Is Core 3 too much for a 3rd grader?

[mommyoftwinboys]

I was just over on the Sonlight forums and several of the posters were warning another poster that Core 3 was too much for a 3rd grader(even an advanced one). One of the mom's even stated her child was reading at a high school level(but was 9) and it was a challenge for him. Have any of you used Core 3 with a 3rd grader and would you share your experience? I was all set to get this but now I'm hesitating. What has me baffled is although we've never used Sonlight before I've always had my boys read the readers and they seem to corelate with grade level(ie. Core 2 was perfect for my second grade readers)...any thoughts?

[Shelly in the Country]

I have used Core 3 with a 2nd grader (advanced) with no issues, so I think it can be done.

[Emma]

Well, just remember that you are reading everything except the actual readers, which you can choose from several different levels. If you planned on handing the entire core to your ds, then, yes, it would be too much. I'm going to use it with a 5th grader, but, only because he's never done American history, I already own it, and he's not a big reader. I'm still planning on reading to him. He should be fine.

[Tess in the Burbs]

I will be using it with a 8.5 and 7 year old. We did Core 1 and then Core 2 and everyone said they were too young but it's been a great past two years and we will keep on going and I truly believe it will be just fine :001_smile:

[Mom0012]

I just finished Core 3 with my 2nd and 4th grader and, no, it wasn't too much. I worried about my 2nd grader at the beginning of the year, but she did fine. I've been thinking about using some of the WP history books in SL 4 because they seem more visual, but both my kids want to stick with the Landmark book.

 

I have been adding in the Time Travelers Cd-roms and letting my kids work on lapbooking while I read and my daughter, in particular, has really been enjoying having some hands-on activities.

Lisa

[lovetobehome]

LisaTheresa, what lapbooking projects would you suggest with core 3?

I don't think Core 3 is too much for a 3rd grader. I may use it this year with my 3rd grader and 5th. Or, I might go on with Medieval history....not sure yet.

[Annie Laurie]

It depends on the child, you know your child best.

 

My dd has been doing Core 3 for the last half of second grade, and she will continue on in 3rd grade. She is not having any problem, and I have to hide the readers or she would have read the entire year's worth already. She likes the spines too.

[texasmama]

We just finished Core 3 advanced with a 3rd grader. We don't do the SL LA, but we used the readers, history and literature read alouds with no issues. My son complained about the amount of reading, but he was fully capable of it. He is reading at a level several grade levels above 3rd grade. Doing the regular rather than the advanced is an option.

 

I plan on using the readers with my 2nd grader next year, as he used the 2nd grade readers this year. I will state, though, that there is a pretty big jump between Core 2 and Core 3 as far as the level of reading difficulty expected, the amount of reading and the history, as well. We managed to do it, though, and I used the read alouds and history for both of my boys, 1st and 3rd grade.

[MerryAtHope]

I used it when my kids were 5th and 3rd grades (I combine both in one core). It was fine for my 3rd grader. I might not have chosen it if she was the oldest, but it worked out fine. Usually the issue with SL is not the academic or intellectual level of your child, but the maturity and emotional level of your child. SL likes to get into more mature topics, and uses historical fiction to get an emotional connection with what you are learning.

 

A few of the history readings can be dry for younger kids. Landmark (which we loved) is listed as a read-aloud for grades 5 & up. Most of it was fine even for my 3rd grader, but occasionally it was a bit much for her. Another book that can be a bit much is the Aztecs, Incans & Mayans book. I thought the description of human sacrifice (even child sacrifice) might really disturb my kids, but I edited a bit on the fly & it was ok. What really bothered my 3rd grader was the Mayan tradition of elongating a baby's head.

 

In one of the read-alouds, a baby dies in a fire, and that is a hard part of that book for some kids. I would say if you do core 3, ask ahead which books to pre-read & what issues to be aware of.

 

Personally I think Core 4 is almost harder than Core 3 in terms of death of main characters in books, and heavy history material--Slavery, Civil War, 2 World Wars, the Great Depression, Prejudice & Civil Rights Issues, Korean & Vietnam Wars... About the time we got to the Holocaust I was feeling like the core was really heavy. It actually got to me more than my kids though--they just didn't have the life experience to grasp some things on the same level that an adult would, though they certainly understood.

 

Core 3 is actually my all-time favorite core, while core 4 is one of my friend's favorite cores.

 

Merry :-)

[StephanieZ]

Nope. My kids did it in 2nd & 4th grade. My 2nd grader did the Regular readers and 4th grader did Advanced. No problemo. I think it is spot on for 3rd grade.

[Mom0012]

LisaTheresa, what lapbooking projects would you suggest with core 3?

I don't think Core 3 is too much for a 3rd grader. I may use it this year with my 3rd grader and 5th. Or, I might go on with Medieval history....not sure yet.

 

We are working on the TT American Revolution one. New World Explorers and Colonial Life definitely would have been good as well.

 

With SL 4, we are going to do Early 19th century and possibly Colonial Life, depending on how much my kids keep enjoying it. Early 19th century does overlap some of SL 3 (Lewis & Clark, Native Americans, Louisiana Purchase), but most of it has topics that will be in SL 4. Obviously, the Civil War one would be great for SL 4 as well, but the other two I mentioned have more appeal to me.

 

I am so impressed with HITW products, I almost wish I had used those as our spine and folded in the SL books, taking 3 years to do US history if we had to. We are just using the lapbookbing portion of the cd, but there is so much more there. I am planning on using the Old Testament activity pack when we start our history cycle again and I may use the New Testament one as a Christmas project the year we use SL 5.

 

Hope that helps!

Lisa

[choirfarm]

Well, I did my own Core 3 AND Core 4 plan in one year. ( I had both IG's and we did all of Core 3 and about 3/4 of Core 4) plus they read extra books. My boys were in 3rd and 5th that year. They were voracious readers. My daughter will be in 3rd grade next year and there is NO way she could do that. Core 3 would be a stretch for her to do as written. She has just taken longer to start reading than the boys did. So it really does depend on your child. If your child is like mine where I check out the limit at the library and return them all the next week completely read, then they won't have a problem.

 

Christine

[meet me in paris]

Well, I did my own Core 3 AND Core 4 plan in one year. ( I had both IG's and we did all of Core 3 and about 3/4 of Core 4) plus they read extra books. My boys were in 3rd and 5th that year. They were voracious readers. My daughter will be in 3rd grade next year and there is NO way she could do that. Core 3 would be a stretch for her to do as written. She has just taken longer to start reading than the boys did. So it really does depend on your child. If your child is like mine where I check out the limit at the library and return them all the next week completely read, then they won't have a problem.

 

Christine

:iagree:

We did the same thing - my older did all of Core 3 & half of Core 4 in about 14 months for 5th grade. My younger could *never* pull that off, and I wouldn't expect her to.

 

That said, you know your kids and know what they are capable of. One reason I quit hanging around the SL Boards was that certain people bully everyone into doing Cores way below grade level, and I don't agree with it. I tried Core 1 with my 8yo at their insistence and it was ridiculous. So go with your gut! And if you buy the core from SL, you can always return it if it doesn't work out (I did - and it's one of the reasons I stuck w/SL so long. Their customer service is beyond measure.).

[Jenn in Mo]

My 3rd grader loved it. He didn't care much for school before we did Sonlight Core 3. I was very thankful for it.

[Donna T.]

I think Core 3 is fine for a 3rd grader who likes to read.

 

I will be doing Core 3+4 next year. I am using it as is for my 6th grader and with some adapting for my 3rd grader. If my oldest son had the time left before high school, I would just do Core 3 and then Core 4. I really wish we had time to do that, but we don't. So, I'm doing the combined core. I have almost all of the books for Core 3 and my youngest son will focus more on those but he will also sit in on some of the material that is covered in the second half of the year. I am going to do some lapbooking with him and add some picture books and do a few projects.

 

I have tried for months to get help on the SL board, trying to get some feedback on various ideas I've had about how to go about this, and was discouraged from including my 3rd grader in this core. I really wasn't expected to use it "as is" with him but there really isn't any reason he can't enjoy some of it. I plan to repeat the core with him later on anyways.

 

I have to add that my youngest son is not at all sensitive and I will skip some of the books with him (mostly the ones from Core 4) but overall, I think the materials are fine for him. I know he is going to like it. You can always slow the core down a little if it seems to be too much. You can skip books, move them around, do four days for awhile, whatever.

[Jlynn]

I've always seen this kind of advice on the Sonlight boards and simply don't agree -for our family. We've used each core with my son's corresponding grade level (Core 1 in 1st gr and so on)and have had no problems. Sure, there is plenty there for an older kid, but that doesn't mean a kid at grade level can't get lots from the same core. This core and #4 were my son's favorites so far. There is a book in there, Aztecs and Incas...that has some pretty gruesome stuff, but you can easily edit that if necessary, we didn't even edit that one. The only book I've pre-read and edited in my Sonlight time (Cores K-5) has been 7 Daughters for 7 Sons. I've heard that some folks didn't like the Boorstin history book used in cores 3 and 4, but that was probably my son's favorite history book of all time! I would recommend checking out some of the readers and read alouds from the library. Skim them over and see for yourself whether or not they'll work out for you.

[momee]

My 3rd grader this year, going into 4th in the fall, is using core 3.

 

She absolutely loves SL Core 3 finds it wonderfully engaging and even - on summer break no less! - asked me to begin SL again the other night :)

 

We read in bed and talked about the book, but next morning she was off to play.

 

All that to say the books are very engaging. If your child is into it, nothing will be too hard. That's sometimes something you won't know until you are doing it. Your attitude helps alot too.

 

If it's too hard at first, hold his/her hand often. Even with the readers. Then they'll eventually take the book from you and say I can read this or tell you they've already finished the book because you were taking too long to get to it.

 

Sonlight's customer service is fantastic but I will say in my short experience with SL, there is this mentality to go lower. Why? Who knows.

I went for subject matter really, worked excellent doing the grade level at the grade level of my kids.

To be more clear - my 3rd, did core 3. My 7th grader will be doing core 7, my 11th grader, core 300.

 

We absolutely heartily rec. SL!

[AngieW in Texas]

My oldest did Core 3 as a 3rd grade. I had to double the number of readers because she was a very fast reader.

She had no problems at all with the difficulty.

 

My middle dd never did Core 3.

 

My youngest did Core 3 as a 5th grader. She is dyslexic and I was waiting until her reading level was up to it. I waited too long. She was insulted by too many of the readers and read quite a few of the Core 100 books instead.

 

I generally found SL to work best when using a level at or above the grade level of my kids.

 

I enjoyed SL for levels K-100, but didn't consider Core 100 to be high school level. I think Core 100 is great for 7th or 8th grade.

[musicianmom]

Ask a Sonlight advisor if you're not sure. That's what I did. She told me (in a diplomatic way) not to take the forum posters too seriously.

[squirtymomma]

Ask a Sonlight advisor if you're not sure. That's what I did. She told me (in a diplomatic way) not to take the forum posters too seriously.

 

Oh, that's interesting that the SL advisor told you that! I think I had assumed it was the company's leaning as well.

[melmichigan]

Oh, that's interesting that the SL advisor told you that! I think I had assumed it was the company's leaning as well.

 

My oldest DD10 is finishing Core 6 for 5th (we opt to skip Core 5), my DD7's are finishing Core 1 next week for 1st. I think for many kids it can be done. :) We went with the advisor and my gut, against the common consensus, and it has worked great. I would advise you to check out a few books at your library and go from there. The readers for Core 3 also come in Regular and Advanced with Advanced just being the Regular readers plus some more.