Question re: Sonlight 3/4 & 5

[Kimm in WA]

Is anyone that is or has used Sonlight 3/4 address something I heard about it? A friend got the IG at a curric. fair and said she had buyer's remorse due to the book they use for the main history book. She said that there were so many notes in the IG about editing the text, replacing words and paragraphs, because it is a non-Christian viewpoint that she didn't get why they were using that book. She said that she heard that Sonlight used to use another book but they switched because, even though it was written from a Christian perspective, they thought it was incorrect.

 

Can anyone speak to this issue? I was just going to order the IG, and the 3/4 books on the list that the library doesn't have, to use with my 5th grader next year. I REALLY liked the core 5, but the gals on the Sonlight board said it was better to use with 6th grade and above...opinions?

 

Thanks so much,

 

Kimm in WA

[Kimm in WA]

Oops, didn't know they had a pre-K 3/4. What I meant was 3+4 and 5.

Kimm

[swimmermom3]

Kimm, I have several cores' worth of John Holzmann's notes rattling around in my head, so if what follows is incorrect, I hope someone else steps forward.

 

First, I can't imagine not being happy with Core 3+4. It remains one of our favorite SL cores as the history flows smoothly and the literature for the most part is very good. The main spine is four thin books entitled The Story of the USA. Each chapter presents 2-3 pages of text, some comprehension questions and I believe, one essay question. It's basic, no frills American history. I think you could probably find a better spine and not miss these books. If I remember correctly, Mr. Holzmann's notes were most extensive in the final book covering contemporary history. Now I could be confusing this with Core 100 or they may both have extensive notes regarding certain presidents not being as effective as commonly presented. Eisenhower's New Deal and Kennedy may have been in there. I think Holzmann may have questioned the accuracy of some of the information. Honestly, there was a point where I stopped looking at the notes. From a personal viewpoint, the Daniel Boorstin book is not to be missed. Since it is hefty, it works well with the main spine.

 

I did Core 5 with a 5th grader. I think 6th grade is better if you are set on using the Eastern Hemisphere Explorer and really focusing on research skills. After a while, we pitched the EHE and made the core focus primarily cultural. That would work well for a 5th grader. I don't know if any of this helps. If you don't get any ohter more specific responses, I will go pull out the IG for SL 3+4 and refresh my memory.

[Cynful]

Core 3+4 uses Landmark History of the American People as the main spine along with the books SwimmerMom mentioned, Story of the USA. It's not Christian, but I wouldn't call it non-Christian. They used to use a providential history book but changed to this quite a while ago. The notes and editing of the text is to make it easier for a child to understand and make it easier to fit it all in during the whole year. It does have other notes to give other points of view but I wouldn't be worried about it at all. We've loved Landmark and we read all the chapters, even the ones not scheduled.

 

I, too, think Core 5 is best done on the upper range of age levels. However, you can always modify it to fit your child's level. That's the best thing about Sonlight (really homeschool in general) - you can adjust where needed. :)

 

Good luck,

[swimmermom3]

Core 3+4 uses Landmark History of the American People as the main spine along with the books SwimmerMom mentioned, Story of the USA. It's not Christian, but I wouldn't call it non-Christian. They used to use a providential history book but changed to this quite a while ago. The notes and editing of the text is to make it easier for a child to understand and make it easier to fit it all in during the whole year. It does have other notes to give other points of view but I wouldn't be worried about it at all. We've loved Landmark and we read all the chapters, even the ones not scheduled.

 

I, too, think Core 5 is best done on the upper range of age levels. However, you can always modify it to fit your child's level. That's the best thing about Sonlight (really homeschool in general) - you can adjust where needed. :)

 

Good luck,

 

I've heard so many people say that they dropped The Landmark book that I hesitated to mention it as the main spine. I don't think you start with it right away either do you? We just viewed The Story of the USA as an outline. The Landmark book is the meat and it is very good.

[Cynful]

I've heard so many people say that they dropped The Landmark book that I hesitated to mention it as the main spine. I don't think you start with it right away either do you? We just viewed The Story of the USA as an outline. The Landmark book is the meat and it is very good.

 

You're right, I just checked and Landmark starts in Week 4.

[Jen+4dc]

Disclaimer: John Holzmann's notes always annoyed me. His view of Christianity just doesn't mesh well with mine.:tongue_smilie:

 

I didn't edit :)

 

LOTS do NOT edit and just read it as is.

 

I didn't read it to my son when he did Core 3+4, but I DID read it myself and we had many discussions about it.

 

I am reading it to my daughter tho so I can just discuss what I want to as we go.

 

I love Landmark!!!!

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

 

If I were giving advice to your friend I'd say read through some of the notes and see what she thinks. Personally, I ignored most of them. I either read the whole thing and had a great discussion with my kids or I edited it on the fly.

 

I love Landmark, it brought a cultural side to the history we were reading. We liked it far better than Story of the USA (which gave us some great discussions on point-of-view and propaganda during book 4!!) I wouldn't skip it! During Story of the USA book 4 we read about MLK, Jr. we then watched the I Have a Dream speech on Youtube and discussed nonviolent vs. violent protests. Dd 12 (at the time) actually made the connection herself that the opposite of nonviolent protest is terrorism. We had a wonderful discussion on what terrorism does/does not accomplish and compared the Palestinian quest for an independent nation post WWII with the Civil Rights movement in America. It was one of the best discussions we had that year.

[meet me in paris]

I didn't edit :)

 

LOTS do NOT edit and just read it as is.

 

I didn't read it to my son when he did Core 3+4, but I DID read it myself and we had many discussions about it.

 

:iagree: We LOVED Cores 3 & 4. I didn't mind the Boorstin book and I skipped all of JH's notes. My daughter was in 5th when we did it, and it was great.

[Tree Frog]

Is anyone that is or has used Sonlight 3/4 address something I heard about it? A friend got the IG at a curric. fair and said she had buyer's remorse due to the book they use for the main history book. She said that there were so many notes in the IG about editing the text, replacing words and paragraphs, because it is a non-Christian viewpoint that she didn't get why they were using that book. She said that she heard that Sonlight used to use another book but they switched because, even though it was written from a Christian perspective, they thought it was incorrect.

 

Can anyone speak to this issue? I was just going to order the IG, and the 3/4 books on the list that the library doesn't have, to use with my 5th grader next year. I REALLY liked the core 5, but the gals on the Sonlight board said it was better to use with 6th grade and above...opinions?

 

Thanks so much,

 

Kimm in WA

 

Another spine is the Landmark book. There are many suggestions for editing it, to make it like a "Reader's Digest Condensed Book". Maybe that's what your friend was referring to. We've done 3, 4, and 3/4 and I have never edited it when reading it out loud, but my kids never really got into the book. (I thought it was interesting.) I don't think it's a book told necessarily from a Christian viewpoint, but SL uses many books that aren't Christian.

 

My dd is using Core 5 as a 5th/6th grader. It will take her 18 months to finish. Initially, as she got used to researching the EHE, it was very time-consuming. Now, half way through, she knows how to find what she needs to find. My oldest dd completed Core 5 as a 5th grader without any problems. I think it really depends on each child and anything else you incorporate into the Core. (She also completed Core 3/4 as a 4th grader and hated it. It was a lot to do and because it was our first year hsing, I made sure she completed everything mentioned in the IG. I have since relaxed a little since then!)

[swimmermom3]

I am delighted to hear of other happy readers of the Boorstin book. My son was forever begging for me to read out of "the big blue book." Thanks to Kareni, I have now read two more of Boorstin's books for my own enjoyment.

[Chris in VA]

I liked Landmark, but it wasn't as sequential/chronological as I wanted. It was more thematic. I liked the writing, tho.

 

I will say John Holtzman was in error about George Washington's piety, however.

[MerryAtHope]

Landmark isn't edited because of non-Christian content (or if it is in some place, that's not the overall goal. I don't remember any such editing, but there could be a place or two that I don't recall.). It's edited because some kids on the younger side of SL's recommended ages struggle with listening to it. As a read-aloud it's listed as 5th grade level! The reader level is 6th grade--so it's really at the top end of the range SL is recommending for Cores 3, 4, and 3+4.

 

I read it UN-edited to my kids at 8.5 & 10.5. In fact, I even read the prologue because I found it so fascinating--and my 8.5 yo said that the book has a "great hook!" (She learned what a hook was from LA 3, but I agree with her, the book DOES have a great hook in the prologue!). Anyway, we learned tons from Landmark and I'm glad we read it.

 

Merry :-)

[keithfamily5]

We used Sonlight 3+4 this year and have loved it! I did use the editing in the Landmark book, simply to help us save some time. We had A LOT going on.

 

The Story of the USA books didn't have editing that I can remember until the last book. I was just reading through and figuring what we have left to do. Lots of notes, but I just highlighted the points I wanted to discuss with them. The author has a liberal view point. We will still read the chapters, but will be doing lots of discussion (which is why we homeschool anyway, right?) I want them to be exposed to both sides, not just one.

 

Patty

[Kimm in WA]

Thanks, everyone, for your input. I went ahead and ordered 3+4 for next year and will look forward to core 5 in 6th grade.

 

Appreciate all the advice!

Kimm

[Donna T.]

[

We had a wonderful discussion on what terrorism does/does not accomplish and compared the Palestinian quest for an independent nation post WWII with the Civil Rights movement in America. It was one of the best discussions we had that year.

 

Oh... I wish I had been there for that discussion!!

 

I'm sure I'll have to skip the editing. That would drive me bonkers. But, I've read the book and I didn't see any problems with it. Maybe I'll change my mind when I see the notes.