Peaceful Isle Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 I have a close friend who has her kids in charter school this year. She is wanting to homeschool next year, and wonders if sonlight may be a good choice. Her girls would be in 7th, 5th, 3rd, and 1st. I know her very well, and Im sure she would like to keep them all together with History, Science, Bible, and read a louds. What do you all think? Her children are all bright. No special needs. What curriculum would be good for her? She loves the idea of sonlight, but all suggestions are welcome! A side note, she is a pastors wife, so her life is busy. The less "bussywork" the better. :) She wants a good, solid, education for them though. Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinannie Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 I don't think you could combine that many kids into one core, but she could definitely combine the 5th and 7th and then do a second core with the 1st and 3rd. If she definitely wants all the kids in the same time period, I would suggest TOG or Biblioplan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Marmalade Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 I can't imagine combining a 7th and a 1st grader in anything other than Bible, and maybe read-alouds. The 7th grader is middle school age and really needs a more rigorous education, imho, than what could be gotten when combined with a 1st grader. And that doesn't even begin to touch on the 5th and 3rd grader. That being said, if she were really set on trying Sonlight and combining everyone into one, Core D, (followed by E) would be the easiest to adjust up or down to meet the needs of individual kids. As it is the first half of American History, there are zillions of resources out there that could be added to the core- such as picture books and easy readers for the youngest one. SL suggests a few mini-reports throughout the year, and for the oldest I would take those and turn them into full-blown research report. I don't use SL Science, so I can't really comment on what would work in that regard, but I would lean towards finding a curriculum like Real Science 4 Kids so that you can have them learning the same subjects with different levels of difficulty. NOEO would probably work too- that's what we're using. I have the kids working separately, but the schedule could easily be shifted around to get topics to line up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaceful Isle Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 Thanks so much for your comments! I dont know alot about sonlight, but I also thought core D might be a good place to start for her, and focus on the 5th and 7th graders with American history. Would it be bad for the little ones to just "glean" what they can, or is there mature stuff that they are not ready for in core D? And would hurt the 1st and 3rd graders in the future not having their own core to learn by? Thanks for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaceful Isle Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 (edited) I will also tell her about the RealScience4Kids. Thanks! Also, what is Biblioplan? Is there a website that i could learn more about that? I have heard of TOG, but she is not the type to be running to the library, and if what I know is correct, it would be pretty expensive to get all the books for all ages, Yes? It does look very interesting though :) Edited January 17, 2012 by Peacefulisle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mytwomonkeys Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 you may want to have her look into my father's world, as that is a multi age curriculum. also, i believe tapestry of grace is for multi age. sonlight is great but i don't believe one core would work for that many. i might be wrong though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Marmalade Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Thanks so much for your comments! I dont know alot about sonlight, but I also thought core D might be a good place to start for her, and focus on the 5th and 7th graders with American history. Would it be bad for the little ones to just "glean" what they can, or is there mature stuff that they are not ready for in core D? And would hurt the 1st and 3rd graders in the future not having their own core to learn by? Thanks for your help. Well, when I used Core D, I did it with my then 4th grader and K-er. I added a whole pile of American History focused picture/easy reader books for my DS for his reading. We had a very rich and wonderful year of learning. There are some mature subjects, but my DS at the time had no troubles with any of it. Quite a few characters in the read-alouds and history deal with death in a myriad of ways- some of our favorite characters themselves die too, so if the kids are at all sensitive in that nature, the books might need a closer going over. Many are available at the library these days, and you can see the book lists on the SL website, to give a good idea what all it involves. I think this core would really be geared best towards the 3rd and 5th graders, actually, and then she can send the 7th grader on bunny trails and tangents to really beef up the history. The 1st grader, really, as long as they're getting the 4 R's, anything they glean from the history and RA would be icing on the cake. My DS still looks at the books from that core fondly and tells me that he can't wait to do them again in two years for his turn through the core. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaceful Isle Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 Thanks so much for all your help ladies! I'm really excited about my friend starting her homeschooling journey next year, and want to help her as much as I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom28kds Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 At one point I used the World History for the older kids and then got the World history for the younger kids and blended that way. We all talked about Egypt together, mummies etc. They had different readers but all discussed the same subject. I believe the 2 cores blend well together. I only get the instruction guides and the basic books that you need for all year. I get the readers and read alouds from the library. I would suggest she be flexible with the schedule. The only read alouds I so are the ones that would work for both age group otherwise I sometimes just have my child read the read alouds as just another reader. Do what works :001_smile: I didn't care for their math, science or LA. I'm liking CLE LA & Math because It's very independant and challenging at the same time. All my kids who grew up doing Sonlight have a love for history because of the real life history vs learning facts. I attribute that to Sonlight history curriculum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolamum Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 If she went with SL I'd put the older two together and the younger two together. With the younger two I'd start with core B. For the older two I'd go with F most likely. However, if she wants to keep them ALL in the same thing she might want to consider Winter Promise's All American 1 & 2. It covers grades 1-7 with a highschool add on. We used Core 1 and really loved it. All book choices, save one, we're really good. The one we didn't like WAS good, but it just felt like we were starting over when we were in week 30 something or other so we put it on the shelf. {When I asked on the WP board I wasn't alone in doing that. tee-hee} Downside is their resale policy. BUT, if she only buys the IG from them for THAT core and Timeline Notebooks {because they are TOTALLY worth it and no matter what curriculum she uses these notebooks would work with it!!} she could EASILY buy all the books via amazon or book D & score free shipping. She could then order her HSITW cds {used with this} from TOS which will again give her free shipping. If she wants to use the geography called for in the IG {it's shabby in my opinion} she can order the Geography CD from TOS it's made by HSITW and again get free shipping. Then she could go with Grapevine Bible {it has 2 levels and she could use both levels with all four children without it being a huge issue}, & then just choose a science curric {apologia, sl, etc.} It'd be cheaper that way AND her kids would be all together with some doing more then others. I also suspect that UNLESS her 3, 5, & 7 graders don't like HANDS ON stuff she could virtually sit back and just read to them while they do all the notebooking, time lining, crafts, etc on their own being led by one of her older students, kwim? Anyway, just a thought/option for her. Despite the resale policy it is one reason we went with WP, that & I was totally UNAWARE of their resale policy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threeofakind Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 There's some good suggestion here but I am using Core B with a 1st and 3rd grader and it's great for their ages I think, but I agree it will be challenging to do SL for all grades, but she could also do the 4 day program with the younger ones rather than the 5 day. I will say too thought my son has a new found love for history (our first year hs) and I can only say it's because of SL! The Bible readings would be easy to do with everyone I think. But I do agree the focus should be on the older ones and if the younger ones can listen in fine and Core D could be the start but the oldest may need more. I don't use their science because from the samples it seemed a bit scattered and a little confusing, so we use Noeo Science (which gets mixed opinions around here) but we like it! Good luck to your friend!:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2scouts Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I agree with those who say she should do two Cores and group the two oldest and two youngest together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krisperry Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 (edited) If she wants to do Sonlight, I would suggest: Combine 5th & 7th core F Combine 1st & 3rd core B OR Let 7th do own core Core G Combine 3rd and 5th Core D (5th grader would do the advanced readers) Keep 1st easy - let listen in if they want too..... Another curriculum to check out: Trail Guide to Learning - she could add the middle school expansion for the 7th graderr. That would keep the 3rd, 5th, and 7th together. the first grader would need his/her own thing. Edited January 18, 2012 by krisperry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaceful Isle Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 Wow, such awesome ideas you have given me ladies! it sounds to me that it would be best NOT to go with sonlight science. I will mention to her about doing more than one core, in a few different ways that you all have mentioned. Also, winterpromise sounds promising. What is their resale policy? Are you not allowed to resell their books etc?? I was also thinking of Mystery of History. Ive never used it, but can it be used for multiple ages ? I know Story of the World can, but isnt her oldest too old for that? Again, thanks for taking your time you all to help me out here! Any more ideas about curriculum that my friend could use to combine her kids are more than welcome! Now I just have to download all this info into my brain and process it, so I can explain to her these ideas :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I'd combine older two in G and younger two in B. You're doing two cores, but the same general subject (first part of world history). The fifth grader will be on the young side for G, but I know people who've done it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaceful Isle Posted January 19, 2012 Author Share Posted January 19, 2012 That would be a good idea, but she she is not wanting to study ancient History. :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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