Do I have to do everything scheduled and recommended in the Instructor's Guide?

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.

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 that 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 culinary 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 you to try such a feat. And so most parents pick and choose among the Sonlight®assignments.

Almost everyone does all the readings, but many will ignore the comprehension questions. 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 before bedtime, or during the summer.

Some parents, however, just can't shake the feeling that they must 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 quite likely you might feel overwhelmed with Sonlight®.