Sonlight question/general advice needed

[littlebug42]

I am looking at moving to SL next year for my children as our primary curriculum (I will supplement). My oldest daughter will crawl inside all of those books and be content as can be there. I am not certain my younger daughter would be as happy. She reads well but not nearly the quantity that older dd reads. I can't keep dd9 in books. I cannot afford to buy a lot for school next year. Has anyone had these issues and made it work? Is there another program I am overlooking that may fit in between my two girls? I don't mind supplementing/tweaking but I really don't want to come up with it all on my own anymore. I need a guide but not a completely scripted one. I am also Catholic so I need the program to be adaptable for us.

 

FYI- My girls are in 4th and 2nd grades. Both read well above their levels but older dd moreso than younger dd. By choice, older dd is currently reading Tales of the Greek Heroes by Roger Lancelyn Green and younger dd is reading a Lanie American Girl book.

 

Thanks for any assistance. We have been through many duds and I want to make sure that I get it closer to right this time. :)

[Guest TheBugsMom]

What SL core are you thinking of buying? Are both children going to do one core or are you buying each a core?

 

For your older one, supplementing books from the library will stretch a core out for those children who read non-stop or use the library for rabbit trails to keep her going. For your dd who reads at a more moderate pace, you do not need for her to read every book in a core. You can read some of her books to her or even have the older child read some to your younger. Another thing to remember, with SL, not everything is geared for the child to read. The history and read-a-louds are more for you to read and the readers are for the child so your more moderate reader will not be overwhelmed. Oh, and lots of people take a core and slow it down to 18 months for those children who want lots of rabbit trails or for the slower reader.

[littlebug42]

I am currently considering doing core 1+2 and adding in harder readers for my dd9. This is looking ahead more into next year so we would begin in the summer and it would be grades 5/3. I would actually pull more from cores 6/7 to use with my older daughter as I feel those are more appropriate to her level right now. I would also use SOTW rather than CHOW (I already own all four SOTW books). I would be doing LA separately although maybe using some elements of the LA2 advanced for writing topic ideas etc. I have in my mind exactly what I need but getting there is the problem. Hopefully Hive insight can help me sort it all out.

[MerryAtHope]

Is there a reason you don't want to go with core 3? 5th & 3rd grades would be perfect for that, and there are "advanced readers" (extra books) that you could give to your oldest to help with her love of reading. (And if she still finishes early, let her read books by choice as she is now, until time for the next reader etc...).

 

Do know that SL doesn't shy away from tough topics, and make sure that not only the reading level is appropriate, but also the subject matter. Generally the age ranges SL gives are not only referring to academic ability but also to emotional level and the ages they feel the maturity of topics are appropriate for. We're only partway into some of the Core 6 books, so I can't comment overall yet, but that's something I'd look into. (I will say that while I loved the Trojan War--some deep insights worth mulling over--there were also some pretty gruesome descriptions of the battle scenes!).

 

Merry :-)

[littlebug42]

I have also considered core 3 but the girls have a greater interest in world history so I thought I would capitalize on that. Also, my older daughter has read a good portion of those books already so I would still be supplementing with older material for her. I also liked that the readers in 1+2 are not exclusively historical fiction for while we enjoy that, an exclusive diet of it may be a bit too much at this point.

 

Older dd can handle the depictions of the battle scenes etc as long as an animal character doesn't die. Those books are big no-nos. :)

[Irishmommy]

If your older is an avid reader, I would not think that Core 1+2 would be appropriate for her. She'll be 10 by that time, right? Now, I haven't seen this core, so I could be WAY off here, but I have Core K and Core 3+4. I am planning to do Core 3+4 with my 10 year old avid reader next year and am pairing it with MFW Adventures for my 1st grader. I just can't see my son being challenged in the least with Core 1+2. My son could probably finish the readers in single sittings, if he even agreed to read them - he has issues with reading books that he thinks are "beneath him". Maybe you could beef it up with other library books, but overall, my general feeling is that your oldest wouldn't be challenged enough. And, if you want all the planning done for you, it seems that you'd have to do too much beefing up for it to be a simple planning year for you. Have you looked at Core 5? That might be fun for your older. After 3+4, I am either doing Core 5 or 6. We've already read some of the readers as read-alouds for Core 6, but I think he'll enjoy that one. We would probably sub something for the history since we will have already gone through SOTW extensively. Anyway, I hope that helps you some...:grouphug:

[unity]

Well, actually I don't know, because I've not done 2 or 1+2, but I've done 1 and 3, 4, 5. Core 1 was quite light last year for my 2nd grader, so it doesn't sound like a good fit for your older daughter at all. If your younger dd really hates reading it might work, but honestly you might want to keep curriculum shopping b/c it doesn't seem like this is the answer to your issues. What about SOTW? That's world history, and maybe a better match ability-wise.

[paula j]

If you're more interested in World History and your older dd reads at a higher level, why not start with core 6 and order the readers and language for younger dd at her level, after all the younger readers sets that go with cores K-2 don't really match the core anyway.

 

Core 6 uses the SOTW books and you could add the activity guide for younger dd to draw her in.

 

If you don't think this will work then I think I would go with core 3.

[littlebug42]

If you're more interested in World History and your older dd reads at a higher level, why not start with core 6 and order the readers and language for younger dd at her level, after all the younger readers sets that go with cores K-2 don't really match the core anyway.

 

Core 6 uses the SOTW books and you could add the activity guide for younger dd to draw her in.

 

If you don't think this will work then I think I would go with core 3.

 

This actually might be a better way for me to go. This way I would supplement the younger and not the older. I really would prefer not to do American History at this time. My dd9 has expressed interest in entering a local science technology school for 6th grade and if that comes to pass, she will have american history for grades 6,7,8 so I really don't want to spend what might be her last year home with me on more american history. If she doesn't go, I can then address american history in 2 years.

 

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I appreciate it. Now off to play with core 6 to see how I would make it work for us.

[littlebug42]

Thanks for the advice that all have given. I have actually talked myself down from the Sonlight ledge. I get so tempted from time to time because I personally would love all of those books but I don't think as a whole program it will work for us. I am going back to my original plan to use TRISMS History Makers next year with Sweet Pea and supplementing reading for Boo Boo. I'll use the reading lists from Sonlight for some of the books.