Sonlight users: what age are your kids when ...

[JadeOrchidSong]

you start Core 1?

I am a bit concerned that we might be behind. My ds7 and my ds5 are doing SL core K now and I know some 8 yr olds are doing core 3 and my ds7 is really behind in comparison. He is very good at reading, just finished the Hobbit and started to read the Fellowship of the Ring against my will (well, my dh allowed him to). He does everything else on or above grade level. We did three rounds of SL preK and are doing core K the second round just for ds5's sake. In fact he is not 5 yet, will turn 5 in three weeks. He remembers every detail in the history and read-alouds we did the first round of core K. He understands long chapter books really well and we have done many above level read-alouds which he enjoyed.

I am now hurrying up to finish core K so that we can get to core 1 and finish it within the year of 2010 (by December 2010). So what do you think?

Please let me know I am ok and not behind.

J

[Dinsfamily]

I won't start Core K with my oldest until he's 6 and Core 1 when he's 7. I still consider him on the young side of the cores. On the SL boards, it seems that many people wait until the youngest is at least 5 to start core K if they are combining students. As long as you have the right readers for him, I don't think there should be any problem.

[ondreeuh]

My son is 8 and doing Core 2, but CHOW is largely going over his head. It's hard to explain, but basically it doesn't engage him by painting a picture, it more describes relationships and decisions. He just kind of glazes over. Time Travelers really draws him in, though.

 

I think it's the rare child who is ready for Core 3 at age 8. Have you seen Landmark? For an early elementary child, it is extremely dry and mature. I think Core 1 is way more appropriate for that age.

[G5052]

Core 1 is for ages 6-8. That's extremely flexible though. Mine were 9 and 6 when we started Core 1, and they loved the read-alouds. I just added reading material for my older one. We went on through Cores 2-4, finishing Core 4 shortly after my oldest turned 12. We school at some level year-round, so we did four cores in basically three calendar years.

 

IMHO you shouldn't look be looking at your kids as being ahead or being behind by the level of the history or science you're using. Focus on their capability in the 3 R's.

[....]

We FLEW through Core 1 for some reason. The kids are 8 and 6. We had some big hits and misses, though.

[Pixie]

My 9yo/3rd grader is doing core 1 this year. She has already sat through some of it when she was 5yo so I am not doing all the read-alouds, just a few of them that she missed (saves my voice since I am doing 3+4 with the oldest). We will be done in less than a year as we sometime double up on history reading depending on what is going on.

[lydiasmommy]

We did Core K and Core 1 over 1 1/2 years each. DD will be finishing Core 1 this year (1st grade).

 

We started early for a variety of reasons, but I wouldn't consider you behind at all. My second DD will likely be "late" going through Core 1, but it really isn't just for first graders.

[Bee]

I did Core 1 wih my oldest when she was 6 and she enjoyed most of the read-alouds and had no problems withkeeping up with it. She's used Sonlight off and on through the years and has had no difficulty with any of the readers or read-alouds in any of the cores. I used very few of the books from Core 1 for second dd when she was 6. She couldn't sit still for most of it and had no interest in it. (Same thing for Core 2 when she was 7). Now that she is 8 she's using quite a bit more of Core 3 than the previous cores and I find myself adding books in that I didn't think she'd be interested in reading at this age. Whatever we don't get to will be around for her to read when she gets older, if she wants.

[Pongo]

I have a 7 yod dd using it, she loves CHOW and it's a fun core to do:)

[Mom0012]

I did Core 1 with my kids when they were 7 and 5, but they both have fall birthdays so they were 8 and 6 not that long after we started.

 

Lisa

[siloam]

My oldest was 1st grade into 2nd, and my 2nd dd was Pre-K into K (took us 1.5 years). To do it over again, I would have them be older, but in the end my kids were hands on learners, so we moved to another curriculum.

 

Keep in mind the spine of Core 3, Landmark History of the American People, is listed as a Read Aloud (not reader) for grades 5 and up in the SL catalog. There are loads of people who have problems with the text every year when using it with 3rd grader students. The older your children are the better chance you will have of making it work, and you can always use a condensed core later on (Alt 7) in order to play a little catch up. You also don't need (though I am sure you would like to) to do core 400. You could simply add a civics course on the side while doing another SL level. No not ideal, but it works.

 

Heather

[JadeOrchidSong]

My little guy will turn 5 in three weeks and he is doing very well with long chapter books. He loved Charlotte's Web, Henry Huggins, Cricket in Time Square, Mouse on Motorcycle, Tale of Despereaux and more. So I think we will finish Core K in a couple months, and start Core 1 right away so that his older brother can be more on target. If ds5 cannot follow CHOW easily, then I will repeat it for him in later years. So that is my plan for now. We will finish Sonlight science K in a month or so and I am thinking of either starting SL science 1, or Apologia Astronomy, or God's Design science (I haven't look at this one yet). What do you use for science for 7 and 5 yr olds?

Thank you again,

J

[meet me in paris]

We love Sonlight, but I have to say that the prominent advice on the forums there is to have kids do the Cores *late* and that didn't work for us. I think if your 5yo has a good attention span and can listen to chapter books, you could easily start Core 1 next year. My daughter was 8 when we started Core 1 (after listening in on Cores 3 & 4) and ABSOLUTELY hated it. It felt "babyish" to her, and there's nothing in the way of seat work outside of the LA. I ended up sending it back after trying to make it work for about 8 weeks. It's one of the big reasons I left those boards after several years over there... a handful of people are highly opinionated and talk everyone out of doing SL at "grade level".

 

You know your child. You can always take longer than one year to do a core, too.

[melmichigan]

a handful of people are highly opinionated and talk everyone out of doing SL at "grade level".

 

You know your child. You can always take longer than one year to do a core, too.

 

:iagree: My DD6's are doing Core 1. My DD, who just turned 10, is doing Core 6. And my DD4 is doing is combo of P3/4, P4/5 and K over 2 years. They are all doing really well and enjoying it (although we do use SOTW and the AG instead of CHOW).

 

I think I'd worry more about being "behind" in the 3 R's too. :)

Edited December 11, 2009 by melmichigan