You know you're a homeschooler when . . .

I got this in an email from Sonlight and thought I would share, it's a really good laugh!
Happy Labor Day!

Someone started a thread on a Sonlight humor forum: "You know you're a homeschooler when . . . ." I laughed out loud at some of the responses. They ring so TRUE.

You know you're a homeschooler when . . .

. . . your kids are in the kiddie pool playing Lewis and Clark, paddling down the river with lacrosse sticks. -Jen

. . . you find yourself and your guests at your birthday party, at 10pm, embroiled in a lively discussion of the heart's size and function . . . with your five year old, who just had to get out of bed and ask because she couldn't sleep until she knew! -Eddie

. . . people ask to borrow books from you because it's closer than the library with almost as varied a collection. -Christine

. . . your 6-year-old's Christmas list reads: Liquid Nitrogen, Magnets, Rock Tumbler, Soil PH meter! -corrabelle

. . . your school uniform is pajamas. -home4learning

. . . you go to the greenhouse to buy herbs and start talking to the kids about the different kinds of plants. Then one of the workers asks if you work there! -Donna

. . . your daughter's dance bag has more books than dance shoes in it. -Carla

. . . you don't think about (but your friends are all talking about) school registration next year—or how many days until you go back to school. -Carrie

. . . the doctor's/dentist's/hairdresser's office is happy to schedule your child's appointment because you don't want one after 3pm or during a school holiday. Or you can take advantage of off-season rates because you make your own school holidays. -Carla

. . . the neighbor kids come over to play with your math manipulatives. -kmsouth82

. . . your two kids are playing William Wilberforce in the backyard with their friends and they are the only ones who aren't confused. -storybook mum

. . . you suggest to your 7-year-old that he could pretend to be king and sister could be the queen and he says, "Naw, I'd rather be Alexander the Great. He had an entire empire." -SewLittleTime

Have you been homeschooling for some time? Perhaps you have a story that "explains" when you know you're a homeschooler? I'd love to hear from you. Feel free to email me at president@sonlight.com.

Changes To One Of My Favorite Homeschooling Websites...

Khan Academy has some new updates and a new dashboard! Sign up today and check them out.
Khan Academy has TONS of subject areas, videos, worktext problems, solutions and much more! I do know that the science is NOT Bible based, but there is still some decent info that can be gleaned from Khan Academy.

Sal is an AWESOME teacher and I just love how he goes about teaching, he is also very funny. I have to laugh he sounds exactly like a guy that I use to DJ with back in the 80's. One of those weird kinda things that when you close your eyes you can picture that person....lol. I do that every time I hear Sal's voice.

Our Homeschool young man enjoyed watching the medical video's that are on Khan Academy. Lots of pretty cool stuff on there. I remember back in the first years of Khan Academy, there were just lists of videos to watch. With the NEW and improved Khan Academy there are parent/student accounts, a dashboard, a reminder system, points system and suggestions of materials to look at and learn.

Check them out!

How American Homeschoolers Measure Up

Source: TopMastersInEducation.com

Doorposts Bible Study Review

We were so excited to get to be a part of this review! My son had such an awesome learning experience while participating in the review for Doorposts "Because You Are Strong" A study of Godly Strength for Young Men by Daniel Forster. The softcover book retails for $14.00 but is currently on sale on the Doorposts website for $12.00. It's a steal even at the full price!
WOW!! What an awesome devotional book. I almost hesitate to call it a devotional. When I think of a devotional book, I tend to think of, oh maybe 2 or 3 paragraphs, a few thought provoking questions to ponder and a one sentence Bible verse that ties it all in. This is so not what Because You Are Strong: A Study of Godly Strength for Young Men is all about.

Doorposts is a name that our family has come to trust over the years. We have lots of their items that we have used over the years with great success and let me be the first to tell you (before you read what the other TOS Reviewers had to say.) this devotional for young men is
unbelievable, it's full of meat and potatoes and not just milk and honey. It digs down deep and makes the boys think and contemplate on what is being taught. Don't get me wrong, your son does NOT have to be a seminary student to understand the material presented in the Because You Are Strong: A Study of Godly Strength for Young Men, it's all done in an easy to read and understandable format.

On a side note the author of the book Daniel Forster is a homeschool graduate and also manager of Doorposts. Forster is married and has three children. My son thought that was pretty cool.

What this Homeschool Momma liked about Doorposts "Because You Are Strong" A study of Godly Strength for Young Men by Daniel Forster.

1) Well for one thing I can tell that this was written by a former homeschool boy in that there is ample room for writing. LOL...you know how our homeschool boys like to write? lol...lots of room to write, cross out, write some more. Love that. Usually there is like 1 tiny little line to write on smooshed in between sentences and the boys write in there and we can't read it! LOVE THIS!

2) I liked how this study was full of meat and potatoes and not just a few lines to read, a question and a single Bible verse like many devotion books of today, but thinking of the quality of Doorposts I knew it would be good.

3) I liked how this held my sons attention, I did not have to get after him to have his daily devotions. Which for a Christian homeschool momma that is a blessing.

4) The Bible study tools were incredible; we now have a desktop full of great Bible study tools at the click of a mouse.

5) I teach Sunday School to 1-3 graders at church and have shared many of the Bible websites with the kids as many of them like to play online. I thought these would be great for them to have some wholesome websites to play around on and learn about God's word.

6) Easy to use for boys ages 12 and up.

7) I enjoyed the History of the Strong's Concordance, I had no idea that there was any real history behind that book! So the old homeschool Momma learned something new!

8) Math skills! You all know that I like to pull in all areas of schooling when we are working on something. Well I see math skills in this book! They have some graphing activities...YIPPE!!!

9) Teaches Bible study methods which is a skill our young men will use for the rest of their lives and pass on to the next generation (our Grandchildren).

10) The book goes over literary style in the Bible, I am lacking in knowledged in this area and gleaned a lot from this. Teaches about context, cross referencing, biographical sketches, summary and application of the materials.

What this Homeschool Momma did not like about Doorposts "Because You Are Strong" A study of Godly Strength for Young Men by Daniel Forster.

1) I honestly could not come up with a single thing, well with the exception of there are no pictures in the book or cartoon images. Which that is not a dislike exactly, it's a personal preference on my part. I like to see pictures or cute cartoons.

What this Homeschool young man liked about Doorposts "Because You Are Strong" A study of Godly Strength for Young Men by Daniel Forster.

LOL...Where do I begin? There was so much going on in daily each lesson that I'm not sure where to begin so I will just start firing things off.

1) The Bible Study websites, I had so much fun digging around in those and I learned a lot by looking at the different maps and commentaries. We have a commentary in paperback, but it was neat to have one online that I could look at and cross reference as I worked through the book.

2) I looked forward to each day to find out what new thing I was going to learn.

3) I liked how I could do more than 1 study per day, seems like the every day ordinary old devotional you are suppose to stop and then start on the next day with a new devotional. Because You Are Strong: A Study of Godly Strength for Young Men continued from day to day for several days. So everything ties in together.

4) My favorite chapters of the book were A Topical Study on the Omnipotence of God and A Character Study of Sampson.

5) LOVED the Bible programs and Mobile Apps. I'm still having fun with these even after the review.

6) I liked the word studies and the "For additional study" sections of the book. They helped me to get a better understanding of the topics I was studying.

What this Homeschool young man did not like about Doorposts "Because You Are Strong" A study of Godly Strength for Young Men by Daniel Forster.

1) NOTHING!

I think a few things you might want to have on hand (you can get these for FREE online if you GOOGLE them.
Because You Are Strong: A Study of Godly Strength for Young Men author recommends using a Nave's Topical Bible and Strong's Exhaustive Concordance.
I would add the following items.
2 Bibles with different translations
Study Bible
dictionary
topical Bible
Bible dictionary
commentary (the book recommends Matthew Henry's, but we were fine using one we had on hand already)
thesaurus

So all in all we are saying this one is a KEEPER!! We would expect nothing less from Doorposts!!