Creating Whole Hearted Kingdom Students

Last chance for discounted registration at the TPA convention!

2011-05-04T08:52:00.000-07:00

You may have heard of Voddie Baucham, one of today's most sought-after preachers. He will be presenting the keynote speeches at this year's Teaching Parents Convention, in Wichita, KS, June 3-4, 2011. You will surely be challenged and encouraged by him on your home school journey. To find out more, go to http://teachingparents.org/index.php/convention/keynotes/ for a brief biography.

Most importantly, however, be sure to sign up before May 20 to get the discounted price of only $35 for registration for the entire convention, both workshop speakers and the exhibitor's hall.

After May 20, the price increases to $50 per couple!

Go to http://teachingparents.org/index.php/convention/convention-registration/ to register either online or via postal mail.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Blessings,

Heidi

Writing assignments in high school

2011-04-14T08:16:00.000-07:00

A customer recently asked me:

My oldest daughter will be doing Core 100 next year. I've looking at the IG, reading through the writing/composition assignments. They seem a bit ambiguous. I don't know exactly what she should have in each paper, nor how to grade her papers. How did you go about grading papers?

Here is my reply:

I used the rubrics in Writers, Inc (the writing reference book that Sonlight sells) to grade Joshua's papers. They have several, but I remember using mostly the one for literary analysis, ha!. If you have that book, look in the index under "assessments", and they are all listed there. I just photocopied off the page I needed for a particular assignment and assigned point values to all the relevant characteristics, making the points add up to 100. Then I would give points for the paper based on each characteristic. One tricky thing--I found it hard to edit his papers for him, then have to grade them. If your husband could do the editing and you the grading, or vice versa, that would be ideal. Otherwise, you end up feeling guilty if you didn't tell her to change something, then have to take off points for it.

I hope that helps others who may be struggling with the same issues with creative writing in high school.

Sonlight's Love to Learn Guarantee!

2011-02-07T07:45:00.001-08:00

A customer contacted me recently, worried that she had gone past the 16 weeks beyond her purchase date, to return a barely used Newcomer package. This is a common mistake. With most curriculum providers, you get 30 days from your date of purchase to return unused, resellable materials. However, with Sonlight, you don't have just 16 or even 18 weeks to return your Core or Newcomer package, which would be much better than our competitors.

You have a FULL YEAR from the date of purchase to USE the first 18 weeks of the curriculum!

And if your children don't "love to learn" and you don't "love to teach" with Sonlight, you can return all the materials for a full refund! That is the absolute best guarantee in the home education business! The only thing you will pay for is return shipping. For more information, see http://www.sonlight.com/guarantee.html.

Granted, I would greatly appreciate it if you would call me first with any questions or problems you may encounter with your core. Often, we can resolve your issues without having to return the whole curriculum. Or, you can call a Sonlight advisor at 303-730-6292.

Blessings,

Heidi Whitman, Sonlight Curriculum Consultant #197

hwhitman@sonlight.com

Getting Excited about TPA!

2010-05-31T18:54:00.000-07:00

Hello, dear friends,
Well, we are almost ready to rock and roll at the Teaching Parents Convention this coming weekend, June 3-5! If you haven't already registered, don't worry, you can pay at the door. You will get to hear the fantastic Doug Phillips with his inspiring vision to disciple our children, as well as the practical Vicki Bentley with all kinds of good tips for managing your home school. Go here, www.wichitahomeschool.org, to check out all the cool workshops.
I will be speaking at 10:15 on Friday morning, for the Sonlight Curriculum workshop. Come check it out, get a free catalog, and a chance to win a free book!
I'm looking forward to seeing you there!!
Blessings,
Heidi

Convention Season has begun!

2010-03-17T19:06:00.000-07:00

Hello, friends,
The home school convention season has officially begun this month! Already families are starting to plan for the 2010-2011 school year. Are you satisfied with your children's education? If not, I would like to invite you to look at Sonlight Curriculum, which uses the magic of stories to engage your children in learning. Go to my Sonlight webpage at www.sonlight.com/heidiwhitman to get started on your journey!
Also, if you live in or around Wichita, Kansas, you are cordially invited to my Sonlight Open House, on April 10, from 2-4pm, at my home. I will have all the Instructor's Guides and many of the books on display for browsing. Go to www.wichitasonlight.org for more information and to register to attend.
Lastly, don't forget the Teaching Parent's Association "Victory through Vision" convention on June 3-5, 2010, at Century II Convention Center in Wichita. The speakers are Doug Phillips from Vision Forum and Vicki Bentley, author of several homeschool books. I will have a huge booth there, with all the Instructor's Guides and sample books from every core. Go to www.teachingparents.org to register online!

The Myth of the Perfect Parent | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

2010-01-13T18:41:00.000-08:00

I just read this refreshing and challenging article. I would love to get a discussion going on it with you, dear friends!

The Myth of the Perfect Parent Christianity Today A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

Christmas baking! And a new contest!

2009-12-08T18:27:00.000-08:00

I get several cooking e-newsletters, and lately most have been about Christmas cookies. So, of course, I have been craving to make cookies, something I rarely do anymore. Of course, I have been wanting chocolate chip cookies, my all-time favorite; unfortunately, that desire conflicts with my latest project of trying to lose a few extra pounds from my waist! Never fear, Flat Belly Diet(http://www.flatbellydiet.com/) to the rescue! This recipe satisfies that chocolate craving, while providing lots of mono-unsaturated fatty acids (or MUFAs), which help release belly fat, AND it has cranberries for extra zing and Christmas color! I call these Christmas Cranberry Chippers:

2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup canola oil

3 large egg whites

2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup cranberries, chopped

2 1/4 cups chopped walnuts

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine the oats, flour, baking soada, cinnamon, and salt.

2. Chop the cranberries and walnuts together in a food processor.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, oil, egg whites and vanilla extract until smooth. Fold in the cranberries, wanuts, and chocolate chips. Gradually fold in the flour mixture and stir until well blended.

4. Drop by tablespoons onto baking sheets coated with nonstick cooking spray. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown.

Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 54 cookies, if you use 1 tablespoon of batter per cookie, 80 calories each.

NEW CONTEST! I am giving away two vintage Sonlight aprons! These are practically new, navy blue aprons with generous pockets, previously used only in my Sonlight booths at conventions. They have the original Sonlight logo on them. Perfect for holiday baking or anytime of year! The first two people to post a response to this blog with a favorite holiday recipe will win an apron! Hurry, quick, Christmas is coming, less than 9 days away now!

New rule for Advent book contest!

2009-12-01T14:31:00.000-08:00

OK, it looks like we need to create some stronger motivation to post here. So.....the FIRST person to post a comment on my blog about the Keeping Christ in Christmas Advent book will automatically WIN the book! Deadline is tomorrow, Wednesday, December 2, at 5pm.
Thank you! I'm sure you will enjoy the book!

Keeping Christ in Christmas

2009-11-28T08:21:00.000-08:00

Hello, dear friends,

The Christmas season is now officially in full swing! If you went shopping on "Black Friday", you had to weave your way through hundreds of other people starting their annual shopping sprees, as solicitous merchants, hopeful for profits, offered incredible deals. The focus of the day was on getting the most and the best for yourself and your loved ones, with the assumption that the more you get, the happier you will be, of course!

But is that really true? Will more and better stuff really satisfy you? If you are a Christian, you have learned that only a relationship with God can make your life worthwhile. So how do you help your children take their eyes off what Santa Claus will bring them, and onto Christ, the ultimate gift? One way to do that is to celebrate the traditional Christian Advent season, which starts with the four Sundays before December 25. This year, it starts on Sunday, November 29. We will use a book we received several years ago, called "Christ in Christmas: A Family Advent Celebration". Several leading Christian authors, including James Dobson, Charles Swindoll, James Boice and RC Sproul, contributed the articles for each Sunday's reading. Scripture readings for each day are also included, along with family activities.

And guess what? I just happen to have an extra paperback copy of this book! I am offering a chance to win it to everyone who posts a comment to this blog. If you become a follower of this blog, you get an extra chance! The book is out of print, and in very good condition. If you were to buy it on amazon.com, it would cost at least $10 with shipping.

I will draw a winner for this book on Wednesday, December 2, and mail it that day, so that you can get caught up on the readings before getting too far into the Advent season. I'm looking forward to your posts!

Kyria Blog: Not Minding Our Manners

2009-11-27T18:46:00.001-08:00

Kyria Blog: Not Minding Our Manners
This, too, is another excellent and challenging article that I didn't write, but do encourage you to read and ponder. I was personally convicted that when my thoughts are evil toward someone, outward "niceness" counts for nothing. That's what we are striving for in our children as well--"wholehearted" love toward others.
Posted using ShareThis

Homeschool Mom Universal Translator for Husbands

2009-11-25T12:15:00.000-08:00

I did not write this, though I wish I had! So funny, because it speaks volumes about husband/wife interaction when mom is the home teacher.
http://www.thehomescholar.com/blog/homeschool-mom-universal-translator-hmut/1999/
Be sure to send it to your dear husbands!

2009-11-05T13:31:00.000-08:00

Hello, dear readers,

I suppose you have been wondering what happened to me, if I dropped off the edge of the world, or something like that. NO, just school started. I'm sure other home schooling moms can relate. Suddenly, the dishes pile up and stay there for days, while I'm trying to catch up on grading math exercises and essays. Not that grading is any more fun than washing dishes!! Both are most definitely on my least favorite activities list.

Moving on to more fun topics--have any of you been on an exciting field trip this fall? I am going to compile a list of the top ten favorite field trips, and I want to hear from you! If you post a response to this blog and tell me about a field trip your family or support group did, you will get an entry into a drawing for a free book. I have three books to give away, Castaways of the Flying Dutchman by Brian Jacques, Stuart Little by E.B. White, and Pig Gets Stuck, an Usborne Farmyard Tale by Heather Amery and Stephen Cartwright. The drawing will be on Friday, November 20. I will notify the winners by email.

I will start us off with a great field trip that our Sonlight Family Fellowship (http://www.wichitasonlight.org/ ) took last spring. We visited the Maxwell Wildlife Refuge, near Canton, KS. It was a sunny, but windy March day, when we climbed aboard the "prairie schooners", large trams pulled by tractors, to view the animals. After we had rumbled through the tall grass awhile, our guide stopped the tram. His coworker drove up with a truck, outfitted with bins on the side. Shortly, we heard the sound of thundering hooves--the buffalo, excuse me, BISON, were coming for their lunch! A huge herd stampeded toward the tram as the truck unloaded the feed onto the ground. They came so close we could have touched them. Of course, that would not have been a good idea! But we took videos and photos for your viewing pleasure.

After the bison stampede, our tour guides drove us over toward a herd of elk, which you see at the top of this post. The powerful beauty of God's creation exhibited in these animals was amazing!

GETTING READY FOR A NEW SONLIGHT YEAR

2009-08-05T12:15:00.000-07:00

1. Sort through your old stuff from last year. Decide what you want to keep using for each child (did you finish the core, the language arts, the math, the science?) Are you ready to sell your old Instructor’s Guide? For only $5, you can place an ad on the Used Curriculum forum to sell your old IGs and books.
2. Start making your new Sonlight order. If you are ordering a new core, get the whole package deal, unless you already own more than half the books. Many people like to buy the 5-day package, even if they plan to use the 4-day schedule. That way, they have the extra books on hand if they have extra time. And there may be a few books that just don’t appeal to your child. If you are using a previous purchased core set of books, you can get a new Instructor’s Guide for half-price, and just re-use your old binder! Don’t forget to check for new editions of books you already own, such as the Apologia Science or Rosetta Stone. Often, the new edition is worth the extra cost.
3. Place your order online using a credit card or electronic check, email, or regular mail. You can spread out the cost over 4 months on a credit card by checking the payments option.
4. Build up the idea of the coming books with your children, especially if they are older. (The younger ones tend to be excited anyway!) Talk about all the cool books you are going to receive soon.
5. Box Day—when THE BOX comes, tuck it away until you have at least an hour to devote to opening (and devouring!) Recruit an older child or spouse to check off the items on the invoice as you find them in the box.
6. Put together your new IG in the new binder with the weekly tabs. Many moms like to put everything for each week behind the tabs in the one big binder, but then take out 6-9 weeks at a time to put in a smaller binder. That way, you can leave the big binder on a shelf and just use the small one everyday.
7. Read through the introductory material at the front of the IG. Take special note of the symbols used throughout the schedule, on the facing page of the schedule for week 1. Find the history, read-aloud and reader study guides for the books in the first week, and put them behind the weekly schedule in the binder.
8. Organize and label your books. Punch out dots from Sonlight sticky paper and put on the spines of books from that core. It also helps if you put all the history, read-alouds, readers in sections together in order that they are scheduled, so that you can easily find the next one when you need it.
9. Take lots and lots of pictures of your students doing school. Send them in to Sonlight for next year’s catalog (they will start asking for them this fall). Bring your camera to every field trip and take pictures. Lastly, Have your spouse or someone else take pictures of you with the children.
10. Enjoy the year! Make both the first day and the last day special! For instance, you can give a gift on the first day of school (e.g. scavenger hunt leading to their school desks with a bag full of candy and school supplies). On the last day of school, have a party doing something crazy like water balloons or shaking cheap sodas and letting them explode (use your back yard!)

CHEF-MO convention

2009-07-02T12:27:00.000-07:00

The CHEF-MO convention was last Tuesday and Wednesday, June 23-24. My entire family went with me to St. Louis and we made it a family vacation. We left on Sunday afternoon, drove 4 hours and stayed in Boonville, MO that evening. After getting up early on Monday morning, we drove the rest of the way into St. Charles. My assistant Nancy met us at the St. Charles Convention Center with tables, books, catalogs, bags and contact cards. That was really nice, not to have to haul everything in our mini-van.
As we started setting up the booth, I realized that I had forgotten my “booth accessories” bin at home. Aaarrgh! No master catalog, no book holders, no flip chart of core photos, no electives sampler, no cable ties, no tablecloths. Soooo…..we made a quick run to Wal-Mart for sheets to serve as table cloths. We borrowed cable ties from another kind vendor, and Nancy brought book holders and baskets for bags stuffed with catalogs from her home. The rest we had to do without, unfortunately.

In spite of slow traffic at the convention, we did make our contact card goal of 189. In fact, we almost made it to 200 cards, the parental goal for earning a trip to Six Flags the next day! (Larry took them anyway, while I stayed at the hotel and typed.)

For any of you who were there, please feel free to contact me at hwhitman@sonlight.com with questions about Sonlight.

Home school convention in St. Charles, MO

2009-06-18T18:05:00.000-07:00

Hello, friends,
I'm getting ready to leave in just a few days for the Christian Home Educators Fellowship of Missouri convention! I will have all the Instructor Guides available for your browsing, as well as sample books from every core. Unfortunately, I will not be giving a workshop, but my assistant and I will be there to answer any questions you may have.

We will be having two wonderful door prize drawings, one for a Sonlight totebag stuffed full of books for both your children and you, and the other for a "pampered mom" basket, with goodies for your down-time! You will want to come by just to sign up for these drawings! Also, anyone who signs a contact card and receives a catalog for the very first time is automatically entered in the sweepstakes for a free curriculum from Sonlight!

Please let me know if there are any particular books you would like to see, so that I can bring them. Also, if you bring a new-to-Sonlight friend to my booth, I will let you choose from my "free books" basket. So there are lots of good reasons to come visit us! I am so looking forward to meeting new friends in Missouri!

Want to win a year's worth of FREE CURRICULUM??!

2009-06-17T15:52:00.000-07:00

Enter Sonlight's Catalog Sweepstakes!

Sponsor:Sonlight Curriculum Ltd.
8042 S. Grant Way,
Littleton, CO. 81022
main@sonlight.com 303.730.6292

Official Rules:

* NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER.
* Must be 18 or older to enter.
* Limit of 1 entry per household.
* Contest for US residents only (AK and HI are included)
* Only new catalog requesters will be entered in the contest. Customers with any order history or individuals whom our records indicate have requested a catalog in the past are not eligible for the contest and will not be entered upon ordering a catalog during the applicable timeframe.
* Two random drawings will take place and a total of 2 winners will be selected.
* The first drawing will occur on June 20, 2009 for entries made from April 1, 2009 through May 31, 2009.
* The second drawing will occur on September 30, 2009 for entries made from June 1, 2009 through August 31, 2009. You will be contacted within 15 days if you are selected as a winner.
* The estimated odds of winning are one in ten-thousand (1:10,000).
* Each winner will receive a Sonlight Newcomer Package or equivalent (for upper levels 6 and above) for 1 child with a retail value between $261.90 and $1028.94.
* Each winner will also receive all Club Benefits for one year so that they can truly experience being a Sonlighter. The Club Benefits include, but are not limited to, Free Membership on the Sonlighter Club Forums, Free Subscription to the "Beam of Sonlight" Newsletter, 10% Discount on all future orders for a year, and an Ancient Roman "Widow's Mite" Coin Pendant.
* Sonlight will not share a participant's personal information, including address and phone number, with any third party.
* Employees and outside contractors, along with their immediate families (parents, brothers, sisters and children), of the Sponsor, Sonlight Curriculum Ltd. are not eligible to win.

Ahh, graduation!

2009-05-17T14:45:00.000-07:00

The month of May is notoriously busy. Weddings, graduations, Mother's Day, etc. Usually my professor husband Larry has to marshall at the university graduation, which he did yesterday. Tonight, I have a wedding reception to attend. But this is the first year I have attended our local home school association's graduation ceremony. Now that my oldest is a sophomore, some of his friends are actually finishing high school! I have to say that it was truly inspiring, to see families who have persevered in home schooling through the teen years and finished well. Now I'm really pumped and motivated for the next two years of my son's schooling. We still have a LOT to do, but the goal is in sight, finally. So, I would encourage you to take the time to attend a home school graduation ceremony, if you have one locally. And be sure to congratulate the MOM on a job well done, as well as the student!

Come visit with us!

2009-05-08T13:39:00.000-07:00

Teaching Parents Association
"Changing the World: One Family at a Time"
Century II Convention Center
Wichita, KS
June 3-4, 2011
http://www.wichitahomeschool.org/

WELCOME, FRIENDS

2009-03-03T13:27:00.000-08:00

"Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you." Matthew 6:33

That verse was printed on our wedding invitation, and though we have often stumbled and fallen, it remains the cry of my husband and me, to pursue the Kingdom of Heaven with our whole hearts, and to teach our children to do so as well. To that end, we have taught our two sons at home for the past 16 years, since the first one was born in 1993. Ever since our first son was little, he has loved books and reading. So, for a few years I tried to follow a literature-based unit study program, which required me to find books in the library, schedule what to study, and generally figure it out on my own. When I discovered Sonlight Curriculum, all that prep work was done already, with a systematic schedule and study guides for every book! Furthermore, I really liked their philosophy and goals, starting with "Teach students to seek God's Kingdom above and beyond everything else." In the fall of 2001, we began our Sonlight adventure, and have never regretted it, but rather grow to appreciate it more and more each year.
In the fall of 2003, encouraged by my husband, I started a home school support group for Sonlight curriculum users, now called Sonlight Family Fellowship. A few years later, our local homeschool convention needed someone to provide a vendor booth for Sonlight. Thus, I became a Sonlight Curriculum Consultant, which gives me the opportunity to share what I have learned through the years with many other families. I hope you will find encouragement here for your journey through home schooling.
You Are Invited....

To give me a call at 316-691-1321 for a personal consultation about the best Sonlight choices for your family
To visit me at the Teaching Parents Association convention, in Wichita, KS, on June 3-4, 2011. For more information and to register for this convention, go to http://www.wichitahomeschool.org/

Blessings,
Heidi