Main > SCA Proc > Quick Replies > Do I have to do everything in the IG?
Sonlight Instructor's Guides are written to speak to you personally--like a friend ready to help when needed. You'll find no formal or stodgy "educationese" in our guides. Instead you'll find a knowledgeable companion who talks your language, speaks to your concerns, and offers suggestions based on experience. No heavy-handed statements about "the" right way for you to teach your kids. Just a friend.
Though we are convinced that homeschoolers need not spend anywhere near as much time in formal educational activities as children in classroom settings, we also believe that we parents have a responsibility before God to help our children acquire the maximum knowledge possible while they are under our care and have the time. Our curriculum is very thorough and contains a vast amount of information that you can use and adapt to your family's needs.
That's why Sonlight makes lots of suggestions... about reading assignments, reports a student might write, subjects s/he might study, languages s/he might learn, skills s/he might want to develop, and so forth. We have tried to design a program that will challenge even the brightest student, and one who has more time on his hands than you can imagine: the only child living at home in a country where there are no extracurricular activities available to him and no entertainment options such as those most of us in the United States might enjoy. We have wanted to make sure that even though student feels properly challenged, and his mom or dad will be suitably prepared to meet his needs.
One person suggested--and many others have agreed--that Sonlight is like an elaborate Thanksgiving feast. The banquet table groans with gastronomic delights, and no one expects you to sample "some of everything." Indeed, even if you wanted to, there are far too many dishes on the table for most of us seriously to try such a feat. And so most parents pick and choose among the assignments Sonlight Curriculum suggests.
It is almost impossible and very overwhelming to do everything that is listed in our Instructor guides. Some families suggest reading through every book, but not covering every assignment (ie: discussion questions, writing assignments, vocabulary words, etc.) Sometimes just reading the book is adequate. Almost everyone does all the readings, but many will ignore the comprehension questions in favor of 'just' discussing the material with their children. Or they will skip Science in the early years. Or use a Sonlight program over the course of a year and a half or two years. Or do the Read-Alouds (some of them, anyway) at night, before bedtime, or during the summer, when the kids are bored.
Some parents, however, just can't shake the feeling that they are utter failures if they don't do every last item mentioned in the Instructor's Guide, and do it in the same order and at the same pace that the guide suggests. If you are this kind of person; if you tend to think that, "I saw it in the Instructor's Guide, therefore I must do it," then we need to warn you: it is possible you will feel overwhelmed. Some customers have told us they take a black marker and mark out those assignments they don't wish to do. The point is, do what you need to so that you can use the Instructor's Guide as the tool it was intended to be - not the master.