Sonlight?

[aya2pin]

Any thoughts on using one core package with different grades. Does it really save time? We are non-religious. If we don't get the Bible curriculum does the core have religion tied into it? What other subjects should I teach besides the core? I am really looking for an easy year since I am going to be in school as well.

[dm379]

I'm doing core 3 with my 2nd and 4th graders. We only use it for history though. We're secular too and I ordered the (free) catalog off their website. There's an X next to all the religious books and we just either skip or use something else for those. There wasn't much. There's also a secular sonlight yahoo group that has a lot of good advice.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Any thoughts on using one core package with different grades. Does it really save time? We are non-religious. If we don't get the Bible curriculum does the core have religion tied into it? What other subjects should I teach besides the core? I am really looking for an easy year since I am going to be in school as well.

 

I'm using Core 6 with my 6th and 7th grader and also using it to schedule our 3rd grader. The main difference with be that the older kids will have some harder reading added where they've already read some of the SL selections and the 3rd grader will get some picture books and easier chapter books.

 

The religious content depends a lot on which core you are picking. We do our own Bible selections and don't order the Bible books. They are scheduled on the core schedule and we just skip them. Some of the books in the history or reader/read aloud section of the core will have a religious theme or subject matter. Some will be books like Windows on the World, which introduce various countries within the context of Christian missions and how to pray for them. Others will be biographies or historical fiction about religious figures.

 

Core 5 is probably has the most religious content woven in. However, it also has fabulous books on the reader/read aloud list. Many, if not most, are non-religious trade books. There are many that we really enjoyed that we'd never run across on other lists (Daughter of the Mountains or Seven Daughters and Seven Sons for example). [NB - I do find it interesting that many of the books we remember most vividly are those that are often objected to by Christians on the SL board. In other words, the SL core doesn't schedule only books that meet certain requirements of orthodoxy.]

 

I think that Sonlight can be used happily by non-Christians. But keep in mind that it is unabashedly a Christian orriented curriculum. If you will be upset to find that a book has Christian characters (or Jewish characters for the ancient history related cores) or that the discussion questions assume a desire for a Christian perspective, then it might not be a good grab and go choice.

[AngieW in Texas]

Religious content varies with each Core. Cores 3 and 4 have extremely minimal religious content. Core 5 has a LOT of religious content. It's usually pretty easy to tell which books have religious content by reading the catalog.

 

I used and enjoyed all the Cores from K-7 even though I used them secularly. I didn't bother buying any of the books marked with an "X" in the catalog and didn't buy any other books that sounded like they would be religious. The SonlightSecular email loop is very good for finding out which books are religious or not.

[meet me in paris]

Any thoughts on using one core package with different grades. Does it really save time? We are non-religious. If we don't get the Bible curriculum does the core have religion tied into it? What other subjects should I teach besides the core? I am really looking for an easy year since I am going to be in school as well.

 

I've used Sonlight in some form or fashion for the last 4 years for my 2 girls. One year I split them into 2 cores, the other years we've done it together, and I found that combining them - even though they have a bigger split than SL recommends - is what works best for us.

 

They do, however, work on different LA, Science, and Math. I have to add in different history "readers" for my younger one most times. But I like that we're all on the same page in terms of what we're studying, so we can watch movies, take field trips, etc. and it relates to everyone's studies.

 

Sonlight is easy to secularize... honestly the most religious part of it is the instructor guide! John Holtzman feels the need to expound upon anything and everything and I find his opinions to be irritating sometimes. BUT, I like that SL leaves much open to interpretation and does not spoon feed dogma in any way. They really leave you to form your own opinions about history... and science for the most part.

 

HTH!