This happens! Not to fret, Torchlight has many truly engaging audiobooks in our ranks. We recommend letting children do a “mindless task”, a.k.a. something that does not occupy much concentration. Examples of this are playing with a chunk of clay (a personal favorite). They can even be asked to mold a figure of something they hear about in the story. another option is doodling, which tends to work better for older kids that are accomplished doodlers. Other options include playing with a rubber band, knitting (or crocheting), or simply walking around the kitchen island as you read or both listen. We also have a list of alternatives and we make a concerted effort to include variety, like engaging and educational comic-books. If Torchlight ends up just not being the right choice for you, we understand and our feelings won’t be hurt. We still wish you the best of luck finding your best fit!

Teaching healthful movement is personal to each family, but studies suggest that small bursts of time outside can reinvigorate learning, absorption, and attention. If things are starting to go sideways and become stress-inducing we encourage a break with a little physical activity. We have included curriculum for science (Be Naturally Curious) and our recommended Reading (Logic of English) that include lots of full-body activities and games purposely, but we also encourage daily movement during learning. This is the driving force behind our Pantomime Poetry. Some Cosmic Kids Yoga is great any time of day, even as a break between subjects. A quick outside game of “What Animal Am I?” or “Can You be a________?” on the lawn as they run from side to side acting out their given or chosen animal can be a lot of fun and just what is needed to break-up the day. Conducting lessons outside is also a well-loved option and greatly encouraged. We support coming up with (or using these) options to pull from when the need arises.

The main benefit of crafts is to hone fine motor skills and work on process. We have included cross-curricular art that involves shapes, cutting skills, and solid process skills practice. We also include drawing, which is of the utmost importance to fine-motor development and imagination. Many scheduled and extension projects are also included. We prefer to stay away from crafts that attempt to reproduce cultural artifacts because we find far more value in children being introduced to the real artifacts and learning to respect the customs and beauty behind how and why they are made. There are a handful of extension projects that do illustrate a skill through reproduction, but without treading on the cultural significance. We do include a lot of fun exposure to works of art, both paintings and music, in this level. We hope this bring forth many wonderful questions followed by deep discussions and lead to aspirations of creating their own art. Future levels will include art activities based on technique and historic significance. We also hope our families will consider adopting the frequent practice of allowing learners to mold clay, draw, paint, or color during read aloud. This allows some kids to process better while giving them opportunities to explore art mediums with no expectations, just their own creativity.

One small note on how questions were intended to be handled with this curriculum. This will address both literature comprehension questions and general inquiry questions, so bear with us. Each family has their own style, but it might help to know our ideas when formulating this curriculum. We honor the phrase, “I don’t know, but let’s look it up!” The intention is two-fold; We want children to understand that age and position does not equal infallible or all-knowing and we want them to inherit the habit of inquiry and research. We believe it is more than alright not to have all the answers at the tip of your tongue, but develop the habit of allowing a question to drive them to educate themselves. We live in an information age and what we feel is most valuable is competence and drive to find what you need and problem solve. We feel this comes from practice that develops a healthy habit.

Comprehension questions are a standard part of most curriculums with a literature component. Torchlight is a bit different. While we might include some questions as a guide, we prefer to provide notes to the learning partner that help set-up any reading for success. These notes will address learning opportunities in the form of deep discussions regarding philosophy, psychology, logic, morals/character, and exploration of ideas.

The reason for this approach is to allow for a more organic flow of reading, discussion and inquiry. To assist in this Torchlight has provided our signature Questioning Trees coupled with notations when applicable, which will increase as the levels progress. Standard discussion questions have a tendency to stifle organic thought and inquiry. They also have a reputation for simply testing whether the reader completed the assigned reading as opposed to really thought about what they were reading. We hope this approach will change that with open-ended Socratic questioning that asks the reader to ponder what they are curious about and develop a healthy habit of wondering as they read.

One of the goals of Torchlight literature studies is to help learners engage with literature thoughtfully, allowing them to gain a worldly perspective, empathy, and insights into human psychology without having to travel the world. Socratic-inspired literature studies help set learners up to read more difficult literature later in life and truly have the skills to break it down and understand it. This skill bleeds into social skills, reasoning, self-knowledge, and many more skills.

Every time a child experiences a book, they exercise empathy and build their vocabulary. That is Torchlight’s goal. The more we read and carefully discuss what we read the better we get at spotting themes, tropes, and nuances in literature, effortlessly, and joyfully gaining skills. When you become good at this you feel more connected to the characters, the author, the world around you, broadening your perspective about the world, yourself, and others.

Yes! Torchlight is an eclectic literature-based program, which means we cater to many different learning styles and strive to use the latest research-based methods in our pedagogy. Torchlight includes audiobook options, hands-on projects, year-long writing projects, hands-on art projects, engineering challenges, video learning, handicrafts, and so much more.

Aside from our Level Pre-K, which includes all subjects, all other Torchlight levels are created for maximum flexibility by having each family adding their math and reading instruction programs. Most learners are asynchronous and require programs tailored to their learning needs for these subjects. While Torchlight has some recommended programs listed as “top picks,” all families are welcome to choose the programs that fit best for their learners. All recommended programs are located within each level and chosen because they are well-crafted and well-researched.

Torchlight levels also include at least one extra “subject” within each level. In Pre-K we cover emotional intelligence. Level 1 includes world mythology. In Level 2 we start our studies in logic. Level 3 covers innovation. Our upcoming Level 4 will dive into moral philosophy.

Our Level K includes writing opportunities that are to be dictated verbally to the learning partner. A child does not need to complete the physical act of writing to become a writer. Being a writer involves learning how to put our thoughts into comprehensible communication for others to benefit. This practice can be practiced early and often without taxing the growing physiology of a child. We do include a few activities in Pre-K that help learners to practice writing their names but do not require any lengthy writing for young learners.

If you are using Level K with an older learner, as many of our users do, these writing assignments are a wonderful fit for older learners to complete on their own.

Socratic education is a very different approach than narration. Narration’s aim is comprehension through a lens of your own experience. Socratic questioning and discussion’s purpose are to find deeper truths, including the questioning of your own experience. Socratic discussion aims to broaden your current worldview, as opposed to using it as a filter. It challenges what you know, how you know it, and forces the learner to bring their own set of core knowledge into question. The methods help form the habit of continually testing your current ideas and worldviews.

Socratic discussion is not something you can fully implement with an entry-level learner. It takes the building of skills, maturity, and formation of big ideas layered on top of a slowly developed habit of open-ended questioning that progresses into a well-formed cycle. With Torchlight, in Level K the goal is to instill a love of reading with an academic focus and support a wider worldview. Then, to gently focus on developing a habit of looking deeper without closing off discussion in favor of regurgitation. Learners will become accustomed to open-ended questions with no singular correct answers. There is a reason we use the terminology of “learner” and “learning partner.” There is not one person in this scenario with the right answers. The learners are developing the tools they need to find answers alongside their learning partners. As the levels progress, the questioning will deepen further still, and the cycle of Socratic thought introduced. Logic, as a subject will be introduced and practiced in Level 2. Psychology and philosophy will also continue to have a heavier presence as the learner enters higher levels. The ultimate goal is to make the learner competent in using the skills throughout their life to find solid truths, continually test those truths as new information presents itself, and be comfortable with their conclusions regarding abstract concepts that have no one truth (philosophy). This practice develops skills to question their beliefs instead of staying rigid. It is a skill that applies far beyond the classroom experience.

Torchlight was created for many different types of learners, from classical education with a twist to unschoolers. Torchlight provides structure and resources while welcoming tailoring. Each week presents multiple topics for exploration, all woven together, allowing for layered learning and rabbit trails, if you choose to take them. Each week also contains an “extensions” section full of extra resources for further learning and alternative learning options, and a year-long project that helps tie the weeks together.

Torchlight can be used to the letter with our optional weekly schedule or as a flexible checklist. Being you and your learner’s educational experience, you should feel free to tailor it in ways that bring joy to your learning, allowing you to get the most out of every last drop!

Torchlight will be releasing one level per year plus new individual studies as time permits. Torchlight builds skills with each level. In Level K, we focused a lot on global and cultural exposure. Exposure garners inquiry, interest, and understanding, the first step in fostering your learner’s worldview building. In Level 1 we add in partnership writing, cultural storytelling, and deep discussions about the observations we are making, which adds depth to their discoveries and offers methods of processing the world around them. In Level 2 we add in multiple writing styles to help them harness this new communication medium and allow them to take ownership. We also introduce vocabulary and grammar to slowly give them the tools needed to feel they can use this communication method successfully. In Level 2 we start our logic and research studies. In Level 3 we will be adding in short weekly editing and writing opportunities inspired by the literature. Hands-on projects help them explore how they relate to the literature and how they feel about more complex ideas or quandaries presented within the literature, providing strong self-reflection moments and getting them used to the beginnings of written analysis, research, and even art curation. We will also learn different methods we can use to discuss and observe art and connect art pieces to time, place, and artists’ intention versus our emotional response. We will learn about the very human artists behind the moniker of “master” to bring these pursuits into perspective and understand that we are all capable of producing art. Through our inquiry and innovation thread, we will be learning how to fail and fix until we succeed when something is meaningful to us. In Level 4 we will be learning more about scientists and authors and how to organize our big ideas into something more than short writing pieces and observations with long-term projects. We will be tackling open questions of morality and grey areas through philosophy studies and literature that ties in historical errors and victories. Through all levels, we are growing our ability to take in information, process it through multiple angles, and exhaust possibilities before landing on a well-thought-out worldview. Then, communicate our perspectives while keeping our minds open enough to take in more information that could change the trajectory of our thoughts.

All this to say that Torchlight will continue venturing to grow learners that love to learn and will be able to master the skills (academic, cultural, philosophical, etc.) required to function successfully within our societies while being engaged and challenged. We venture to pull back the curtain on the successes and failures throughout time and place that make humanity worthy of study. We will continue to provide materials to accomplish this as long as users invite us into their homes/learning spaces.

Each level does roughly correlate to the equivocal numerical grade level. By “roughly,” we mean that Torchlight is a very flexible program created with tailoring in mind. Each level contains extensions, alternates, and extra book additions needed to tailor the level for older learners. Our writing assignments are open-ended, allowing for the learning partner to set the expectations on complexity, whether you choose partner writing to ease your learner into the process or you have a proficient writer that prefers to write novels!

With that said, Torchlight is known for being on the advanced side of academics. Therefore we have a large portion of users finding a perfect fit in the lower levels with older learners. A large contingent of our users report Level K has a very wide user range from approximately ages 4-12 due to its extensions.

Torchlight levels include an extension list in each week and an alternate/additional older learners list for the spines included in each level. Our Levels 1 & 2 are the only levels that do not yet contain the alternate/additional older learners list within the curriculum, but the list can be found in Member’s Resources.

Our year-long projects are open-ended, allowing the learning partner to tailor expectations to the learner’s ability.

All workbooks, appendices, and accompanying lists and documents are included in your download .zip file. Be sure to extract the .zip file to access all parts of the curriculum.

All Torchlight levels come with a 60-day download term, so be sure to save your purchased copy to your computer.

Absolutely! Due to the flexibility and added resources to all Torchlight levels, it is perfectly suited to be used with age ranges. Having the math and reading instruction separate (except in Pre-K) allows for further tailoring in these subjects.

The writing assignments are open-ended, allowing for separate expectations from each learner, dependent on their abilities.

These levels work well as stand-alone weeks with a few exceptions of weeks written to take advantage of time-of-year events and weather. Level Pre-K comes with alternate math & pre-reading schedules that you can follow to keep these lessons in order for skill-building while you skip around the weeks, as you wish.

Focusing on one continent at a time seems more intuitive and structured, but cognitive scientists have shown that spaced retrieval of information is far more effective in an educational setting, allowing for shorter focuses, switching gears, then revisiting. Practice in retrieving the information and building upon it with a fresh perspective helps with retention and allows for a clearer separation of culture from country to country.

This method also plays right into exploring history in chronological order, which is what we will be doing in future levels.

You will need the books included in the book list at the beginning of each level and the supplies list to complete all hands-on projects. We do recommend, for ease, that you purchase the spines, which are notated within the book list.

To make vetting your library very easy, many users find the Library Extension add-on (works with Chrome and Firefox currently) very useful to check if their library has a good selection of the required books. Once installed, you can click on each linked book on the Level’s page, and it will take you to Amazon, where it will show if your local library carries copies. You can also print out the book list and bring it to your friendly local librarian for help.

Most libraries are wonderful about ordering requested books. They want to carry books their patrons want. You can start by looking into inter-library transfers to acquire all the books needed. If that is not a complete success, you can bring in the printed book list and ask your librarian how to request books to be purchased by the library. If all else fails, used and discount book shops and sites are a good alternative.

A spine is a book that will get frequent use all through the level. Some books, particularly thematic picture books or the read aloud literature books, will be read only once during the level. Spines are books that will be referenced frequently, sometimes weekly.

Now there is! We are working on compiling Bookshop.org lists for each level.  These lists will be found on the Torchlight website, each being hosted on the page for the corresponding level. On these lists, we are able to note which books are spines. We currently have lists for Level K, Level 1, Level 3, and Level 4 that notes which books are spines for planning convenience.

There is no singular way to perform a Socratic discussion. There is no strict layout or “rules” to the style. The basis of the style was taken from Socrates’ habit of answering questions with more questioning, allowing the discussion partner to dig deeper, explore multiple perspectives, and question their own biases and pre-conceived thoughts. The Torchlight curriculum method entails asking open-ended questioning, allowing learners to explore possibilities, not in search for a singular correct answer. Practicing inquiry-based learning consistently, helps learners keep an open mind and welcome questioning in their daily lives, which helps to slowly dismantle the Backfire Effect most humans experience, which limits our capacity to grow and change.

Recently, we have added a new feature to our website, the Torchlight Level Placement Tool! You can go through this quick and easy quiz to see what level is recommended for your learner(s).

https://torchlightcurriculum.com/torchlight/levelplacement/

Not only can you, it’s recommended for learners close in age and one of the reasons Torchlight was created to be intentionally flexible for families. In the curriculum guides, there are recommendations for older learners as well as extension ideas to lengthen the learning.

Some of the books line up with the weekly theme but not all, Torchlight is designed to be flexible and adaptable for the needs of your family so you can use all of it or just the parts that work for you and your learners. Literature and history are the two most integrated topics, but still allow for a literature replacement when desired.

The amount of time spent doing Torchlight work each day varies based on level and on your learners interest and inclusion of extensions. A good rule of thumb is about 15 minutes per year of age, per day.

The scheduled literature is intended to be read aloud, not independently by the child/children. The best way for you to have a Socratic discussion is if you are reading these books together and are able to ask your learner(s) the open ended questions contained within the Literature Primers.

There are certainly elements within this curriculum that cover and exceed many state standards. However, state learning standards differ greatly from one state to the next. As such, we could never create a blanket statement guaranteeing Torchlight aligns with all state standards.

No. Becoming accredited is a long, arduous, and expensive process that holds little to no benefit for learners or their families, therefore Torchlight has not undertaken this process.

Torchlight does not provide any assessments or testing. There are, however, ample opportunities for the learner(s) to draw from what they have learned and demonstrate it in writing assignments, vocabulary work and yearlong projects. One of the many benefits to homeschooling is a very low learner to learning partner ratio, in many cases 1:1, therefore it is easy to track what your learner is absorbing and what skills might need attention.

You are purchasing digital PDF documents. The list of included subjects, and items are located on the page for each individual level. There are no physical materials included in your purchase.

The PDF is copyright protected, this means that you are unable to copy and paste or make edits to the text. You are able to open the PDF in other programs, like Notability, and can use markup there to make notes on the curriculum.

This is a hard one to answer. Perhaps, yes, if your boards are set to private and you are following Trello’s terms of service, including not sharing the Torchlight schedule with anyone. But likely, the answer is no. Here’s why. While we can see wanting to plan digitally, and having a lighter workload by asking to have someone else’s Torchlight schedule shared, there is a much darker side to sharing Torchlight, in any form, with others, i.e. Trello boards or other digital resources that have Torchlight transferred onto them. These resources, when set to “Public” can be crawled by search engines. I have been in contact with Trello, trying to figure out if I can find any way to meet the desires of some of our users. They have informed me that they do not allow copyrighted materials to be entered into Trello as it is not only copyright infringement, but also breaking their terms of service.

Part of Torchlight’s ethos is integrity, kindness, and support. So, we ask our users to support our copyright, and we dare to ask that you be an ally and raise your voice if you see Torchlight being shared elsewhere, always being kind, but vocal on why this is not acceptable and why digital boards, like Trello, cannot be shared. We also ask you to act with this same integrity with all other curricula, not just ours.

If you are able, the library is a fantastic option! However, not all library systems have the same offerings. Many libraries allow you to request they purchase books that are not in their system. If you find yourself needing to purchase, there are several great options. You can utilize our Bookshop.org lists and support local bookshops. You can use our amazon linked list on each Level’s page. If you’d like to try and save some money, second hand sites are a great choice as well. ThriftBooks, Better World Books and AbeBooks are a good place to start. If you visit Bookfinder.com and search the book you are looking for, various retailers should pop up displaying options for purchasing that book. Using a tool called Library Extension for Chrome browsers can be very helpful in searching your local library and some online digital sources as well.

You can typically expect a sale at the end of each June and again around late November that offer 10-15% off our PDF products and bundles.

You may print the curriculum for personal use with your learners. If you are using it with multiple learners in your own family you may print as many Student Book copies as needed. If you would like to use it in a co-op or a group class please contact Torchlight for licensing information.

You may struggle with certain chain stores like Staples or Office Depot as they see any protections as a reason to reject a print job. While Torchlight is not print protected, it is copy protected. You can contact Staples or Office Depot and discuss this, if you prefer to use their services, or you can use on online print option. There are a few small companies that cater to curriculum printing for homeschooling families like The Homeschool Printing Company or larger online printers like Cheaper Copies and Better Value Copy.

The main guide book is set up to printed double-sided to save paper and to be printed in black and white, if you choose. Some of the appendixes and student books are designed to be printed single sided as some require cutting. It is recommended that you look through them and base the decision about how to print on your needs.

We love saving trees! You may sell your printed curriculum to a person who also has a valid proof of purchase and owns the PDF products themselves. Any selling of a printed Torchlight Curriculum product must be done through the Torchlight Buy/Sell/Trade Facebook page and buyers must be verified by Torchlight Curriculum prior to purchase.

All levels allow 60 days to download and save your purchase to your personal computer.

All corrections and out of print book updates will be provided to current license holders, however, if a level undergoes a complete overhaul, it will be considered a brand new edition and due to the work and time involved in updating the materials, it will require a new purchase.