Who has experience with SonLight Alt 6/7?

[Penny]

I really want lots of literature and a quick world history review before 8th grade.

 

I'd love to here your experience with Sonlight Alt 6/7.

[AHASRADA]

I noticed no one has replied, so I thought I would. I have the Alt. 7 IG (which I have for sale ;)), but haven't actually used the full core. I mainly used the IG for the book schedule and discussion questions.

 

It does use CHOW as the spine, as opposed to SOTW, likely because it is a briefer history, and therefore more doable in one year. I personally don't know of any other literature-based middle-school level world history survey, so if that is what you are looking for, Sonlight would be a good fit.

 

Obviously, everything that would be covered in 2 years, or 4 years, cannot possibly be touched on in 1 year, but aside from using a textbook and trying to piece together your own corresponding literature, SL Alt. 7 serves the purpose nicely. And as I said, you don't have to purchase all of the books that are scheduled. You can just use the IG and get books from the library, or purchase the ones you want to make sure you don't miss.

 

HTH,

[swimmermom3]

We used it for my oldest son in 7th grade who had never been exposed to world history. My first impression was that CHOW and the Usborne encyclopedia were young in comparison to the reading levels of the literature. However, my son loved all of it. It was an expensive year since I ended up buying him the 4 volumes of Story of the World, the workbook for the first volume, all of the remaining literature from Core 6, and a few extra books from Core 7. It remains one of the most magical years we have had in homeschooling. One of the LA assignments was for the child to write their own mystery while they were reading The Roman Ransom. My son had a blast with that one. The literature selections are very good, imo.

 

Do you have specific questions about the materials?

[sandra in va]

Not the OP, but I have a question! I am torn between doing both 6 and 7 or alt 7 with my rising 7th grader. If we did alt 7, I would want to add all SOTW volumes in, as well. How was that? Did it feel too rushed? Did you read it together or was it independent reading?

 

Thanks and hope this doesn't veer too much off course from the original post....

[swimmermom3]

Not the OP, but I have a question! I am torn between doing both 6 and 7 or alt 7 with my rising 7th grader. If we did alt 7, I would want to add all SOTW volumes in, as well. How was that? Did it feel too rushed? Did you read it together or was it independent reading?

 

Thanks and hope this doesn't veer too much off course from the original post....

 

If I had the time, I would probably do Cores 6 and 7, but that wasn't an option for us. My youngest son was being home schooled but the older two were not. My oldest son really disliked middle school and begged to come home in November of 7th grade. I expected him to want to go back in 8th grade so I tried to stay on track for the ps. We started the core following it exactly, but that was all over when I purchased the first volume of SOTW. I read the read alouds and he read everything else on his own. He loved the reading and was too impatient to stick strictly to the schedule. That's how I ended up with all the other readers. I just made sure to discuss the history with him and do the comprehension questions for the literature orally. We were pressed for time at the end but we had also started later and added lots of extras in. However, the only written work he did was for the LA portion. Still, his retention was amazing.

 

Side note: SL's LA portion is undeservedly maligned, imo. Except for SL100...I'll stand in line with the rest of the hecklers for that one.

[sandra in va]

Thanks for that info, Lisa! I was thinking of alt 7 in 7th and core 100 in 8th before high school, but I'm still leaning more towards doing 6 and 7 separately.

 

It helped to hear how alt 7 worked for you!

[swimmermom3]

Thanks for that info, Lisa! I was thinking of alt 7 in 7th and core 100 in 8th before high school, but I'm still leaning more towards doing 6 and 7 separately.

 

It helped to hear how alt 7 worked for you!

 

We did end up doing Core 100 for 8th grade with numerous additions. I think whichever path you choose, you won't be sorry. With my youngest, we are doing world history from 6-8th grade with American history built in. I use much of Alt. 7 and Core 100; it's just been reworked for this child. Have fun!

[Penny]

We used it for my oldest son in 7th grade who had never been exposed to world history. My first impression was that CHOW and the Usborne encyclopedia were young in comparison to the reading levels of the literature. However, my son loved all of it. It was an expensive year since I ended up buying him the 4 volumes of Story of the World, the workbook for the first volume, all of the remaining literature from Core 6, and a few extra books from Core 7. It remains one of the most magical years we have had in homeschooling. One of the LA assignments was for the child to write their own mystery while they were reading The Roman Ransom. My son had a blast with that one. The literature selections are very good, imo.

 

Do you have specific questions about the materials?

 

MAGICAL I can't resist that. I'm sold.

 

Thank you so much for your replies. I feel better about it now.

 

Penny