Sonlight/WTM folk!

[scrapbookbuzz]

Just wondering if anyone had done Sonlight then WTM or vice versa? I like them both! I've used Sonlight and am contemplating going with WTM as a spine this next year. However, I really do NOT like to do lesson plans.

 

Any suggestions (brought from your own experiences)?

 

Thanks!

[Mamasteff]

We did SL K for prek/ kinder, and SL 1-2 for parts of 1st and 2nd grade. We had a couple of international moves in there... then dd finished 2nd grade at a private school in the US.

 

For 3rd grade on we are using WTM. There is planning involved, but I enjoy reading ahead, figuring things out, having a plan (not always followed!!). I just discovered Homeschool Tracker via this board and am having a blast with it.

 

I liked in SL - the books! One reason we went with them was where we moved there were no libraries of English language books, nor bookstores, so it was nice to build our own family library.

 

I didn't like - the language arts lessons. Just didn't fit us.

 

WTM - I like - the freedom and flexibility to choose what works best for us in all areas (it's not a curriculum!) I really really chafe at being told to color in the lines, so it really resonates with me.

[Colleen]

Just wondering if anyone had done Sonlight then WTM or vice versa? I like them both! I've used Sonlight and am contemplating going with WTM as a spine this next year. However, I really do NOT like to do lesson plans. Any suggestions (brought from your own experiences)?

 

I'm just finishing my seventh year of Sonlight's history. It's an ideal fit for us and, in fact, SL is what drew me to homeschooling in the first place. When my oldest was using Core 2, however, I became enamoured of the SOTW series. (And still am; I love those books!) Initially, I just added SOTW to our Sonlight studies. Eventually I decided to go "whole hog" on the WTM approach and set SL aside altogether for a half year or so. I regretted it.

 

While I like to be in control,maintain flexibility with our studies and so on, I'm not interested in "pulling things together" myself. I spent a good deal of time perusing the book suggestions in the SOTW activity guide (which itself didn't appeal to me very much). My library didn't carry many of the titles (and my library catalog is quite extensive); others, we did read and considered "just so-so". I always felt like I was planning, organizing, reinventing the wheel ~ and my enthusiasm was decreasing all the while.

 

I know many (most) others here have had a different, more positive experience with the WTM approach, but the bottom line for me was that my son and I both missed Sonlight. Since that experiment, we've been with SL for history and I have no plans to use anything else. Let me know if you have questions.:)

[Bee]

Some years I follow the Sonlight IG more closely than others.This upcoming year I plan to use some of the books from Core 6 with my oldest dd but on my own schedule.I have an old IG from Core 2 that I'll be using with my youngest dd but using SOTW as my spine.My plan right now is to use Core 7 as scheduled for oldest dd when she is in 8th grade and Core 100 in 9th grade.Not strictly WTM but not straying to far away either.

[G5052]

Like Colleen, I've used various things (including two years with Tapestry of Grace), but we've been "back" with Sonlight for several years now and are very content. We're on our fifth core.

 

We homeschool neoclassically, but follow a different approach than that outlined in the WTM book. I don't worry about the 4-year cycle (which is not unique to neoclassical homeschooling) and notebooking as given in the WTM book. We focus on memory work, doing the 3 R's classically, Latin, and use Sonlight pretty much as written. We're on Core 3 and are reading Story of the World Volume 3, about one chapter per week in Sonlight.

 

I know that many on this board have the time and inclination to do the putting together themselves, but I do not. We enjoy read-alouds, and my children enjoy reading.

 

HTH!

[BlsdMama]

We have followed TWTM for years and am just now trying a formalized curriculum and we're choosing Sonlight.

 

I adore the layout and suggestions of TWTM, but I'm at a point where I want the plan - Go here, do this, read this, answer this....

 

I never thought that would be me, but I never thought we'd have so many little people in the house either! We'll see... I'm praying I love Sonlight as much as I've loved our last few years of homeschooling. :D

[Oak Knoll Mom]

 

While I like to be in control,maintain flexibility with our studies and so on, I'm not interested in "pulling things together" myself. I spent a good deal of time perusing the book suggestions in the SOTW activity guide (which itself didn't appeal to me very much). My library didn't carry many of the titles (and my library catalog is quite extensive); others, we did read and considered "just so-so". I always felt like I was planning, organizing, reinventing the wheel ~ and my enthusiasm was decreasing all the while.

 

 

This is exactly the reason I moved from SOTW to Sonlight. I had *three* library systems at my disposal and I could find maybe 1/3-1/2 of the books recommended. I didn't like all the hassle involved with making sure I had the right books at the right time and searching for substitutions when needed--it was stressful. I thought many of the activities in the guide were busy work. (The one thing I did like about the activity guide, though, was the questions and sample narrations for each chapter.)

 

With Sonlight, it's all right there and we go to the library for fun. :)

 

ETA: I just use Sonlight Core (bible, history, lit), not LA, Science, etc. I follow WTM for LA and we're not doing formal science yet.

[Jenny in Atl]

I have always used both. Did WTM for 1st, SL 2-now but always with WTM & (SOTW) mixed in. I have also used a mix of other resources, most of which I have heard about from these boards.

[Pata]

I found WTM after I had already purchased Sonlight. So I added somethings into Core C, but not much. Next year we are blending the two full swing. We are using SOTW and the AG instead of CHOW for Core 1. I just finished her history notebook to go with it. We are taking a more classical approach to LA and science, we are not using Sonlight for either of those. I don't know about the future, we will see how this year goes and evaluate it then. I like having Sonlight as a jumping off point, but I really click with the philosophies in the WTM.

[Rhondabee]

I kept up our history notebooks with narrations and/or outlines, and I also added in some of the WTM Literature as Read-Alouds at night. It wasn't anything I had to schedule - and it wasn't always consistent, but that way we didn't miss the beautiful Coville/Shakespeare books!

 

I think we also wrote some summaries for the SL Readers ala WTM as well, but not always because they don't schedule time for that.

 

Last year we went back to WTM, but I kept up the history-related Read-Alouds (from WTM and the SL Catalog). I think the difference for me is that I don't plan beyond the very basics of WTM. IOW, I *don't* spend hours pouring over the Activity Guide, looking for just the right supplementary book. And, we *never* do planned-by-mom activities.

 

I think the Read-Alouds do so much more to build those memory pegs (and shared memories for us as a family) than textbook-ish library books read alone (or, in some cases, I think they were just "looked at" alone - LOL!). And, I don't plan the Read-Alouds other than having a list of "these look good" and "whenever the baby is otherwise occupied, we try to read for 45min to an hour".

 

I decide very early which chapters in SOTW are going to be combined (usually those dealing with non-Western countries), and then develop a routine around the spines. *If* we have time to add more to that, I can easily look in the library's online catalog. But last year I used SOTW as our "extra" reading, so we really didn't have the time for very many library books (other than the Read-Alouds).

 

Both SL and WTM are just so very, very good! I miss the SL-IG because it is just filled with those little extras that make good rabbit-trails to follow - I'm a bit boring in that regard. :p But, I love WTM because we just LOVE the classic literature. My kids would have gotten bored if we had done *only* historical fiction.

 

Oh - one thing I did to make room for some WTM-ish notebook stuff in SL was to eliminate some of the spine reading (parts of World of Columbus and Sons for Core 6 and parts of the Hilyer in Core 1+2).

 

:001_smile:

Rhonda

[mchel210]

I love the WTM approach. I think it is a wonderful way to teach...and I think if you follow it...you kids will take off...but in my case...I have a brain that doesnt function very well without order...so I am trying Sonlight for the IG. So far...it has made me ask questions I wouldnt think of unless I did tons of research on the topics...it has taken the guess work out for me...and that to me...is all I need.

 

I still love the WTM method. I am trying to expose my kids to some of the WTM in addition to adding sonlight. We are using language from 1st grade up with all 3 kids...we are using logic now....and using a lot of real books.