What Sonlight Core for 5th grader?

[jg_puppy]

I keep going back and forth trying to figure out what to use for history with my 5th grader next year. She would like to use Truthquest. She loves to read which makes me think Truthquest would be a great idea for her. The only problem is that I don't having to go to the library all of the time. Our library is okay, but not great and it can be frustrating when they don't have any of the books I want.

 

I have started considering Sonlight. My dd loves reading so I think either would work for her. If I decide to go with Sonlight should I go with Core 3 with the idea of using Core 4 in 6th grade or should I use Core 3+4 for one year of American history before starting ancients in 6th grade.

 

Jan

[krisperry]

If you know you want to use Sonlight in the future, then decide if you want to do Core 5. Some people do, some people add some of the books in with Core 7 and some people do it way later like 9th grade.

 

If you don't want to do Core 5, then I would do

Core 3 + advanced readers = 5th grade

Core 4 = 6th grade

Core 6 = 7th grade

Core 7 = 8th grade

 

That is what I am doing except we will be adding in some of the Core 5 readers with Core 7 next year. :001_smile:

[Mom0012]

If you know you want to use Sonlight in the future, then decide if you want to do Core 5. Some people do, some people add some of the books in with Core 7 and some people do it way later like 9th grade.

 

If you don't want to do Core 5, then I would do

Core 3 + advanced readers = 5th grade

Core 4 = 6th grade

Core 6 = 7th grade

Core 7 = 8th grade

 

That is what I am doing except we will be adding in some of the Core 5 readers with Core 7 next year. :001_smile:

 

Just out of curiosity, why do some people skip core 5 and just add some of the books to core 7?

 

Lisa

[jg_puppy]

If things go well this year then I would like to consider staying with Sonlight with my oldest. I am not sure what is is about Core 5, but I was thinking about skipping it.

 

Jan

[MerryAtHope]

Just out of curiosity, why do some people skip core 5 and just add some of the books to core 7?

 

Lisa

 

It's very different from all other cores. First, it's geography-based instead of history-based, and there's not really anything that logically moves you from country to country--you just finish one & start the next. Then there really isn't a "spine" text--instead students use the World Book Encyclopedia (on computer) to research the different countries and fill in the Eastern Hemisphere Explorer pages. These are a cross between note-booking and worksheets. There are also projects "choose your own adventure" that have lots of creative ideas.

 

My kids enjoyed the EHE & research for the first two countries, but faced with a year-long series of research projects (and you can't get it all done in a very short time--we set time limits & didn't try to do it all--plus not all of the answers are in WB, but SL doesn't tell you which ones are and aren't because WB changes yearly & it would be impossible to keep up with. So your child doesn't know if they can't find something because it's not there or because they need to try other search terms, find a different article, or what)--well, we found it boring and a bit much. We dropped EHE after 13 weeks and just read the books from core 5.

 

Some people really love core 5, so I always say look at all the samples online--you can see the EHE online and decide. It does seem like the people who like it most are those who enjoy tracking down movies for different countries, or cooking food from different countries, or other country-related projects.

 

Lots of great Lit. & Readers in this core though!

 

Merry :-)

[mompotter]

I keep going back and forth trying to figure out what to use for history with my 5th grader next year. She would like to use Truthquest. She loves to read which makes me think Truthquest would be a great idea for her. The only problem is that I don't having to go to the library all of the time. Our library is okay, but not great and it can be frustrating when they don't have any of the books I want.

 

I have started considering Sonlight. My dd loves reading so I think either would work for her. If I decide to go with Sonlight should I go with Core 3 with the idea of using Core 4 in 6th grade or should I use Core 3+4 for one year of American history before starting ancients in 6th grade.

 

Jan

 

I think core 3 + 4 sounds like a good route to go. If I was just starting with that age that is probably what I would do unless they had already studied a lot of American History. I would not recommend starting with core 5. I am more and more convinced that starting back a couple cores from the grade is a good way to go. My kids have all done much better when they are a grade (or two or three) above the core level.

[unity]

If your daughter loves to read, I'm assuming she is a good, strong reader well capable of reading at or above a typical 5th grade level. In that case, I would suggest starting at core 5 or 6, but certainly not below 4. Most of the books from Core 3 are really easy. A few of the read-alouds are challenging, but the "advanced" readers are not even up to 5th grade level. Core 4 is similar, although a little less astonishingly easy. Landmark is a great book and would be good for a 5th grader. But it is totally mismatched with the literature of Core 3.

 

Core 5 is about on target for a 5th-grader but we just finished it and really disliked it, so I wouldn't recommend that one!:glare: (We basically had all the issues Merry brings up...disliked the EHE, lack of spine, disjointed lack of "flow," plus by the end of the year I was wondering why I had ever decided to stop teaching history for a whole year.)

 

If you go ask over on the Choosing Forum pretty much everyone will tell you to start her back a level or 2...:confused: I have never understood why everyone there seems to think SL is so darn advanced.

 

So, even though I haven't done Core 6 I know Sonlight very well and, again, assuming she's a strong reader, I would suggest starting there.

 

FYI in the past I have done Cores P3/4, P4/5, K, 1, 3, 4, 5.

[Mom0012]

It's very different from all other cores. First, it's geography-based instead of history-based, and there's not really anything that logically moves you from country to country--you just finish one & start the next. Then there really isn't a "spine" text--instead students use the World Book Encyclopedia (on computer) to research the different countries and fill in the Eastern Hemisphere Explorer pages. These are a cross between note-booking and worksheets. There are also projects "choose your own adventure" that have lots of creative ideas.

 

My kids enjoyed the EHE & research for the first two countries, but faced with a year-long series of research projects (and you can't get it all done in a very short time--we set time limits & didn't try to do it all--plus not all of the answers are in WB, but SL doesn't tell you which ones are and aren't because WB changes yearly & it would be impossible to keep up with. So your child doesn't know if they can't find something because it's not there or because they need to try other search terms, find a different article, or what)--well, we found it boring and a bit much. We dropped EHE after 13 weeks and just read the books from core 5.

 

Some people really love core 5, so I always say look at all the samples online--you can see the EHE online and decide. It does seem like the people who like it most are those who enjoy tracking down movies for different countries, or cooking food from different countries, or other country-related projects.

 

Lots of great Lit. & Readers in this core though!

 

Merry :-)

 

Thanks, Merry! I had heard about the problems with the EHE for some and I knew it was geography instead of history, but I wasn't aware of some of the other complaints.

 

Thanks!

Lisa

[Jen+4dc]

If your daughter loves to read, I'm assuming she is a good, strong reader well capable of reading at or above a typical 5th grade level. In that case, I would suggest starting at core 5 or 6, but certainly not below 4. Most of the books from Core 3 are really easy. A few of the read-alouds are challenging, but the "advanced" readers are not even up to 5th grade level. Core 4 is similar, although a little less astonishingly easy. Landmark is a great book and would be good for a 5th grader. But it is totally mismatched with the literature of Core 3.

 

Core 5 is about on target for a 5th-grader but we just finished it and really disliked it, so I wouldn't recommend that one!:glare: (We basically had all the issues Merry brings up...disliked the EHE, lack of spine, disjointed lack of "flow," plus by the end of the year I was wondering why I had ever decided to stop teaching history for a whole year.)

 

If you go ask over on the Choosing Forum pretty much everyone will tell you to start her back a level or 2...:confused: I have never understood why everyone there seems to think SL is so darn advanced.

 

So, even though I haven't done Core 6 I know Sonlight very well and, again, assuming she's a strong reader, I would suggest starting there.

 

FYI in the past I have done Cores P3/4, P4/5, K, 1, 3, 4, 5.

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree:(bolded emphasis mine)

 

SL isn't really that advanced in it's content, IMHO. It's just a higher quantity of books than a lot of other programs.

 

We started hsing in 5th grade with my oldest and did Core 3 for several reasons: 1) I didn't want to start in the middle of American history (core 4 starts with slavery and Civil War, not a great way to begin the hsing journey). 2) I wanted her to enjoy hsing and didn't want it to be too hard (everyone on the choosing forum assured me core 6 would be too hard for a 5th grader). 3) We're not particularly interested in a missionary-oriented core, we wanted history, not geography. So, we ended up going with core 3. It was a great year but I added in sooooooo much! There was so much good lit left out and topics not addressed, I wanted more than just good stories so I just added it.:) Super easy to do for American History.

 

The next year we brought the boys home from ps, too. We did core 4 with a 6th, 4th and 1st grader. The 1st didn't listen to everything and didn't do any readers (he was learning to read at the time). But, it was perfect for my then 4th grader and a easy for the 6th grader.

 

I bought a used core 6 and decided not to use it. We needed a change. But, if you have a 5th grader who's a voracious reader then I think (looking at it) that core 6 is easily do-able!! If she loves to read and can work fairly independently she could even do it on her own. You could even have her spread core 6 over two years and use SOTW+AG with your youngers since core 6 uses SOTW as the spine. (You read 1 SOTW chapter a day, basically. I found that too disjointed, it means you're readers and RA's aren't always matching up with your spine reading and I didn't like that). But, slowing it down could give you some cohesion for all your dc. YMMV

 

Don't let people tell you core 6 is too hard for a 5th grader or core 3 is perfect or whatever!! (Myself included!:D) Check some of the books out of the library and see for yourself. You know your family/your dc best.

 

HTH! Good luck!

[Jen+4dc]

I keep going back and forth trying to figure out what to use for history with my 5th grader next year. She would like to use Truthquest. She loves to read which makes me think Truthquest would be a great idea for her. The only problem is that I don't having to go to the library all of the time. Our library is okay, but not great and it can be frustrating when they don't have any of the books I want.

 

I have started considering Sonlight. My dd loves reading so I think either would work for her. If I decide to go with Sonlight should I go with Core 3 with the idea of using Core 4 in 6th grade or should I use Core 3+4 for one year of American history before starting ancients in 6th grade.

 

Jan

 

If your daughter really wants to do Truthquest and you're willing for fork out the money for SL, then why not let her do Truthquest and just buy the books for it? I haven't looked into it but could it really be that much more expensive than SL?;) Just a thought.

[strawberry]

We just finished SL 3+4 and I am so glad we did American History in one year rather than 2. The 3+4 books are great, and if you want her to read more advanced books, hand her the read-alouds!