Thinking about Sonlight Core's for my oldest four...

[snipsnsnailsx5]

My reasons are:

1) We're having a new baby in the fall. I'm also taking college classes right now, and its hard enough to get materials together, make copies, do schedules/lessons for the next day when I'm up late with schoolwork. I imagine it will be much harder when we have a new baby too.

2) If I'm understanding Sonlight right, its a lot of reading. Two of my boys are struggling readers but getting better. They like to read but just need to do more of it. I think Sonlight would help with this.

3) They love reading about history. I talked about Pompeii ONCE with them and they wanted to draw pictures of volcanoes, make a volcano, and watch YouTube videos about Pompeii.

4) I think it would be easier with a new baby having lined out lesson plans? With the younger ones struggling with reading, my 12 yr old could maybe even help be a reading buddy?

 

So are those correct thoughts?

 

Okay - so what about Core levels.

 

My boys are all in WIDE levels of ability. My 12 year old is advanced border-line gifted. He does great with anything I throw at him. He loves to read and he reads a ton. I want to challenge him, not hold him back. But I also want to have him not miss out on topics covered in previous cores. So I thought I'd start him in Core D (Sonlight's new core lettering system). Which goes up to 11 yrs old, but its year one of Intro to American History. I could get him the advanced readers.

 

My 9 yr old has ADHD and struggles with reading. He's actually improved leaps and bounds this year and is actually grade level now I'm pretty sure. He doesn't like to read as much though, unless its something interesting. He loves art, music, and history. I was thinking of doing Core B+C (goes up to age 9...condensed year one Intro to world history with core C also).

 

My 7 yr old is an emerging reader. He has a desire and love to learn and his reading is getting a lot better. He should be around grade level too, but probably early 1st grade level rather then middle/late of the year as he should be. I was thinking of starting him in Core A (goes up to 7 yr old).

 

Then I have a 4 yr old who I thought would love to get in on the action, and maybe I'd do the 4-5 yr old core for him? He doesn't have any of the basics yet, as I haven't had time to sit down and work with him. I was hoping the Sonlight PreK core would help with this? We'd probably do a different time schedule with him then with his brothers for now. Such as afternoons when his brothers are done with their school.

 

So...thoughts?

[Spetzi]

I have not used SL, but have used other lit programs and I have SL ready for the fall. I think that doing 3 or 4 cores w/a baby is going to lead to frustration. You should check out the parent involvement time listed on the SL website for each core.

 

If it were me, I would probably try to get something that they could all use on their own level, like Core D. My library has many, many easy readers about American history that could work for your 7 yr old. I find it's easy to add in when you already have a program that gives me the timeline and topic. You could drop some books for the 9 yr old if he's struggling.

 

If not, I would have 12 yr old has his own and combine the 7 &9 yr olds. You could drop some of the books for the 7 yr old or just have him listen to the read alouds and use easy readers from the library.

 

I would not purchase a curric for the younger one, but just teach as things come up.

 

I've never used them, but SL has curriculum advisors to phone and an automated one online. Either of them might be able to help you.

Please don't buy 4 cores! :)

[Geek]

Have you considered posting over at their Choosing forum? It's open to everyone and you'll get a lot of traffic from experienced users over there. I would be specific with the amount of time you think you'll have to devote to school each day, how comfortable you are with combining children and letting the littlest tag along, etc.

 

Sonlight is not a program I would jump into whole-hog for the first time when I am extremely busy, especially with a new baby. It's not just reading, it's a *lot* of reading.

 

I tried to read more than one core at a time; it was insane for me and much too hard on my voice. Some can do it, but I'm not one of them. The exception to this is the PreK core (I have no idea what they're calling it now; it's the one just prior to Core A.) Those books are wonderful and easy to implement, especially if you just scrap the schedule and just put the books on a shelf, working through them in any order you and your 4yo like. I like your idea of spending some time alone with him in the afternoon. Would you be able to read to him at bedtime if afternoons get too hectic?

 

I definitely wouldn't worry about your oldest missing out on topics from earlier cores. You will give yourself an ulcer worrying about that, plus none of us will ever have or give our children a "complete" education anyway. If I were you, my focus would be on sanity and survival this fall, not worrying about "cracks" in one child's education. :001_smile: If he is interested, perhaps he could sit in on the CHOW history readings (see below, Core B) or even some of the read-alouds.

 

Is your oldest very self-directed? If he is, I would consider putting him into his own core and turn him loose, and I'd get another core like Core B or B+C to combine the 7yo and 9yo. You could meet regularly with the 12yo for discussion time, but you wouldn't be reading to him. I would read as many of his books myself over the summer to be in a better place to help him without having to read them during the school year.

 

For all of them, I would also rely on recorded books a lot in this case. I do, and I only have three children with the youngest being 6! (Granted, my ASD oldest is more work than the other two combined so it feels like more than three kids.)

 

Good luck!

[Chris in VA]

Honestly, from what you describe, I'd drop the idea of Sonlight.

First of all, there is a ton of reading aloud. With that many cores, you would be reading for 3 hours a day--could you do that?

Second, it sounds like your kids like activities. There is a new supplement in the Cores, I know, but I don't know what it all entails.

Third, you'd be doing different time periods, right? One is American and the other, World?

Fourth, the PreK Core is basically a list--you can just get good books at the library and do a phonics program with him. IMnotsohumbleO, it's nice to have the Prek Core, but not necessary.

 

If I were you, I would just continue on in SOTW--I see you are using Year One now, right? Year Two is lots of fun, and there are really wonderful books. You really don't need a schedule for it, because it's just one chapter a week, do the next thing (if you had to fit it into less than 42 weeks, you just double up now and then, doing less with it on certain weeks--easy to plan for). You could read the spine to everyone at one sitting. Ask the older one to write a summary. Ask for a narration or answers to the questions in the AG for the 7 and 9 year olds. Pick, say, 15 books for the older one to read during the year, and pick about one a week (much smaller books) for the younger kiddos. Pick your read alouds from the AG. Switch between a higher level book (like Adam of The Road) and a lower level book (like Castle Diary). Plan a library trip every 2 weeks, or buy a few to start (when the baby is new) and then plan on the library.

 

If you sat down with the AG and a notebook, I'll bet you could make a schedule for all 3 of your school-age kids in about 3 hours. Just pick one activity a week--or one for the youngers, one for the older. Skip a few weeks that only look marginally interesting--those would be weeks you'd not do outside reading or activities, and just do two chapters of SOTW. Don't worry if the read alouds don't stay matched up to the chapter of SOTW--just set yourself a time, and read for that time, and get done when you get done. Don't pick a read aloud for every chapter, or you'd be doing as much reading as Sonlight...LOL

 

I personally found the IG in Sonlight to be, well, not as helpful as I thought. We didn't like reading little snippets from several books at a time--we wanted to read until we came to a good stopping place. We wanted activities and comprehension questions, and notebooking, and games and things. SOTW 2 was GREAT. We also wanted to keep it chronological--But that is just us. YMMV, of course.

 

If you did do Sonlight, I'd do what the PP said--get the older one his own core, and do one core with the middle two. Skip the prek core and just do fun stuff and a simple phonics book. (I also like Saxon K for that age, but ymmv on math, too.)

Edited April 4, 2011 by Chris in VA

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

Quick heads up, if you are just doing a core you will still have to create schedules for Math, language, Science, and whatever else you want to cover. Open and Go is only if you do everything from SL.

 

As another poster said, I would NOT do 3-4 cores with a new baby, not with the ages you are working with. The 12 yr old might be independent enough but the 2 younger will need lots of time still. As suggested, I would do Intro to American History 1 (not sure the new core letter, it use to be core 3) for all of them. Then I would buy the appropriate reader package, which use to be 2 Reader regular, intermediate, and advanced, for your 7 and 9 yr old. You might need to add in some more advanced books for the 12 yr old because the reading in this core will be easy for that age. Getting a younger core such as one of the Pre-K will benefit both the 4 yr old and the 7 yr old. The pre-k cores are easy to use and don't take much time. When I used it, I read the books at before nap time and bed time.

[meena]

We use Sonlight (core 2, which I believe is B now?). There is no way I would do three or four Cores at one time, especially with younger children. I consider SL to be a pretty teacher intensive program. Yes, the schedule is there but I have to implement most of it. My two older children are good readers, but we still do a lot of reading and discussing together rather than independently.

 

SL also doesn't have a lot of hands-on activities. I think that's supposed to change with the new Cores, but I don't know what that will be like. I have supplemented with activities and lapbooks related to the time period, but that is something you have to do on your own, which sounds counter to why you are thinking of going with SL.

[speedmom4]

Have you looked into Winter Promise? I used Sonlight for about 9 years but I needed something that I could combine a wider range of ages. It also has activities, DVDs, and websites scheduled in. That is something Sonlight will not give you.

 

I really do love Sonlight and think they have a wonderful program. I only attempted 2 Cores at one time and that was when my oldest daughter did Core 100 and could do it all on her own with me only going over questions with her.

 

God Bless,

Elise in NC

[JMDRAD]

My reasons are:

1) We're having a new baby in the fall. I'm also taking college classes right now, and its hard enough to get materials together, make copies, do schedules/lessons for the next day when I'm up late with schoolwork. I imagine it will be much harder when we have a new baby too.

2) If I'm understanding Sonlight right, its a lot of reading. Two of my boys are struggling readers but getting better. They like to read but just need to do more of it. I think Sonlight would help with this.

3) They love reading about history. I talked about Pompeii ONCE with them and they wanted to draw pictures of volcanoes, make a volcano, and watch YouTube videos about Pompeii.

4) I think it would be easier with a new baby having lined out lesson plans? With the younger ones struggling with reading, my 12 yr old could maybe even help be a reading buddy?

 

So are those correct thoughts?

 

Okay - so what about Core levels.

 

My boys are all in WIDE levels of ability. My 12 year old is advanced border-line gifted. He does great with anything I throw at him. He loves to read and he reads a ton. I want to challenge him, not hold him back. But I also want to have him not miss out on topics covered in previous cores. So I thought I'd start him in Core D (Sonlight's new core lettering system). Which goes up to 11 yrs old, but its year one of Intro to American History. I could get him the advanced readers.

 

My 9 yr old has ADHD and struggles with reading. He's actually improved leaps and bounds this year and is actually grade level now I'm pretty sure. He doesn't like to read as much though, unless its something interesting. He loves art, music, and history. I was thinking of doing Core B+C (goes up to age 9...condensed year one Intro to world history with core C also).

 

My 7 yr old is an emerging reader. He has a desire and love to learn and his reading is getting a lot better. He should be around grade level too, but probably early 1st grade level rather then middle/late of the year as he should be. I was thinking of starting him in Core A (goes up to 7 yr old).

 

Then I have a 4 yr old who I thought would love to get in on the action, and maybe I'd do the 4-5 yr old core for him? He doesn't have any of the basics yet, as I haven't had time to sit down and work with him. I was hoping the Sonlight PreK core would help with this? We'd probably do a different time schedule with him then with his brothers for now. Such as afternoons when his brothers are done with their school.

 

So...thoughts?

Have you considered doing Core Alt 7 (One Year World History) with the 12 year old and Core 1/2 (Intro to World History cond.) (or whatever they are called now) with the seven and nine year old? That way they are studying the same time period. It might be easier to plan hands on activities for all three of them. You can get readers to fit the younger one's abilities. As for the four year old, the Core P3/4 has some excellent books. I use them as bedtime story readers. It's a great collection of books that I just had to have on my shelf.:D

[Mom22ns]

I agree that I wouldn't do 3 SL cores. No one should do that, even with lots of time and experience with SL.

 

However, if you could combine your 9 and 7 yos in core 1 (B now?) and get them each the right level of readers. Then put your 12 yo in Core 6 (sorry I don't know the letter). This would have them all doing the first half of World History. Your 12 yo should be able to to do the history and readers independently. You can combine for read alouds. You can choose between the Core 1 and the Core 6 read aloud each time. Since they are covering the same time period, just pick the one that looks most enjoyable for all of your kids. Or, you could read the core 6 read alouds and let your ds read Core 1 read alouds for you.

 

My kids were 11 & 13 most of this year for Core 6 it was a good fit, although not really challenging for my 13 yo. Having them all in the same time period will keep you sane and keep the mommy time closer to that of one core.

[Marsha]

We will be using Sonlight and will have a new baby. This will be baby #8, so having a baby in the house is a way of life for us instead of something that I ned to plan my curriculum around.

You could combine them all in Core 3 or 3+4.

Or the 12 year old could be independent and do a Core for the the 7 and 8 year old.

I think you have choices as to which Core to use.

 

We will also be doing LLATL and Teaching Textbooks with Sonlight.

[Mosaicmind]

I am in the middle of getting my master's degree, just finished my bachelor's, and I would never do Sonlight. I did do it while I was getting my bachelor's degree for a year and it was horrible. It took so much of my time that I didn't have the time to do what I needed to do. I would love for it to work but it won't.

[sassenach]

Nodding head in agreement with everyone else. Sonlight is teacher intensive. I would absolutely toss out the idea of doing more than 2 cores. Even that is questionable. I wouldn't personally do more than 1 core. My experience with SL is that I love the books, but they just schedule too much. We tried Winter Promise, and that was even bigger overkill. Then we found My Father's World. MFW is balanced, but deep. It is really the perfect combination for us. I would really recommend checking it out. You could truly combine everyone if you went with MFW. The one thing I think you were on track with is SL to help your emerging readers come along. I picked up a SL reader schedule for my ds this school year, and it has absolutely helped move him along in his reading. I bought it for $5, and get all of the books from the library. Hth,

[snipsnsnailsx5]

Thanks everyone for the replies!

 

So you're saying that Sonlight, or rather doing several cores, may be too much for me?

 

LOL

 

It seems pretty universal of an answer, so I think I'm going to have to rethink my inks. ;)

 

I do love SOTW. I just never imagined using it as a stand-alone history curriculum. We do the mapwork, narration, and activity if we have time that week. But we dont' do the other reading suggested. I like that idea. I may have to get more involved with SOTW.

 

Thanks!

[Mom0012]

Thanks everyone for the replies!

 

So you're saying that Sonlight, or rather doing several cores, may be too much for me?

 

LOL

 

It seems pretty universal of an answer, so I think I'm going to have to rethink my inks. ;)

 

I do love SOTW. I just never imagined using it as a stand-alone history curriculum. We do the mapwork, narration, and activity if we have time that week. But we dont' do the other reading suggested. I like that idea. I may have to get more involved with SOTW.

 

Thanks!

 

 

I think someone else suggested that you could have your oldest do Core 3 on his own and then combine the 7 and 9 year olds in a Core (which you would do the read-alouds for). This makes sense to me and seems like it would be manageable. I think you could even do a pre-k core for your little ones if you wanted, because that really isn't that much reading. That's a huge investment though, if it turns out that SL isn't a good fit for your family.

 

Lisa

[SnMomof7]

We have been using SL (just one core) and have a baby :). I DO love that it is open and go. I also love the book choices. The best thing though is that my children really love learning MORE when they are doing SL. BUT, I wouldn't do 4 cores!

 

Here is my suggestion - go with core D for your 2 oldest and core A for your seven-year-old. Your little one (4) will enjoy listening to many of those stories, and the reading load is pretty light; we have often doubled up those readings. If you wanted to do more with your 4-year-old all you'd need to do is read some great picture books casually :).

[StephanieZ]

GASP! DO NOT GET FOUR CORES! SL includes a lot of READING ALOUD by mom! Four! Gasp! We do two and it is still a lot of reading; I get help from Dad, and I also buy some on audio book! More than two makes me want to. . .

 

:svengo:

 

 

Personally, I'd hold off on SL until the kid(s) are 1st grade age. That's what I did; works for me.

 

 

I think Core 5 (unique, some skip) or Core 6 for the good-reader/gifted 12 yo.

 

He might well be able to read many of the read alouds to himself as readers, which will come in handy. I think Core 3 would be too easy; core 3+4 will also be easy, but if you really want US Hist, it would work, and will move you along to the next cores quicker. It won't seem babyish, but it won't challenge him (unless you assign many of the read alouds as readers, which could be great for you.)

 

I'd combine your 7 & 9 year olds in Core 2 ©. I'm tempted to say 3 (because I love it), and it would work, but it does have a lot more reading. With Core C, you will choose different reader packages for each of the kids (assuming they have different needs). The history books, etc will be absolutely appropriate for both of them, and you'll enjoy it much more doing them together. So, wait for US Hist until next year for them.

 

For your little, do fun stuff. Don't sweat SL just yet. You don't need another schedule to worry about.

 

 

 

For reference, my older kids (both bright) did:

 

Core 3 (D) at 2nd & 4th gr

Core 4 at 3rd & 5th. . .

etc. . . through Core 7 this year (6th & 8th)

 

My youngest started Core 1 (B) for 1st, now Core 2 © for 2nd, etc.

[texasmama]

We love SL here. But, to state the obvious, don't do four Cores!:lol: Not even without a new baby. ;)

 

If I were you, I would put the 12 yo in a more advance Core than D (I can't get used to their new letter names), which would be largely independent. OR put him in D and let him do it independently, reading the readalouds as readers. Combine your two younger students in one Core. Let the 4 yo play/listen as he/she wants but don't do a Core for him/her. (Sorry - can't recall if the little one is a girl or boy and the exact age...) I currently have three hs'ed kids, ages 5, 8 and 10. I combine the older two in a Core and let the 5 yo tag along as she desires. It is fabulous.:001_smile:

[melmichigan]

Carefully consider the abilities of your oldest. If your oldest is advanced/gifted then the core you mentioned may not be enough. My oldest DD is and did Core 6 as a 10yr old. My DD8 are currently using the books that would be part of Core 3 or 4. If you are choosing SL then I would pick a core for the oldest and then pick books to add in for the youngers. I'm out of computer time but I'll check back tomorrow. :)

[sands1978]

On saying all of this there is this woman in CT South Africa that does a bunch of cores at once and she has 8 kids. Each kid does a diffrent core but from Core D they start doing most of the readings by themselves and she gives then run of the IGs.

 

I tried that with my daughter who is a very advanced reader but she would not cope.

 

Check her blog: www.se7en.org.za

 

By the way she is seven + 1 and has been having a new baby ob average every two years.

 

She has very good tips on SL with multiple cores.

[funwith7]

I have to say (please fellow ex and current SL'ers don't hate me lol!) that if you know you are going to have a hectic school year next year I wouldn't do Sonlight. There is a lot that still goes into it on your end. I would look at possibly still using their readers if you like them, but a more teacher friendly open and go curriculum like My Father's World, Winters Promise, Heart of Dakotas, etc. I have used 3 cores now and always end up ditching the teachers manuals somewhere midyear and going it on my own :S It honestly may just be us, but we don't like reading snippets of 4 books at once, and doing several cores at once I was literally hoarse by the end of some days. With SL there is a ton of stuff to add in as well.

 

Best wishes,

Mary