Sonlight's grab-and-go Instructor's Guide makes it possible for us to homeschool. We live on a cattle ranch and homestead (produce much of our own food), so I wouldn't have time to design a curriculum. Sonlight has brought the world into our house. I love that my kids embrace diversity as a direct result of exposure to Sonlight books. They regularly impress people with the depth of their knowledge. They want to be explorers and adventurers, just like the ones we read about. On this day, Dalton (5, Core A) and Maddy (3, P3/4 Multi-Subject) explore the creek.

Having the Instructor's Guide proved to be a tremendous blessing when Mom's health suddenly became worse. We decided to share the instructing with our 12-year-old-daughter. She would read the Read-Alouds, instruct in Handwriting and Math, and complete Science A. Mom would read the Bible and History and cover Language Arts. Following the IG proved extremely helpful during this period. We discovered that even if you can't stick to the schedule perfectly, the help of having a schedule you don't have to create yourself is a blessing. Havilah (15, Core 200), Cosette and Anakin (13 and 11, Core F), Tirian and Aravis (8 and 6, Core A), Liesl (4) and Adelina (2) share an Under the Sea adventure during their annual at-the-beach vacation.

Sonlight lessons are all planned out for me and they include all kinds of fun activities. This was our first year homeschooling. I've been terribly busy and sleep-deprived with a new baby and three young children. Using Sonlight's Science A program was the best decision I could have made. Although the program is laid out in a weekly schedule, I've found it easy to adjust according to our needs. Some weeks we do a bit each day. Other times we have a 'Science Day' and do a week's worth of lessons and activities all at once. I simply pick up where we left off. Here, Gideon (2), Miriam (5) and Tabitha (6) make "hot lava" while studying volcanoes.