Talk to me about Sonlight Cores

[Whereneverever]

Anyone here with a lot of experience and some tolerance for brain picking? :bigear:

[SnMomof7]

I don't have a lot of experience, but ask away. There are quite a few SL moms around here :).

[Whereneverever]

Do you need to do the readers with the Core? Are they tied in to the chronology?

[SnMomof7]

Only in cores D and up :). In the earlier cores they are independent of the chronology and are chosen based upon reading ability. The early readers are GREAT for developing reading fluency and confidence though, we are doing the grade 3 readers this fall. It is a great progression from the K to the grades 4/5 readers moving from CVC words right on up to chapter books.

 

Then in D and up, they are tied to the chronology and require a competent reader.

[Whereneverever]

Good to know!

 

Do you know how the old versions compare to the new?

[SnMomof7]

That is a tricky question :). SL cores are updated almost every year, so it depends on both the Core, and the year you have as to what you'll be getting if you buy a used copy. Some years there aren't many changes, other years there are book changes, and yet other years SL does a BIG overhaul of their guides and you get a LOT of changes as to how the IGs are structured and what they include.

 

Let me see if I can find a page for you at the SL website, it basically lists all the changes that have been made to the cores over the years. Personally, I wouldn't buy a core that was more than 10 years old, because there was a major change in the late '90s which gave us the IG types we have now (more or less).

 

This really helped me when I was buying used cores and deciding which editions I was willing to buy :).

 

http://www.sonlight.com/ig-update-chart.html

[SnMomof7]

That is a tricky question :). SL cores are updated almost every year, so it depends on both the Core, and the year you have as to what you'll be getting if you buy a used copy. Some years there aren't many changes, other years there are book changes, and yet other years SL does a BIG overhaul of their guides and you get a LOT of changes as to how the IGs are structured and what they include.

 

Let me see if I can find a page for you at the SL website, it basically lists all the changes that have been made to the cores over the years. Personally, I wouldn't buy a core that was more than 10 years old, because there was a major change in the late '90s which gave us the IG types we have now (more or less).

 

This really helped me when I was buying used cores and deciding which editions I was willing to buy :).

 

http://www.sonlight.com/ig-update-chart.html

[abacus2]

Sonlight has a helpful chart of updates so that you can see how their cores have changed over the years:

http://www.sonlight.com/ig-update-chart.html