Do you add books to Sonlight?

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[MinivanMom]

I added in extra books this past year for Core B and I'm doing the same next year for Core C. I don't know whether that's normal or not. I got books for craft/activity ideas, David Macaulay books, and picture books on the time period (for the younger children to tag along). I didn't add in extra chapter books for reading aloud . . . that would have been a little too much.

[Donna T.]

We've used Cores K, 1, 2, and are now using 3+4. I have always added in books. I have to admit that I really overdid it with Core 2. We got stuck on the Medieval portion of the readings and went hog wild with adding in other books. My son loved it and learned a ton, but I was burned out by the end of the core. This year, I'm using 3+4 with a 6th grader and a 3rd grader so I have added to it quite a bit. My older son has benefited from adding in some of Core 100 plus some other books that I wanted him to read and I've added in some easier books for my youngest son. It has worked GREAT and we all love it very much but it does slow the core down so we will probably spend a full annual year on Core 3+4, rather than a typical nine month period.

 

The books that we add in are for their reading, not for me to read outloud... that would be too much.

[Dinsfamily]

We're only in Core B but add a bunch of books and did for the previous cores as well. We really like to read. I know that the cores become more full as we go up but I'm sure we'll find time for all of the extra books.

Edited May 26, 2011 by Dinsfamily

[texasmama]

I always add in a few extras. I would add in more, but our schedule doesn't allow for it.

[Melissa in CA]

I added a lot of books to Core's 3 and 4 because I didn't feel there were enough visual-type books. So I added them in to make those Cores more visually interesting.

 

Actually what it ended up being when all was said and done was mainly Winter Promise books for history...with some of the SL ones thrown in...and all of the SL readers/lit for reading....with some Winter Promise books thrown in. ;)

[Mom0012]

I added in a lot of books at the pre-K level, but really haven't since. I find the SL reading to be plenty, especially beginning with Core 3. Now, I do find fun books to read over the summer or at Christmas, but I don't usually add additional books while we are doing a Core. The only exception has been one of the WP books that really drew me and was available at our library. I added that to Core 3 because I thought it would really appeal to my daughter.

 

Lisa

 

ETA: I forgot I have added in quite a few extra readers for the kids up until this year (Core 4). I just haven't added in much additional stuff for me to read to them.

Edited May 27, 2011 by LisaTheresa

[MissKNG]

I've added books to SL too. It's ok to pause where you are in the schedule to add your own books in, especially if your kiddos think a topic is really cool!

[DawnM]

I have sometimes swapped out book, but have not added more. I have skipped books I just knew my boys would not enjoy or get anything out of.

 

My boys are just not Sonlight poster boys. They would much prefer to do something other than any type of school at all, although they do have some books completely unrelated to SL that they picked from the library or bookstore that they like.

 

We start Core 5 in August.

 

Dawn

[Tess in the Burbs]

we have added books...more in Core 1/B b/c they were younger and tons of great visual books out there for those topics. Some in Core 2/C. We did Core 3 this year and we aren't going to finish everything....we had to just get to the history stuff and all the read alouds will be extra to read later on...we just couldn't keep pace this year. So for 4/E we ordered the 4 day but I have already ordered a few books to go along with it, lol.

 

Don't skip good books you want to include. Skip any SL books you really don't like. We did it all for B and C, but this year I learned to skip some things and add more things. You make it what you want. Looking ahead to next year I can't imagine skipping any of them....

[Dmmetler]

I add, but I also subtract. Sonlight is a great place to find books that challenge DD, but some of the content isn't appropriate for her yet, or the books are just plain tedious, so we tweak.

[Jen+4dc]

We did core 3 and then core 4. I added plenty because I have voracious readers and there's just so much good American History stuff out there. I think each family is different! You'll have to see how much you're dc like/don't like.

 

Definitely feel free to add/substitute according to your dc's interests!!:D

[Boxing Hare]

I add books, but I do it in a casual way. I'll get the extra books and put them in with their library books and say, "I heard this was good." But my kids love reading, so it's not really work for them. They're happy to have the extra books.

[morosophe]

Wow, I was just talking about supplementing Sonlight last night on this board! So now I guess I have to 'fess up to exactly how I've tweaked it so far...

 

I've been doing Core 1 (now renamed "B") this year, and I just couldn't make myself use Follow My Leader, considering all the caveats about how it was an unrealistic book at the beginning of the Sonlight notes for it. I substituted with From Anna by Jean Little, a book that also deals with visual impairment and additionally provides a gentle introduction to Nazi Germany. (Which is not to say that it represents Nazi Germany as gentle!) While we aren't going to be covering World War II in history for years yet, I wanted to lay some groundwork for talking about it when it comes up in our day-to-day lives. That said, my son resented the fact that I had changed from the book we were supposed to be reading, and refused to get into the book. (He is such a rules-follower! He's got oldest-kid syndrome bad.)

 

Books I wish we had substituted or at least slowed down: Mountain Born was a *lot* of reading at a time. It's a beautiful book, a very sweet coming-of-age story that I had never read before but that I loved (and so did my son, actually). It was just a loooot of reading. It's kind of jarring to switch between a full chapter of that and, say, half a chapter of Henry Huggins (which came later in the year). And as for Understood Betsy! Make no mistake, I love Understood Betsy, but I read it in junior high and my parents did not try to make me listen to it in first grade. It is just way, way too hard to get your child into--or at least, that's been my experience. Or maybe that's just because I have a son, instead of a daughter, who had trouble relating. (This is the son who loved The Hobbit when his father read it to him, even though his comprehension was fairly low, so he's willing to struggle through when the subject matter--or maybe the reader--is of interest to him.) I hate, hate, hate that every interesting and challenging book (with the exception of Dumas) has been relegated to "girl's stuff"--hey, Sir Walter Scott and Sir Winston Churchill, both fairly manly men, both appreciated Jane Austen; there were people (males) who refused to believe that L. M. actually stood for Lucy Maud; since when is SHAKESPEARE the least bit girly?--but there's only so much talking about dolls that my son will sit through.

 

For supplementing, I've checked out a bunch of age-appropriate picture books on the topics we're covering and given them to my son to read on his own, which is generally the recommendation that seems to be coming up on this thread. I checked out as many as I could of the ones listed for the time period in The Well-Trained Mind, although quite a few of those turned out to be far beyond his reading level (Rosemary Sutcliffe springs to mind), so I just returned them to the library. I also looked for appropriate subject headings appended with --juvenile literature and particularly with the "ER" (for "Easy Reader") or "P" (for "Picture book") designation prefixing the call number, and put them on hold. (I'd say to just browse the shelves, but having young children makes that a lot harder than it should be, so the "Request hold" button and I have become very good friends!) Then I just put them in a basket for my son to read on his own during his younger brothers' nap time or in the evenings after lights out (our "night light" provides sufficient illumination for reading). I also read them to his younger siblings (or to him) when requested. This has worked pretty well for us.

 

I understand, since you're doing American history, that you are absolutely not doing Core B, and that your children are probably older than mine, so none of this directly pertains to you. However, I thought the general strategies and problems I've had this year might be useful. So: feel free to substitute if you don't like a particular book (or if you know your child won't appreciate it--see the girly book my son hated, above) and supplement with stuff that they are willing and able to read on their own.

 

And remember, if you purchased materials because you liked them, chances are that they're not going to be wasted, even if you don't use them for school this year. Your kids are likely going to have fun reading them and reinforcing what they do learn in school, even if it's years down the road... or at least, they will if they have the love for reading and learning that it seems you are enthusiastic about sharing with them.