Get It Right

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

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

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

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 hometeamschoolers 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?

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

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

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

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

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

...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

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

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

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

...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

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!

When Experiments Fail

...or, at best, don't work quite as well as expected.

If you've experienced the joy of watching Discover & Do, you may remember the many Outtakes included at the end of the DVD. (Aside: If you have the DVD but haven't watched the Outtakes, I highly recommend them. Of course, I cut them together, so I'm a little biased <smile>) These Outtakes were moments from shooting when things didn't quite work.

Sometimes the "fail" was epic.

Like the time the seeds we were using for the experiment titled "Grow, Grow, Grow!" never grew at all. Or when the invisible ink didn't come back. Makes it a little hard to demonstrate the activity when the very foundation of the lesson falls out from under you.


Trap Door

But while these failed experiments can make you feel like you're falling through space, there are important lessons to be learned. Stuff doesn't always work out the way you would hope. You can do things wrong. Mistakes happen. And sometimes, life just doesn't go the way you expected.

And that's okay.

The important thing is to move on. Don't let yourself stay in the place of "failure". Instead, get up, try again, or move on.

That's a lesson we need to remember as adults as well: If something isn't working--even failing--don't let yourself stay there. Set it aside for a while, try it again after you've thought about why it didn't work, or move on to the next thing. There are too many great opportunities in life--and homeschooling--to let the things that aren't quite working stop us.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

Fessing Up to the Feds

It's a fad right now: Posting your disclosure policy on your blog. And this fad may be driven by the Feds as they try to clamp down on those sneaky advertisers using personal testimonies on blogs as a way to lie to the peoples.

Come to think of it, I'm not sure if I ever said it in so few words, so here it goes:
I am paid to blog for Sonlight.

Yep. Blogging is one of the many things I do here at Sonlight. One of the other things I do is correct totally odd things that have long been on Sonlight's website. I happened across this little guy today:


IG YR INTR WD H

...uh-huh.

But back to disclosing: I can understand why the federal government would be concerned with this kind of thing. But it still feels odd. See, if you're not honest--and you only paint glowing, wonderful pictures of stuff--people will eventually tune you out. Consumers are pretty savvy when it comes to reviews, feedback and testimonials. We're pretty good at figuring stuff out.

If you hadn't noticed, several of my Other Posts of Note have recently had to do with the struggles and difficulties of homeschooling. The school year is still getting going, and feeling overwhelmed is commonplace. And it'd be dumb of me to not include those posts--which are encouraging in their own way--just to try to paint homeschooling in a better light.

But this new policy begs the question: How long before the Federal Trade Commission decides that they need to watch ThinkGeek reviews and IMDB ratings? Sure, this really does have to do with trade (you're trading your time blogging for a product or bonus or a couple of coppers to rub together) and personally instigated reviews do not. So, the FTC isn't likely to come play on most of your blogs. But what about Rewards links and the like? They going to clamp down on those?

Interesting stuff to think about in this world of "new" and "social" media.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

Works for Me Wordless Wednesday

So Helpful! ...even though I'd never used it before

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

Engrossed

Typically a word associated with reading Sonlight books, "engrossed" is also my favorite state to be in while editing. And I got to that point for a few minutes today while working on my top-secret-and-totally-awesome project.


Engrossed: captive; giving or marked by complete attention to

The sonic isolation provided by my headphones and the required focus on how a cut makes me feel definitely help keep me glued to my computer as I try to make the video come together. But it's more than that. I'm crafting a story. I'm making a bunch of disjointed pieces come together. I'm building a reality from the bits of media I've gathered.

This kind of engrossing creativity is another reason to homeschool.

Sure, we talk about the great educational opportunities we have because of homeschooling, but the homeschooling lifestyle offers us much, much more. In addition to learning together, we have time to pursue passions and interests. We can use our extra energy to learn new skills and practice old ones. We can invent, produce, create.

Homeschooling gives us more than academics. We are free to become engrossed in another form of education: Practice in creative expression.

Granted, Sonlight didn't guide me in my creativity as I grew up. I learned most of it on my own. But homeschooling with Sonlight not only inspired me with the books we read, but it also gave me the time I needed to pursue my interests outside of the world of formal education.

What kinds of things do you find your children (and even yourself) engrossed in?

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

A Part of History

This weekend something pinged the back of my mind again: I am living in a part of history.

See, I grew up experiencing history through Sonlight's living books. And that is absolutely fantastic. But too often I forget that my life is also taking place in history. Perhaps it's because my daily existence isn't as nice and neat as a well-written book. But whatever the reason, present history doesn't seem as... well... real as the history in Sonlight's titles.

Record high temperatures several years back where it was over 104 every day for a week while we moved our stuff into our house?

Hardly noticed. Had I blogged about it, I'm sure I could have made it much more impressive. I could craft the story, share the sweat, and make it sound horrible; you know, in the "uphill both ways through 65 feet of snow barefoot" kind of way. Only, it'd be the "hot summer moving" version.

In the past, I've heard about "record high" temperatures and thought, 'Crazy! How did they ever deal with that?' And, then you live through it and, well, it's just life.

What struck me over the weekend was hearing that one of my friends had Swine Flu. She's doing much better now, but it brought this moment of history home. This isn't just something happening out there in the world, like some dry fact of history from a textbook. This is a real, living moment of history, the way Sonlight lets us experience it.

It felt wrong, but I actually thought, 'Sweet! I know someone with Swine Flu!'

So today, don't just tell your children that they are "part of history" or that such-and-such is an "historical event"--as that never really worked for me. Instead, remind them of the people, places and things they've known, visited and done that will help them remember that their lives will one day be a part of history as well. That should give them a better appreciation for those who experienced the history they are reading about now. I hope it will also inspire them to make the most of the history they are writing with their lives.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

Behind the Music

Music: A binding force that can connect souls across huge geopolitical space and wring tears from our eyes while inspiring us to do more with our lives. If you want to listen to a very interesting bit about music, check out RadioLabs on Pop Music (the great part starts around 34:15). [NB: There is mild profanity]

Me? I have no musical talent whatsoever. I mean, sure, I've played the trumpet and bass over the years, but music mostly goes way over my head.

So, what's your experience with music? We'd love to get your feedback at http://music.sonlight.com/. Please, don't leave your comments about music here on my blog (or on Facebook). I'm not saying I don't want you to comment here. But, if you have a thought about music, please leave those thoughts on the music blog. If you like the RadioLab bit, let me know here <smile>.

Thanks!

And if you missed it: A big congratulations to Maureen for winning Sonlight's free curriculum sweepstakes!

Have a great weekend, everyone. I'll see you all on Monday!

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father

Assembly Line Education

Steve Lambert got me thinking about assembly lines today with his post about Henry Ford and the price of education. Mr. Lambert talked about how much less expensive homeschooling is compared to public school education. And it's true: You could purchase any homeschool curriculum for your children and pay far less than the amount of tax dollars poured into public schools for a single child. What's more: You get to keep the books. I've blogged about this before. So: Right on!

But here's my question:

If public education is the "assembly line" version of school and homeschooling is the "handmade" option: Why is the Ford model failing to produce cheaper/better results?

At least part of the answer is obvious: Homeschool teachers work for free and there are no added overhead costs (such as a school building).

So this isn't a fair comparison. Sure. But I think there are several areas of life that are shifting into a new existence. We see it from time to time: Newspapers fold because people get their content online for free and no longer buy ads in the papers because they can sell their stuff more effectively online for free. Encyclopedias and dictionaries are moving online and are free (Wikipedia, anyone?). People are pouring billions of hours into these online "hobbies" that--like homeschooling--offer the world something incredibly powerful and effective for free.

And you can be part of that. Blogging certainly can be. And homeschooling certainly is. Pretty cool, eh?

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father