What is your opinion on Sonlight?

[hsmom]

I really like the fact that they have most of their curriculum centered around readers and such. Now I am curious what do you consider the pros and cons of it? Does it have some weak points, if so what are they?

 

Thank you for any help.

[StephanieZ]

We've only used Cores 3 & 4 so far and will do 5 next year. We've loved loved loved it.

[cabdriver]

We really love Sonlight!

The kids love the readers and read a louds. I think they really make History come alive for them. I also like having the IG to keep me on track. I don't do all the activities, but we do most. I am not a big fan of their LA. We do separate grammar and writing programs. Overall, we have been VERY happy with Sonlight!

[TracyR]

We really enjoyed Sonlight when I used it for PreK , K and core 1 . I didn't care for their language arts . I had a hard time figuring it out and it just jumps from concept to concept . I tried it several times because I wanted to like it . But just couldn't .

My daughters really have learned to love to read from this program . Even though I cyberschool I still use their book list and we have yet to be disappointed in any of the books .

 

I know I never really followed the IG very well . My girls always wanted MORE of the story so we would work well beyond and it was a pain for me to try to figure out where we were at . So I just dropped the IG and we still had fun with it .

 

I highly recommend it .

[Pata]

We enjoy the history, readers and read-alouds. I love having the IG as a jumping off point for all my tweaking, especially with the history portion. Their LA is a little to natural for me, but that's the approach that they take. Hope that helps!

[Jennifer on Earth]

We love, love, love Sonlight. We use the history, read-alouds, and readers. We don't use the LA or science. I love the book selections Sonlight uses and I love the schedule. I suppose some would consider the lack of hands on activities to be a downside, but that isn't the case for us.

 

HTH!

[BarbinTN]

We love Sonlight for history, read-alouds and readers too! I also love that it is scheduled and I can buy all the books at one place! I can't think of any weak points for our family in regards to these subjects! We didn't care for their LA or their Science.

HTH!

Barb who used Core 1+2, 3+4 and will be using 5 next year:o)

[mamato3 all-boy boys]

They certainly pick out great books, that is for sure. For our family, I'm seeing that there are some books that would be best to wait until the boys are older and can appreciate the book -- and some of the themes -- more appropriately.

 

I am really, really enjoying Core 3 more so than the disjointed K that we used before; but, that is just my very linear way of thinking. K was too choppy and jumpy for me..

[hsmamainva]

I love Sonlight! I've used Cores K through 100 (Kindergarten through 9th grade) and intend to continue for many years to come!

 

I love the literature-base! My children *love* to read and I believe that Sonlight has a lot to do with that.

 

I'm not an 'arts-and-crafts' person, so a unit study was never my thing (that's another reason that I prefer Sonlight over Winter Promise or My Father's World, for example)

 

I also appreciate the fact that all of the books are included and it's ready to go. We live in a rural area, and our library is VERY small. It's also an independent library, meaning the only books available are the ones there -- no interlibrary loan is available. That would make it nearly impossible to try to put together my own literature-based study, unless I wanted to spend a great deal of money on it!

 

I LOVE the fact that, other than a few optional workbooks, every core is ready to use with the next child. That makes it very affordable, if you're planning to hand each core down to the next sibling. Books aren't updated and they hardly ever go out of style.

 

So...that's the long and the short of why I love Sonlight! :D

[readwithem]

I liked it for the early years, everything except for LA, which they've revised several times since our early years. Since discovering WTM I realized I wanted a more spread out, indepth and continuous approach to history. We've followed WTM since 5th grade and haven't looked back.

 

So many of the books are similar - and as mentioned upthread, they are literature based. But WTM was much more a better fit for my family. I'm not sure I would have wanted WTM in the earlier years, but for middle and high school it's been great for us.

[paula j]

We love sonlight! We have used cores 1+2, 3, 4, 5, and are ready to start 6. The books are awesome! Core 4 has been our favorite for books, we read many sequels with that core.;) Core 5 was awesome and we learned so many things about so many countries and peoples that we never would have learned with any other curriculum.

[FunnyFarmMom]

I love Sonlight books and so do my kids. BUT, I will be moving to TOG next year because I'm tired of struggling to adapt a rigorous program to different ages. If it was just my oldest and I, we would just keep right on cruising through the cores and enjoying every minute, but I have 3 other dc to consider. We did Core 3+4 last year and Core 5 this year. My younger son is needing more and more help to get through the work and I know that next year he won't be able to handle Core 6 - it's a little out of reach. Plus I have my dd coming up. I know that I can't handle 2 cores and I'm too new at hsing to supplement a core to fit every one. So, I'm moving to TOG so I can have help keeping everyone on the same topic, but at their own level. Some families can do 2 cores and adapt for everyone just fine, but I can't anymore. :tongue_smilie:

[DeeDeeMarie0]

We have just finished our 5th year of homeschooling and our first year with Sonlight. We have really enjoyed it. My reluctant readers have turned the corner into being more avid readers. I have one who loved every Sonlight book he read and one who liked some of the books. I didn't use all of the LA because my ds's take a writing class at co-op and we just couldn't fit both of them into the schedule. I loved the IG with all of the comprehension questions and vocabulary words. History has become my oldest ds's favorite subject, and I think it is a result of the wonderful books.

[MerryAtHope]

I really like the fact that they have most of their curriculum centered around readers and such. Now I am curious what do you consider the pros and cons of it? Does it have some weak points, if so what are they?

 

Thank you for any help.

 

Another Sonlight fan! We've done cores P4/5 through Core 3 (finishing that up next week). Core 3 is my favorite so far! But there have been lots of great books in every core, my kids won't let me sell very many, LOL! Just this year they let go of some of the PreK books, but we still have some they like to re-read, and they're 11 & 9, LOL! So I love that the books have lasting value. (last year they had the Children's Encyclopedia from Core K in the car for 2 months & read it everywhere we went!).

 

Weaknesses?

The LA people like or don't like. I'm a fan of the natural method & give LA 3 4 stars out of 5. I posted a review on the SL board if you want to know more what I liked & didn't like, but the negs would be too many assignments/not enough time to revise, and not enough writing instruction. I prefer Bravewriter for writing instruction. I did not use the early LA's (tried but they didn't work for teaching my kids to read).

 

Science--I like but don't love their science. Early on the Usborne books they use have lots of drawings & I prefer real pictures when possible. I think Science 2 & 3 have more books with pictures. I used NOEO this year, which also relies heavily on Usborne books but incorporates more biographies (SL usually has one in there, and I have liked those books for their science.). Experiments don't match what you're studying, which makes sense to me but really bugs some people.

 

Some people find it hard to get everything done but also find it hard not to do everything. SL is a Thanksgiving feast, and you need to be willing, at times, to sample what you want and leave a few things on the table. For us that's usually not doing all the discussion questions (we do our own discussion w/o the IG), and rarely skipping a read-aloud or reader. For others that might mean doing the 4-day schedule, or leaving the end of the year undone, or stretching a core out for more than a year. (I've done a few cores over 2 years). Some people find it hard to let the IG be just a guide, so it can be a negative for some.

 

Positives--the books!!! And the IG--it's all organized for you, often you can just open and go. Their message boards are a great bonus. Great support, fast service, very helpful (this year I know they began calling new homeschoolers to see how things were going & if they needed help--a friend of mine was very blessed by that call!). An all-around good company to work with I think.

 

HTH! Merry :-)

[Lovedtodeath]

I did not read all the replies. Forgive me if I am redundant. Downsides:

 

1. The read alouds in the cores typically work well if you go with the high range in age, and still there are some things better left for later. But I feel the reference type books are immature and some might call them twaddle.

2. My DD loves non-fiction, and most of their readers and readalouds are fiction.

I feel like they need to have more variety in the readers. (biographies, poems, non-fiction, etc.)

3. Missionary stories do not work for my family.

4. Usborne books are hard to use. They are like comic books, have art instead of pictures, many captions that are hard to keep up with, just too busy for my eyes.

5. It is rare to find a reader that correlates with the history in the cores before 3.

6. Just plain too many assigned books, there is no room left for choice reading.

7. The books are low on pictures.

8. NO hands on at all.

 

I still use some of their materials and look at the catalog extensively. I just won't use a full core until we get to American History. I have decided Winter Promise is a better fit for us right now. For science I like some of the SL offerings and pick and choose to add to our cycle. SL also has great programs for handwriting, math, art and music with information comparing each one. HTH

[dalynnrmc]

I agree with Carmen, even to the point of having switched to WP recently.

 

Sonlight was too much, too soon, for us, as well as lacking in the necessary [for our family] hands-on activities.

[Guest abeindorf]

We've used it now for 2 years....Sonlight 1 and 2 and Alt 6 and 7. My kids devour the readers, and completely enjoy the read-alouds. It has really helped my kids to appreciate good books.

 

My only negative would be the quantity of reading/read alouds. We are going to take a slower pace this year so that we can actually do some hands-on projects during and after the books.

[G5052]

I've used Calvert, Galloping the Globe, TOG, and Sonlight. For two kids fairly close in age, it's been the best of the lot. Next week we'll be continuing Core 3 with a 3rd and 6th grader (our school year starts June 1st), and I'm hoping to get in Core 4 before the fall of 2009-2010 when my oldest will peel off into separate work with Classical Conversations or Hewitt and my younger one will move also into mostly independent work with a mixture of resources.

 

I pretty much use it as written other than doing my own thing for Bible. Using a lower-level Core has kept the maturity of the books reasonable and allowed us to study two languages and keep up with IEW. We are not hands-on people and my children love read-alouds, so it's been a great fit. This year will be our first with Sonlight Science. I've wanted to do their Core 5 Science for ages, and this will be the year.

 

:thumbup1:

[Mosaicmind]

I have used Cores Pre-k thru 6 so far and have been pleased with what we have done. I will say that I too believe that Cores Pre-k and K are just too choppy and not necessary if you are trying to save money. We did Core K, which is called "C" now, this year and I gave up on the history books and we just read the read alouds and did map work.

 

Soon we will be starting Cores 1 & 3; and again I will be tweaking them to fit our family. All in all it's a great company and a great curriculum. For me there is always going to be something else out there I want to try, which is why we haven't stuck with SL every year for the 9years we have homeschooled.

 

Love the IG, these are invaluable.

[Pat in MI]

We really have not enjoyed Sonlight this year, Core 3/4. I finally just ditched the IG and started reading the history on our own schedule. I found it so frustrating to flip to all of the different study guides for questions and I felt like we were on a reading treadmill. They really have you reading at a very fast clip, both the readers and read alouds. They do have some great books, but we did not make it through all of them. It may have been because it was a combined year, but in looking at say Core 6 they really must have you reading fast there too in order to get through two SOTW books in one year. Only a couple more weeks of school and I can't wait to be done! :D HTH

Blessings,

Pat

[rafiki]

.

[Melissa in CA]

I have used Cores 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 100, 300, and 400!

 

Sonlight is a wonderful company. They have taken great care of me over the years and have not only given me free forum use for life, but 10% off all my orders and free shipping for life! How amazing is that? I know of no other company like Sonlight.

 

BUT...

 

I have decided TOG is a better fit for me. SL's IG drives me BONKERS. There REALLY must be a better way than to have us flipping all over the place for questions, answers, notes, mapping, etc...and don't EVEN get me started on the IG symbols! Each thing in a different place within the IG. The organization is just impossible for me to use adequately. This became very important in the high school cores as there is no testing, or evaluations to see if your child is actually learning. You MUST either read the material (ALL of the Lit and History) with them, or devise a plan for using the IG, which, honestly, wasn't helpful to me no matter how I used it. Plus, I am sorry, but high schoolers need accountability. They need some form of testing or evaluation. Sonlight does not offer this.

 

I know that for some TOG seems confusing, but seeing TOG in the flesh was like a breath of fresh air to me! Everything so organized, wonderful thought out questions, simple worksheets (Student Activity Pages), mapping that is actually do-able with no flipping around trying to find the map number and corresponding map (errruuugh!). It's just an all-out better program for my teaching style.

 

If anyone had asked me a few years ago if I would ever leave SL I would have said a hearty no WAY! I LOVED SL! I still love SL, the company, and I will be faithful to them in any way I can. If they have a program or a book that I want, I will buy it from them. Period. But, unless they change their IG drastically, and their philosophy in regards to some form of testing in high school, along with better questions and teacher help in analyzing and discussing Literature, I will not be using any more of their Cores. :sad:

[swellmomma]

I really enjoy the readers, read-alouds and history books. When I ordered before I ordered every reader, readaloud and history book from Core 2, and 3 plus some others from core 1 and 6 that matched what we were doing. I do not order the IG because I wanted to use the books as we say fit. We did get science 3 and while it is okay, the kids find it dry in sections, now I see they have changed the spine book of the program so it may be a much better program for future users. I bought all of this 2 years ago and still have enough books for another year of study. We are ordering the P4/5 with K readers for my Ker and science 5 for the kids, we are getting this to tie into the study I peiced together for them on the human body and puberty. We will continue to use the books Sonlight offers, but I still lean more towards WTM than CM so no IG's, LA or History from them, just the books basically since they are such wonderful titles.

[Lovedtodeath]

I really enjoy the readers, read-alouds and history books. When I ordered before I ordered every reader, readaloud and history book from Core 2, and 3 plus some others from core 1 and 6 that matched what we were doing. I do not order the IG because I wanted to use the books as we say fit. We did get science 3 and while it is okay, the kids find it dry in sections, now I see they have changed the spine book of the program so it may be a much better program for future users. I bought all of this 2 years ago and still have enough books for another year of study.

 

I did the same thing. I got a lot of used books from the RecycleSonlight yahoogroup and divided them up. They will last us about 5 years for $100!! Will have all of our read alouds and independent reading covered, and quite a bit of our science.

[OnTheBrink]

I did not read all the replies. Forgive me if I am redundant. Downsides:

 

1. The read alouds in the cores typically work well if you go with the high range in age, and still there are some things better left for later. But I feel the reference type books are immature and some might call them twaddle.

2. My DD loves non-fiction, and most of their readers and readalouds are fiction.

I feel like they need to have more variety in the readers. (biographies, poems, non-fiction, etc.)

3. Missionary stories do not work for my family.

4. Usborne books are hard to use. They are like comic books, have art instead of pictures, many captions that are hard to keep up with, just too busy for my eyes.

5. It is rare to find a reader that correlates with the history in the cores before 3.

6. Just plain too many assigned books, there is no room left for choice reading.

7. The books are low on pictures.

8. NO hands on at all.

 

 

 

:iagree:

[Captivated]

Love it for History, Readers and Read Alouds!!! We have used Cores P4/5, 3+4, 5, 6+7, 100, 200, 300 and Core K just arrived. Love, love, love it.

[MountainViewMom]

We have used Cores 2, 3, 4 and 6. I like the IG format and needed that organization, especially when I started homeschooling. It was a perfect fit for our family. The books are great and I wanted (still do) my children to enjoy reading. We love the historical fiction. I appreciate being able to use it the second time around with my youngest! It makes planning my week so easy!

 

That being said, I am looking at TOG for next year. The teacher's guide just seems way to complicated for me, but I am going to look at it again.

[Jenny in Atl]

I have done Cores 2-6. We loved 3 & 4, but did not get much out of 5 or 6. We are however going to use parts of 7/200 & 300 next year, and plan on using 100 for 8th.

 

+'s: The lower core(s) readers and read alouds are great.

If you want it all planned out for you, SL is awesome for that.

SL makes history come alive with the mix of fiction and non-fiction.

It's very easy to adjust and make your own by adding or take away elements.

 

-'s: If you have either a struggling read or advanced reader SL can get frustrating.

Dd 12 is an adv reader and has grown very weary of the same story-line that many of the readers/read alouds have. Boy in trouble, boy faces challenge and saves family. I have adjusted this for her by adding more bks with female protagonists and a higher reading level.

 

All in all SL has many aspects that I really love and the negatives are pretty easy to avoid or at least work around, if one wishes.

 

hths!

[Liza Q]

SL's IG drives me BONKERS. There REALLY must be a better way than to have us flipping all over the place for questions, answers, notes, mapping, etc...and don't EVEN get me started on the IG symbols! Each thing in a different place within the IG. The organization is just impossible for me to use adequately.

 

 

Every time I look at SL (and I do every time I go to a convention) I get the heebie-jeebies and I back away slowly ;)

 

I love the booklists but I just can't use the IG.

[Carol in Cal.]

I love the books. I love the lack of hands on projects. I love the focus on history, the living books, the Christian but not extremely providential view of history, the focus on missionary work and on the 3/4's world, and the literature.

 

Having said that, I am just too independent or something to use it. I keep thinking that I will switch to it in a year or two. For instance, I thought that I would switch to it for Cores 3 and 4 instead of or in addition to SOTW3 and 4, but by the time I got there, there were so many other good books that I wanted to read with SOTW from the AG that there didn't seem to be all that much point to using Sonlight. Also, some of the selections were quite 'young' for my DD at that point. And, I don't like the way that they make you jump around from one book to another--we like to read differently than that, and maybe juggle only two books but read much longer passages from them.

 

So then I thought that I would finish SOTW4 and then to Core 5, but now that I'm close to it, I really don't want to do it. I want to do short unit studies that I design myself about some of those countries, and use some of the Sonlight books but not others. And I want to do this interspersed with more American history and worldview work.

 

I would never do Cores 6 and 7--I can't imagine flying through 2 volumes of SOTW in a year. No fun at all, and not a whole lot of learning, either.

 

So now, as usual, I'm contemplating using it for high school if we homeschool high school. I like some of the literature work for the high school years. But if history is any guide, I probably won't end up doing that either.

 

The fact is, I really like doing history myself. I really, really like Story of the World and Steward Ship unit studies as well as many of the Beautiful Feet books (especially those by Marrin). I like teaching literature myself a la WTM. I like to figure this stuff out myself. This is the fun stuff, for me. And because it is fun for me, it is easy for me to do and to make DD enjoy it. So although I love and respect Sonlight, chances are I will never use it.

[Annie Laurie]

I

 

I would never do Cores 6 and 7--I can't imagine flying through 2 volumes of SOTW in a year. No fun at all, and not a whole lot of learning, either.

 

Woah! That seems like quite a leap to make about it, especially having never used it. My son did Core 6 this past year and is about to start Core 7. He retains SO much about history because he enjoys what he's reading quite a bit and the way that SL is set up has really worked for him over the years we've been using it. My son is on the older end for it, maybe it would be a lot in two years for a younger child, (and that's a maybe, I know plenty of people are using it for younger kids and I wouldn't assume that their children aren't learning), but it has been great for him. History doesn't have to take place following the WTM 4 year cycle for every kid in every circumstance to learn and enjoy themselves.

[Annie Laurie]

We really like Sonlight here, so I'm biased. :)

 

Pros:

Wonderful book selections. I do wish they had a bit more DK style books with pictures because I have two sons who enjoy that, but I haven't found it a problem with my oldest, we buy a lot of those style books anyway, and he'll seek out the ones related to the time period he's studying and read them on his own. I will add some in for my 7 year old when we go back.

 

Everything put together for you, that is a plus for someone like me who doesn't enjoy planning and isn't very organized.

 

Excellent customer service- the most reliable I've had with any hs company, and I've shopped at a lot of them. I feel very safe spending a lot of money there, what with their quickness at answering questions and responding to problems, and their guarantee.

 

Cons:

Sometimes it may feel like too much reading, but it's easy enough to skip a few when that's the case, although that might be hard for a box checker.

 

No hands-on. My kids need that so I've been trying WP and will try MFW this year. I already miss SL though and plan to go back next year and just add hands and hearts kits and notebooking.

 

The maturity level of some of the selections can be too much for sensitive kids. This is the case for my middle two, which is another reason we've been taking some time off of SL so that they can be a bit older when we go through the cores.

[camibami]

:thumbup:

 

We did Core 3 and some of 4 this year- our first year with SL. We *loved* it. Before we used SOTW 1 and 2 (a year of Hurricane Katrina and public school in there) and we never got much done as far as history literature. We did projects, we read some picture books, but there wasn't time fo the longer books for each time period. Or there was , but I didn't know how to schedule them myself. The IG does it for you, woo-hoo.

 

I got a used WP AS 1 and used some of the hands on stuff in it- the girls love hands on. Their momma does not, LOL. Next year we will do Core 7, and I bought some of Core 2 used for my youngest. I also got the SOTW AGs for some hands on stuff. So I end up doing quite a bit of planning on my own (combining WP this year and scheduling projects, combining the 2 Cores and the AGs next year) and that negates the "ease" of SL. I am very pleased with all we did this year though, and more importantly, the girls LOVED SL, especially my oldest girl.

[Prairie~Phlox]

I love their catalog! I went through it and had my kids pick books out of it that they wanted to read for the summer reading program! At least I know that they are getting good books throughout the summer to read.

 

~Phlox

[Elaine]

I wanted to like SL, but really ended up loathing it! It just was not a good fit for me.

 

I do enjoy their literature selections, however.:001_smile:

[chiguirre]

Sonlight's booklists are wonderful and, depending on your teaching style and your learners, the IGs are helpful. I've found SL is very adaptable because you can always drop and substitute books that you prefer. It is reading centered so you either have to add it hands-on or choose a different curriculum (Winterpromise is a good mix).

 

I second buying the books used. I've put together cores A through 4 for less than half the catalog price which makes SL a bargain. Plus, I don't feel that I have to get every last drop out of it. We do most of it but it lets the box-checker in me let go of the stuff that doesn't fit us.

[Sheila in OK]

We love Sonlight! We've used Cores P4/5 thru 2 and are looking forward to Core 3 next year. I love that it's all laid out for me with virtually no planning. I'm not a slave to the IG, but it's a "track" to keep us moving forward, KWIM? We've also tried:

 

- Galloping the Globe (too much work to pull it all together)

- MFW (enjoyed Adventures, but found ECC too dry)

- STOW 1 and AG (enjoyed, but were inconsistent with pulling it together)

 

As others have stated, the biggest con I see with SL is the lack of hands-on activities. I personally think that's pretty easy to add in, but it's not that important to my dc (usually) so not a big problem here.

 

HTH!

[Lovedtodeath]

I would never do Cores 6 and 7--I can't imagine flying through 2 volumes of SOTW in a year. No fun at all, and not a whole lot of learning, either.

 

 

 

I don't know why I focused on the downsides so much earlier LOL. I LOVE the way SL has history broken up. 2 years of World History, 2 on American History, a focus on geography and then 2 more on World History seems perfect to me. And I am following that even if I go about it differently than buying a SL core. Cores 6 and 7 are meant for Jr. High School so as it was said earlier, it is a lot different than "flying through" with a younger child.

 

I am using WP HIH it flies through all 4 volumes in one year. LOL You don't read the whole thing, and that is okay with me. I am hanging the pegs, I will decorate them later in the logic stage and we will read the whole thing then.:D

[Reya]

I really like the fact that they have most of their curriculum centered around readers and such. Now I am curious what do you consider the pros and cons of it? Does it have some weak points, if so what are they?

 

Thank you for any help.

 

They seem to me to be strongest in late elementary/early middle school and get more watered down from there. Definitely not "honors" level high school work.

[hsmom]

They seem to me to be strongest in late elementary/early middle school and get more watered down from there. Definitely not "honors" level high school work.

 

 

Now I might have to dig deeper. I am looking into it for middle school and high school. Maybe I can base off of sonlight then add more to complete it.;)

[Veritaserum]

We used Sonlight for one year (K). There were aspects that I loved (the mostly great books) and the schedule. I decided not to continue with Sonlight, mainly because I wanted to follow the WTM history cycles and we're not Evangelical Christian so several books in the older cores wouldn't work for us. I do look at their books for ideas and I create yearly 36-week schedules (based on WTM history cycles) after Sonlight's pattern.

[covenant.christian]

I have used SL years 1-10, and do prefer their elementary to the high school (I found the government year a bit dry), and loved it! I would say the only shortcoming in it is that sometimes it seems like they plan too much, but you just need to remember their philosophy is that you should pick and choose. Even they will say that plan too much on purpose, and that no one could do all of it.

[2cents]

Sonlight didn't work for us. I tried it a couple of times and both times I was underwhelmed. We tried science and history and I found that neither lived up to my particular expectations. I am used to putting together our own studies and I guess their plan just didn't really mesh with what I wanted to see in the programs.

 

I have heard a lot of good things about Sonlight from others and how well it works for them so I think it is a program you have to just try and see if it fits for your family.

[Love2Smile]

I used Core 3+4 this year with my 4th and 7th grade daughters and it just did not work. The reading was overwhelming to exhausting! And this is only with one Core, can't imagine with 2. The main history spine was so dry and boring even I was falling asleep reading it. The LA was dreadful. Im not sure if my daughters learned or not this year. They just kept asking me how many pages were left everytime I read.

If you want to be reading ALL.DAY.LONG...then this might be for you, but my throat got sore

[Melissa in CA]

I used Core 3+4 this year with my 4th and 7th grade daughters and it just did not work. The reading was overwhelming to exhausting! And this is only with one Core, can't imagine with 2. The main history spine was so dry and boring even I was falling asleep reading it. The LA was dreadful. Im not sure if my daughters learned or not this year. They just kept asking me how many pages were left everytime I read.

If you want to be reading ALL.DAY.LONG...then this might be for you, but my throat got sore

 

Yes, I personally think SL should look into a different history spine for Cores 3 & 4. There are some very interesting parts in it. We especially loved learning about the beginning of mail-order catalogs and such, but in all honestly, much of it is just not interesting enough for the average 3rd/4th grader. It still surprises me how so many LOVE, LOVE, LOVE those two cores. I thought for SURE we would love them too. :001_huh:

 

I had to chuckle at your falling asleep while reading. I don't know if you were serious or just being facetious, but I have actually fallen asleep twice this year while reading aloud! LOL! :blink: I don't think it was the books for me, as we have loved our books this year, I believe I am just plain gettin' OLD! :eek:

[probablytracy]

but my only con would be not much of Hands-on type stuff, and don't care for the actual LA int he lowere grades but they have re-done them since we used it!...Otherwise LOVE it!

[Mesa]

I've tried Sonlight twice now. I have cores 1 and 2. It was just "ok". Definitely alot of reading, my throat would be sore by the end of each day. The books were too advanced for my son and he was at the upper end of the age range. The missionary stories books were skipped because we are LDS. We did do the daily Bible reading and my son loved the beginners Bible. I started core 2 and only made it about 2 months into it before I just quit. I was so burnt out, my son was burnt out. We did a few months of our own thing and then I heard about Winter Promise.

We then switched to Winter Promise and we are both loving this curriculum. I'm not a hands on fan but my son is. He loves doing the projects and he's learning so much more because of it. The books are perfect for him.

For us right now Winter Promise is a much better fit. Of course we are only on week 2 but if our year continues to be anything like these first 2 weeks, we are really in for a lot of fun!

[siloam]

I really like the fact that they have most of their curriculum centered around readers and such. Now I am curious what do you consider the pros and cons of it? Does it have some weak points, if so what are they?

 

Thank you for any help.

 

 

As an adult I love it, but it doesn't work for the learning style of my kids (all are pretty kinesthetic). The reading schedule was also a bit heavy, in other words it took us about 1.5 years to complete a program, so it was going to get very interesting as I tried to do more than one core (for older and younger kids) or trying to work out the upper core for a High School student.

 

It is a good program through, if it fits.

 

Heather (who will do the cores for herself at her own pace after the kids graduate :D )

[AmyTompkins]

Core 3+4 *is* their most reading-intensive Core for the parent by far and they admit that freely. They also admit that the spine, while dry and perhaps a bit difficult to follow for younger children, it is informative. This might be a good tome to paraphrase for your children! :)

 

 

 

 

 

I used Core 3+4 this year with my 4th and 7th grade daughters and it just did not work. The reading was overwhelming to exhausting! And this is only with one Core, can't imagine with 2. The main history spine was so dry and boring even I was falling asleep reading it. The LA was dreadful. Im not sure if my daughters learned or not this year. They just kept asking me how many pages were left everytime I read.

If you want to be reading ALL.DAY.LONG...then this might be for you, but my throat got sore

[magistramom]

i loved, Loved, LOVED Sonlight Core 3 for American History. We purchased and read all the history materials when we were doing SOTW 3. It was a nice "fit" and it fulfilled my desire to beef up our American studies.

 

I will be reading the books again this year, this time with my third grade son, I am looking forward to having the reading discussions with a "boy" (the last time around it was with my daughter).

 

We have not purchased from any other Core series. We've enjoyed using our library and reading off of many classical reading and living history/science books for our history/science cycles. Many of the Core 3 books were just not available in our library system.