With Sonlight, can I just not buy all the books??

[Nibo]

We are considering Sonlight for our first year of HSing (5th grade) and I love the idea of just buying the entire package, but the cost is really getting to me (espeically as I just read another thread where people listed their average yearly costs!).

 

Sooooo has anyone just bought some of the Sonlight packages and not all the fiction books? we would of course check them out of the library. Is that even an option with Sonlight??

 

Thanks everyone!

[StephanieZ]

Of course. Just add the items you want to your cart (one by one) . . . You can pretty easily do this if you click "See all 57 items". . . from the main Core page.

[Dinsfamily]

It is definitely an option as the pp said. The biggest upside to buying the whole thing is the 10% off for the year and free shipping, but there are plenty of people that buy the IG and a handfull of book then use the library for the rest.

[StartingOver]

It is definitely an option as the pp said. The biggest upside to buying the whole thing is the 10% off for the year and free shipping, but there are plenty of people that buy the IG and a handfull of book then use the library for the rest.

 

You could easily just buy the IG and the exclusives.... most of the others could probably be found at your library. You might want to make sure first.

 

I buy the Core only because I love the books !!

[Mom0012]

I always buy my IG used and then pick up many of the books over time on Amazon using their 4-for-3 book deal. If you don't want to buy all the books, I would check the library especially for the readers and read-alouds and skip buying those. Most of those aren't used for more than a couple of weeks. There have been a few years where I've only bought the readers my library didn't have and it worked out fine.

 

Lisa

[Aludlam]

I second the "Amazon 4 for 3" deal.

 

Angela

[Night Elf]

Just be careful buying books used. I pieced together a core program one time and didn't save much money overall. I figured buying used books would be cheaper but by the time I factored in shipping for them, because I didn't get them all from the same buyer, I paid a large chunk of money I hadn't anticipated when I made the decision to piece it together. It was a huge hassle and if I had to pay myself for my time and effort, I would have paid more than the original price of the core. :)

[Orthodox6]

My problem with Sonlight Cores has been that we usually own as many as 2/3 of the books already.

[mom31257]

You should look for the set used. I found almost all the books I needed for Core 100 and paid $145, and I found the IG for $50. I actually listed the IG on the Want To Buy Board here.

[Nibo]

Thanks everyone! I went through the Sonlight online catalog and started "carting" what I knew we would need. And then I hit the wrong button and lost my place. LOL. I did get some my sons assessment testing done, seriously shocked at what he didn't know in math. *sigh* Why why why didn't I follow my gut years ago.

 

Anyways, still plugging away and talking to DH about it everyday! I signed up for my first HS convention in June, YAY!

[KathyBC]

Yup. I ran all the book titles for Core 6 through our library's computer system, then only ordered those needed. A couple of times I got stuck, because after several weeks I still hadn't received the requested title. In those instances I put out a quick wanted ad, bought it second-hand, and, if required, read them slightly out of order.

[coffeefreak]

Just be careful buying books used. I pieced together a core program one time and didn't save much money overall. I figured buying used books would be cheaper but by the time I factored in shipping for them, because I didn't get them all from the same buyer, I paid a large chunk of money I hadn't anticipated when I made the decision to piece it together. It was a huge hassle and if I had to pay myself for my time and effort, I would have paid more than the original price of the core. :)

 

:iagree:

Also, if you don't get the exact same edition as the book Sonlight sells, your TG will not match the book. That was a HUGE pain for us!

 

Sonlight schedules so many books, even my avid reader didn't get to them all. If I were going to do Sonlight again, I would buy the TG and Sonlight exclusives (Book of time, Timeline figures etc), and buy books as we go. That way, if we're going through a busy season and we're not going to have time to read all the books scheduled, I only buy what I had to.

 

Blessings!

Dorinda

[Sweetest]

That is definitely an option if you are willing to do the legwork. Just make sure that your library has the books! I'm doing core 4 next year and my large library system doesn't have a lot of the titles.

 

Also, as a previous poster noted, you may run into problems if you use different versions of the books than Sonlight. Sometimes it won't matter, but sometimes it will make a big difference. I can give you two examples from my year:

 

1. Our version of Johnny Tremain was different than the version that Sonlight scheduled (different page numbering) so I couldn't follow the schedule and just had to wing it.

 

2. We had an older version of Incans, Aztecs, Mayans. Since the schedule didn't start at the beginning of the book and my book was numbered differently I was completely off for all of the reading (the reading seemed very disjointed and I didn't notice my mistake until we were almost done with the book!)

 

The first example, wasn't really a big deal, the second was a more significant problem! That being said, as long as you are prepared to deal with some scheduling issues, it is totally doable without buying new (I've always bought used) or by using the library for many of the books.

 

This year I'm finally splurging for new but for my first two years I was hesitant to spend that much money before I knew if I would like the program ;)

[3peasinapod]

Just be careful buying books used. I pieced together a core program one time and didn't save much money overall. I figured buying used books would be cheaper but by the time I factored in shipping for them, because I didn't get them all from the same buyer, I paid a large chunk of money I hadn't anticipated when I made the decision to piece it together. It was a huge hassle and if I had to pay myself for my time and effort, I would have paid more than the original price of the core. :)

 

This is the same thing that happened here. Plus, the some of the used books I received started to fall apart after we used them. It just wasn't worth it. I will at least purchase new, if not through the Amazon buy 3 get 1 free, then through Sonlight.

[PentecostalMom]

Just be careful buying books used. I pieced together a core program one time and didn't save much money overall. I figured buying used books would be cheaper but by the time I factored in shipping for them, because I didn't get them all from the same buyer, I paid a large chunk of money I hadn't anticipated when I made the decision to piece it together. It was a huge hassle and if I had to pay myself for my time and effort, I would have paid more than the original price of the core. :)

:iagree:I, too, looked for used books for just Core P3/4 and was struggling. When I discussed it with dh, he told me just to order it! We will be using them with two children, and we will be able to sell them if we need to for a decent price. Another thing to remember that SL offers is the Love to Learn Guarantee. The OP (which I finally figured out is original poster) appears to be new to hsing. The Love to Learn guarantee alone may make it worth it at least until you see if you like SL. I have never used it, but it's always good to know it's there!

[Shanaudria]

My problem with Sonlight Cores has been that we usually own as many as 2/3 of the books already.

:iagree: That's us, too!

 

I've collected the books over the years at greatly reduced prices anticipating the day when we'd make the plunge.