Sonlight LA vs. CLE LA

[mommy24angels]

I'm trying to pick a LA program for my 6yo ds. We will likely be using Sonlight Core B w/Grade 2 readers for this coming year (plus CLE Math, CLE Bible & Sonlight Science B).

 

Have you used Sonlight LA? What are your thoughts about it?

 

I know CLE is a good LA program and would be easy to implement. I guess my reservation about it is that I want a good mix of things & don't want to use too many workbooks (even though my ds doesn't seem to mind them).

 

Any advice or thoughts? Thanks!

[Wildwood]

:bigear:

[Mommy22alyns]

I personally hated SL LA. We used 2 Int. for 20 weeks and I got so frustrated with the lack of actual writing instruction that I dropped it and put Becca in R&S and WWE. I haven't yet used CLE LA but I have it for Sylvia for the fall. She likes workbooks, and it's easier for my poor second child to have an all-in-one LA. :D We will be disregarding the writing in CLE though and using WWE 1.

[Mom0012]

I've used SL since pre-K and we're just finishing up Core 4. I've never been tempted by their LA because I hear nothing but negative coments about it. My daughter uses CLE and WT for her LA and I find it to be a very good mix to use a literature approach for content based subjects and workbooks for the skills based one.

 

My son doesn't use CLE LA, but he uses Saxon grammar and IEW and that has worked well for him.

 

Lisa

[mommy24angels]

Thanks for your input!

 

Does anyone have anything else to share?

 

Does anyone like Sonlight LA? Or, is it pretty universal that it doesn't work well for most children? :bigear:

[texasmama]

We struggled through SL's LA and abandoned ship for FLL and WWE long ago. LA is not SL's strength.

[morosophe]

Does anyone like Sonlight LA? Or, is it pretty universal that it doesn't work well for most children? :bigear:

 

Well, we tried it this year, and I have to join the hatemongers. We switched to Writing with Ease halfway through the year.

 

However, it wasn't actually the whole program that was bad. They have a copywork/grammar component that actually worked really well for my son, and a composition component that really didn't. (We did Readers 2 Regular--I believe it's called second grade level now.) The copywork/grammar component was always the first and second day of the week. The first day would be copywork from a reading the child had done, and the second would handle grammar related to that passage. Here's an example from Week 34, almost the end of the year, since it's still in my binder:

 

Copywork: "I have found lost balloons, books, slippers, chickens. Even a lost goldfish. Now I, Nate the Great, will find a lost picture."

 

 

 

Application: Rewrite the first two sentences of the quotation in the copywork passage as one sentence.

Occasionally the "application" would be more composition than grammar, (for instance, Week 35 involves writing your own description of something that is described in the copywork,) but generally it would be grammar-related.

 

Then, on days four and five of the language arts, the other creator of the LA stepped in, and did what she did best: inspire children to greater heights of creativity, by imploring them to do such thing as write a journal entry from a time-traveler. Seriously, that was much earlier in the year (about when I gave up on the "composition days" of Sonlight's language arts), and it was insane. Sorry, my first-grade boy is just not there yet. He was fine with the copywork assignments and associated grammar, though, so the problem wasn't all that the work was intended for second-graders.

 

It was just bizarre. Monday he's limping through seven-word sentences, and by Friday he's to be prepared for a several-paragraph creative exercise? Not only do I not have time to be amanuensis for my six-year-old, he can't come up with enough thoughts to finish the assignment anyhow.

 

In other words, if you really do have a creative genius who's started telling you stories, maybe Sonlight's LA program is for you. If, like the rest of us, the only thing you ever hear from your child is enthusiastic descriptions of Plants vs. Zombies (I blame Dad), go with something else. Or, if you have the money to throw around, stick with the copywork-related half of the week, and find something else to help with composition.

[mommy24angels]

In other words, if you really do have a creative genius who's started telling you stories, maybe Sonlight's LA program is for you. If, like the rest of us, the only thing you ever hear from your child is enthusiastic descriptions of Plants vs. Zombies (I blame Dad), go with something else. Or, if you have the money to throw around, stick with the copywork-related half of the week, and find something else to help with composition.

 

Actually, one of our son's favorite things to do is make pretend books and write stories :tongue_smilie:. I think he's really gifted in LA- so maybe this would be right up his alley! We're praying about it in hopes God will lead us in the right direction! Thanks for sharing what worked and what didn't for your family.

[Annie Laurie]

SL LA and CLE LA are so different, they're practically polar opposites.

 

SL LA is based on Ruth Beechick's methods. It's the "natural" method, meaning that they feel that explicit grammar instruction is not necessary, that kids pick up sentence structure and such through reading good language and through writing. They have a lot of creative writing assignments. The copywork I felt was long for the age group when we tried LA 1 and 2, much longer than what is in WWE 1. I felt that instruction was lacking and they assign very involved writing assignments that are supposed to be completed in the space of one day. The only similarity to CLE is that there is a variety of LA components, but they are spread throughout the week. CLE has a variety just in a day's assignment.

 

CLE does have explicit grammar instruction, just short segments each day. Instructions are very clear. There is some writing, but they break it down and it is things like writing a paragraph or a friendly letter, with short daily segments that lead up to writing the whole thing. The lessons are short but thorough. There is no copywork or dictation, but we get that with WWE.

 

Obviously, I'm biased and prefer CLE LA. IMO, it definitely is a good mix of things. If your ds doesn't mind workbooks, then it might be a good fit. It's the only workbook we use though, so I don't know if it gets tiring in combination with other workbooks.

 

SL often has a good return policy, I don't know what it is for LA, but you might want to look into that, and if it's a decent window of time and you can write in it, then it might not hurt to try it if it appeals to you and would accomplish your goals for LA.

[2boysmom]

I struggled with SL LA for years, then finally found CLE.

I'd go with CLE. Ease of use and to the point.