Has anyone used Sonlight Core 3?

[WhereHopeGrows]

I am considering using this for my older two and looking for reviews. What can you tell me about Sonlight Core 3? Did you enjoy it? Did your children enjoy it? Do you think it is suitable for older elementary ages?

 

I am also considering Science 3 to go along with it. Any reviews? :)

[Jlynn]

If you do a search of this board as well as Sonlight's Choosing board you'll find plenty of reviews. We used it for my son who was third grade age at the time and enjoyed it...loved Core 4 even more though : ) They have been our favorite 2 Sonlight Cores so far! We've done Cores K-5 by the way. Didn't do the science, though it looks fun and will be doing that with my daughter when its her turn. We'll be using SL Core 6 and Science 6 this coming year. The only thing that wasn't a big hit for us was their LA in younger years.

[Lovedtodeath]

I wanted to jump in and hi-jack to ask if the Landmark History book is worth adding to another program... and if so at what level would it be redundant or too young? (With the History of US for example?)

[3Rivers]

We used Core 3 for 5th grade. My daughter loved it. She loves to read. We're going back to Sonlight this coming fall for Core 4. I wish I had just stuck with it! I had ventured away from SL because I had a hard time combining my kids then because I only had one strong reader.

 

We also did Science 3. I made the unfortunate mistake of buying a supply kit used, so the seeds were old and did not sprout, so that threw us off schedule. That was very frustrating when everything is laid out so nicely. The TOPS experiment does take some work, but I think it is worth it to get to see the growth of the sprouts and provide the kids with scientific process.

 

I'm also going back to their Language Arts for my older two. I prefer stronger phonics for younger ages. But for olders I love the "natural" approach to grammar/vocab. because I see it unfolding in front of my eyes with my oldest child who adores books. Her vocabulary and grammar skills are "naturally" excellent because she absorbs excellent literature.

 

Our best part of history this year were the Sonlight books we added to our other program....so I can't wait to just get back to Sonlight. :D

[Sweetest]

I would highly recommend both!

 

My dd did Science 3 last year for 3rd grade and enjoyed it. Some parts of the experiments were a little tricky (drawings) but she got through it with a little help from me! It would be perfect for a 4th or 5th grader, but totally manageable with a 3rd grader :)

 

We did Core 3 (with advanced readers) this year for 4th. I think 4th grade was perfect for this core content wise. The readers were too easy for my dd, but I was more concerned about her getting the content so I didn't care that she could breeze through most of the books. You could definitely use Core 3 with a 5th or even a 6th grader (I would add in harder readers for a 6th grader though).

 

lovedtodeath - My dd loved the Landmark book! I was actually surprised that she was able to follow it, because a lot of the text is pretty complex and detailed (in other words, sometimes I had a hard time following it, yikes!). It makes a decent spine but I wouldn't use it as a supplement to another text, that would probably be overkill. Also, I wouldn't use it before 3rd grade at the earliest and then only with a very good listener :) It really is an advanced text and would be fine up through middle school as a spine!

[Mom0012]

We are just finishing Core 3 and it was a really good year. My kids are 8 and 10 and I that it would be great, if not even better, for children who were a little older. The readers were a little on the easy side for my son, though, so that could be a potential problem with using this core with an older child. An easily remedied one, but still a possible problem.

 

Lisa

[tennismomkelly]

We liked Core 3. My DS read the Advanced Readers and he loved them. He even liked Landmark once we got into it. I quickly dropped the LA because it just wasn't working for us. I thought that the science was just okay. Our TOPS experiments turned out great but reading the books and then answering the worksheet questions was blah, imo. We didn't move on to Core 4 because SL just wasn't the right fit for our family. I really wanted it love it but I did so much adding and tweaking that I needed to find a different option. But, I do think that it's a great Core and would recommend it to someone who wants to do SL.

[Pippen]

I think it will really depend on your kids. Core 3 history wasn't a good fit for my 5th grade daughter--she wanted historical novels but needed a more consistently high reading level. We also wanted room in our day for books of different genres so and we settled into using Hakim as a spine with a historical novel of the period going at all times.

Edited May 31, 2010 by Pippen
Resuscitate the kitten

[MerryAtHope]

I did core 3 with 3rd and 5th graders, and they loved it--it's probably our favorite core overall.

 

Merry :-)

[MerryAtHope]

I wanted to jump in and hi-jack to ask if the Landmark History book is worth adding to another program... and if so at what level would it be redundant or too young? (With the History of US for example?)

 

It's a higher reading level than History of US. SL lists A History of Us as read-aloud level 1st to adult, reading level 4th to adult. Landmark is read-aloud 5th to adult, reading level 6th to adult. We really enjoyed the book (in fact my dh confessed that he would read it when I left it out...which is why I would leave it out, LOL!).

 

Merry :-)

[Jyniffrec]

We are finishing up Core 3 right now. We have liked it a lot. We didn't finish the Science because it was too easy for my 10 year dd. I like the book selection, though and we ended up using the whole REAL Science Biology and are continuing with that series next year. I plan to buy all the books for Science 4 because I like their book selection but I will pick and choose what worksheets we do.

[meet me in paris]

We LOVED Core 3. My daughter was in 5th when we did it (and I also had a 2nd grade tag-along) - she blew through a lot of the readers, so I added a few more. The read alouds are *so* good - it was definitely a fun year. My 5th grader also did the LA3 and that was a great fit.

[ChemMommy]

Great core! And a nice introduction to American history. Landmark was so-so. It is intensive reading and listening. I probably would not do that again. I think the Hakim series has been a better fit now that my younger two are moving through this part of history. The older two used Landmark.

 

If SL 3 is the biology thing, I didn't like it. Holtzmann bio book was overkill in a big way. Substitute it or find a different one. It killed any bio interest in our house. We did like the radish see series of experiments a lot though!

 

We always supplemented the LA programs from SL, but the lit reading was excellent in the Core 3 program.

 

I still recommend SL to people, even after all of these years.

[thundersweet]

This is the exact combo I am thinking of doing with my soon to be 4th grade dd. Glad to hear so many have enjoyed it!

 

Sandy

[WhereHopeGrows]

Thank you for sharing your experiences! My oldest two will be 4th and 6th next year, so I wasn't sure if Core 3 would be too easy. Should I consider Core 3-4? I just hate to rush through those amazing books! I want to study American History next year, and I want to study the science topics in Core 3. What could I add in for my oldest to make Core 3 work?

 

Is there a better science program out there? We used apologia this year and I wanted to try something that has a little more variety for next year.

[WhereHopeGrows]

We used Core 3 for 5th grade. My daughter loved it. She loves to read. We're going back to Sonlight this coming fall for Core 4. I wish I had just stuck with it! I had ventured away from SL because I had a hard time combining my kids then because I only had one strong reader.

 

We also did Science 3. I made the unfortunate mistake of buying a supply kit used, so the seeds were old and did not sprout, so that threw us off schedule. That was very frustrating when everything is laid out so nicely. The TOPS experiment does take some work, but I think it is worth it to get to see the growth of the sprouts and provide the kids with scientific process.

 

I'm also going back to their Language Arts for my older two. I prefer stronger phonics for younger ages. But for olders I love the "natural" approach to grammar/vocab. because I see it unfolding in front of my eyes with my oldest child who adores books. Her vocabulary and grammar skills are "naturally" excellent because she absorbs excellent literature.

 

Our best part of history this year were the Sonlight books we added to our other program....so I can't wait to just get back to Sonlight. :D

 

I hope to be able to say this next year. :)

 

Not sure about their LA, but I figure we can use it for dictation. We can supplement with some other things if desired.

 

I can relate to things working better once they are older. My thoughts too. Schooling is getting better each year.

[Pippen]

Thank you for sharing your experiences! My oldest two will be 4th and 6th next year, so I wasn't sure if Core 3 would be too easy. Should I consider Core 3-4? I just hate to rush through those amazing books! I want to study American History next year, and I want to study the science topics in Core 3. What could I add in for my oldest to make Core 3 work?

 

 

Below is the book list we used this year for my 5th grade/11 yo daughter--it was just a better fit for her. (We went further than Core 3 as we needed to do a quick overview of the Civil War as she's likely returning to ps this year. I wouldn't have done Civil War otherwise.)

 

Yours may be perfectly happy with Core 3 as it is.

 

Pedro’s Journal

Blood on the River: Jamestown 1607 by Elise Carbonne

Eating the Plates: A Pilgrim Book of Food and Manners by Lucille Recht Pinner

Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

George vs. George: The American Revolution as Seen from Both Sides

The Kidnapped Prince

Dear America: Winter of the Red Snow-The Revolutionary War Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart, Valley Forge, 1777

The Sherwood Ring

Sign of the Beaver

Dear America: Love Thy Neighbor The Tory Diary of Prudence Emerson

Colonial Voices: Hear Them Speak by Kay Winters

The Birchbark House

Running Out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Dear America: So Far From Home The Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl

Riding Freedom

The Ballad of Lucy Whipple

Stealing Freedom by Elisa Carbone

Rifles for Wattie

The Dream Keepers & Other Poems

Storm Warriors by Elisa Carbone

Edited May 31, 2010 by Pippen

[Lovedtodeath]

 

Winterpromise has a schedule for 7th grade American history reading that you might have a look at too.

Edited May 31, 2010 by Lovedtodeath

[Jen+4dc]

Thank you for sharing your experiences! My oldest two will be 4th and 6th next year, so I wasn't sure if Core 3 would be too easy. Should I consider Core 3-4? I just hate to rush through those amazing books! I want to study American History next year, and I want to study the science topics in Core 3. What could I add in for my oldest to make Core 3 work?

 

Core 3 really is too lite for 6th grade. But, American History is sooo easy to supplement! When dd did core 3 whe was in 5th grade and ALL the readers were way below her reading level. I wanted her to enjoy hsing (that was our first year) so I had her read the easy stuff from core 3 and just added in tons. We read almost all the "Dear America" series and a bunch of non-fiction stuff in depth on the Declaration of Independence (even memorized a little of it) and the Constitution. We read Landmark and really enjoyed it (although it's better in core 4 than core 3). For a 6th grader I would probably add in Hakim's History of US (we added in a couple volumes when we did core 4 as a 6th grader) and some outlining and writing about history.

 

I found that what SL lacked in history for logic stage: the mapwork was sketchy, not what I would call geography (basically find the place on the map where this book takes place. That works for grammar stage but I want more by logic stage). And, writing about the history reading. I tried their LA and it was way to "natural" for us with no instruction and lots of creative writing assignments. I'm a believer in the Complete Writer philosophy of SWB so forcing nothing but creative writing doesn't work for me. If you were doing core 3 with a 3rd or 4th grader (which I would recommend as the best ages unless you have an older struggling reader) writing about history isn't that important. If you're doing core 3 with a logic stage student it is.

 

All this blabbering to say:

*add in more (and harder readers)

*don't skip Landmark

*do some non-fiction reading to go along with the topics

*outline & timeline

*do some WTM like writing and look at some primary sources

 

This would easily make core 3 fit a 6th grader. The great thing about this is all these extras would be available at any good public library!

 

HTH:D

[Jyniffrec]

If SL 3 is the biology thing, I didn't like it. Holtzmann bio book was overkill in a big way. Substitute it or find a different one. It killed any bio interest in our house. We did like the radish see series of experiments a lot though!

 

The Holtzmann biology book isn't in the newer Science 3. I haven't heard good things about it other places as well.

[WhereHopeGrows]

Thank you for the additional suggestions! I love coming to this board for help. You ladies are so helpful. Thank you! I will check out the suggested books. And, I'll take a peek a WP too.

 

After looking some more at Sonlight, I am really thinking maybe we should do core 3-4. Any thoughts?

Edited May 31, 2010 by WhereHopeGrows