Planning Sonlight for next few years...would you mind to help?

[Nakia]

I know...one year at a time, but as my oldest moves into the middle school age, I am trying to come up with a tentative plan. Nothing is written in stone, of course. If you use SL, I would love to hear your opinion. I posted on the SL boards, but it's not nearly as active as this one.

 

This fall I will be using Core 4 with a 3rd and 6th grader. I will be using MFW K for my youngest. My questions are about the next year when I have a 4th and 7th grader (I will again be using MFW for my then 1st grader because I love their phonics program!). We have done MFW Exploring Countries and Cultures and Creation to the Greeks. We totally skipped anything to do with the Medieval times and went right into American history with SL 3. One option would be to keep going through the cores in order, but I have been told that Core 5 is pretty difficult and is considered a high school level course by many. Another option would be to do Core 6, 7, and then go back to 5. That covers my oldest through grade 9. A third option would be to do the Alt 7, which is a one year world history program for her in 7th grade, then Core 100 (American History) for 8th grade, Core 5 for 9th grade, and then move into the higher level SL cores for high school.

 

And as much as I would like to combine my kids in one core, I know at some point, I will have to separate them. But what I'm hoping is to keep at least two of them combined at all times, to keep me sane and help financially. I don't mind to tweak the cores to make them work for two kids. Again, I'm mostly planning for my oldest. The two younger girls can either tag along, or I can combine them in a lower core. I would like to keep them in the same time period for a while, if at all possible.

 

Clear as mud????

 

Can someone who loves planning help me come up with a tentative plan? I am pretty sure we will stick with SL. It just seems to fit our family very well.

 

Thank you!!!

[Jyniffrec]

I haven't heard that Core 5 is that hard. I have a friend who did it with 3 kids, the youngest being around 8 years old. So I don't know about doing Core 5 in 9th grade, but besides that the last option looks good to me.

[AmyinMD]

Core 5 does look challenging but I don't know if it is high school level. I haven't done Core 5 but I bought it a year and a half ago used from a friend. I was doing lesson planning to use it with my 10 year old this school and realized it was going to be way to much for her. It looks like such a great program I hope we get to it in a couple years if dd doesn't go to school.

 

The friend I bought it from used it with a 12 yo and 9 yo. She said it was just perfect for the older kid but she skipped a lot of parts with her son. She gave me her son's used Explorer sheets and they are mostly blank except at the beginning so she must have abandoned using them altogether with him after a few weeks.

[CarrieF]

I feel for you as I have recently been planning for my oldest as well. :001_smile: We are also Sonlight'ers, so I'll give my $.02 worth! We are finishing up Core 1+2, the combined World History, and having done it at this level I will say that I would NOT recommend doing it at the upper level with Alternate Core 7. We just missed SO much of what makes SL so great. Feels like we are literally flying through some awesome periods of history, periods that we'd LOVE to "camp in" for a while! I have not heard that Core 5 is highschool level, but I have heard that it is "different" from the other cores and more challenging. I think your idea of doing Core 4, then Cores 6 & 7 before doing Core 5 could be a nice solution. Then you could move into the highschool cores and almost do them in whatever order your kids were interested in?

Please post what you decide . . . I'd love to see what you come up with!!!! ;)

[LindaOz]

I did Core 5 with my oldest two when they were in 7th and 6th and it was fine. I had my 6th grader keep a journal of countries rather than the Eastern Hemisphere Explorer and that worked for her.

 

I will be doing it again this year with my current 7th grader and she will be fine with it and will probably do most of it independently. My next dd will be in 6th when she does it (according to the current plan, anyway :-) )

 

So, I think 7th grade is a good age for Core 5 but you would have to coach your 4th grader through it a bit more - perhaps find some easier books to read on each country. Still, if you are reading the history aloud he/she will still get a lot out of it. The 4th grader might find the research in EHE explorer a little advanced but could maybe keep a 'country journal' full of narrations and pictures etc instead.

 

Just my thoughts

Linda

[mom2denj]

My dd (8th grade now) did Core 5 last year. No problems. We actually loved it!! She is doing Core 6 this year. Core 5 would be no problem for your 7 th grader. I think that if you all read together and the 4th grader works on the EHE along with the 7th grader, they will do well. There are a couple of stories that may be over the 4th graders head. However, if you have time, you could maybe stop and elaborate on certain things or go to the reader guides to help. I think it is doable. I would be glad to help you if you have any questions about Core 5 or 6.

[Mom0012]

I'm using Core 4 this year with a 3rd and 5th grader. Next year, we'll do Core 5. The main thing I'm concerned about with Core 5 is the EHE. However, it seems to me that most of the people who have trouble with it are using the newer version of it. When reading the SL boards, I heard a lot more positives about the older version, so that's what I wound up buying -- the 2006 SL IG with the EHE and the 2006 World Book.

 

We will start out using the EHE, but if it is too much, we will only use it for some countries or simply drop it along with the World Book as our spine and use the Enchantment of the World series instead. This series is readily available at most libraries.

 

On the other hand, I really don't see anything wrong with doing Cores 6 and 7 and then following up with Core 5 afterwards. I had a number of people recommend that to me as an option. I'm really looking forward to Core 5 though and don't want to wait.

 

Lisa

[Nakia]

Thanks everyone!! You have all really helped me! I'm planning out something tentatively, and I will let you know when I get it ready.

[Mom22ns]

I would do core 6. I am doing it this year with 11 & 13 yos. If your 9yo is a good reader, they could manage it. You might have to turn a few readers into read alouds or let them skip or substitute a few books, but the majority are very accessible.

 

I haven't done Core 5, but I hear its tough.

 

Just so you know where we are coming from, Dd did core 3+4 last year and it was too easy but we had a great year. Ds did core 100 at the same time and she stole some of his books to give 3+4 a boost.

[Nakia]

I would do core 6. I am doing it this year with 11 & 13 yos. If your 9yo is a good reader, they could manage it. You might have to turn a few readers into read alouds or let them skip or substitute a few books, but the majority are very accessible.

 

I haven't done Core 5, but I hear its tough.

 

Just so you know where we are coming from, Dd did core 3+4 last year and it was too easy but we had a great year. Ds did core 100 at the same time and she stole some of his books to give 3+4 a boost.

 

Debbie, Did you find your dd really missed out on a lot by combining cores 3&4? I know you said she read some of the books from core 100. I have seen on the SL boards several times that it is best not to do a combination core unless you absolutely must.

[CarrieF]

Debbie, Did you find your dd really missed out on a lot by combining cores 3&4? I know you said she read some of the books from core 100. I have seen on the SL boards several times that it is best not to do a combination core unless you absolutely must.

:iagree:I wholeheartedly agree! We really missed out on the "essence" of SL by doing Core 1+2. About 10 weeks in I considered switching to Core 1 so we wouldn't "miss" anything, but it was too much work at that point. :glare: Won't make that mistake again next time around!

[Mom22ns]

Debbie, Did you find your dd really missed out on a lot by combining cores 3&4? I know you said she read some of the books from core 100. I have seen on the SL boards several times that it is best not to do a combination core unless you absolutely must.

 

No, I didn't feel like she missed anything. Core 100 is one year history. We used History of US for the spine for both kids. We read them out loud every day and had great discussions. It was my all time favorite year of history. Core 3 and Core 4 separately would definitely have been too low and too slow for her. She read all the 3+4 plus 4 or 5 core 100 books. I just can't say strongly enough what a positive experience it was.

[AngelBee]

:iagree:I wholeheartedly agree! We really missed out on the "essence" of SL by doing Core 1+2. About 10 weeks in I considered switching to Core 1 so we wouldn't "miss" anything, but it was too much work at that point. :glare: Won't make that mistake again next time around!

I had debated doing 3+4 and am glad I went with CORE 3 instead.

[Swirl]

Choosing between Core 6 and 4 I would go with 6 for sure. It uses the SOTW as part of its history spine and you could use the CD's and activity guides that go with it for your 3rd grader. For a sixth grade level, its a fairly light core and would be easily doable with a little tweaking.

 

We found Core 5 not to be at all difficult, just frustrating. Seach EASTERN HEMISPHERE EXPLORER on the Sonlight forums and you will see what I mean. We are not the only ones who had problems. Sonlight is aware of the problems, but they seem to be unconcerned. :sad:

[....]

We haven't made it up to Core 5, yet...so I don't think I can contribute advice. We're wrapping up Core 2 this spring and will start Core 3 in the summer.

 

I do think, at some point, you will be doing 3 different cores. :D I think I will be doing 3 different cores. :D

 

MFW K is awesome (you mentioned you were using MFW for K?). We'll be finishing MFW K this spring also...and my daughter absolutely loves it.

 

Sonlight is our all-time favorite curriculum and is basically our ongoing spine for homeschool. Good luck! This thread is making me wonder what the high school cores look like. I might need to browse their website later. :tongue_smilie:

[meet me in paris]

Choosing between Core 6 and 4 I would go with 6 for sure. It uses the SOTW as part of its history spine and you could use the CD's and activity guides that go with it for your 3rd grader. For a sixth grade level, its a fairly light core and would be easily doable with a little tweaking.

 

We found Core 5 not to be at all difficult, just frustrating. Seach EASTERN HEMISPHERE EXPLORER on the Sonlight forums and you will see what I mean. We are not the only ones who had problems. Sonlight is aware of the problems, but they seem to be unconcerned. :sad:

:iagree:on both parts!

 

I found it easy to add my younger daughter in to Core 6 w/SOTW.

 

Core 5 we're doing now. I hate most of the EHE. The projects are great, the mapping is good, but the day to day research is.... YUCK. It's nearly impossible if you don't have the right version of World Book - which we didn't - long story. I always rolled my eyes at the people on the SL forums who let their kids copy the answers out of the key. Now I do the same thing. Seriously, it is just not worth the frustration. Even with copying the answers, it's time consuming and a lot of work. My daughter is in 7th grade, and I can't imagine doing this core with younger kids.

[DawnM]

I am watching this thread and subbing.

 

We are in much the same boat....my main question is whether to do 6 and 7 or Alt 7.

 

THis year we finish Core 4. Next year we will do 5. But then what?

 

Dawn

[ArizonaGirl]

I am in a similar situation. Let me share my plan.

 

We are currently doing four cores at our house, and it is just too much for me. I read P 4/5 as bedtime stories for the little ones. My 3rd and 5th grader are doing core 2 (Almost finished--we'll move into core 3 in a few weeks). My 7th grader is doing core 6, and he shares Story of the World with my 1st grader, since I didn't think I could add in core 1 at the same time. My 1st grader listens in to older and younger siblings' read-alouds quite a bit, anyway. My 10th grader does just the history from Core 7, and the literature from core 200.

 

I know that sounds confusing, and I want to get my kids into less cores together. My high schooler will continue on her own, but as soon as we finish 3 and 4 with my current 3rd and 5th graders, and my 7th grader works through cores 6 and 7, we hope to do core 5 all together. By then, they will be about the middle of grades 3, 5, 7, and 9. A younger one in 1st grade will probably be on his own at that point, in either Core 1 (maybe with my future 3rd-grader) or just Story of the World, depending on how life goes and what I can handle. I may add or subtract things for the oldest and youngest at that point.

 

I love the idea above about having the child keep a journal of countries instead of doing Eastern Hemisphere Explorer. EHE and its complaints are why we have skipped Core 5 so far.

 

In my opinion, most of the literature from Core 5 is perfect for 5th and 6th grade. It is only the unknown of EHE that has scared us away.

 

Thanks for listening to our craziness. I don't know if it helps, but I would suggest combining as much as you can until the high school years. My kids all like to sneak in (away from things like math and grammar) and listen to each other's read alouds, so combining them would help solve problems at our house.

 

Best wishes.

[Nakia]

I can't respond to every post, but I really appreciate them all! I need to look into EHE before I make the decision about that. A couple of days ago, I decided just to move right through the cores, but we might go ahead and skip Core 5, if I think it's too much. I sure don't want to complicate things, lol.

 

 

We haven't made it up to Core 5, yet...so I don't think I can contribute advice. We're wrapping up Core 2 this spring and will start Core 3 in the summer.

 

I do think, at some point, you will be doing 3 different cores. :D I think I will be doing 3 different cores. :D

 

MFW K is awesome (you mentioned you were using MFW for K?). We'll be finishing MFW K this spring also...and my daughter absolutely loves it.

 

Sonlight is our all-time favorite curriculum and is basically our ongoing spine for homeschool. Good luck! This thread is making me wonder what the high school cores look like. I might need to browse their website later. :tongue_smilie:

 

I really don't think I will need to do three different cores for a long time. I don't think I can, at least not until my oldest is in high school anyway. As long as I can, I'm combining. I don't see how I can ever afford three different cores, but I guess if I already have some of them that won't be such a problem. I had been thinking I would sell the cores each year since SL seems to change so much, but I'm not sure. Oh, I confuse myself. :lol: I keep the SL catalog on my table and frequently browse it.