Is Sonlight worth the money?

[LearnLaughLove]

I have been doing a mismash of things for K4. I want something more cohesive for K5. I likef the look of Earthschooling but in the end, I don't it is DDs style of learning.

 

I talked to a Sonlight Advisor today and she recommended the new core A. I expressed concerns because in doing a search on here, it seems most mom recommend p4/5 for K. The advisor recommended that I try reading her on of the Boxcar Children books and see if she can handle a chapter book. I went to the library and got a book and will see what happens.

 

I guess my question is this: Are the Sonlight Cores worth the money?

[flobee76]

I guess if you are looking for something straight out of the box and schedules, but IMO, I don't think it's worth it. I ordered P3/4 and P4/5 for our oldest, but I now regret it. I could've easily borrowed some of those books from the library and I didn't really use the schedules..

 

Plus, I can't imagine spending that $$ if you are schooling more than 1 child.

 

I still love Sonlight booklists though. I research the books and check out from the library what I want. :)

[AnnaM]

I think its going to depend on what you are looking for. Sonlight is heavy on the reading but we like that. Though I didnt buy the core I have from Sonlight. I got the IG cheap on Amazon and with a little searching bought all the books except for 3 used. It cost me about $125 total + a little time and gas.

[CroppinIt]

SL is one of those programs that if it fits, it fits well and is worth every penny. If it doesn't fit, you will be very unhappy with the cost. The good thing about it is that they do have a guarantee and will refund your money if you ask for it. (18 weeks from order, I think? It's on the website called the "love to learn guarantee.)

 

I have bought SL cores new, used, and pieced together from multiple sources. Yes, buying new costs a lot -- but having everything in the package was worth it for us (when we had the money). My hardest years were the ones that I had to use piecemeal materials without the IG.

[StartingOver]

I have been doing a mismash of things for K4. I want something more cohesive for K5. I likef the look of Earthschooling but in the end, I don't it is DDs style of learning.

 

I talked to a Sonlight Advisor today and she recommended the new core A. I expressed concerns because in doing a search on here, it seems most mom recommend p4/5 for K. The advisor recommended that I try reading her on of the Boxcar Children books and see if she can handle a chapter book. I went to the library and got a book and will see what happens.

 

I guess my question is this: Are the Sonlight Cores worth the money?

 

http://homeschoolingintexas.blogspot.com/2012/04/rant-cores-can-be-done-at-recommended.html

 

I just posted about this.

 

If you are wanting to build a home library, and have open and go then it could be. These are the reasons I use Sonlight. I also love the literature based history !

[LearnLaughLove]

http://homeschoolingintexas.blogspot.com/2012/04/rant-cores-can-be-done-at-recommended.html

 

I just posted about this.

 

If you are wanting to build a home library, and have open and go then it could be. These are the reasons I use Sonlight. I also love the literature based history !

 

Thank you! That was very helpful!

[StartingOver]

Thank you! That was very helpful!

 

There are tons of samples on Sonlight that can help you make a decision. Some of the work will be harder, but I personally like to challenge mine every now and then. I also love rereading the books later with other cores, and most of them get assigned as readers later. :001_smile: There is also the 18 week guarantee, so go with your own choice and test the waters for a whole 1/2 of a year.

[freeindeed]

I am a very satisfied Sonlight user. I would say that it's worth the money if it's a good fit for your family.

[Dinsfamily]

It is worth every penny for our family. I love all of the books on my shelf and the IG is useful (more so for Cores B and up).

 

However, I am one that discourages Core A for a Kindergartener. Not because a K'er won't do well but because it will be even better as a 1st grader. The discussions will be richer and deeper. I do recommend you get selections from the library before you decide. However, Boxcar Children is one of the easiest books in Core A. You'd be better off deciding after reading Twenty and Ten, Hundred Dresses, and Mary on Horseback. Those are some of the meatier and discussion-prone books in the 2012 version of the core.

[mumto2]

For me Sonlight is worth it. But that is because our family's lifestyle requires that I have all the books on hand and ready to go-- we travel with dh for work. Years when I did my own curriculum were hard for me. Did I have everything?

 

But for someone with access to a good library, who are home to receive book deliveries, that have a kindle or don't mind reading aloud from the computer screen, Ambleside looks lovely. It's free! Yes, you need to source your own books. But they even tell you if they are free on the kindle.

 

Sonlight is great. We have enjoyed it. But it is expensive. You are paying for convenience. I would give Ambleside a try first. If it doesn't work then I would consider a switch.

 

Good luck!!!:001_smile:

[Tarreymere]

We got our first core this year. We bought it used, since I was wondering if it would be worth the money.

 

Well, let me just say I'm planning to buy another core for another child and we will be using Sonlight from now on. If I can swing it I will buy new, but if not I will buy the IG's and hunt down the books or try to find someone selling the core I want used. When people say if it fits, it fits well....they're right.

 

We are not an affluent family, and I did not even consider Sonlight at first because of the cost. But I sure am glad I finally did!

[boscopup]

Keep in mind that the "high cost" of Sonlight is mostly the cost of the books themselves. You can piece together by buying the IG from Sonlight and either using your library (makes it cheap) or buying from Amazon or buying used. You can also get your IG used.

 

I purchased Core D used for a good price. My library has many of the books. I'll buy some of them used. Amazon has many of them half price used, or they have 4 for 3 new. I will end up spending a total of $100 on Core D in the end, but again, that's using the library a lot. I won't own the books. If I wanted to own all the books, I'd be paying a lot more.

 

I'm going to use P4/5 with my K'er next year. I looked at Core A, and he could probably understand most of it, but there are some books there that I don't think he'd understand yet. And looking ahead, he really wouldn't do well on the younger end of the cores. He's not advanced in basic understanding. He asks a million questions all day long, including things like, "Is Blue's Clues real?" That's not a child ready for some of the harder books mentioned by a previous poster. Now I *am* using Core D on the young end. My son is still 7, and we just started. He's doing fine with it. We finished reading Walk the World's Rim today, and we had some good discussions about slavery, Spanish treatment of Indians, etc. My 5.5 year old had no clue what was going on in the whole book. He can sit and listen, but boy was it way over his head. :lol:

 

I can see that as we go to the upper cores, while my son could probably understand the material somewhat on the younger end, he'd have a richer experience if we waited a year. I think that's why SL'ers often recommend hitting the middle to upper range of the cores instead of the younger age.

 

Now why SL themselves advertise their multisubject packages for the youngest age range, I don't know. They will list Core D, for example, as being for "advanced 3rd graders", 4th graders, and 5th graders. I doubt a majority of the customers are "advanced", so why are they suggesting that level to the multisubject purchasers? :confused:

[Seeking Squirrels]

I bought the core from SL for P3/4. I just wanted to increase our home library, so it was worth the money. Picture books are read over and over around here, so I'd rather own them than check out from the library. In future years, we may check out what we can from the library.

 

We went back and forth with P4/5 for a while between only buying what our library doesn't carry, and purchasing all of it. We finally decided we wanted to own all the books to add to our library and so we would have the option at least to follow the IG. Some of the books are so spread out we couldn't do that from the library. But we decided against ordering new from SL. I've been piecing together from Amazon and e-bay.

 

So far I've saved $50 on 6 books. I've found deals for another 5 books that will save me $36 if I get them. It's taking a chance buying from e-bay/Amazon used because you could always end up with a bad deal. I only go for buying used if I can save at least $5 on that book. Less than that and I'd rather not take the chance and I'll just buy new. There's a handful of books in P4/5 that won't be worth finding used unless there happens to be a lot on e-bay because they're only $5-$6 new from SL. I found the Developing the Early Learner books on Timberdoodle for about $15 less than sonlight. I'm going to be ordering some other things from Timberdoodle so shipping won't matter.

 

So I guess so far my answer is that yes, they books are worth the money, but not necessarily bought as a core from SL. Depends on if the extra money is worth not having to do all the footwork to get them piecemeal.

 

We're planning on a gap year when she's 5 to save Core A for when she's 6.

Edited April 6, 2012 by CPSTAnne

[ZooRho]

I really dislike the sl advisors.

 

I tell people to ask on the forums. You have real moms who have really used the materials to answer your questions.

 

that said I am a long time SL user. I'm not happy with how things seem to be going but they are still a good curriculum for the most part.

 

So the benifits of SL. It is reusable. I used the same materials for both my boys and they are resell-able at for at least half of what you paid if not more in some cases. Personally I have all my old cores since my college son about had a heart attack when I asked if I could sell Core K.

[PentecostalMom]

We love SL here and yes, it is totally worth the money to us. We can reuse the cores through our younger children, and even if we couldn't the resale value is high, especially on ebay. To some it is books you can get from the library, and you possibly may be able to. However, I don't have the time nor the inclination to check my library for all of the books in the core, then schedule them to remember to reserve them, and then more than likely have to buy books anyway. I tried piecing together a core before buying it new. I ended up saving about $40 and was waiting on a zillion different packages, plus the time and effort put into sending emails, communicating with different people and keeping track of all of it was just too much.

 

We now buy cores new. I will be ordering my 4th one soon. Yes, SL has its idiosyncrasies, but so does every other company. Overall, they are a good company and have excellent products.

[Hope in God]

I was skeptical when all my friends were gung ho about Sonlight last summer and how it was going to change their homeschooling journey. I have seen a lot of fads and I was around when Sonlight was seen as not at all cool. But it was the thing so I thought I would try just the science for my elementary aged son.

 

I don't think it is really worth the money for elementary. Now all my friends are who were so excited are Sonlight drop outs (and really, after 18 weeks you don't think to return the material because if it is really not working it is just sitting on a shelf somewhere) and I was not impressed with the Science that I ordered for my 3rd grader. The books were great but you could get just as much milage from the books on their own apart from the questions in the Sonlight manual. Next year I will just buy a bunch of Usborne books or find them at the library.

 

I will say for my 9th grader it was worth it because she is a very literature driven child and she was able to work completely independantly and get finished the core in half the year while enjoying it (core H). That is worth the cost. I will say that we got nothing out of the Language Arts part of the core. It was really just a bunch of writing prompts that I didn't feel confident to correct.