Hiding the Box! (July 14th, 2010)

Our box arrived unexpectedly the day before yesterday while our daughter had two friends over to spend the day and night. Of course, I had to open it and take a peek, but I didn't want our daughter to know because I knew there was considerable likelihood that she would desert her friends so she could peruse her materials for this year (which starts next week). I also was somewhat concerned that her two friends who are not homeschooled might consider such behavior to be unusual or even freakish, so I did the only thing I could do - I hid the box in my bedroom.

The next day, even though her friends were still at our home, I could stand it no longer and disclosed the information to our daughter. She immediately deserted her friends, plopped down beside the box and began to inspect the contents - most with great excitement, such as India's People and some with less than enthusiastic response, such as her math curriculum. She also began to look at her brother's material and asked why she had not read some of those books when she was his age. She was most indignant until I explained that she had been able to skip the level 2 intermediate readers at his age and had gone directly to the level 2 advanced readers. Nonetheless, I suspect that I will find her reading some of his books in her spare time this year...

I have yet to reveal the box to my son because he also had a friend over during the past couple of days, but his moment to explore the books is coming. I am sure he will try to start reading one of his readers immediately.

As for me, I immediately installed the World Book Encyclopedia on our computer and began looking through the Eastern Hemisphere Explorer to see how best to guide my daughter through it using the World Book Encyclopedia. I am really excited about delving into Core 5 this year! I am sure we will all learn a great deal, as usual.

Box day is the best!

~Elaine S

Surprise! The FedEx truck is here!

I was not expecting the curriculum today, so when we saw a FedEx truck pull in the drive we all got excited! This was our first box day, so we didn't know what to expect when we opened our box. My son pulled out each item 1 by 1 and made a pile. I said STOP! I have to take a picture for Sonlight.


First Box Day Books

After that, they opened the books immediately and started asking me questions and wanting me to read everything to them. We even called daddy who is a pastor at the 1st Baptist Church down the road from our house, and told him to hurry home and see all our books. My husband walked in and said wow that's a lot of stuff!

He started looking through all the books and saying oh i love the Boxcar children, oh I remember reading this a kid, etc. This made the kids more excited because their daddy read all of these.


Excited to Start School

We enjoyed our first Box Day and look forward to many many more!

--
Holly M.

Box Day, Box Night, Box Morning!

Standing on the Box

We knew the box was coming, we got pictures of the kids standing on it, we opened it and the boys helped me check off everything on our packing slip. Then we settled in to read a few books. I made it clear to the boys (almost 4 and almost 5) that they would be allowed to look at everything for one day, and then I would pack it all away until the fall. Throughout the day, we read several books in between the times that the boys went outside to play in the sunshine. As they played, I looked through the books myself.


Checking the Contents

After the boys went to bed, I continued to read. I had been reading the first few pages of each book, but when I got to The Apple and The Arrow I couldn't put it down! I intently read from start to finish. The last sentence read, "Switzerland was born." What a story! I had know idea! Though I got straight A's in a private Christian School, I don't really know anything about history. My classmates were lazy, my history teachers were lazy, and somehow I knew how to study for a test and forget. Anyway, I was so excited to learn something from my sons' kindergarten history, and it wasn't even borning! All I wanted to do afterward was research more about the birth of Switzerland! My husband, who loves history, saw my excitement and congratulated me on doing a great job picking out home school curriculum. When I went to bed, I closed up the box, but left it sitting on the table.


Reading Together

5:43 the next morning my alarm went off, time to get ready for church.
The house was quiet, I stumbled down the hall, thinking I was the only person awake, and what do I see? My two boys sitting silently on the couch looking at the books! I had to laugh and grab my camera! Those kids are usually at their loudest when they first wake up, but instead they looked at me and said, "Will you please read to us?" Of course, I rubbed my eyes, smiled, and said, "Yes, but not for too long." Needles to say, we were a few minutes late for church that morning...


Absorbed in the Story

~Brianna L.
Kindergarten with LA and Readers 1

We Can't Wait! Start Now!

My very first box day was in late June 2002. I was waiting for "a box"
from Sonlight containing what is now called P4/5. I had NO idea what was in store for me. I am a planner, and we were going to start preschool with our oldest child (4) in September. I wanted to get all the books organized, on the shelf and figure out what I was doing. I thought three months was long enough to do that, considering I had a toddler and newborn to care for as well.

Well, guess what? School began on July 5. There was no way I was going to let those books "just sit there." They demanded to be opened and enjoyed. So that is what we did. It started our family tradition of beginning the new school year on the Monday after July 4.

We've now had 7 more Core Box Days, with smaller ones in between. Each one is met with anticipation, excitement and rejoicing.

~Sarah W.

Box Day in Pictures

Here is the much-awaited box

Last Wednesday, after checking a certain shipping confirmation email, I did not spend all morning peeking out the front door waiting for the FedEx man. Nope, not me! Ok, who am I fooling? Of course I did! And the old adage about the pot boiling goes the same for the FedEx truck - it didn't come until mid-afternoon! Oh, the torture!

Ready more here.

-Erin

Our PreK adventure begins...

I've been waiting for this day for almost an entire year...and it has officially begun! Abby has fallen in love with all of her "school" books.


Abby checking out one of her new books.

Read more here.

-Alli

Can we start school TODAY??

Today was our very first "Box Day"!

I could not believe what all you get for the money with Sonlight...what a great deal!

Sonlight Core 3 + extra science and math

Jack is almost 11 and has Asperger's Syndrome. He had a tough time in middle school, but was doing better when our family was transferred with the Army to a different state in October. He did not want to start a new school in the middle of the year, so I started homeschooling him using another program. The program was very difficult and he was not interested in it at all. I started searching for a different curriculum, and I kept coming back to the Sonlight website. I ordered a catalog, and when it came a few weeks ago, my daughter picked it up and started looking through it. Katelyn is 10 and decided to go to public school in our new state. She adjusts to change very easily, so it was not a problem for her. She came to me a few weeks ago and told me that she decided to homeschool with Sonlight because it sounded like more fun than public school!

I ordered Core 3 for them to share and placed an order for an extra Science Kit and Math Kit for the additional student. I believe that Sonlight will work very well for Jack because he will be learning through the stories and not having to memorize facts that have no meaning to him. He learns better when he is entertained and Sonlight fits the bill! The math curriculum is very colorful and easy to follow, so I believe he will enjoy that more, too!

Thank you, Sonlight!

~Karyn N.