual, and rest in your homeschool day
❤️ create a silly tradition such as ice cream for dinner
❤️ equip your children with sketch pads, pencils, and watercolors and start a nature study
❤️ learn a new skill or handicraft or do a hands-on project together
❤️ have a science experiment day just for fun
❤️ play a game, or better yet, turn a lesson into a game
❤️ have tea time during your read-aloud time
❤️ plant a garden or grow something together
❤️ challenge your kids to read in an unusual reading spot
❤️ have a special day ~ pajama day, crazy hair day, opposite day, or dress up day
❤️ be totally random and pick a national day to celebrate such as national hot dog day
❤️ make a bucket list each season
❤️ make a "what I love about you" list for each other
❤️ document a day in the life or make a family movie
❤️ make a “documentary” to share what you are learning
❤️ pop popcorn to eat during a video lesson or documentary
❤️ celebrate the 1st, 100th, and last day of school with a party
❤️ create new family traditions centered around your homeschool
❤️ school year round so you can take more breaks
❤️ be an encourager
❤️ help your children find a worthwhile project they want to do and invest in it
❤️ give them plenty of time in the day to pursue their own interests and capture it on film.
❤️ host a book club
❤️ invite friends over to learn with you
❤️ celebrate growth and reflect on your year together
❤️ have a themed meal or party to celebrate something you learned this year
❤️ celebrate the completion of a year-long book
❤️ give out silly awards - perfect attendance, top of your class, book club member
❤️ make encouraging "report cards"
❤️ fill out the certificate at the end of your IG
❤️ take photos of everyday life
❤️ cuddle and hug your children, smile, and tell them you love them often

Exploring God's World with Sonlight Pre-K

Documenting Your Homeschool Moments

You start each new school year with a fresh, clean, organized house and by the end, you have piles here and there — evidence of a productive school year such as school work, pictures, artwork, journal entries, and memorabilia.

You may have field trips, community experiences, extra-curricular activities, volunteer opportunities, and more experiences you want to remember.

You also have Sonlight Moments and conversations about books you don't want to forget.

Where to start?

Documenting your homeschool memories can be done ANY way you want. You invest many precious hours and days into homeschooling. Whether you are required to record keep in your state or not, it helps you and your children to see all you have accomplished!

When I first started homeschooling, I wrote notes right in my Sonlight IG and dated it. I slipped artwork, samples of their work, photos, and even newspaper clippings right into my IG and it became a scrapbook of our journey.

History / Bible / Literature B+C from our 1st year of homeschooling

There’s no doubt my Sonlight IG is the easiest way for me to document my children’s learning throughout the year. From the schedule grid and book list to reading logs and the boxes we've checked off and filled in, I have everything I need to track and monitor what my children have learned throughout the school year.

Of course, a big bulky binder is a cumbersome scrapbook so much of it will have to go.

What to keep?

Keep just a handful of things such as your child's best pieces of art, a few handwriting samples, and of course, the awards, certificates, and any other pieces of “evidence” from their school year that tell their story.

Bo when he completed All About Spelling 1.

Some of my kids are more sentimental than others, but I may be the most sentimental of all. So I begin with the end in mind and keep the memories I will treasure when my children are grown, and let them keep the memories they will treasure.

What do you want to remember the most?

If you are feeling especially sentimental and can't part with something, you can scan and shrink flat items you want to keep.

You may want to consider saving:

a sample of their best handwriting (and maybe a sample of their everyday writing, too)
a favorite Bible verse your child copied, illustrated, and memorized this year
a favorite poem handwritten and illustrated
a math worksheet or page they are especially proud of or one with cute drawings and messages
samples from the beginning of the year to compare to the end
creative expressions that reflect personal stories

This year, I had each child pick a writing assignment to polish up, illustrate, and save. While looking over their papers for the year, we were happy to see how much our writing had improved. Eliana chose a paper from the beginning of the year, and it was fun to see how much she delighted in her growth. It will be fun to compare their best writing this year to the work they do next year. It also gives them a little nudge to do their best!

If you reduce an 8.5x11 to fit in a 4x6 slot, you can place it right in your scrapbook or photo album!

Scanning only works for flat items, so photograph the bulky stuff you want to remember and recycle what you can.

Here are a few Sonlight memories we've made over the years:

Ancient Rome with History / Bible / Literature B

This year we did History / Bible / Literature B and G ~ Introduction to World History 1 with the little kids and World History 1 with the big kids.

Charlotte's Web with History / Bible / Literature B ~ memory making fun.

Making Tanghulars for Little Pear in History / Bible / Literature B ~ a memory making treat.

Everyday homeschool life with History / Bible / Literature A ~ Introduction to the World: Cultures with Malachi and Eliana

More everday life ~ Math, Language Arts 1, and Science A.

This is special to me because Eliana loved to make pancakes starting at the age of 6. I love looking back on their Sonlight Creative Expressions!

My Father's Dragon memory making snack + HBL H + Science H

Our biggest Box Day ever ~ as tall as Dylan at age 13!

Hands-on activities with Sonlight Preschool — Fiction, Fairy Tales and Fun

Obviously, pictures are one of my favorite ways to document our homeschool memories! See more here!

To get good photos, use natural, indirect light from a window or open door. No flash. Place artwork or other items piece on a neutral floor or simple background. I like to use my wood coffee table, the kitchen table, a white foam board, or even a pine board. Stand directly above the item for a nice straight-on shot. Focus and hold the camera steady for a clear, crisp picture, then shoot.

One of my favorite ways to document a project is to take a photo of my child holding his/her artwork. It’s fun to see them at the age/time they did the work, so I like to immediately take a photo when a project is completed for a more personalized photo.

Art with Artisitic Pursuits

If you scan or photograph things, you don't have to feel bad about throwing stuff away, especially if you’re facing huge piles of stuff. So if you can't reuse or recycle it, throw it away. This is the hardest part for me because I'm sentimental, but it's worth it because it is freeing. I can focus less on stuff and focus more on making new memories.

If you need an easy way to document your school year, grab the End of Year Memory Book and have your kids fill it out. Be sure to include a few photos!

Keep it simple, stress-free, enjoyable, and fun!

I wish you all the best as you make everyday homeschool moments special. Thank you for sharing this journey with me!

Homeschool memories are happy memories to make, keep, and share! Share yours on Instagram using the hashtag #sonlightstories!

Previously on Delightful Learning:

Being Content with Your Curriculum
How I Set Up Our Sonlight Instructor Guides | No Flipping Required
Itinerary for an Eastern Hemisphere Education
Travel to China from the Comfort of Your Couch
Keeping Up with Current Events, North Korea, South Korea and Japan
Reading Through Russia, Southeast Asia, Vietnam, and India
Why My Husband Loves Homeschooling With Sonlight
Stacking Up Your Homeschool Day (Moving on to the Middle East, Israel, and Saudi Arabia)
Homeschooling Through the Seasons (Adventures in Africa)
Rhythm, Ritual, and Rest in the Homeschool Day (Paddle to the Pacific — the last leg of our Eastern Hemisphere journey!)
The Blessings of a Homeschool Library

Are you in planning mode for next year? If you need help choosing your curriculum don’t forget the helpful Sonlight users on the Sonlight forums, or feel free to contact a Sonlight Curriculum Advisor via live chat.

The Blessings of a Homeschool Library

2018-06-13T10:29:00.000-06:00

I wrote this post, The Blessings of a Homeschool Library, for Sonlight Curriculum.

I'll never forget how happy and proud my son Jordan was after we completed our first year of homeschooling with Sonlight. All the books he read that year sat on the shelf in the order he read them, and he beamed with happiness.

"I read all those books!"

They were not as shiny and new as they had been when we started. Little hands had worn and tattered the books. Evidence of dog-eared pages, bent covers, and smudges were noticeable from handling as he carried the books around with him, outside in the sandbox, or in his bed late at night.

But most of the wear was from the trudging hands of a little boy who didn't like to read and who didn't think he was good at it. His confidence was at an all-time low when we began homeschooling.

It was hard, but he read every single book on the schedule that year and was so proud.

At that moment, I was decidedly thankful I chose Sonlight for our first year of homeschooling.

Had I not had the books displayed on the bookshelf though, he might not have felt such an accomplishment because the next year I tried to save money. I bought an old IG and borrowed the books. We had all the books we needed that year, but not all at the same time, and it was a lot of work and hassle to round-up a book when I needed it.

We had a wonderful year of learning, but at the end of our school year, my son did not feel as accomplished. In fact, he felt a little sad. He remembered how good he felt at the end of his first year of homeschooling and missed seeing all his books lined up on the shelf. In fact, he even asked me if we could buy his books the next year!

We did because we could see that there really was something to working on his book list and seeing the books on the shelf, as he went and at the end of the year. Seeing them all lined up made him feel accomplished.

So we built our library one year at a time, and I'm delighted to have a homeschool library of our own right here in our home.

Looking at all the books lined up on the shelf makes me happy knowing that we have had 12 wonderful years of homeschooling with the blessings of a homeschool library!

A Homeschool Library is a blessing because...

it builds self-esteem and confidence in your child. I'll never forget how proud my son was for reading "all those books!" and the impact it had on him.

it's really nice to just grab the next scheduled book right off the shelf when you need it. Our library is wonderful in that you can give them a book list and they will find the books for you, but it is still a hassle, takes time, and often involves a fee.

you can use the books over and over. As my kids grow, they reread many of the books I have read aloud to them — sometimes two or three times if it's a favorite book.

with homeschooling multiple children, we will go through each level three times, so building a library has been well worth the money spent.

you can help other homeschool families who are in need. I've been known to loan out complete levels from our Sonlight shelves when I see a need.

Malachi, 13, is pictured here reading a Level F reader from our homeschool library. He has read all the read-alouds from Levels A, B, and C which are books I originally read to him.

How to Care for Your Homeschool Library

Here are a few things I have done over the years to help keep books nice:

I try not to worry about it. I like to keep our books nice, but I didn't want to add any extra stress to a struggling reader, so I decided to let my kids wear them out and replace beloved books as needed. I'd rather they love a book than have the book rest on the shelf unread. In fact, I remember when I had to replace the Usborne Book of World History from Levels B and C. Malachi carried that book around as a preschooler until the book fell apart, and of all my kids, I think he loves History the most! I've also had to replace The Beginners Bible more than once!

I use a miracle eraser to remove fingerprints, dirt, smudges or other marks on glossy covers - even from permanent ink. Just a light rub with a slightly damp miracle eraser should get it clean, but be careful because if you scrub too hard, the ink will rub right off the book. They really do clean up nice!

if you like to keep your library organized, have children use a ruler as a bookmark when they take a book off the shelf to keep books in order. I like to put them in order on the shelf so I can see how far we are along and so I can grab the next book with ease, but with giving my kids free access to our library, I've never been good about keeping them organized! I just grab the book list and put them in order when we start a new level.

don't forget to dust! A light dusting with a feather duster is a fun job for kids!

The investment we've made to build a homeschool library is an investment we've made in our children and was well worth the effort. With twelve years of homeschooling down and twelve more to go, it's a blessing to have a homeschool library!

***

Previous editions on Delightful Learning:

Being Content with Your Curriculum
How I Set Up Our Sonlight Instructor Guides | No Flipping Required
Itinerary for an Eastern Hemisphere Education
Travel to China from the Comfort of Your Couch
Keeping Up with Current Events, North Korea, South Korea and Japan
Reading Through Russia, Southeast Asia, Vietnam, and India
Why My Husband Loves Homeschooling With Sonlight
Stacking Up Your Homeschool Day (Moving on to the Middle East, Israel, and Saudi Arabia)
Homeschooling Through the Seasons (Adventures in Africa)
Rhythm, Ritual, and Rest in the Homeschool Day (Paddle to the Pacific — the last leg of our Eastern Hemisphere journey!)

Switch to Sonlight and discover an education that is beautiful, complete, rewarding, flexible, engaging, easy to use, rigorous, inspiring, worthwhile, encouraging, guaranteed, fulfilling, life-changing, relationship-building, and an investment in the future.

Rhythm, Ritual, and Rest in the Homeschool Day

2018-05-10T21:30:00.000-06:00

I wrote this post, Rhythm, Ritual, and Rest in the Homeschool Day, for Sonlight Curriculum.

While every homeschool is different, I believe there is one constant that helps us get through our homeschool days, and that is rhythm, ritual and rest.

Rhythm in the Homeschool Day

Rhythm is a meaningful element of our homeschool day that represents movement. We start our day with the end in mind, but homeschooling is not a race to the finish line. Slow, intentional, rhythmic movement is ideal to create a steady flow in our homeschool day.

Movement in homeschool is turning pages, reading aloud, going on a nature walk, baking cookies with your children, or working through your day one subject or task at a time.

Rhythm in the homeschool is just like knitting one stitch at a time until our project is complete. Just like each stitch we make moves us forward, each subject or task we complete moves us forward.

As you move through your curriculum, you make slow, steady progress while also making connections with your children through the books you read, the subjects you study, and the value they bring to your life. History / Bible / Literature F brought much value to our lives this year because it gave us perspective during hard times and helped us remember that things could be worse. When are tempted to complain, we remember the purpose of Minli's journey in Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. We not only move ahead in our homeschooling, we move ahead in life.

Movement involves being present in your homeschool and doing the next important thing — whatever that is. With Sonlight, it's opening my IG and doing the next day on the schedule. It keeps us progressing steadily through our curriculum. Lately, I am in the habit of asking, "What's next?" If I focus on the next important thing, it keeps me from feeling overwhelmed. First things first.

Because we experience life moment by moment, rhythm is moving through these moments one at a time.

Adding rhythmic movement to our day flows into ritual.

Ritual in the Homeschool Day

Ritual in the homeschool is how we deal with our day. It’s the strategy we use as each day begins and ends.

Rituals remind us that we can do hard things. They give us special ways of remembering why we’re doing what we’re doing and how we’re going to get through it.

In our homeschool, these rituals are stacking up our homeschool day with a literature-rich homeschool curriculum. It's having tea and toast while reading poetry around the breakfast table on Monday mornings. It's lighting a candle, diffusing essential oils, or playing classical music to create a peaceful learning environment.

These rituals ground us. They remind us who we are and what is important to us. They reinforce our ability to do the next thing. When we ground ourselves, we are not vulnerable to being thrown off-balance, so we naturally feel more balanced, peaceful, and present.

Paddle to the Pacific — the last leg in our Eastern Hemisphere journey!

Reading aloud as a family with Sonlight is a ritual that grounds us in our homeschool. We are present and connected with our children when we read to them. In fact, reading aloud is one of the best uses of my time while homeschooling my kids. With our IG as our guide, the books we read make us think and provide opportunities for meaningful conversation.

But rhythm and ritual will only get us so far if we are not well rested.

Rest in the Homeschool Day

You have a list of things to do today. School. Appointments. Groceries to buy. Dinner to fix. Problems to solve. Things to do.

Rest is more vital to our ability to homeschool successfully than any other facet. But in a society that is all about do-do-do and go-go-go, rest may seem counterproductive.

But rest is what makes it possible to get through to the end of each long day. A homeschool mom who doesn’t find rest for her mind, body, and spirit while homeschooling today is draining the energy she’ll need to homeschool tomorrow.

Rest allows us to refresh ourselves for the journey we’re on.

Rest is more than getting a good nights sleep (though that is crucial).

It's more than ceasing from physical or mental effort (though that's important, too).

Rest is different for everybody. It's a refreshing walk in the park or an intense workout at the gym. It's a quiet hour reading a book by yourself or an enjoyable hour attending a book club with friends. It's taking an online photography class or attending an art show downtown. It's connecting with your spouse after the kids are in bed or taking the whole family on a much-needed vacation.

Whatever it is, rest leaves us relaxed and energized for whatever comes next. It gives our bodies the renewed energy to carry on.

Rest is about restoration.

It’s about reconnecting with the people and the things that bring us joy.

Rest is so important to our success as homeschoolers.

Would you like to move closer to a life of rhythm, ritual and rest in your homeschool? Why don’t you ask God what that might look like for you?

Homeschooling Through the Seasons

2018-04-10T21:57:00.001-06:00

I wrote this post, Homeschooling Through the Seasons, for Sonlight.

We often think of homeschooling in terms of years when choosing our curriculum, or in terms of days when implementing it, but we must also think of homeschooling in terms of seasons — seasons of the year and seasons of life because as each season changes, our homeschool changes.

Nutrition, sleep, and my mental well-being (reducing stress) is at the top of my list each season while caring for my family, homeschooling, and supporting my husband, however each season is unique and the days change as the seasons change. As they change, we can accept it, embrace it, and make the most of it — if we are aware of it. And if you are aware of the season you are in, you will give yourself the grace to be there.

Fall

Fall is usually a good busy.

Considering all we did this past fall, including participating in fall soccer, planning and hosting a family field day for 100 kids, taking a 10 day trip to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, and taking an extra two-week vacation, I felt good about where we were at the end of November — starting Week 10 in HBL F. From the comfort of our couch, we traveled to China in Weeks 1 through 5 and started a study of current events while we learned about North Korea, South Korea and Japan in Weeks 6 through 9.

We were a bit behind by my standards, but I wasn't worried. The sunny fall weather beckoned us, and we happily obliged, enjoying long afternoons at the park and spending time in nature doing nature study while we could.

Sonlight is an enriched literature based curriculum, and it can seem like a lot of reading when you first start, but you quickly see the fruit of your hard work when it suddenly becomes easy and a little addicting to read so many books! So, heading into winter, we were ready to do just that.

Winter

Winter is long and cold. This winter was longer, colder, and harder than usual.

One of the things I love about homeschooling year round is that it takes a little pressure off the school year. Since we do sports and activities outside of the home and have shorter days in the winter, we have less time in the day to get things done, but I also have less energy from the lack of sunshine.

Living in Wyoming, we have long, frigid winter months to hunker down, sip hot cocoa, hit the books hard, and catch up. We did and read through Russia, Southeast Asia, Vietnam, and India in Weeks 10 through 21, and then we moved on to the Middle East, Israel, and Saudi Arabia in Weeks 22 through 26. Finally, we were off to find adventure in Africa for weeks 27 through 32 as winter came to an end.

To imagine our Adventures in Africa, just picture us with a wonderful stack of books, fluffy pillows, and cozy blankets!

One of my favorites this season was A Long Walk to Water. This was my second time reading this book aloud, and knowing how it was going to end up had me in tears before I should have been. What an amazing story that makes me so grateful for the simple things in life we take for granted! When life seems hard, reading books like this really puts things into perspective and asks the question, "Do we really have it that bad?" The truth is, it could always be worse.

We all really liked Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters. What a colorful, interesting, and touching book. This is a great book to inspire a love of stories and a love of words.

It was a long, hard winter. But, instead of letting myself slip into a winter depression, we got productive, and reading so much helped me get through a hard season of life. Since my husband is doubling up to get his bachelors in one year, I thought it was a good idea to double up to make the most of our time while he's doing his school. It is a relief to not have the added stress of worrying about being behind in school, but I'm mostly happy because I did the best I could do to embrace this season.

I can see how God used this season to grow, humble, and change me. It's been hard, but I am better for it.

But, after a long winter, I am ready for the promise of spring,

Spring

I love the hope that warmer days bring when the snow begins to melt and the sun climbs higher in the sky to warm us and color our world. However, now that spring soccer season is here, things pick back up, life gets busy, and warm weather will bring more outside activity.

During busy times, caring for myself is a priority so I can have the energy to care for my family. Sleep is a priority, and I am usually in bed by 10 because I wake up early. I also need to eat nutrient dense foods, stay away from sugar and processed foods, remember to take my supplements, and reduce stress.

School in the spring is different almost every year. I used to always start new curriculum in the spring with the younger kids, so we could school through the summer and take a break in the fall when I started school with the older boys. This gave me time to get ahead on school with the three younger kids, while giving the three older boys my full attention until they were well established with their new curriculum. Now that I am down to homeschooling the three younger children, we have more flexibility.

Spring is also a good season to make curriculum choices for the coming school year. I enjoy having all those decisions made before summer break, so I have the peace of mind that comes from having a decision-free summer.

Summer

Even though we homeschool year round, I try to have our basics wrapped up by the end of May so we can have an easy, fun summer of learning. However, we still do a few basics. This summer we will be doing some math and a little writing, but to make it fun, I'll take the kids to get an ice cream cone on Friday for completing their lessons. We do this every summer, and the kids love this incentive!

While I love the sunshine and the boost of energy it gives me in the summer, too much sun will drain my energy, so on those hot days that we aren't playing in the water or eating frozen watermelon pops, we're inside cooling off, doing "school."

Plus, some learning is just better suited to warmer weather. Summer is the perfect time for nature walks, studying insects, and growing things!

Plus (another one), I'll go crazy if I don't do some form of learning. If we school for 1 hour a day, there will still be plenty of daylight hours for other work and play — plenty of time for playing in the water and dirt, jumping on the trampoline, taking walks to the park, making homemade lemonade, participating in summer camps, doing crafts, and more.

However, this summer will be a season of change — my husband is planning to finish his degree, we are planning to renovate a house, and we are planning a move. Because I don't know when/if all these things will happen, I'm going to press on with what I have planned, but I will give myself the grace to take a summer break and stop all school if I need to.

Throughout the Year

No matter what season I am in, I do what is most important each day — whether it is caring for myself and the family, school work, house work, appointments, etc. I either get the kids going on their independent work while I do my work or vice versa. I prefer to have school done by noon if I am feeling energetic, but we often wait until the afternoon to even start school.

Regardless of when we do our school, we use Sonlight, so our IG keeps us on a steady routine because we just do the next thing!

I am a mother, teacher, and wife, but I have plenty of hobbies and interests to keep me productive and happy most of the time. One of the surprise blessings of being content with our curriculum this year is all the extra downtime I have — time I've needed to just rest and focus on my health, my home, and my homeschool.

I'm thankful for that time.

So, when thinking about homeschooling seasonally, consider that seasons come and go. We naturally find what works best and then fall into that pattern for a season. Life always has a way of shaking this routine up, but that's expected. A new routine is working itself out, and everything works out in the end.

What a Homeschooling Day Looks Like

One morning, I got up to drink my morning tea and while Eliana, 11, made steel-cut oatmeal for breakfast, I started school with Boaz, 7, my youngest, who is doing HBL A. We worked on his school for 50 minutes. We did writing, spelling, reading, history, and literature. Dad does Bible with Bo before bed or on the weekends. Math is on the computer and done independently. We did not do science this day, and I regret that because I let it slip one too many times and we fell behind.

When I start to feel behind in a subject, I don't get down on myself. I just know it's time to give it more attention!

After school with Bo, I took a shower and got ready for the day while he played and the older kids did their independent work. Our history and read aloud that day was at lunch with dad. We don't have dad's help during the week now that his busy season at work has started, so we eat lunch as a family and I do our history, read aloud, and science after lunch now.

Since we started stacking up our homeschool day, we have a very steady routine going and our days flow more efficiently. I love working through our Sonlight stack!

How Long Does Homeschooling Take?

As far as time goes, school doesn't really take us that long if we get to it and stick to it — 3 or 4 hours at the most, but sometimes we play, knit, sew, craft, cook, or bake while doing school, or we play all morning and wait until the afternoon to even start school. We do this on days we can — when we don't have to leave the house. But I find as my kids get older, they want to get school done in case a friend drops by, so they like to finish by 3 or 4. But even when we don't start school until 1:00, we still finish by 4:00. Of course, the kids like to do most of their reading in bed at night!

Once a week we have a writing lesson (usually on Monday), and the kids work on their assignment the rest of the week. Twice a week we do science (usually on Tuesday and Thursday), but this changes too. Lately, we've done science everyday to catch up.

No matter what we get done, I put all school away by 4 o'clock. Except for reading at bedtime, we clean up the house, cook dinner, do a craft or hobby, watch a movie, or take part in an extra curricular activity such as guitar lessons, art lessons, chess club, volleyball, dodgeball, swimming lessons, or soccer at the Y (kid's activities this year).

We school 4 or 5 days a week depending on the season, but we usually start on Sunday evening to get ahead start on our week. We school Monday through Friday, but Friday is a catch up day since it's also my Sabbath prep day.

Finding A Routine Around the House While Homeschooling

During the school week, we keep up the house the best we can. We like to do a ten-minute tidy here and there and before my husband comes home for dinner. I like cleaning a little here and there, schooling a little here and there, and working on projects a little here and there.

When we need more than ten minutes to tidy the house, I play a game with my kids called "What's Next?" To play, they come to me for a chore, go do the chore real quick, and come back and say, "What's next?" I give them another chore, and play continues. This works because if they do the chores quickly, I quickly run out of things to have them do! When I can't think of anything, they win and don't have to clean anymore. Sometimes, we play "Top of the Hour" where we set a timer and clean for 10 minutes every hour on the hour.

As often as we can, we do tedious jobs while doing something else, such as when I have the kids sort their laundry while I read aloud or while watching a TV show.

We do most of our school on my bed, and I sleep there, so clearing my bed off each day is a priority. And when my bed is not covered in books, it's usually covered in freshly laundered clothes because the laundry room connects to the master bedroom.

I have to give myself plenty of grace around the house. Right now, I have boxes of books stacked up in the hallway, my room, and the laundry room. I'm going through curriculum and books to see what I can get rid of, but it's been a slow process. The boxes won't sit here forever, so I don't want to wish this season away. I want to embrace it and give myself the grace to enjoy it, and not merely endure it. I'll get to the boxes soon enough.

Whatever season of life you are in right now, I hope you will embrace it and give yourself the grace to be there. If you struggle to give yourself grace, pray. The best way to understand and give grace is to go to the One who gives it.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all in your homeschool and throughout all the seasons of your life!

After years of heaping curriculum on top of curriculum, it is a relief to say that I use Sonlight for our History, Bible, and Literature curriculum. There are good reasons NOT to supplement your Sonlight curriculum, but my favorite is enjoying homeschooling without the added pressure.

Stacking Up Your Homeschool Day

2018-03-02T07:17:00.000-07:00

This post, Stacking Up Your Homeschool Day, was written for Sonlight Curriculum.

While I don't need to have every minute of our day scheduled, I am always happy when our days fall into a steady routine.

I used to rely on a checklist of subjects I wanted to get done each day to establish a routine, but lately I rely on our Sonlight stack.

When we start a new week, I now grab our stack of books and place them on my bed. One stack for Malachi and Eliana. One stack for Bo.

Homeschooling lately means I only have to grab our stack and work through it.

My favorite part is when I get to put a finished book back on the shelf and grab a new book to add to our stack. But I also love knowing that when we get through our stack, we have completed our day.

Of course, we don't always get through our stack, so the books we don't get to go on the top of our stack for the next day to do first.

Our Sonlight stack is always changing, so at the end of the week, I shelve any books we have completed and pull out any new books we will be using. Then I stack them in the cupboard and close the door, ready for a new week.

If you like making lists, you can list the books or subjects in the order you want to do them and work through your list much like we work through our stack, moving anything that doesn't get done to the top of your list to do tomorrow.

The goal is to do school consistently everyday because children thrive with routine.

While I love the freedom we have as homeschoolers and don't mind taking a day off now and then or schooling at various times of the day, homeschooling is a priority in our day because it's our job.

So, what matters is that, barring unusual circumstances, we steadily progress through our curriculum.

So my top travel tip this edition of our Eastern Hemisphere travel journal is to stack up your homeschool day!

Bonus points if you share on Instagram using Sonlight's hashtag #sonlightstack.

I'll be watching for your stacks!

6 Steps to Fit in All the Subjects for Homeschooling Each Day is another great article from the Sonlight blog that's worth a look for managing your homeschool day.

However, don't be confined to a daily routine if a weekly routine works better — schedule in blocks or chunks and only pull out the books you need based on which subjects you study that day.

No matter how your day stacks up, just keep working through it — one book at a time!

Moving on to the Middle East, Israel, and Saudi Arabia

Our travels lately take us through another amazing pile of books!

Shadow Spinner was our favorite. I especially loved the lessons for life and storytelling, and that I'm learning to chew my words seven times before I let them out.

One lesson that really sticks out to me is that when we hear a story, certain parts of the story stick out to us more than others. So if I get an important message out of a story, that doesn't mean my children will get the same message. During our conversations about books now, I often ask what was meaningful to my children. Often, their answers surprise me.

I liked that the main character name, Sharazad, also appears in the book Seven Daughters and Seven Sons, which we also loved. And she will come up again when we get to Africa.

For our Choose Your Adventure, we decided on a recipe for Apples in Pajamas. I had just ordered a case of apples from our local food co-op, so I was happy to make something with apples... and well, fried food.

However, I didn't follow the recipe. Instead, I made a batter using Pamela's gluten-free pancake mix for the pajama part, and we fried them in coconut oil. We sprinkled them with cinnamon "sugar." They tasted like apple pancakes. They were a hit!

Well, it's time to shelve a few books and add a few to our stack as we begin the next leg of our Eastern Hemisphere journey.

I'm really loving how our homeschool day is stacking up so far!

Previous editions, in case you missed them:

9. List the Places You Want to Go | 52 Lists

2018-03-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

I want to go:

someplace sunny and warm
on a picnic
to the our favorite pond for a nature study
on a long walk
on a hike up the canyon
canoeing at the lake
to Denver
to Ikea

..when it warms up!

I'd love to take the kids to Elitch Gardens or Water World, and my husband would love to go to a game.

CHALLENGE: Try to plan visiting one of the places you want to go.

I'd like to intentionally plan a fabulous picnic with all my favorite picnic foods like:

sandwiches (or cold BBQ chicken)
angel eggs
potato salad
chips
strawberries
chocolate cake

What are your favorite picnic foods? And what do you take with you on a picnic?

Your turn: Where do you want to go? Make your list and share! Join us at www.OliveandPlaid.com.

8. List Your Spring Bucket List | 52 Lists

2018-02-24T18:42:00.000-07:00

My spring bucket list:

spring clean my house
keep Passover at home with my family
make homemade unleavened bread
work on our future home
watch for signs of spring
spend time outside as it warms up
start a new stack of books

CHALLENGE: Share a post where you complete a task off this bucket list.

I love the accountability of this challenge — if I can remember!

Your turn: What's on your spring bucket list? Make your list and share! Join us at www.OliveandPlaid.com.

P.S. The picture is Bo's artwork on the iPad. The kids have been using the drawing tools in Notes to do math problems and doodle. It's our house with the sun shining and perfect for this post because my spring bucket list is focused on "home" and things we can do at home. :)

Why My Husband Loves Homeschooling With Sonlight

2018-02-19T07:55:00.002-07:00

I wrote this post, Why My Husband Loves Homeschooling With Sonlight, for Sonlight Curriculum.

When I ask my husband how he feels about us using Sonlight, he always gives me his unprecedented support. He loves Sonlight. He tells me over and over that he would have loved to homeschool with Sonlight. It's the way he wished he'd been taught, and he loves that we are using this curriculum.

Indeed, he has always been my biggest supporter, but he's not merely cheering me on from the sidelines because he's in the game with me. This year we are studying the Eastern Hemisphere and World Cultures with Sonlight and even though my husband works full-time and is attending college full-time, he still makes time to read to the kids.

My husband's current reading stack.

So why does he love Sonlight?

In addition to loving all the books, he loves order and routine. He would love it if I had all of our subjects scheduled at regular times in the day. Math from 8 to 9. Science from 9 to 10. History, Bible, and Literature from 10 to 12, and so on.

I cringe at the thought of being so rigid. I like to pray in the mornings and ask God to order my day, and then I do whatever I feel is most important that day. I enjoy the liberty and latitude we have as homeschoolers and like to capitalize on that freedom.

So a good ~~compromise~~ win-win has always been Sonlight.

Why my husband loves Sonlight:

He loves the schedule, of course. He loves that our homeschool day is rich, but also planned and scheduled out. It gives the OCD in him comfort.

He loves that Sonlight emphasizes world history and world cultures. One year, he read the entire American History history spine to the kids, and we took turns doing read alouds.

He loves being ahead of me on the schedule, ha. He considers himself behind if he's not at least a week ahead of me. (And I love that when I turn to a new week, I can check off boxes before I even start.)

He is my substitute teacher. He can pick up my IG at any time and know exactly where we are in our week. It's nice to know that I have a back up when I am not feeling well or need a break from reading.

He loves the books. He loves to read and loves that our kids are learning to love reading too. With Sonlight's real books approach, my kids are always asking for more. Sonlight schedules just enough to make you feel like you've had a productive day, and they often leave off at a riveting part of the story which elicits regular pleas to read just one more chapter. Of course he can't be there for every book, but he hears all about it and is always anxious to hear how a book turns out.

Praying for gateway cities in in Senegal, Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau — Sonlight F.

Reading Mary Slessor: Forward Into Calabar — Sonlight F.

Reading the Egermeier's Bible to Bo — Sonlight A.

My husband loves Sonlight because he's a very routine and scheduled person. But, I'm not. I don't like being tied down to a schedule. I want to fly by the seat of my pants. But, I still love Sonlight!

Why I love Sonlight even though I'm not a scheduled person:

Sonlight guides are all scheduled out for me. I'm not a very scheduled person which means I hate scheduling. I don't like planners. I've never actually been able to use one for any length of time, so I crave the structure Sonlight provides.

Sonlight guides don't micromanage my day. They don't tell me WHEN to read, just what to read on what day. I can work the schedule down or across, if I want. As long as I complete Week 1, it doesn't matter to me (or my husband) what order I go in or how fast I go. If I want to finish a read aloud and read the rest of the week, I simply work the schedule across for that book and pick up with the next book or the next day on the schedule.

I like putting a little check mark in the box after I finish reading. It gives me a sense of satisfaction. But, since I don't have to do it all, I'm not afraid to slash the boxes I don't want to do and move on.

Of all my children, my youngest, Bo, is the most like his dad in this regard. He loves, loves, loves the schedule. If I grab a book to read to him without the schedule, he will go get the schedule himself so he can mark our progress. Like his dad, he also has a little competitive streak in him, so he wants to catch up to his older siblings. In order to catch up, I am saving a few books to read over the summer, and we are reading a week's worth of history and science in one day which is not hard to do in Level A.

After trying other literature based curricula, the Reader Guides are one of the reasons we came back to Sonlight. I love that Sonlight equips you to fully engage your student without having to read a single reader because I cannot read every book I hand my students. I love to read and care about what I give my children to read, but I'm not a fast reader. I say every word in my head, and it's annoying because it slows me down. I read book descriptions and summaries along with the notes in the IG for important information about each book, and then I hand the book to my child. I love that Sonlight does this work for me.

After years of heaping other curriculum on top of Sonlight and burning myself out, doing Sonlight has been a breath of fresh air. Our days feel productive with plenty of downtime to enjoy other pursuits. I love that I can close the school room door at the end of the day and not have to think about what we are doing tomorrow. I just open the IG and do the next thing.

There is nothing routine about reading the books. Each day is a new adventure!

So, even though I'm not a scheduled person, Sonlight allows me the flexibility I need and love. Since being content in my homeschool, I appreciate that all the more, and I'm grateful to use a curriculum that my husband loves and supports.

To see more reasons we love Sonlight, please read 19 Reasons Families Love Sonlight.

7. Things That Make You Feel Healthy | 52 Lists

2018-02-17T22:24:00.002-07:00

This post, Things That Make You Feel Healthy, contains affiliate and referral links.

I love lists like these!

Things that make me feel healthy:

sunshine and lots of it
early to bed (and getting a full nights sleep)
early to rise (but not too early!)
peace and quiet
reducing stress
putting my phone down
picking up a book
finishing a project
homeschooling my kids
clean water
fresh air
organic, nutrient dense foods
eating Biblically clean and following God's health laws
coconut oil and other healthy fats
moderate protein
low carb
eliminating all processed sugar from my diet (eating raw honey, pure maple syrup, or coconut sugar on special occasions)
raw oatmeal with collagen and sliced ripe banana for breakfast with unsweetened organic almond milk
home cooked meals
herbal teas
probiotics
happy oils
homemade, natural things like toothpaste, deodorant, and lip balm
3% hydrogen peroxide drops in my ears at the first sign of a cold (it always starts in my ears)
~~all natural make up~~ (not wearing make up at all)
herbal iced tea
a hot bath
having a positive attitude
controlling my spending
nurturing my soul
drawing near to the Lord

The challenge is to try a new healthy recipe, so I made Skinny Chocolate Truffles from the Trim Healthy Mama cookbook for the first time. Made with kosher gelatin, coconut oil, cocoa, sweetener, peppermint essential oil, and crushed xylitol peppermint candies, they are a sweet, healthy treat.

I also made non-dairy hot cocoa mix with powdered coconut milk and coconut creamer (from Azure Standard – please enter code LukeGibson1), stevia, (and coconut sugar for the kids). I'm not supposed to have dairy (or sugar or a host of other things) with the MTHFR mutation. I've switched from raw cow's milk to organic almond milk and I'm limiting cheese, butter, and other dairy for now, but it's very hard. I went off all dairy for a week with Malachi who went off it to see if it improves his breathing at night (milk is mucous forming, so it's good to avoid it if you have a cold). It did, so I need to switch him to almond milk and coconut milk based products. It's really hard to eliminate all dairy, but I feel healthier when I don't eat it, and it's easier knowing it makes Malachi healthier too. (We did end up eliminating all dairy for about a year and a half a few years later for Malachi's health and now drink raw milk).

Your turn: What things make you feel healthy? Make your list and share! Join us at www.OliveandPlaid.com.