Thanks for a GREAT Year, Sonlight!

We have finished our "K" year with Sonlight, and it was a wonderful year! Even though we decided to go our own route this coming year (that started on Monday -- more on that later!), we will definitely be coming back to Sonlight throughout the years for subjects, supplementals, and maybe even complete cores.

The first blessing with Sonlight was the schedule. Not only was it laid out in such an easy format, but it actually taught me how to make a weekly planner I like (my own for this current year is very similar). It also freed me from almost all planning. I opened and went for the most part, although I did look ahead each 6 week block to get an idea of what was ahead and get occasional supplemental materials. It was just what I needed to transition from the complete self created unit studies I was doing before that was very labor intensive.

What I learned about myself is that I can stick to a laid out schedule and still feel freedom to follow a few rabbit trails Before, I was changing my plans so often that I couldn't plan for more than a few weeks at a time, as I wanted to do every new unit heard of! That did give me some anxiety for the future as I thought I would always be so "flaky" and I knew we had certain goals for our homeschool that I didn't think we could meet if we flew around completely haphazardly. With Sonlight, I was able to do what Robin Sampson talked about in The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach, follow delights within a set framework. Toward the end, we finished the last 12 weeks in about 6 weeks due to delight and interests, and feeling more freedom to leave out a few things and replace with others. I know that I will feel even more freedom with a year framework that I designed myself, to be able to change a bit as needed.

The second blessing was THE BOOKS!!! Sonlight definitely picked some winners that I never would have heard of, or tried at this age! While there were a few that we are saving for later because the girls weren't interested (Apple and Arrow, Family Under the Bridge, and surprisingly Dr. Doolittle) the winners were HUGE hits!

In Grandma's Attic was pure fun and we loved the look back at simpler times. Twenty and Ten was a BIG hit that led to many afternoons acting out the story, even though it had what I consider to be a pretty advanced topic (French children having to hide ten Jewish children from Nazi soldiers during WWII). A Grain of Rice was loved by us all, and also led to fun games. I had never heard of that Chinese fairy tale, but I know we will be rereading it time and again. The biography Johnny Appleseed was a fun read aloud, and since biographies are something my husband and I want to focus a lot on in History, it was a pleasure to read one that was perfect for their ages. 5 True Dog Stories and James Herriot's Treasury for Children were beautiful tales for my animal lovers.

The missionary stories, in particular, were a big blessing. Hero Tales, Mary on Horseback, and Granny Han's Breakfast all led to wonderful discussions about faith and how to live our lives as witnesses, and truly being His hands and feet. Jordan has told me she wants to "go teach other people in other countries who don't know about the one true God." After telling her that we will take her when she gets a bit older, she told me that she has a voice and can tell them now!! I told her that she was absolutely right, she could, but some places aren't safe for little girls. She counter offered a few times, and we are currently agreeing on the age of 10 for going on a mission trip :-). We will see what the future holds, but thank you, Sonlight, for touching and inspiring her heart like that!!

Finally, Sonlight blessed me by teaching me more than any Charlotte Mason book I read about choosing copywork and being able to apply it for natural grammar instruction. Their Language Arts was a perfect fit this past year, including all the wonderful readers (The Beginners' Bible Book, Frog and Toad Treasury, Greg's Microscope, Hill of Fire, Daniel's Duck and The Firecat)!

So thank you for a year of wonderful memories, Sonlight!!