We are just finishing up Core B with my 7 year old son. He used the Grade 3 readers, but we didn't use the LA. It's about 1 chapter a day to read, which was not much for him, as he's a strong reader. To challenge his reading level, I've just added in other chapter books from our library. I have an assigned reading time when he does his Sonlight readers and a 30 minute free read time during which he reads the library books. I've found this to be a good balance. I agree that it would be a good idea to save the 4/5 Readers for Core C - otherwise you will run out of reader options unless you just do your own thing. As to the Core Tips CD, it is pretty much a list of links for additional information or a few hands on projects. We've used all the links for the Akebu to Zapotec book, and a few of the others as we went along. I also bought the Handle on the Arts program for Core B, though I confess I didn't use very much of it. I found out we didn't need as much hands-on as I thought we might. I bought the History Pockets Ancient Civilizations too, but it was pretty much just busy work. There were things in both HOTA and History Pockets that we used and liked, but we didn't use a high enough percentage of the materials to justify the cost. Oh, and I did buy an ancient Roman coin kit from Hearts and Hands - that's pretty neat. We have really loved Core B - there's not been a book my son hasn't liked in either the readers or the read alouds, and he's liked the history selections, too. Hope you enjoy it as much as we have!

Wow, your list looks great! We'll be doing Core C too. I bought the Handle on the Arts for B for this past year, and we did some of the projects, but I'm not going to buy one for Core C. To buy the supplies I didn't have (and weren't readily available in my area) was kind of expensive. I also bought the history pockets, but found them to be kind of busy work. I found doing some of the things from the Core Tips CD and just the regularly scheduled Sonlight stuff to be enough for us. I guess my son's need for hands on wasn't as high as I thought it'd be. The Hands and Hearts stuff looks good, too, and I think it might come with the supplies you need. I think it just depends on how much hands on stuff your kids need.

I am looking for a math supplement to use with my 7 year old son over the summer. We are finishing up Horizons 1 and like it, but he is needing more practice on his addition and subtraction facts over the summer. We're expecting a baby in June, so more independent rather than teacher-intensive would be great. Any suggestions?

My 6 year old LOVED Boy of the Pyramids by Ruth Fosdick Jones this year. We got it from Simply Charlotte Mason.

Reformed here, too. Of your three options, I'd vote for BSGFAA. It was one of my top choices. I think we're actually going to use Foundations from Anne Elliott. I discovered that I had it saved on my computer from a few years back when I ran across it for free :) and I like that it's a chronological study. I also like the sword drills.

We just received our Core B order, and yes, the Core Tips CD is basically a list of website links for things, week by week. I think it will be helpful for us, but I've also purchased the History Pockets Ancient Civilizations and the Handle on the Arts Core 1 hands-on package to go along with it. With all these things, plus all the extra resources suggested on the Sonlight forums, I think we'll have plenty to do.

Jennifer, what you said about Biblical integration only in year one DOES make sense. You run out of Bible history at a certain point in world history. I will have to take a look at TOG, probably more for logic/rhetoric stages. It's price tag scares me a bit, but I know the comments and helps for those levels are fantastic. mom2samlibby - I have used HOD - LHTH and LHFHG. I like many of Carrie's choices, and I like the "heart" of the program, but the guides just aren't a good fit for us.

I had been all set in my mind to use Sonlight 1 for history/readers/read alouds next year with my 7 year old son, but then my husband and I got talking. We determined that our biggest priorities in a history curriculum are: missions focus, Bible/history integration, and living books. (Ideally, we'd like a Reformed viewpoint, too). I think Sonlight would meet our needs for living books and missions, but am not sure about the integration of Bible and history. So I started looking at MFW. Looking at Adventures, which is the level we'd need, doesn't exactly excite me, but I do like the look of it once they start into the history rotation. I do worry about availability of books for the book basket, as we live in rural Iowa, and our library selection is pretty limited. I also have checked out easyclassical, which uses VP and SOTW (but no mission focus). So, help me out or confuse me some more - what do you think best fits our primary goals of mission focus, Bible/history integration, and living books? Sonlight, MFW, or something else?

We will be using SL Core 1 with our soon to be 7 year old son next year. I see they have the Book of Time as one of their recommended resources. I also like the idea of having a wall timeline to visually see the flow of history. Could I just use the timeline figures on the wall? Or is there a benefit to using the book instead? Or could I get 2 sets of figures and do both (would that be overkill)?

I am wondering if there's any good (and I hope, not too expensive) software out there I can use to reinforce math concepts with my 1st grader? He's doing well, but it's definitely not his strongest subject. I'd love something that makes practicing adding or money into a game that he could have fun with. Anything like that out there? Andrea

Thanks for all your input. They are BOTH good programs, and that's what makes the decision so hard. I actually ordered the Biblioplan guide to see more of how it was structured and what resources it uses. Our library literally has none of the books it uses. I've been talking it over with my husband, and I think we're leaning to using Sonlight. He thinks, and I agree, that having it planned for me would be a big benefit. And I think I'll be able to flex with the IG. When I used HOD, of course it was including ALL the subjects on a page, which caused us to get all messed up with days, as we'd go faster in some subjects than others. Since the Core is really history/readers/read alouds, I think we'll be ok. And having it all come in a box with an 18 week guarantee is nice, too. So that's where I'm at today...ask me again in a few hours, and I might change my mind! :tongue_smilie:

I'm planning my resources for next year, and I'm trying to decide between Biblioplan Ancients and Sonlight Core 1 to use with my oldest, who will be 7. We love to read, and this is what draws me to Sonlight - the great books! However, and this is down the road a ways, my boys are 5 years apart in age (my next son will be 2), and if we go the Sonlight route, that would mean that I'd be teaching two cores down the road. Is that doable? Or should I not even worry about something several years away? I can see that if they are in Core 6 and Core 1 at the same time, they are studying the same time period, but what about Core 5 and Core K? I am also not sure how restricted I would feel using the IG. We used HOD for my oldest 2 years ago, and I hated being trapped in a 5 day a week unit. Would Sonlight make me feel that way, too? And my son is currently reading some of the Readers 2 Intermediate, so he'll be ready for Readers 2 Advanced next year...so what would I use for readers for Core 2 when we get there? I really like the looks of Biblioplan, and I like that I can just roll my youngest into the time period we're studying when he's ready. I like that it uses SOTW and incorporates the Bible history too. I don't like that I can't see a complete booklist, because I don't know how much it will cost me. We live in a more rural area, and while we love our library, it doesn't usually have many of the books recommended by many programs. I have thought about using Biblioplan for history, Sonlight Readers 2 Advanced for independent reading, and some of the read alouds for our evening family read aloud time. Would that give me the "best of both worlds"? Soo...those are my rambling thoughts! Any opinions? Thanks! Andrea

Hello! I've been a wallflower (I hate the term lurker!) here for a long time and finally decided to join the party! I have been using OPG with my ds4 this year, and though I love it, my son doesn't. Reading directly from the book was a no-go from the start - I've done the white board, printed it in large font on the computer, added cute pictures to make the story more interesting to read (without giving away the words). He won't work with me on it. That's not to say he's not learning - when we DO get through it, he is very capable and retains what we've learned. He's constantly sounding things out as he goes about his day and can tell me how to spell words he's interested in. He discovered level 1 readers at our library & Wal-Mart and loves to sit with me and work on those. However, he hasn't learned all the rules he needs to read them yet, because we haven't gotten that far in OPG. Is this a problem with the program not fitting the kid, or do I just need to keep spoonfeeding little bits at a time and encouraging him to read what he can as often as he can? Thanks!