SonlightBlog.com

Sonlight's College Scholarships

2009-11-13T10:57:00.008-07:00

College tuition costs are huge. That's why scholarships are so helpful. I was awarded an academic scholarship as well as a small sports scholarship for swimming. That money ultimately paid for almost a complete year at my university. Talk about a major blessing!

Are there college scholarship opportunities for homeschoolers?

Well, I know there's at least one! Sonlight is giving away thirteen scholarships this year. These scholarships range from $1,000 to $5,000 a year for up to four years of your college career.

You can apply for these scholarships if you have used at least five Sonlight Core programs over your homeschooling years. Access to these scholarships is just one more incredible benefit of using Sonlight as part of your homeschool journey.

Have a college bound graduate? You still have time to apply! All applications must be submitted by December 7, 2009. Click here for both Sonlight's scholarship application and the complete criteria.

Don't have a college bound student yet? You can listen to interviews with past scholarship winners on Sonlight's Speeches and Interviews page. Hearing from homeschoolers who have been so influential and successful is inspiring. Their accomplishments also underscore the fact that homeschooling really does work <smile>.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

Lying for God

2009-11-12T15:23:00.007-07:00

I first bumped into Greg early in my Sonlight blogging career because someone linked to one of his anti-homeschool posts. Interested in hearing his dissenting opinion, I was even more pleased to discover that he was a huge anti-creationist as well.

I've been happily following him ever since.

And honestly, if you can get beyond the language that slips in--and pours out in the comments--it is fascinating to browse his posts. Like the one from yesterday about a common Christian lie. You've heard the chalk story, yes?

I've seen it pop up now and again across the blogosphere. It seems that people, and we Christians are no exception, really love to hear tales about how our side "wins" in this or that situation. But the Snopes article says it well, I think.

Chalk this one up as a charming parable, one not grounded in the facts as reported. It's David and Goliath in a classroom setting, the shaking-in-his-boots student taking on the ogre of non-belief in the form of a fearsome professor.

And I think it is important to keep this parable in the back of our minds as we listen to other things. What other lies are out there that we may be in danger of spreading?

Homeschooling allows us the unique opportunity to walk through these topics with our children. May we use these opportunities well!

Now, for something lighter from Greg: A very fun video about Auto-Tune. I know I've heard the sound before, but I didn't know the history. And, come on... this video has Weird Al in it. So, go ahead: Give it a little look-see.

[NB: Obligatory notice: The video contains some pop-rapper-type video clips that contain women in typical pop-rapper-type apparel.]

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

Children Learning at Home

2009-11-11T14:17:00.007-07:00

Brittany is a young mom. She has the common frustrations, fears and failures. The kids act up. She wonders if she's having a positive impact. She gets upset (but no more than her husband). Brittany currently has two little girls who try her patience, pick their noses and get incredibly excited when the rat takes a piece of hot dog from their hands. It's a fairly typical young family.

I mean, you have a pet rat. Right? Right?

And like most young families, these girls are learning at home. They're learning how to get dressed, how to not talk with their mouths full, how to identify shapes and colors, as well as how to play well with their sister.

But the fear lingers: Are the kids learning anything?

Brittany is happy to announce that, yes, yes they are! In fact, after many... many... many admonitions to keep her mouth closed while chewing, Brittany has seen some considerable improvement in the three year old. Brittany was so excited, she told me about it on the phone today.

This is home education.

And home education works.

Children all over the world learn how to tie their shoes, scribble pictures, count, sing, recognize shapes, identify animals and plants, attach significance to dates and so much more!

...all at home.

And that is why homeschooling is such a great option. Homeschooling is merely a natural continuation of something every parent does with the children they care for.

I've said all this before. But today I'm seeing it play out in my own house.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

Pulled Away

2009-11-10T16:46:00.004-07:00

Yanked from the Blogosphere

I'm so sorry, friends! I haven't been around the blogosphere because other things have pulled me away. This means I currently have 911 unread items in my RSS reader. I have a lot to do to catch up with all of you!

Unfortunately, the rest of this month will be pretty crazy. I'll do my best to keep you posted with what's going on.

Your thoughts and prayers are most welcome!

How can you pray for us here at Sonlight? Well, we're doing a presentation tomorrow morning for a project. Unfortunately, I just started thinking about it a few days ago. So we all need wisdom--especially me--as I "take the helm" of this monstrosity. Don't get me wrong: It's totally sweet. But right now it feels a bit like Frankenstein's monster...

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

Props from Two Years Ago

2009-11-09T15:50:00.007-07:00

Tip of the Day:
Keep the things you've made just in case.

I needed a prop we used a couple years ago for something I was working on today. It was a pizza box that we had dutifully smeared with oil to make it look like it was grease-stained.

Pizza Delivery

Thankfully, we still had it. Otherwise the thing I was doing would have become an even bigger hack-job and required a lot more time.

Ah... the world of media production: Where ~~lying~~ fabricating reality is a way of life.

The only problem with keeping stuff you make is that you have to find a home for it. And space is limited. At least, it is at my house. Especially when you start covering walls with bookcases...

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

It Takes Time to Get to the Future

2009-11-06T14:24:00.007-07:00

"Rome wasn't built in a day."

I think that's how they put it. Great things may be coming, but they take time to get here.

Which is unfortunate.

I'm currently working on three major projects right now... all of them awwwh-summm! But when can I tell you about them? That's totally unknown because, well, it's going to take time. And my wife won't let me work much over 40 hours a week, so I can't exactly powerhouse through these things either.

And I want to get them right. That slows things down too.

But there is some really cool stuff in the works.

I just hope I don't have to wait until 2012 to show them to you. <smile>

Ah, the pain of being a blogger who works on things. Sometimes it would be much easier if I just reported on stuff after it was out. You know, those product reviewer types. But no. That's not me...

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

Why People Hate Sonlight

2009-11-05T15:32:00.015-07:00

One of my bloggy friends mentioned googling hate sonlight. And I thought, 'Hmm... I should write a blog post about the things that make Sonlight horrible so when people search for it, they hit my blog!' <Bwahahaha ha!>

Of course, those who have swung by my blog searching for "sonlight curriculum bad" only stuck around for 40 seconds.

So, please, before you close this tab, here are 27 Reasons NOT to Buy from Sonlight. The article contains a list of 27 things that make Sonlight a bad choice for your family. If you're looking for reasons to hate using Sonlight, 27 Reasons is the article for you.

What are the reasons I've heard? For your reading pleasure:

3 Reasons People Hate Sonlight:

I once chatted with a homeschooler--my age--who said that Sonlight was way too easy and it bored him. Not sure how that could be true, but I can't really argue with his experience. My guess is that he just didn't have a properly selected Core. If you need help choosing a Core that will best fit your family, chat with an Advisor (yes, it's free).

I've read several blog posts about how Sonlight brainwashes people and feeds them lies. Unfortunately, people on both sides of issues claim this. So Sonlight is probably more in the middle than is comfortable for some (see Reason 11).

Sonlight has way too much to do! This complaint is raised in Reason 6, so you should already know about it..

Bonus 4th Reason: And, of course, Sonlight costs money. That's because you get a hundred pounds of books and materials. And, well, that costs money. So that's not a good reason to hate Sonlight, but it is a legitimate complaint: When you buy lots of good stuff it costs money. I don't like it either.

What are some the reasons you've heard why people hate Sonlight?

Granted, I love Sonlight. But I know Sonlight's not for everyone.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

Silence and Spin

2009-11-04T16:52:00.004-07:00

Last night one of my friends mentioned that the director of Planned Parenthood had resigned and was now working for the Coalition for Life.

"Whoa! That's crazy," I said.

And a little misleading.

Turns out that it was a director of an abortion clinic in Texas.

Still... it's interesting. To me, at least.

First: Cool "win" for pro-lifers. So why haven't I seen this on the blogs? Have I just missed the ones that are talking about it?

Second: Lame "spin" that boarders on lying. Some small-time director had a change of heart. That's nice, but hardly earth-shattering. Is that why I'm not hearing about this more?

Third: Why can't I find any major news stations--or news websites--talking about this? I mean, KBTX isn't exactly nationally known... right?

So where is the spin and what is the cause of the silence?

And what do you make of this post?

How long do we have to wait before 20-20 hindsight starts to kick in? Or is that just a myth? What do we really know of history and how do we interpret it? What of people's motivations? And how do we get beyond our own biases and, as Simon and Garfunkel put it, seeing the things we want to see and disregarding the rest?

I just got the strange sensation that news reports are like textbooks. Somehow the presentation feels similar. The vignettes of solid facts that often lack emotion or, worse still, present a monochromatic world. I don't like that. That can't be the way things are.

And that's why I like the wild, emotional, conflicting world of blogs. This jumble of opinion and personal experience reminds me of the literature that made up my historical studies as a child. Granted, there are few blogs that match the literary quality of the award-winning books I experience because of Sonlight. But the human reality is similar. And I like that. What's more, I think more literary modes of presentation allow us to see more clearly what is spin and what is better left unsaid.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

Education sans Academics

2009-11-03T15:34:00.008-07:00

So much learning takes place outside of the academic setting. Here's one example that we got to participate in yesterday:

Tower Building

Motor skills, physics, color and shape recognition, socializing... naturally with just a bucket of blocks.

The Joy of Blocks

Higher! Higher!

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

Learning to Listen

2009-11-02T15:11:00.005-07:00

When the girls first got here a few weeks ago, they weren't particularly interested in listening to books. When offered, they politely declined. They did, however, beg for the same story to be read to them again when it was bedtime. I suspect, however, that their motivation had more to do with the alternative than to the enjoyment of a story.

I have often read comments from parents who say that their children simply don't like to listen to stories. Several families have shared that Sonlight simply didn't work for them because their kids didn't want to listen to the books. In fact, that sometimes lasted for a year or more.

But eventually their children came around. Listening to fantastic stories is now a family favorite pass time. It may take a while, but eventually the joy of engaging in a tale together begins to take root.

It has with the girls at our house.

Listening to stories, I believe, is a skill that needs to be learned. And there's really no better way to learn how to listen than with Sonlight's curriculum. The girl's are still developing this skill. It took a week or more before they were okay with a new book. And they're still easily distracted. But the change has begun.

Has your family discovered the wonderful shared experiences that reading books together can bring?

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

Get It Right

2009-10-30T11:35:00.002-06:00

I hated grades in school.

Grades were a game to be won. And I won that game by graduating Valedictorian. But as cool as it is to be able to whip out that title to try to impress people--people who are, sadly, all too often unimpressed by my title--I don't think it has much meaning. At least, it says very little about my knowledge, intelligence, insight, brilliance, work-ethic, achievements, future or even my academic success. All the Valedictorian label meant was that I had been sufficiently clever so as to satisfy my teacher's requirements.

Okay, sure, it also meant that I paid attention, completed my assignments, and "did my time" in the acceptable way.

But grades--the basis of my accolade--are simply the wrong way to measure learning. I much prefer what I did with my parents when I was using Sonlight: We did it until we got it right. Theorists call this approach "mastery" or some other impressive sounding term. But the concept is incredibly easy: Keep doing it until you've got it.

Okay, sure, this means that sometimes you've got to do the same thing over and over again... but that's life.

That's an aspect of life that I am dealing with today.

What's more, often what was right yesterday is wrong today and must be redone. Beyond that, the changes I make today will need to be undone tomorrow when what was wrong becomes wrong again. Reports must be rewritten. Web updates must be kept current. The latest manuscript must be tweaked--again--to make it acceptable. And on and on it goes.

And this isn't an exercise in futility. Getting it right, albeit frustrating, is ultimately the best practice because that is how we are successful.

Grades, even good ones, do not determine success. What matters is that you get it right.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

Stuff to Read

2009-10-29T12:26:00.008-06:00

As Sonlight people, I know you like to read. And today, I'm here to share an article written by my mom. That's right: An article by Sarita Holzmann, President of Sonlight Curriculum! I've read it, and, well, I think it's worth reading and thinking about:

Download the .pdf of my mom's article The Future of Homeschooling in America by heading over here.

I love these kinds of articles because of how they encourage us to learn from history, not merely repeat it.

I also found Dana Hanley's post on socialization to be powerful. [NB: The post includes discussion of racial slurs, so if you don't want to read them, please skip it.] And if you're up for it, I think Uppercase Woman's blog post, which Dana links to, is also very interesting.

None of these articles/posts are light or happy, but I think they are important things to think about and consider. And I always welcome your thoughts as you read these articles as well, so please feel free to come back here and share them with me!

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

Implementing Feedback

2009-10-28T16:01:00.005-06:00

Yesterday I wrote about how we love getting your feedback. In fact, when you reach week 30 in your Instructor's Guide, we ask you to send us your thoughts. We want to know what you liked, what didn't work for you, of any errors you found as well as any other tidbits you'd like to share with us.

But one of my Product Development friends mentioned something crazy: We may not be able to implement your feedback for two years!

What? Is the Sonlight ship so staggering that she simply can't change course?

Sonlight Ship

Not at all!

Rather, to get next year's curriculum ready for you, we have to finish producing it before many families have even begun using the current version. For example, let's say that you just started Core K. Well, the next version of Core 1 will be available for you April 1, 2010. To get it ready in time, we need to be wrapping up on it now. But someone using Core 1 right now hasn't made it to week 30 yet.

That's one reason why it can take a while for us to implement your suggestions: We're already almost done with next year's products.

Like I said: Crazy.

At least, I thought so. That's why I shared it with you.

But we read every single feedback form we receive. We love hearing from you! And we seriously consider your insights and impressions. Just remember: You may not see the changes until the year after next. Not because we're not willing, but because while you're using this year's Core we're making next year's Core so it's ready when you are.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

The Home Court Advantage

2009-10-27T15:53:00.010-06:00

Soccer was not my forte.

Luke Shoots! He Falls

I never advanced beyond t-ball.

Basketball, football, volleyball, curling? Never go into those either. So, I think it's fair to say that sports aren't really my thing.^*

But there is something almost magical that happens when a team is playing for the home crowd. Screaming fans must naturally boost adrenaline, or something. I don't know how it works exactly. But I do often hear people talk about the home court advantage. And there's a great parallel in homeschooling. Mike, an avid runner who works in returns, pointed this out last week. I thought he made a great observation, so I decided to blog about it.

The Sonlight Moments are certainly one way of cheering on the home~~team~~schoolers around you. In fact, every time you share an encouraging word with a friend or blogger, you're cheering them on.

And every time you leave a review on any one of our product pages or on Facebook or on a homeschool review site, you're cheering Sonlight on as well.

Speaking of which: Brenda has asked for reviews of Sonlight to put on The Curriculum Choice website. So please, contact her if you'd be willing, or drop me a line and I can pass your information along to her.

Your involvement via comments, feedback, encouragement, prayer requests, discussion and more make you not only part of the Sonlight family, a player on the homeschool team, but also a cheering fan for all of us as we enjoy the opportunities we have to teach our children at home.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

^*I know, I know: I was a rather good swimmer and I did okay in 4A Cross Country. And those are absolutely sports. But team sports--which is more to the point of this post--have never been my strong suit.

What Is Holiness?

2009-10-26T15:14:00.004-06:00

Follow me here: Christine linked to Summer's post about Dr. Beck's post and that, in turn, reminded me of Matthew 5:23-24 (though, please feel free to read the whole context).

I would love to wax eloquent on how this relates to the "holiness by negation" attitude that I see often in church culture. I'd like to tease out the implications and potential misunderstandings. I wish I could formulate a great response.

But I don't have time tonight.

So, instead, I welcome you to read the three posts linked above (NB: Summer's has mild profanity in the post and f-bombs from the comments) and then browse through the comments on Dr. Beck's post. It's very interesting, I think, to read what other Christians have to say.

And as you read, ask yourself: What is holiness? And how do we get closer to it?

Because, really, don't we want our children to be better human beings? More than facts and figures, we want our kids to be better people who use whatever knowledge they gain to do good. So, sure, maybe it's lame to say that we want our kids to be "decent human beings" ...and yet... well... what do you think?

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

Friends

2009-10-23T11:46:00.004-06:00

I've seen the term "emaginary friend" tossed around now and again. I'm not a huge fan of the phrase--which is odd because I'm normally all for word play and puns. But I am a huge proponent of Facebook BFFs, blog friends, WoW buddies, and any other technologically connecting opportunities for people to bless one another (yes, even texting and Twitter... even if I haven't found them particularly viable for my situation).

I was awoken at 3am this morning by one of my friends who needed to talk.

We talked.

It was good.

I love my friends, both the ones IRL and Online. And blogging has opened up the world to even more people with whom I can interact, learn from, and be blessed by.

Several things got me thinking about these electronic opportunities to touch lives, but the most powerful was something that ended up in my Other Posts of Note yesterday: Yet another fantastic post by Mary Grace (at least, I thought so).

Call me overly sentimental, emotional, sappy, or whatever, but I feel like giving you-all a great big internet hug:

<big hug>

Thanks for being my friend, and I am honored to be counted among yours.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

Disclaimer: If you do not like virtual hugs or do not want me as a friend and so would rather keep your distance, please disregard this post. <smile>

New Nav

2009-10-22T15:31:00.004-06:00

If you haven't visited Sonlight's website today, you need to. The new navigation is finally up, and it's super cool!

New Navigation

We've actually made several significant changes to the site, but they are a little more technical/specialized, so I won't go into all the details. Just know: We're working hard to make your visit to Sonlight.com a very, very nice one.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

P.S. Is that image a shameless plug for my book?

Huh? What? Would I do something like that? <smile>

Disengagement

2009-10-21T17:24:00.005-06:00

I read a fascinating--albeit a tad disturbing--blog post today about one man's experience as he lost his faith. I think the post is best summed up in his statement, "I seemingly woke up one morning and realized that my life would be no different, practically, without God."

There were a couple other posts today which also seemed to fit within this theme... but now I can't find them. Sorry.

Anyway, I got to thinking: There are certainly days when this is true of me as well. Not just in regard to the "god thing" either, but many aspects of my life. What's more, I can imagine lots of other situations where, if the conditions were right, I could abandon entire sections of my life without much practical change aside from the fact that "I would have much more time and much less stress" (5th paragraph).

What causes such a shift? Disengagement.

When I'm not living the way God has called me to, it's little wonder that His impact on my life is rather unsubstantial.

Take homeschooling as another example.

Those who spend time reading to their children, answer the endless stream of questions, talk through those "teachable moments" and engage and spur their children onward; those people know what a joy homeschooling can be. But what of the others? Those families who do no more than turn on the lesson--if that--and let their children learn via a video or computer model--never to take part in their child's education; those parents would see very little change, other than more time and less stress, if they abandoned homeschooling in favor of a public school option.

I'm not saying you should never use a virtual tutor or video lesson. I'm not saying that sending your children to public school is the same thing as abandoning them. That's not what I'm saying.

But if you abandon something and feel not ill-effects or loss, it may have more to do with your lack of engagement than the inherent value of the thing.

Think of your exercise equipment. If I owned such an apparatus, I can assure you that getting rid of it would do nothing to my life except free up some space in my house. Why? Because I'd never use it. My abs would be just as buff as they are today whether I owned an Ab-Flex-Master-Pro-HD Extreme^TM or not.

It's little wonder, then, that people who don't homeschool look at us as if we were insane. We're just adding burden and misery to our lives. Right?

Wrong.

Sure, it's not perfect. It's not even that fun sometimes. In fact, it can be down-right unpleasant. But the more we engage with it, the more we see the benefits and the beauty of it.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

Sonlight Box Day 09

2009-10-20T17:01:00.017-06:00

Today was our first official Box Day!

Granted, I was the delivery man and left the box on the front porch while the girls were still napping. But the box was there when we opened the door:

Sonlight Box

"What's on the porch?" my wife asked.

"My shoes?"

Shoes?

<cough>

Umm... no, child. Do you see the giant box that looks like it is full of wonderful things? No? Well, we'll bring it in anyway.

Bringing in the Sonlight Box

Opening the box is moderately interesting. Well, mildly interesting. But after you're told that you can't play with the scissors, all interest in the box vanishes. I'd rather go play with the lamp and my pine cone.

Opening the Sonlight Box

I'd Rather Be Playing

Fantastic.

At least we have one "reader" who is willing to hold one of the books... even if it is upside-down.

A Future Reader?

Once the toys come out, I guess I can be bothered to rejoin the group.

It's Not All Work

I must say, I was surprised at how heavy the box was, even though what we got was one of the smallest packages Sonlight offers. I couldn't even fit everything onto our decently sized coffee table. Would you look at all this stuff (2:08):

Sonlight Newcomer P3/4

Will the girls come 'round and decide that they really are interested in all these books?

Only time will tell.

Kids have a way of dashing your fantasies. After reading all the amazing Box Day Stories, I was really hoping there'd be some glee and rejoicing. There wasn't. And the weather's been rather dreary all day, so I didn't even have good lighting. That's why my pictures aren't that shiny and nice.

<sigh>

How am I supposed to be the poster-child for a product when my experience isn't very poster-worthy?

...uh-oh... I hear some cries of distress from upstairs. Time to give the wife some backup.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

Multi-Change Monday

2009-10-19T15:42:00.012-06:00

...which I hope to be able to share with you tomorrow <smile>.

First, there's a very nice--albeit, minor--update coming to Sonlight's website. Not sure quite when we'll make it "go live" tomorrow... but it's coming.

Second, I placed my second order with Sonlight today! I ordered my very own Sonlight Newcomer P3/4 program.

If you recall, I wrote about my first ordering experience over a year ago. So, a year later, what was my ordering experience like?

Checking out is still more confusing than is ideal. But I'm one of the web guys now, so I can't really try to shift the responsibility of this on anyone else <laughing>. Thankfully, we've made a few improvements, but it's still not super smooth to checkout.

Also, I had to look up the difference between the Newcomer P3/4 vs. the Core P3/4 because, well, I wanted to know what my $15 would get me. Paper... scissors... ...ooOOOoo! Colorix Silky Crayons! Okay, I'm sold. I've heard nothing but rave reviews about these things.

Everything else about buying from Sonlight was cake. And, I will admit: I love the new pop-out cart thingy we've got. So super cool!

Since I placed my order at 1pm today, right before lunch, I can't really expect to have it to take home three and a half hours later. ...but I was hoping <smile>. I guess both updates, with pictures and whatnot, will have to wait until tomorrow.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

Not Lovin' It

2009-10-16T15:36:00.003-06:00

Last night I got to do Read-Alouds for the first time (the other night the girls were too naughty, so reading was impossible). Granted, reading last night wasn't quite cuddling on the couch listening intently to a tale of wonder.

Rather, it was more like reading over a couple of talking and crying girls. Actually, that was it exactly. I was reading over a couple of talking and crying girls. They kept it up until the last couple of pages when they both quieted down and started to interact with the book.

So, naturally, we simply had to read it again <smile>.

But last night, Brittany was not loving it. She was exhausted, overwhelmed, and really not enjoying things. She said she felt cheated because other mothers loved spending time with their children. Why wasn't she?

I tried to gently remind her that there are many, many examples of people who feel overwhelmed and frustrated by their lack of a good time.

We still haven't purchased Sonlight's wonderful P3/4 program, but we are looking forward to having those added resources to help keep the little ones happily engaged. And, unlike many other aspects of life, you're guaranteed to love using Sonlight's materials.

That's right: Guranteed to love it.

Sound too good to be true?

Well, it's not. Seriously: Check it out.

Today seems to have gone better, and I'm looking forward to doing a little more of the "Sonlight method" tonight. It really is a blast reading to them. In fact, if it wasn't part of a different tagline, I'd say I was lovin' it.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

Spreading the Word

2009-10-15T15:08:00.011-06:00

I was over on Sonlight's Facebook page and the ad caught my eye:

Facebook Advertising

'I didn't know we were advertising on Facebook,' was my first thought.

'I need to grab an image of that for my blog,' was my second thought.

Yes: If you haven't become a fan of Sonlight on Facebook yet, you should. I mean, seriously! Do you see who else is a fan of Sonlight in the ad above? That's right... Luke A. Holzmann himself. If that doesn't bring in oodles of people, nothing will. <smile>

Advertising is such an odd thing. I really like good ads, but I mostly despise marketing. Not because I don't believe in helping people find things that will help them, but because most marketing I encounter isn't about that. Just listen to marketing "gurus" and you too can begin to feel sick every time you think of advertising. In fact, except for the Superbowl--where the only reasons to watch are the food at the parties and the commercials--we've trained ourselves to tune out advertising.

So what if a company suddenly stopped marketing to people?

Would we find what we need and those little things that bless our lives and are well worth the dollars we spend on them? Would we just be inundated with other messages and end up purchasing something that wasn't as good of a fit for us? How would the word be spread about something that was super important if we no longer marketed?

Word of mouth carried Sonlight for many years, but then others started to run with our idea. Suddenly it became important to remind people that Sonlight exists, is excellent, and offers your family something stupendous that others--even direct knock-offs--don't even come close to matching!

But... yuck! Doesn't that just reek of "marketing"?

Sonlight's position on marketing is that marketing is about "customer-ing" instead of making money. We want to help people who will be blessed by Sonlight to try us out. And that's why I absolutely love Sonlight's Rewards program. For the first time we can thank you for sharing your love of Sonlight with others. I know I tend to hear about the greatest things from friends. But they tend to hear it from someone else, who heard it from someone who saw an ad, an article or a blog post about it.

So: Spread the word!

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

Read-Alouds

2009-10-14T18:31:00.004-06:00

Tonight will be my first ever attempt at reading aloud to children.

The Gammage Cup, Red Sails to Capri, Till We Have Faces and Brave New World... I've read all those and more to my wife. But what are Read-Alouds like for two and three year olds?

I don't think they're quite ready for C.S. Lewis.

My wife loves listening to me read. Will these little girls? Of course, the titles in Sonlight's P3/4 package are wonderful stories that I remember loving as a child, so I don't think I have much to worry about.

What have been your family's favorites to read before bed for wee ones?

And I've recently seen some discussion out there in the blogosphere about peoples' preferences for reading aloud versus listening to books on tape. Sometimes reading aloud wears me out, but if I'm really into the book I just keep going. Of course, I love listening to books on tape too... especially when I'm stuck in the car driving somewhere. There's something super fun about reading aloud and making up voices and embellishing the story with voice acting. Of course, letting someone else do that work can also be nice if I need to be doing something else.

So what's your experience? Do you like reading out loud to your kids? Would you rather listen to a book on tape? Neither--just let me zip through the book on my own!? And what are some of your family's favorites (especially in the younger years)?

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

When God Keeps a Door Closed

2009-10-13T16:38:00.008-06:00

...He Sometimes Breaks a Window

That title came to mind a week ago. I thought it was clever and fun, but I wasn't so sure about the theological implications.

Joseph--you know, the kid sold into slavery by his brothers--seemed like a pretty solid example of God's redemptive power working in even violent situations. And with that, I decided the title was legitimate. God breaking windows and all.

So what door has remained closed?

Adoption. We're still waiting.

What window just broke?

After work I'm heading to the airport to pick up three girls: Brittany (my wife) and two little ones we're going to be caring for over the next two months "or so" ...meaning, there's no real end date in mind yet.

Broken Window

Bittersweet.

On the one hand, we get to love and care for two little girls. But we're only surrogates. It's very temporary.

We have the opportunity and joy of having two children. On the other hand, a family is hurting and in such need that they are sending their children away for a while. The pain is palpable.

Open door? No.

Open window? Nope.

But we get to squeeze past a few shards of glass for the time being.

And that's something... something else entirely.

But for now, I'm no longer an expectant father. I'm a surrogate.

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Surrogate Father

Ending is Better Than Mending

2009-10-12T14:58:00.010-06:00

I love Brave New World--which is part of Sonlight's Core 300 program. I know it's not for everyone. My sister couldn't stand it and my wife hated the ending.

But me?

Totally enjoy it.

One of the government slogans used to train people how to act is the phrase "Ending is better than mending." Get rid of old stuff so you can buy new stuff. This keeps people working and makes the economic system thrive. For this post, it doesn't really matter if this thinking plays out in reality or not. What rankles every one of my recycling/repairing/reusing sensibilities is that, in many cases, this is an economic reality of today.

The Deltas and Gammas of Huxley's world have been replaced by computers and machines. And now it is often cheaper to buy a new computer, or camera, or gizmo than to pay someone to take the time to figure out what went wrong, purchase the piece that needs to be replaced and fix the thing.

In fact, judging by how much I pay for recycling, it's cheaper to produce boxes, bottles and cans from raw materials than to go through the hassle of collecting the finished product from in front of my house.

And that blows my mind.^*

But I read an article today that confirms: It's often cheaper to replace than to repair. This has led to exactly what Huxley describes in his work. We are a culture of disposables. And this has profound impacts on the kinds of products we buy, what we expect of them, and how we see new brands. We're always open to the latest and greatest because we don't see much reason to stick with the old and busted.

"Tried and true" is often less important than the "latest and greatest." And with good reason: Very few things last long enough. We don't make 'em like we used to. [Aside: Even those phrases smack of social programing on par with Huxley's government.]

We must consider this reality here at Sonlight. We continue to improve our homeschool materials, but we're not going to completely change. What we have is guaranteed to let you and your family love to learn. Sonlight works, which is why we continue to use great books. But you'll get the most out of Sonlight when you keep reusing those books again and again.

And in that sense, ending is certainly not better than mending!

~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

^*Well, it almost makes sense when I have to fill up my car with gas again!