Has anyone done Sonlight on their own?

[Cheri Warren]

Without the IG's?? I am looking at all the book lists etc...and wondering if you can do this without the IG's by creating your own schedule, etc..

[Jyniffrec]

A lot of people use Sonlight's catalog as a book list, but to use it as a curriculum in the same way Sonlight does, it seems like you would at least need the schedule (which doesn't come without the notes).

 

I suggest you buy one IG used and see how Sonlight does it and then see if you can figure out the schedule on your own after that.

[DawnM]

I have rarely used the IG. I purchase them for peace of mind for some reason, but my boys are just not the readers that SL curriculum requires so we cut and add on and tweak it beyond SL recognition! :D

 

I don't know which one you are looking at, but I have been using the Time Travelers CDs from Homeschool in the Woods as my spine for 2 years for US History.

 

Dawn

[DesertDweller]

I think you could do it with some work on your part.

 

If you look in the SL catalog, you'll notice a circled number by the title of each book. Make a list of history, readers, and read-alouds. Subcategorize them by the number so you know which ones go in which trimester. From there, you would want to figure out the order they go in historically.

 

Then, I would probably write down the number of pages in each book and divide it up based on how many days or weeks you would need to cover. Since there's usually 36 weeks in a school year, there would be 12 in each trimester. You could eliminate books if you follow a shorter yearly schedule.

 

There are some books that are for enjoyment and won't necessarily follow a particular time period. You could fit them in as you want.

 

I would probably type up a spreadsheet of some sort so I could see how it all went together for the year. I would also want something to help me keep track as we went along to make sure we weren't getting behind.

[mommytobees]

I do!!

 

I used to love SL and now for a various set of reasons I will not spend my money there.

 

I use their catalog to get book ideas, because there are books there that I have never read and they are _good_ books.

 

BUT...

 

Then I make my own IG.

 

I can send you a copy of my master-blank copy if you would like, send me an email.

 

Kris

[Cheri Warren]

PM'd you!

[mamato3 all-boy boys]

Without the IG's?? I am looking at all the book lists etc...and wondering if you can do this without the IG's by creating your own schedule, etc..

 

A friend of mine did a variation of it for SL4. She looked at a timeline, selected the events that she wanted to read about, used the Landmark book as a spine and selected books she had collected over the years and from purchases/ library. She had a great year!

[Irene Lynn]

Well, the beauty of homeschooling is that you can do whatever you want. The books are great and could easily be used to form your own curriculum, but the IGs do contain some other things. There is usually some map work and writing helps. In the older level IGs the students are taught the steps for writing research papers and creative writing projects are assigned. There are notes and questions on most books. YMMV as far as what you think of those notes or what you would want, but they are there. In dd's last core there were quotes/sections of original documents included in the notes and extra reading. Anyway, I just wanted you to know that the IG is more than a schedule. Whether you would want the IG or not depends on how you school.

 

One year we did a total redo of a core. I felt it was pretty easy for her, so we changed so many things that I mainly had her read the books in order and beyond that we did our own thing. We haven't used SL for every year, but of the ones that we have, most of the time we have followed the IG fairly well. I have found it helpful.