Sir N's First Sonlight Box Day

I bought my very first core** and Science, Handwritting, and Math from Sonlight way back in 1998 and my first two roses really enjoyed the journey.

With Sir N starting school this year I decided to update my original Core K ( now called Core A)

My First Box Day

I remember my very first box day so vividly.  This box arrived and was far smaller than I had expected for $750!  I unpacked and stacked the books in my room and was worried about what my husband would say.  I took Sonlights advice and read the IG (Instructors Guide) which said put the books away and spend a week preparing.  Best advice ever, and I am so glad that I took it. 

After the first week I knew I had made the best investment ever.  That IG was worth it's weight in GOLD!  and the $750 was a small investment into books that were worth every minute we spent together reading and learning together.

FedEx tracking

I have really enjoy the advent of the internet it has really added to the anticipation of receiving my box.  I eagerly watched my boxes progress accross the globe and was so surprised at the speed and efficency of Sonlight. 

Last friday (5 Aug)  I placed my order on line in Australia just after lunch and my box arrived here on Tuesday morning (9 Aug) !

A picture is worth a thousand words so here is our story:

"Mommy can I open it NOW?"

Granny joined us for box day and showed Sir N how to wear his new paper scarf!

"Ooooo Mommy some more of those crayons!"

"Look how BIG that lightening is!"

"mmmmm that's interresting"

"Look they are swimming with the dolphins"

"Yes I can fit in the box!"

And so our new Sonlight adventure begins.  This week is a week of preparations and next week Monday will be day one of our 36 week year of Core A and Science A with Sonlight.

To read more about our curriculum choice for 2011 and 2012 you can have a look at my Curricula page.

What have you planned to use with your families Home School adventure this year ?

Blessings

** Sonlight® Core programs use the subject of History as the foundation for your homeschooling curriculum. This history focus provides a framework for your family to better understand literature, scientific theory, philosophy, and a wide-range of other subjects. A history backdrop also helps you see how what you are learning ties together throughout your home education.

You have a choice of 18 Core packages for your Pre-K through 12th grader. Each Core program includes a year's worth of History, Geography, and Literature curriculum for your homeschool.
Quoted from the Sonlight Website.

Factors influencing learning to read (Part 3 of 5)

Does Doing life equip us to read ?

I was reading about some research done with preschool students. Two classes were formed.  One class was taught standard phonics and official school drills the other was taken on school trips to museums, play grounds, theater, had books read to them and did lots of discovering the world around them experiments such as growing beans in class.

If my memory serves me right - after three years each class was divided in half and combined with the other.  So the new class consisted of 50% of each of the original classes. Within three months the students who had done no formal learning to read lessons were reading up to three years above their chronological age.

The reasons touted were that the students who explored the world around themselves had a deeper understanding of vocabulary and a larger bank of vocabulary to draw from.  So when they started learning to read they only had one skill to learn, the skill of decoding the symbols on the page. Most young students are trying to attain a double skill the skill of decoding and the skill of understanding the word they are decoding at the same time. (sorry I can't remember where I read about this research.  If anyone recognizes it please let me know so I can give appropriate credit)

To keep doing life made sense, and did set my mind at ease that what we were doing was making a difference. Whenever I feel a little guilty doing life I remember what Ruth Beechick has to say about it. (Read about it in this blog post: No need to feel guilty !

Practical tools

Time to go back to the tool box. I am sure Sonlight had added some how to books in with my order.  They must be important  ???

I took out my books by Ruth Beechick which Sonlight had graciously added to my order as a thank you gift. I read A home start in Reading. I highly recommend this book (it has now been combined into one book called: The Three R's ).

Ruth did an amazing job of equipping my understanding of how and when to teach phonics, how to know when my student was ready to learn, and how to develop comprehension skills. These little books (now in one book) are worth their weight in gold!

Feeling better equipped we continued with our daily phonics books (Get ready for the code) and sat together reading great books from Sonlight Core K (now called Core A) But I still worried and fretted over the whole thing.

Some tools of interest

• Teaching reading with beginner readers (Sonlight)
• Who wants to be a reader by Homeschool.com
• Phonics vs Whole Language by Succeed to Read 

Factor 3 is becoming equipped with the tools that are needed to teach this precious skill of decoding letters on a page. 

What tools do you have in your tool box ?

Other posts you might enjoy
Other posts you might enjoy

• Factors influencing Learning to Read - Part 0.1
• Factors influencing Learning to Read - part 1
• Factors influencing Learning to Read - part 2 
• Factors influencing Learning to Read - part 4
• Factors influencing Learning to Read - part 5

It's Official

It's official my baby rose Mr N turned six yesterday.  I so enjoyed watching him build his LEGO sets, share time with family and celebrate his special day.

Here in Victoria Australia from the age of six all students need to be registered at either a government school, a private school or as a homeschool student.  We filled in the  official form last week and mailed it to Victorian Registrations & Qualifications Authority.

The act of sending off this form has had me re-reading long lost treasures on my bookshelf and re-evaluating my how's, and why's to what I want to be doing this year.

I have been looking over my Sonlight Curriculum PDF catalogue (55 MB) refreshing my memory of the treasures lurking on my bookshelves that I used 12 years ago with Rose One and Two when I started out and generally trying to organize my thoughts and plans for the year ahead.

I thought I would share one of the books I treasure:

Things We Wish We'd Known 
Compiled & Edited by Bill & Diana Waring

This book is like having a private cup of tea with one of 50 veteran homeschoolers. 

The book is divided into six parts: 

• The Concepts
• The Basics
• The Priorities
• God's Involvement
• Christian Character
• The Blessings 

The back of the book is fully indexed containing a list of the contributors, their email addresses, websites and a short write up about each company / homeschool family.  


It's a real treasure trove of encouragement, tried and true words of wisdom from pioneering homeschool families from around the globe.
You can find this book at Diana Waring Presents and if you would like to read Diana's introduction you can go here
For a look at the contents page you can go to Table of Contents and for a sneak peak you can go to Featured excerpt from Things we wish we'd known

Till next time
Officially beginning our journey for the THIRD time