threelilbirds Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Does Sonlight REALLY work? It just seems too good to be true..I am not a big hands on artsy craftsy type, and I like the idea of reading so much..But do kids actually retain the information well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 I think it depends on the kid. There are a lot of SL success stories. I don't think Rebecca benefited from it though - she needs more hands on. She learned and retained better with SOTW/AG. We're doing MFW this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mschickie Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 I have used Sonlight for the past two years (core b & c). I can say that it is working with dd. Does she retain everything, no but really no 8 yr old is going to. I can say that she will just start talking about things that we have studied over the past two years. One day in the car she just randomly starts talking about Queen Elizabeth and her sister Mary. She will be reading a story and it will jog her memory and she will say hey this happened in WWII with Hitler who was a bad guy. Dd is not one who has enjoyed reading over the past couple of years but for this coming year she choose to do the advanced readers for core d. I had only been planning on doing the regular readers but she really really wanted to do the others and how do you say no to a child who wants to read more. I really love what Sonlight is developing in her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Marmalade Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 It's certainly working for my kids. There are so many days where I wonder if they're really learning anything, and then they will turn around and have a discussion about something that we read months ago- and I'd completely forgotten about. I am SO not hands on and crafty, so Sonlight is a perfect fit for us in that regard. At the same time, if you wanted to add in hands-on, that's easy enough to do as well. We've done Cores A, D and E, and will be doing B and F this coming school year. We're definitely one of the SL success stories so far, and I hope to continue it all the way through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SewLittleTime Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 We used SL for 4 years, and my kids learned a lot. However, as our family grew, our needs changed. We aren't using SL any longer, but we have fond memories of the years we did. They do have the 18 week love-to-learn guarantee that is unique. Might be something to think about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emma Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 My dd will be a sophomore this year; and has used SL for most of her schooling. I can say, YES! for her it works. There were years that I thought it didn't... years she seemed to not learn as much. However, now, she can out history-fact me any day of the week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 DD is still at the "jury is still out" stage due to her age, but so far, SL has worked for her. She likes to read, likes to be read to, and tends to enjoy coming up with her own hands-on extensions and projects, and she retains a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southcarolinamom Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 We've used Sonlight for the past 4 years and LOVE it. We switched from mostly BJUP materials to Sonlight, b/c the textbook method was causing my kids to lose their love of learning. History & reading had become dry and boring. Even though our school days are longer with Sonlight (more books to read), neither of them want to ever go back to textbook history or literature. DD and DS remember a lot more from history, and are a joy to sit down and discuss ideas with. I give Sonlight credit for helping my son easily pass his Analyzing and Interpreting Literature CLEP exam this summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom0012 Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 I've used SL since Pre-K and we're getting ready to start Core 5. Do my kids remember everything? No! But they have learned a lot and they have also developed a love for literature and history. Very happy SL user here. Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnMomof7 Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 I'm not a hands-on mom either, but I love books AND I'm totally sold on the importance of reading aloud to children. If you haven't listened to Andrew Pudewa's talk - Raising Competent Communicators you must! :) I figure I can get a few birds with one stone with SL. 1. Read aloud time gets done to build vocabulary and linguistic patterns and structures. 2. Develops a love of learning - it REALLY does. 3. Gets content subjects covered in a way that is engaging and FAR more memorable than textbooks and fill-in-the-blanks, multiple choice - you name it. Memorable AND engaging. 4. Cuddle/calm time. Nothing soothes my children more than a story. I'm the mom and I love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 On our 4th year here and love it. I do add fun hands on stuff on occasion. I bought based on the return policy and never needed it. My kids love SL and it's something we look forward to every year. And they have remembered more than I have!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 Does Sonlight REALLY work? It just seems too good to be true..I am not a big hands on artsy craftsy type, and I like the idea of reading so much..But do kids actually retain the information well? I'm headed into my 11th year of homeschooling with Sonlight. (Every time I say that I feel just a wee bit older.:tongue_smilie:) Is it worth it? Yes, it's been very worthwhile for us. Does it work? Well, obviously I like it (love it, actually) and it works for us, as evidenced by the length of time we've used it. But of course that doesn't mean it'll be everyone's cuppa. I'm not into hands on activities. I'm sure my guys would enjoy them, but I doubt it would help them learn any more. I spent one year incorporating a WTM approach alongside our SL studies. My oldest was then in 3rd grade and he turned out some incredible narration pages and had a great time with some hands-on activities. He didn't learn anything more along the way than if we'd not taken that approach, but it's another worthwhile approach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinannie Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 I'm not a hands-on mom either, but I love books AND I'm totally sold on the importance of reading aloud to children. If you haven't listened to Andrew Pudewa's talk - Raising Competent Communicators you must! :) I figure I can get a few birds with one stone with SL. 1. Read aloud time gets done to build vocabulary and linguistic patterns and structures. 2. Develops a love of learning - it REALLY does. 3. Gets content subjects covered in a way that is engaging and FAR more memorable than textbooks and fill-in-the-blanks, multiple choice - you name it. Memorable AND engaging. 4. Cuddle/calm time. Nothing soothes my children more than a story. I'm the mom and I love it. :iagree: Pudewa asserts that the biggest indicator of whether a child will be a good writer is how much you read aloud from good books. He suggests like 2-3 hours a day of read alouds. I have most of Cores P3/4 and P4/5 and I love them. I won't buy the complete cores from them because I don't want the IG's and I don't want all of the books (I am Catholic). The books I have, I love! I am not using it as a complete program, but am using it to supplement what I am doing so I can't really speak to that. My kids do need more hands on learning as well. They are great books though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momee Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 "I give Sonlight credit for helping my son easily pass his Analyzing and Interpreting Literature CLEP exam this summer. " I'd just like to mention this again as it's one of the areas SL is criticized for - "not enough lit. analysis" I've read often here. Begining to think that's not the case now that I'm actually using the program. I started a thread a while ago about being able to bake bread now that I'm using SL. I really am having less teacher planning time as a result. I don't have to book search, choosing which items I will include nor do I have to scour the internet or bookstores to find them. SL is an all in one purchase if I want - which I do :) I don't have to plan, although if I want to alter the plan, I am free to do so by striking a line through their schedule and writing in my own. I love that. Sometimes I get grand ideas and we chase rabbits, but that next Monday morning, my schedule and the books await and school resumes as usual. Yay! I like that there's a clear plan with SL. I"m not winging where we're going in terms of topics and choices, we just basically do the next level. My dd loves it because the books are highly engaging and make her want to approach the work. We've tried other programs with different style books and the work became a drudgery. I haven't yet seen that with SL!!! That's saying something! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Live2Ride Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 Totally works for us and I alter it to fit our needs, but I like that the main work is done for me-what a load off my back! The kids love it and only occasionally balk at a book, but sometimes I'll have them work through it (because I know they'll eventually enjoy it and it's important to do so occasionally), or have them pick something that goes along that time period to read instead (when I know that it's not going to interest them at all). They like that, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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