Questions about Sonlight for 5 yo and 6 year old.

[Pookamama]

I'm having a hard time picking a core. Part of my thinks we should go with A in case we continue with Sonlight, then they can be together more at DS2's level. I have heard there's a big jump from Core C to Core D. But I love the idea of starting in on World History in B.

 

Anybody tried a Core A or Core B with two kids and regretted it for some reason? What reason was that?

 

How do you feel about the Language art program for the K and 1st level? My 5yo boy mostly knows the letter sounds but he's wobbly on a few. It seems K is mostly just teaching letter sounds. My six year old-(he will be seven in September) he has a high vocabulary and high reading level-he tested at Core E on the SL site. But he still needs lots of writing and grammar skills and spelling. What Language Art level should I pick for him? Or any recommendations for a spelling, grammar, and writing curriculum that's affordable and pretty open-up and go for a busy mom? Also, dictation and narration-friendly as well. I've never done dictation and narration and I'm not sure how to even start teaching it but I want to.

Anybody done the Science SL has? I'm debating between that and Apologia Astronomy. Right now Apologia is sounding a lot more

What's the difference between 4 and 5 day? Does one take longer or have more stuff?

Did you use any of the additional Bible resources like the singing one or Leading Little Ones to God? They both look interesting

 

And buying Sonlight-it seems that many of the books are ones that you could find secondhand easily. When you have used SL did you buy the IG's and the books you couldn't find or did you just buy a package? About how much did you pay buying as much used as you could (and what subjects did that include)?

 

Thanks!

[Pookamama]

Anybody?

[Tsutsie]

I'd go with Core A for those ages. Both will enjoy and understand it.

The Core you pick is not the place to challenge a kid that young - do that with LA and Math. Sonlight is the gravy.

 

I will not recommend their LA at all. You can find many reviews stating the same fact.

FLL is lovely at that age, as well as WWE. (Just add spelling, and you are set with basics.)

The Sonlight readers are GREAT! If I were you, I'd pick a few books at the various reading levels, and check them out from the library to find an appropriate level to start at. Sounds like your younger one can start with K, but I'm not sure about the older one. Readers 3 or 4/5, I'm guessing.

 

Sonlight science is ok. It jumps around a lot. Some people like that, as they say they never get tired of working on one topic for to long, especially with younger kids. A friend of mine has a son in Grade 7 and he has always done SL Science. The kids knowledge is amazing. I think it is solid and interesting, without being overwhelming. The main issue is the jumping around-thing they do....?

 

4 day program is less books. I'd get the 5. You can always read the one or 2 extra books over the holiday, or use it as reference material. At that young age, it is really easy to do 2 days in one, and so complete the 5 day program in 4.

[lorisuewho]

I bought core A to use this year, and I returned it. They did honor the full refund.

I felt the topics of A completely jumped around and had no continuity to it.

If I had to do it over again and I had to go with Sonlight, I would have chosen to do 4/5 or core B.

 

I didn't like their language arts. . .that went back.

I didn't like their science schedule, but I did like the books and DVD. I kept those.

 

Perhaps at the Sonlight forum, people can direct you on which core would be best for your age kiddos.

[SebastianCat]

I usually recommend Core A for 6 year olds, so if you are planning to combine a 6 year old and a 5 year old, I'd probably still recommend Core A. If necessary, go slower than scheduled, and spread out Cores A, B, and C so that they are 8 & 9 when you get to Core D.

 

The difference between the 4 day and 5 day packages will vary according to whether you purchase the new 2012 package from SL vs. buying used. If you buy a used IG, you will get the 4 day schedule on one side of the page, with the 5 day schedule on the other side. We have used Cores P4/5 through C, and have always purchased the 5 day books but followed the 4 day schedule. I use the "extra" books for fun reading, over holidays, or on the rare occasions that I wanted to switch out a scheduled book.

 

With this year's change, they have made the entire program a 4 day program, and the 5th day contains books that you read only on the 5th days. They've also removed and added several books from each Core.

 

I do not care for SL's LA, so I can't really help you there. We use BJU and like the incremental, direct approach over SL's "natural learning" approach to grammar and writing.

 

For the Readers, even though your 6 year old tested at Core E reading, I'd go no higher than the 2nd grade Readers. It will be "easy" but it's really designed to build fluency and accuracy, NOT be a challenge at this age. When you get to Core D, the Readers change to "reading to learn" rather than "learning to read." The Core D Readers also contain part of the history, so you don't want to get to Core D until both of your children can read the Readers fluently, and you don't want to use the Core D Readers early. I would recommend for your 6 year old the 2nd grade Readers with Core A, 3rd grade Readers with Core B, and 4th/5th grade Readers with Core C.

 

SL Science vs. Apologia is a matter of preference. SL uses real books (a lot of Usborne) and worksheets, with some random experiments (that don't relate to the topic you read about that week). Apologia covers one subject in depth and everything relates directly to what you've read. Both have their pros and cons. By the time you finish a year of Apologia, YOU might be really, really sick of Astronomy, or Botony, or whatever......but your kids may love it. Your 5 year old may not get as much out of Apologia as he would SL this year, so if you're on the fence, you might consider doing SL for a year, then switching to Apologia next year.

 

Yes, you are correct about buying secondhand. I've put together several Cores secondhand. It takes more time and effort than buying one package directly from SL, but you'll save a lot. Because of the changes this year, I'd make sure that you purchase the books that match your IG if you do decide to buy used.

[CroppinIt]

We've used SL for four years now. All three of my kids listen to two cores now, but up until my youngest was 7yo we only did one. Right now we are doing A and D. I haven't done their LA for years, so no help there. (We used Sing, Spell, Read, & Write for phonics and Rod & Staff for grammar.)

 

I'm very happy with SL. My kids love the read-alouds, it saves me time, and they're loving school. If they learn nothing else in grade school, they're learning that reading is fun and learning is not necessarily the dull, dry, dreary prospect that many of their friends think is has to be.

 

We love the Sing the Word CDs in the Bible program. Dh was a pastor, so we have a lot of other resources for official study, but we also have every oneof the Sing the Words. We've even sung a couple of them as solos in church.

 

As for choosing a core, I tend to buck the system a bit and shoot "lower" than the old 1-2-3 levels indicated. My eldest adds things in to suit her fancy so she's never bored, and frankly I think some of the material is just too stinkin' hard for the ages they indicate. Maybe my family's just dumb, I don't know, but I'd much rather they get everything out of a book they can than only understand half of something that's too advanced for them. If we don't get to core 530, we don't. We'll have well understood what we did read.

 

As for buying the cores new vs used, I've done both. It's a real headache to piece together used books, but you can save money if it's tight. Otoh, if you buy a used core it's not uncommon to be missing books or even IG pages here and there, so you might have to piece anyway. I made sure to buy just enough new cores to be heritage (discounts, free shipping and free forum access for life!) but the rest I'll buy used simply because of the cash. I get frustrated when I pay new prices for books we don't use, so that's another reason I tend to buy used.

 

Be careful about splitting up A/B and C/D. They're two-year sets, and if you jump in with B or D you might have to backtrack and fill in here and there just so the kids understand some references. If you want to do it all in one year, get core A+B or core C+D and you won't have to do that so much since it's designed to be a one-year condensed course.

 

Science: I've used both Apologia and SL. My kids have done Apologia Botany and all three Zoologies and are quite tired of it, so I'm still debating about what to do next year. We've read a lot of the SL science books just as part of read-alouds, because they're such great books, so we won't go back and do that officially. We will take a couple years off from Apologia and do something more chemistry or physics related (I'm considering Real Science 4 Kids) and then go back and pick up Apologia Astronomy and/or Anatomy before my youngest hits General in 7th grade.

Edited April 10, 2012 by CroppinIt

[Kathryn]

You've gotten some good advice. I agree with most of it. For the ages you have, if you go with SL, I'd do Core A. However, it IS very jumpy and very light. We added a lot to it.

 

I would never ever recommend their LA to anyone (we used K, 1, and half of 2, you can see in my signature what we switched to). If you go with their readers, don't go any higher than grade 2 readers for A, grade 3 readers for B. Just supplement from the library with his level if he needs higher.

 

SL science and Apologia couldn't be more opposite. SL science is very random and jumps around from topic to topic, not only through the year, but within each week. For the five day program, you study your main topic M-W, do unrelated experiements on Th, and do a random fifth day book on F.

 

Four day/five day works differently depending on if you're getting new or used, as explained by SebastianCat.

 

We did use their Bible resources. DS doesn't really like music, so the memory verses to music don't really help here. LLOTG is scheduled for core B, but we do it in the evenings with DH right now.

 

I bought new from SL, but even if I were staying with them, I'd never do it again. I'd buy used and use the library. I bought only because I got caught up in supporting a company I thought I loved only to find out that the reality was much different from what the image is. I had planned on at least trying for heirloom.

 

And pp is going to confuse you, so I'll note that she's confused herself. Core A is a standalone core of a quick sweep through world history and social studies. Cores B and C are parts 1 and 2 of world history, cores C and D are parts 1 and 2 of American history. Core F is a standalone of "Eastern Hemisphere" which really means non-European/American. And cores G and H are another two year course of world history. Then "high school" cores are 100 (American), 200 (church history), 300 (20th century), and 400 (government). Core 530 is not an actual core, it's a British Lit. survey course. The combined cores are B+C, D+E, and W (which is G and H).

[Dinsfamily]

I agree with the other posters about doing Core A. We waited until my ds was 6 before starting it and I'm glad we did. The read-alouds are fabulous and better understood at an older age. Your 5yo will do fine but your 6yo will get a lot out of them. I didn't enjoy the history for the same reason the PPs mentioned. It was too jumpy. However, the read-alouds and Bible make up for it and more. I really started enjoying the history in Core B but will be glad my ds is older when we hit Core D. I'm following the same plan for my dc coming up.

[PRTGSw2K]

Because of the jumping around, I ended up re-arranging their schedule. It just make any sense to study clothes for say, the egyptians one week, then not study egyptian history for several weeks. So I created a new schedule matching up the resources from all the books so they matched (history, clothes, food, etc).

 

Despite this hassle, we really enjoyed Core A. I may save it to use with DD, but I'm not sure yet.

 

For LA, we used PP, homemade copywork and just did our own thing for science. This yr, for 1st, he's using PR1, ETC (only b/c he enjoys doing the workbooks), MP cursive and Apologia Science.

[Mommy22alyns]

I would really not recommend the LA.

[Pookamama]

I'd go with Core A for those ages. Both will enjoy and understand it.

The Core you pick is not the place to challenge a kid that young - do that with LA and Math. Sonlight is the gravy.

 

I will not recommend their LA at all. You can find many reviews stating the same fact.

FLL is lovely at that age, as well as WWE. (Just add spelling, and you are set with basics.)

FLL-first language Lessons. WWE-Writing With Ease, correct?

I agree with the other posters about doing Core A. We waited until my ds was 6 before starting it and I'm glad we did. The read-alouds are fabulous and better understood at an older age. Your 5yo will do fine but your 6yo will get a lot out of them. I didn't enjoy the history for the same reason the PPs mentioned. It was too jumpy. However, the read-alouds and Bible make up for it and more. I really started enjoying the history in Core B but will be glad my ds is older when we hit Core D. I'm following the same plan for my dc coming up.

Just noticing our kids are super similar ages-your oldest DS is just a bit older than mine!

[Dinsfamily]

FLL-first language Lessons. WWE-Writing With Ease, correct?

 

Correct. I don't use SL LA either. The main reason is because I was already set on using Spell to Write and Read (SWR). I added FLL and WWE because they are great fits for my dc and me. They are so easy to use and give me the hand-holding I need with those two subjects. The Sonlight readers round out our LA curricula nicely..

 

Just noticing our kids are super similar ages-your oldest DS is just a bit older than mine!

 

Yes, it looks like you are in the thick of it with a 2 preschoolers and a baby! Baby-S is making our school very interesting these days. Even so, I wouldn't wish these baby years away for anything. My ds2 turns 6 this week (sniff, sniff).

[SnMomof7]

Core A is a lot of fun, but I honestly might do 4/5 this year, then do Core A next year :). That way you get 4/5 in (so many great books!)