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Sonlight’s Hands-On History Kit is Great for Big Families

We used Sonlight’s Hands-On History Kit for the first time and I was curious if it could make the BIG FAMILY cut. We are a very big family. Sonlight is the curriculum that we use with seven students, ranging from first to tenth grade. Currently, we are using two HBL (American History 120, and American History D) to help streamline our school day with seven kids at home. Now, we are trying Sonlight’s Hands-On History Kit to see if they can streamline history crafts too. What drew me to Sonlight in the first place was the ability to group multiple students together for cohesive teaching and less fragmentation…of my brain.

Are you looking for ways to make big family homeschooling easier? Sonlight has been the answer for our family. Even when we had ten kids at home we never used more than three HBL. The question is: could Sonlight make a Hands-On Learning kit that could fit us? They already help us streamline our school day, could they make history crafts easier to do too?

 

Why Past “Kits” Have Not Been My Favorite

Everything we do is on a 10x scale. We buy mayo in a gallon jug. Most kits or craft sets that come with a curriculum don’t fit our family size. Often the focus is on one child/learner and the parts are geared for one user. I have been disappointed before when I purchased a kit that was completely unshareable. As a big family we need a kit that has a lot of mileage and can be used with more than one child at the same time.

We were excited to receive a Hand-On History Kit from Sonlight Curriculum to try with our family as part of a summer giveaway. I have to say we are loving it. Sonlight’s Hands-On Learning Kit is smarter than any kit we have ever received in the past.

Reasons the Hands-On History Kit is Better…

• Multiple Glue Bottles
• Tear Apart Glue Dots
• Individually Bagged Projects
• Focused Historical Time Frames
• Genius Guide Book (they had us in mind)
• Easy to Follow Instructions

 

Do You Hate Crafting Chaos?

In a big family “crafting” can be code for huge mess! I don’t do a lot of structured projects because it tends to be less fun when we are all frustrated. Also, I don’t need seven of the same mobile hanging in every window. Some of the reasons we don’t purchase craft kits are; with twelve people at home we need to minimize visual clutter and we are not terribly sentimental, but kids are. Most finished projects don’t last the week before they get tossed.

In the past, I let the kids create on their own crafts with little instruction or assistance from myself. I love the idea of doing a more formal set of History oriented craft projects that reinforce the subjects we have covered in our reading time over the last year.

This was the best part of using the Hands-On Kit from Sonlight. We weren’t just making scraps for the recycle bin. Using a History Kit from Sonlight meant the “doing” of the project was the central focus, even more than the finished item itself. We value experiences over stuff, so this was a great fit for our family.

 

Everything They Need is in Here

When I first opened our Hands-On History Kit, I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to use it with the three kids who are schooling together. Each child picked a history craft related to the subject they were interested in the World History Project Kit and took the individually bagged set out of the box. All we needed was a pen and scissors. I was stumped for only a minute because one project needed a ruler. It is summer right now; last year’s school supplies are long gone. Before I had to go and dig in the math manipulative box, I noticed that Sonlight had printed a ruler on the cover of the instruction guide as well on the sturdy box everything came in. Yay, for Sonlight!

 

Sonlight Hands-On History Craft Kit is Smarter

Everyone had their bags and were ready to get creating, but I had one instruction guide. For a moment I worried; was I going to have to spend the afternoon alternating pages and relaying instructions. (that would be the opposite of fun) I broke out in a small sweat. Thinking quickly, I flipped the pages to see if I could tear out the pages for the oldest to work on her own. To my immediate relief, I noticed that each and every project could be torn out independently without taking a page from another project. NO SHARED PAGES.

I grabbed a stapler, tore out each project’s instructions and stapled new, little individual booklets. I handed out the ones the kids were working on, then, folded the rest and tucked them in the bag with their corresponding project. Now, our kit is “grab-and-go ready” for anytime we want to take a History Craft project to go.

My kids can share, but often we choose to allow the kids to work on a hands-on project while I read. Having everything they need right there and not having to wait for a sibling to finish with the glue is a huge blessing because it reduces interruptions and opportunities for bickering. I want them to work on manners, just not while I am trying to read Johnny Tremain!

Check Our What Sonlight has to Offer

We have been moving toward more hands-on history learning in our homeschool this year. We have actually been incorporating components of Sonlight’s American History I Lap Book in our read-aloud time. This coming school year we are going to be using Sonlights election guide. You can grab the free download here too. Every group of students is different, and this set of “littles” is a hands-on group. The History connected learning projects are something I will keep using because we can review and add to them through the whole school year.

Find Out More About Sonlight

We have been a Sonlight family for over fifteen years. We have found ways to make ONE curriculum work for all ten of our kids. You can use my code to get $5 off your first order of $50. That means you could save now on your choice of a Hands-On History Kit today.