Wednesday, August 06, 2008

I'm calmer now ...

After my ranting about Sonlight, I think we will stick with the curriculum but maybe not the forums as much. I sat down in preparation for the new year and looked over our books and ideas for next year, and it's going to be an exciting year! As usual, I have to keep our materials under lock and key as Zach usually wants to read through them all in the first two days. What could be a stronger indicator that the curriculum matches the child than when he wants to read it all immediately? So, we're continuing. I still don't have to like their forum policies though! Blech. I'll definitely be looking around at other homeschooling forums to talk curriculum and day to day stuff!

We got a little behind on the official schedule with a newborn in the house last year so we are still finishing up a bit of last year's core. We have core 1 here ready to go though, with a few books still yet to arrive through Dehesa (the charter school we are using this year). After the CHN Expo and the new books, I'm as excited as he is to get going.

Speaking of the California Homeschool Network Expo this year, I'll need to write more on that later because there was a LOT of good things this year as always.

My mind is a little scattered this week though as I prepare to go to a craft fair this weekend as a vendor. Woohoo but nervous and not ready. August is a busy month for us this year.

3 comments:

Luke Holzmann said...

Tanya,

I'm glad that Sonlight books are such a great fit for your family!

I saw your post yesterday, but didn't respond because I wanted to get a little more information from the people here at Sonlight who know a little more about what's going on with the Forums.

I know the shift from public to "customer-only" forums bothered a lot of people. However, from what I have heard, the amount of activity on the forums actually increased after they went private. And, since the people who run the forums have seen an overall improvement, I don't think that will be changing.

But, some of the forums are still public (like "Choosing" and, more recently, "Sonlight Moments") so people can still get access to the information that will help them as they explore their curriculum options. We also have our free trial for those considering Sonlight.

I completely agree that links to personal blogs is of great importance. The signature links have been reinstated. There was a problem with viruses getting passed around through some links/images and that problem needed to be addressed. I'm sorry that the situation wasn't more clearly communicated to the users.

Please know that we are doing our best to make the forums safe and useful to our users. We take all suggestions very seriously to improve everyone's experience, so if you have any, I'd love to hear from you!

~Luke

hpalleiko said...

Kudos to homeschooling your children! If I didn't have an excellent public school system where I live I would be homeschooling mine as well. (we do a little bit anyway though)

Debbie~ said...

I work in a Middle School, I love the age group (after 17 years thats a good thing!!!)

I've been hearing a whole lot about 'unschooling and unschoolers', some of my family are doing it too! I admire you for homeschooling,I know how hard it is!
I use to teach a Sped. Cooking class, it was unique. We cooked all week long and then on Fridays we had a mini restaurant and fed 30-40 teachers and some administrators. My students did it all. I had a homeschooled girl for awhile who came to our school for two classes a day. She was a T.A. for me and helped with my students and cooking, I thought it was a wonderful way for her to be involved with other kids...especially with my special kids!!!

Good luck with your curriculum!!! Debbie @ ecologicallyworn.etsy.com