The famous Watergate journalist Bob Woodward recently criticized a class of elite journalism students at Yale. Their failure? He says they show "a heart-stopping over-confidence in the quality of the information on the Internet."

The site of the infamous 1972 break-in:
the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C.

Woodward—who helped break the Watergate scandal—recently read the students' responses to the question "how would you cover the Watergate scandal if it unfolded today."

Apparently, the journalism students imagined they'd find the details of the scandal on the internet. In Woodward's words, they thought "that somehow the Internet was a magic lantern that lit up all events."

If you're interested, you can read all about this in The Wall Street Journal article "Before Watergate Could Be Googled." The article certainly got me thinking.

I remember Watergate. It took serious enterprise journalism to discover the facts and bring a private scandal into the open. Do students of today realize that? I wonder if students in the Internet/Information Overload Age really grasp that someone must do original research in order for new information to appear online.

Every field—journalism, the natural sciences, the humanities—requires some kind of original work. You can't report on a scandal if no one talks to the people involved. You can't study new data on the natural behavior of chimpanzees if no one goes out into the jungle and takes notes. You can't study contemporary literature if no one has written anything new.

Enterprise Thinking

Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein practiced enterprise journalism; they hit the streets to find new, unpublished information. But I imagine your children aren't journalists. They're students (for now, at least). So what might be the equivalent exercise for them? Maybe we could call it "enterprise thinking," the ability to think for oneself.

How do we help kids learn to think for themselves?

I wonder if a good starting point is to teach kids to read with a critical eye. If we want them to really understand a complex topic, they'll need to read more than just a textbook passage, a Wikipedia article, or a few Facebook posts. They should read entire books and articles; they should consider different views and really dive into the topic.

I certainly hope to foster this type of study and critical thinking with Sonlight Curriculum. Sonlight students spend time reading and analyzing newspaper articles from Core F on up. Sonlight also uses "real" books to present complex issues and help students research various topics. When studying the American Civil War, for example, students read firsthand accounts, biographies, historical fiction and more.

My hope is that as students consider different viewpoints they learn not to take one person's answer (or one internet search) as the whole unbiased truth. I hope they learn to think critically and come to their own well-reasoned conclusions (under the authority of Scripture and with parental guidance, of course).

I wonder—if we can help our students learn that, will they be more prepared to dive in and tackle the challenges of original research and original thought when their time comes?

What do you think? How can we seek to raise up children who critically evaluate and engage their world?

Blessings,
Sarita Holzmann

But what I don't find compelling is the idea that patterns and sequences are some kind of "fingerprint of God."¹ Creation is amazing, to be sure. Even the most common of natural occurrences can inspire awe (a waterfall, sunrise, wind flowing over a grassy field). But patterns that emerge from an algorithm are hardly creative works.

Fibonacci's Fingerprint

Take, for example, the fact that even "random" computer programs produce patterns: Pseudo-Random vs. True Random

Two things irk me on a regular basis: Bad theology and bad science. Too often, those go hand in hand for people on all sides of the discussion.

Granted, I'm no theologian or scientist. So I still have much to learn. Thankfully, my background with Sonlight has prepared me well. I'm not afraid to consider various sides of a discussion. I happily read the insights of those who disagree with a position I favor. By doing so, I can better interact with the ideas, refine my position, and communicate clearly with those with whom I disagree.

Sound good? Read more about Sonlight's educational philosophy.

If you are inspired by the patterns in the world, fantastic! May we all continue to grow so we worship God in spirit and truth. There is always more to learn. Good thing we all like the idea of lifelong learning <smile>.

What things in nature do you find compelling?

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

1. If you're looking for "cosmic fingerprints" I'd recommend learning more about DNA and perhaps picking up a copy of The Language of God. That's what I've been reading lately...

I am too. We're on a "red-eye" flying to Denver.

Red-Eye Flight

She tells me she's a teacher. She took over a 2nd grade classroom in January due to illness in the original teacher's family. The kids, she confides, were initially "hell." Little wonder, for over a month they had been subjected to substitutes and inconsistency. It took her a while, but they eventually settled into her routine and began to behave appropriately again.

She bubbled about how cool it was to have iPads for every student in her classroom. I asked her about the study that showed technology didn't actually aid learning. She hadn't heard.

She mentions that next year her class will be switching to the National Core Standards. It will save her some prep time, and she won't have to adjust as much as the other teachers who have been using their lesson plans for years. Speaking of lesson plans, she's still figuring out how to create hers. Administration wants them a week in advance, but that's difficult for her.

How do we, as parents, have it better than professional teachers?

Three things come to mind immediately:

1. We work with the same kids from birth. No adjustment periods.
2. We use the tools we know work with our students. And if the curriculum doesn't, we can change it up.
3. If we choose, all of our planning can be done for us. We tweak as needed, but our lesson plans are already in place.

The lesson plans thing continues to mystify me. Why are we so ready to "leave education to professionals" when those very professionals are so often thrown into situations for which they have almost zero time for preparation?

Since the school year has wound down--for the most part--how was your year? Mind leaving a review of the homeschool curriculum package you used this year?

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

Normally, the 9-month installment plan is only available in April. But this year we extended the 9-month payment plan an extra month because we had to back-order a couple of our Instructor's Guides. As May draws to a close, act now to spread the cost of your homeschool curriculum over the next nine months... at no additional charge!

Sonlight offers 3-, 6-, and 9-month Time Payment plans. If you haven't looked into this great way to make your homeschool curriculum fit your budget, now is the time! Learn more about Sonlight's Time Payment options.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

But I've also noticed that those drawn to the stage--or backstage--can be, well, odd. Very odd. Sometimes socially awkwardly odd. Tilt-your-head-quizzically-to-the-side odd. Maybe it was because I was in public school and several of my theater friends were Wiccan... but it's more than that. There's a certain personality that fits the stage.

The same is true for a great many pursuits. That's how stereotypes emerge. We notice that cheerleaders--engaged in a very public show of themselves--are conscious of how they appear. We applaud athletes for their dedication and persistence, though their activity of choice rewards such things. We see that gamers are creative nerds, often more comfortable in their digital bodies than their own, overlooking the ways the games are, themselves, a massively creative and liberating media free from the confines of reality.

So what draws us to homeschooling? What's our "personality"?

We're odd ourselves, to be sure, going against the flow of the general masses. We're willing to chart a different path. Perhaps that's why so many reasons to homeschool are based on the stark differences between homeschooling and the other options available to us and our children.

Granted, like all stereotypes, nothing universally sticks. In fact, one of the cool things about reading a wide variety of homeschool blogs is seeing how different everyone is. You are unique. Your challenges are unique. Your children are each unique. And yet, we can all homeschool and enjoy learning together through great books.

Are we odd? Absolutely. But not that much odder than anyone else. We just get to cuddle with our family on the couch and grow together.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

I expect the most popular idea is a portable DVD player or other device for playing movies. And that's great for occasional use. However, my children don't do well with endless hours of screen time, so I try to plan for other activities to interest them as we drive along.

When my children were babies and toddlers (from about 6 months to 2 years), I took along a bag full of baby toys. A mesh laundry bag meant for washing delicates with a zipper closure works great, because you can see through it, and the zipper keeps everything from spilling out. I collected plastic "busy" toys meant for babies at the dollar store and thrift stores. (Of course I sterilized those I bought second-hand.) As we traveled I would hand Baby one toy at a time. When she got tired of it and dropped it, I would hand her another one. I probably had 20 or 30 to cycle through. This worked really well to keep her interested in between naps and snacks.

As the children got a little older I was able to expand the selection of activities. Preschoolers enjoy lively children's music and recorded picture books to listen to, but they also enjoy something to do with their hands. I usually kept some of their toys put up just for traveling so they would be "new" and fresh. I also took along things like colorful pipe cleaners to bend and twist, stickers and paper to stick them on-- even a roll of scotch tape can be a lot of fun for a little one.

We made it a habit to stop at fast food places with playgrounds and kids' meals along the way. My husband and I would order our food and eat while the children played on the playground. We saved their meal for them to eat when we got back on the road. This gave them maximum time for running off some energy, and also gave them something to do (eat!) as we drove along. They were also always very interested in the toy that came with the meal. For traveling, it was worth the extra cost of a kids' meal to get that little toy. If the restaurant had more than one to choose from I would try to get different toys for each child so they could trade off later.

Once the children reached school age, planning for trips was a lot easier! Now they can read and write. I like to choose a special magazine and a puzzle book for each of them before we leave to give them in the car, and sometimes a fun pen or a new set of markers. I also encourage them to pack a tote bag with a book of their choice and things they might want to do as we travel. (Have you seen Sonlight's new Summer Readers? Great choices there!) They take along their digital players to listen to audio books. On some trips they like to keep journals of where we went and what we saw.

We enjoy traditional travel games looking out the car windows, too-- the alphabet game, watching for different states on license plates, counting how many travel trailers we see, and so on. A simple travel bingo game that I made up was a huge hit on our most recent road-trip. I just made a check-list of things we might see along the way-- from various types of vehicles and buildings to common fast food restaurants and animals. The children loved watching for things on their list. As soon as they completed one list, they would beg me to make them another one.

As our children have grown up we have discovered that we often have some of our best conversations as a family in the car. Traveling together has helped strengthen our relationship with our kids and created life-long memories.

Oh, yes. We do eventually get to where we're going. But you know the old saying, "Getting there is half the fun!"

Enjoying the adventure,
~Karla Cook
Lifelong Learner

Now an employee, I'd say they've done a good job. I've participated in a wide variety of positions at Sonlight. I've helped in Customer Service; I've worked in Product Development; I've spent summers in the Warehouse. I've had the privilege of seeing every side of this company. And we do things right.

We take seriously our responsibility to be good stewards of the things God has entrusted to us. That means creating good work environments, among other things.

The topic of taking care of employees came up over lunch yesterday after my dad read the article A day in the life of a warehouse wage slave in The Week. As one who has spent time as a Picker and a Packer, I appreciate the thick foam mats Sonlight places on the concrete. (Having been to a homeschool convention recently, I know what happens when you don't stand on padding!) The story of how horrible the shipping conditions are for other online retailers stood in stark contrast to how pleasant it is to work for a company that cares about its employees and customers by keeping "the bottom line" in healthy perspective. And what's more? By God's grace, we have kept our prices competitive--and often below--that of the competition... companies that rely on rather appalling practices.

Just this morning, I bumped into a young man who works at Sonlight over the summer when he's not in school. I met him last year. "Good to see you again," he said with a smile.

"Good to see you too," I said. And it was. Because people like working at Sonlight.

...and that makes it even easier to love working here too.

What do you think of the lemonade stand dilemma? Have you ever had an employer take really good care of you?

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

In some cases, yes. Every family is different, so grouping students isn't always straightforward. If you have a unique or complex situation, I highly recommend you chat with a Sonlight Curriculum Advisor. Advisors can answer your questions and help you find the materials that will work best for your family.

But, in general, combining students is not difficult with Sonlight. For years, Sonia, Sonlight's online internet advisor, has been able to help you place your students in "Study Groups" so they can work from the same Core program. And this year, we made her process even better!

We used beads to help visualize the grouping process

We spent hours discussing how make it easier for you to group your children using Sonlight. We went through four designs and several iterations of code logic to make the process seamless for you. Today, you quickly add your students and then put them into groups.

Adding Students

Want to customize those groups? No problem! Simply check and uncheck students you want to combine. Then, click the "Select Curriculum" button, or click one of the Scratch Pad icons, and Sonia will help you, step-by-step, through the process of selecting everything you need for your students.

Grouping Students

If you haven't done so already, check out the Sonia. And even if you don't have a bunch of students you want to combine using Sonlight, feel free to add a few and play with the updated grouping tool.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

Sonlight student Quentin F became an Eagle Scout last year

So in addition to tips 1-4, let's consider three more enriching ideas:

5. Remember that education is more than academics
   With all students—including accelerated students—our role as parents is to guide them in much more than just academics. If your child is an accelerated learner, perhaps he can use some of that extra time to dive into projects that make a difference in your community or the world.

   Is there a charitable project your child can participate in or even create and spearhead? Consider how you can help your child learn that life is more than knowledge and good grades! May all our children discover the joy of giving our time and talents to serve others.

   And also, kids are kids. Help them enjoy the many other facets of life! Can they explore various sports, art forms, musical instruments, outdoor activities, entrepreneurship and more?

6. Consider a gap year

   Concerned that your child will finish high school early? Consider the benefits of a "gap year" before sending her off to college.

   Just think of how much she could learn and serve during a year helping a missionary family overseas, serving with an international aid organization, or even volunteering in your home community. Many top colleges value the life experience such opportunities provide.

   And finally …

7. Find community and advice on Sonlight's Accelerated Learners Forum

   I developed many of the ideas I shared in these two posts through 20+ years of working with homeschoolers. But the wise parents on the Accelerated Learners section of the Sonlight Forums helped me form more specific tips and advice. You'll find many of the thoughts I shared on a thread called "I am not bragging, really. I am asking for help!"

   The Accelerated Learners forum will connect you with other parents who can offer encouraging words, listening ears and timely advice. You'll find help for academics as well as other aspects of parenting a gifted child, including self image, sibling rivalry, burnout and more.

   This is a private forum, so you'll need full Forum access to read and post on it. Get ready to meet some parents who have "been there, done that" and are happy to help!

If you're teaching a gifted child, I pray these suggestions might help and encourage you. As you well know, parenting is an exciting, rewarding journey. God bless you as you navigate the ups and downs ahead!

Blessings,
Sarita Holzmann