Sonlight Science Question

[JOHNNABONNA]

I saw a post on here recently that made me think that perhaps SL science is not a good program. I have never used SL science but I went ahead and took the SL plunge with my kindergartener and it is fitting us well so far. I have looked at the science several times and have wondered about it. I am just curious about others experiences with SL science, good, bad, needs improvement here or there.... TIA

[JOHNNABONNA]

:bigear:

[boscopup]

Sonlight Science is fine. If you and your child are enjoying it, don't borrow trouble.

[Kathryn]

If you like it, it's fine. I didn't like how jumpy it was.

[Incognito]

We enjoyed it for K. I'm using something else this year, but I'll happily return to sonlight sciecne in a year or two :).

[MerryAtHope]

Don't fix what's not broken :). You and your daughter are enjoying it...carry on!

[JOHNNABONNA]

I think I need to clarify that I have never used SL science.

 

However, we are using core A for kindergarten this year and I have been pleasantly surprised by it. I just was looking for the pros and cons before I actually ordered the science. :D

 

Thank you to everybody who has responded:)

[Zoo Keeper]

SL science is spiral in nature, not mastery. Some folks want to park on a topic for a while, not do little bits of this and that. SL's goal is to keep the students interested and excited about science by using a variety of topics and hands on materials.

 

The whole elementary science got revised back in 2009; some of the jumpiness was smoothed out, and some different books mixed in.

 

 

My two oldest boys are very excited to do Science E next year. They keep on sneaking off with the books when they think I'm not looking....:001_smile:

[mom&nana]

In the past we used SL Science B and C, then like you, I heard that it was not a good science program. I went looking around for other things. I am not a science person, which basically meant we floundered on science for a couple of years. Then I went back to SL Science F this year and we really like it. I was just telling a good friend the other day that I wish I would have just stuck with SL and quit worrying about what other people said. It gets done, we enjoy the topics, the books, and the Dvd with the experiments.

 

As long as it's working, don't change it. :)

[mumto2]

We have always loved SL science. My ds used to sit and watch the discover and do Dvds whenever he could. They loved science when they were little because of SL. It also allowed me to be pretty hands off. They knew what to do and had good safety instructions. I could sit another room and listen while they learned a lot.

[Kathryn]

Okay, if you haven't done it and are looking at A, I'll give my thoughts in a bit more detail since that's what we did last year.

 

DS did enjoy it. It's not that it's not enjoyable. The problem that we both had was that, as I said, it was very jumpy. In A, you're going through every science topic in the encyclopedia for Core A. You proceed through Monday throug Wednesday, then Thursday do an unrelated experiment from the science activities book, then Friday cover an unrelated topic in another book. We just felt like there wasn't any time to really delve into a topic and didn't like how the schedule had us doing three unrelated things each week. But, again, we still enjoyed it. DS is enjoying what we are doing now even more though.

[mschickie]

We have really enjoyed Sonlight Science. We have used B, C and D so far. This year I am using only sections of E along with Real Science 4 Kids Chemistry and Physics, I took some things from Sonlight and added the RS4K. Next year we will probably be back fully with Sonlight. I think it is a great program if you have a child who enjoys science and does not want to focus on one topic all year. The experiments are great too. I love the DVDs that come with it.

[She Reads a Lot]

Okay, if you haven't done it and are looking at A, I'll give my thoughts in a bit more detail since that's what we did last year.

 

DS did enjoy it. It's not that it's not enjoyable. The problem that we both had was that, as I said, it was very jumpy. In A, you're going through every science topic in the encyclopedia for Core A. You proceed through Monday throug Wednesday, then Thursday do an unrelated experiment from the science activities book, then Friday cover an unrelated topic in another book. We just felt like there wasn't any time to really delve into a topic and didn't like how the schedule had us doing three unrelated things each week. But, again, we still enjoyed it. DS is enjoying what we are doing now even more though.

 

:iagree:We used Sonlight Science B last year for ds' second grade year, and I agree with this, especially the bolded section. True, I probably should have done Science C for his grade but I was worried that the student worksheets for C were too complicated for his writing level, so we went with B.

 

My son loved the "How Things Are Made" book that we did on many Fridays, and he seemed to enjoy most of the other books. But I'm not sure how much he learned since it was all so broad. And I found it was way too easy to just skip the experiments since they didn't correlate at all with the topics we were studying, so ds didn't notice that we weren't doing them (guilt!).

 

Now this was our first time doing science, so I have nothing with which to compare our experience, but I found myself feeling sort of "meh" about the Sonlight Science. It is the only thing we used last year that I changed for this fall (we're going to do Noeo Chemistry I, since ds is begging to make potions). Not that it was bad, just that it wasn't great.

 

HTH!

Christina

[thegirlwhopaintedtrees]

I bought it used and so don't have the worksheets. We have B. This is what I like: if I have a bad week, Science still gets done. It might just be reading the Science books scheduled and watching the videos of the experiments, but at least the kids (3 and 5) have been exposed to some scientific thinking and science topics. I also use other science resources, but I like knowing that at the minimum we have done the SL science (w/o worksheets). So far (and we are only on week 4) the science experiments on the DVD have lined up perfectly with the readings. It moves quickly, but at least is all the same subject and correlates to the reading. The kids really enjoy it.

[lovemykids]

We enjoyed Sonlight science. I think it’s put together well, albeit a little choppy here and there. What we did to relieve some of that feeling was to do all of the reading in one or two days, and then do an experiment on another day. I believe kids learn quite a lot with SL science. There were many times when we used the worksheets as oral questions, or used dictation instead.

 

The children’s interest remained high, and they were always excited about the books and the experiments. Because we are slightly relaxed, we didn’t always finish every level. But my children did devour the books on their own when we stopped, which would never happen with a textbook (unless, perhaps it was RS4K).:tongue_smilie:

 

Neo was a big disappointment here..but some families love it. Good luck deciding.

[rjand6more]

I have done SL science:A,B,C,D,G

 

We have liked it every year. We are not using it this year(or last) because we wanted to focus on chemistry and then astronomy. We will use it in the future. The DVD's are fun. Great book choices. The only issue I have is the unrelated experiments. And in Core G, the TOPS book was expected to be done without any explanations. We had to find books at the library to add in to understand cohesion/adhesion(what the TOPS book is all about.) Ds learned a lot though.

[Mommy22alyns]

It was decent, if a bit jumpy. I certainly wouldn't hesitate to use it for younger kids. I did appreciate the science kits and DVD.

[KAM]

We are on our 3rd year using SL science. I've used B, C, and now D. The jumpiness is really only in the earlier years, I think. In fact, for C and D I remember wishing we would switch topics already! My kids love it. I don't love doing experiments, but in general I am happy with the Sonlight ones-minus the battery experiments in Core C which just never seemed to work for us. In the past, we didn't do the worksheets, just discussed the questions. This year, for Core D, I am having them do the sheets.

 

I never get complaints and most of the reading has been easy enough that the kids can do it themselves, which is nice. We are big fans of SL science!

[hsmom10]

We used Sonlight science for 2 years (Science A and B), left for something else for 2 years and are now back to Sonlight Science D. I am excited to be back. I thought doing only one subject per year would work for us, but realized we like the jumpiness of Sonlight a little better :001_smile:

[TrixieB]

Over the years, we have used several SL science programs, with modifications (for example, I didn't buy any of the young earth dinosaur type books, creationist DVDs, etc.). Some we liked, and others we didn't. Of the levels we've used that have not undergone significant book changes:

 

My elder dd particularly liked Science F. At the time it included a book on how to use Word which was a big hit. She enjoyed Exploring The History of Medicine so much that she had me buy a couple of others from the series.

 

G was a bust, E never got finished because... well, I don't remember.

 

My younger dd used C and enjoyed it.

[Incognito]

I didn't know any of the SL science kits had young earth dinosaur books or creationist DVDs.

[skeeterbug]

I used SL Science A, we made it about 8 weeks in before I couldn't continue. What bothered me the most was that the experiments were unrelated to the reading for the week. We'd spend several days focused on a topic and then...something else. And then because we were doing the 5-day option, the 5th day was again...something else. A few pages out of a book that we would only read on Fridays. It just didn't flow for us. On top of that, the worksheets felt like busywork. If I'd loved the rest of it I would have kept with it and just dropped the worksheets.

 

That being said, I own all of the books and dvds for SL Science A, B, & C. Just not all the IGs. The books and the Discover & Do dvds are wonderful. We use the science books as our science read-alouds just for fun. We watch the dvds for fun. So we cover the same topics, just without the (unrelated) experiments, and on our own schedule. The books are picked up by my kids and read over and over again. And then we have our science curriculum (Apologia) where we are studying one topic in depth and doing related (hallelujah!) experiments. :tongue_smilie:

 

If you love your SL Core then all of this may not be an issue for you. We tried Core A and it didn't work for us, due to the choppiness (to use everyone else's word!). If that is not an issue for you with the Core then their science may work great for you too!

 

For anyone who decides against SL Science for the various reasons listed in this thread, I'd still recommend owning the books & dvds for your own personal library. :)

 

I didn't know any of the SL science kits had young earth dinosaur books or creationist DVDs.

 

I know of at least one dinosaur book...Dinosaurs Unleashed in Science C. Actually, I don't know if it is a young earth dinosaur book or just a creationist dinosaur book that doesn't address the YE topic, I can't find it at the moment to check (one of the boys has disappeared with it!).

[Kathryn]

I didn't know any of the SL science kits had young earth dinosaur books or creationist DVDs.

 

Yep. Dinosaurs and people hung out. Multiple DVDs "disproving" evolution.

[krisperry]

The dinosaur book is only used for 1-2 weeks. I use Sonlight in a secular manner. I just grabbed another book that suited our purposes.

[Incognito]

I'll have to keep my eyes peeled when we get to that level.

[lovemykids]

I didn't know any of the SL science kits had young earth dinosaur books or creationist DVDs.

 

The dinosaur book is only used for 1-2 weeks. I use Sonlight in a secular manner. I just grabbed another book that suited our purposes.

 

Yup, it’s very easy to grab another book, or just skip it altogether.. you can also use it to point out what “some†people believe, and use it as a discussion for why you believe the way you do…(just a thought, lol)

 

:)

[Tess in the Burbs]

we have used SL science for 3 years now and will again next year. I had used Easy Classical schedules before that and loved them at that age. SL for the most part has 3 days of related reading. The 4th day is experiments and the 5th day is the extra books, we always did these but knew that day was random info. My kids liked the books and didn't mind it on a Friday.

 

Some levels were more aligned than others in regards to the experiments I will admit. But the DVD was wonderful and you could always check the topic list and try to line it up better.

 

After 2 years of science focused on one area(like Life or Chemistry) we were happy to have more variety with SL. They have retained some of the most random things I had forgotten about. They ask for SL science every year. It's the one thing that has been constant the past few years.

 

But if you don't like the 5th day book being where it is just change how you use the schedule. Do the readings and experiments, but skip the 5th day book. When the main topic is about to switch just do the 5th day schedule for that book. It may be 11 lessons worth or maybe more. Depends on the book. Then go back to the main topic/experiment.

 

It's a schedule sure, but it's flexible and easy to adapt if you don't like the 5th day being different. We were happy to have a light reading day.

[campmom]

I asked this a couple of weeks ago on another thread but i don't think I ever got an answer. For those of you who use the DVD's is there a way to find out what supplies you will need in order to do all of the experiments ahead of time? Or do you just have to watch it to find out what you need? I want to have everything gathered up and ready for my boys to be able to go with it on their own without me.

[Incognito]

IIRC that is in the IG. Maybe they only list odd stuff, though. I don't remember.

[Kathryn]

I asked this a couple of weeks ago on another thread but i don't think I ever got an answer. For those of you who use the DVD's is there a way to find out what supplies you will need in order to do all of the experiments ahead of time? Or do you just have to watch it to find out what you need? I want to have everything gathered up and ready for my boys to be able to go with it on their own without me.

 

In the IG from last year (IDK about others), it tells you each week what you need that week and the next week.

[campmom]

Well I had the K program 2 years ago and I could never find a listing of the things needed for the dvd- it seems like there was a list of the things needed for the books. Sometimes those 2 things went together (books and dvd) and sometimes they were totally different.

[Kathryn]

Well I had the K program 2 years ago and I could never find a listing of the things needed for the dvd- it seems like there was a list of the things needed for the books. Sometimes those 2 things went together (books and dvd) and sometimes they were totally different.

 

:confused: We did Science A last year (was called K before). The DVD viewing assigned was always a demonstration of the experiment listed in the book.

[Zoo Keeper]

The elementary science was revised back in 2009; the DVD was made before the revision, and the experiments on the DVD are for the books used prior to this. Most of the experiments (and the books) are the same, but some are different than what is in the current science IG.

 

Your current IG schedules what parts of the DVD line up with the books listed in the IG. The science IG also has a listing of supplies needed. The supplies listed for the books are the ones used in the DVD; the DVD is merely showing what the books tell you to do (plus a few "extras," clips that are there for the child to watch for fun/enrichment, not nec. to do).