Sonlight question- just doing the reading?

[I.Dup.]

I am guessing all of the readers (both read alouds and readers) are pretty cohesive to the subject they focus on in each core, right (world history, American history, etc)? So if I were just to order the readers/read alouds from a core what kind of education would that provide as far as history or any other subject? Or would it just be more like extra reading? Is the IG important if you're just doing the books?

 

I am trying to find a way to get my 6th grader to do a core independently but wondering what exactly I need. We already have a math and language arts program. I don't really want to spend hundreds of dollars just on good books unless it would really be worth it and teach her quite a bit at least as far as history goes.

[Bree]

I'm only on core C but my ds can do a lot of it on his own. He does science on his own with just a little help with experiments. I use the IG to make sure he is comprehending all he reads. The only problem with just the readers and RA is that you are missing the history spine. I know people do the cores independently. You may want to pick a core where your DC is in the upper part of the age range.

http://www.se7en.org.za/

This is a blog that a mom does who has 8 kids insouth Africa and each does their own level of SL mostly independently.

[umsami]

There's the readers/LA readers...and then the readers that go with the history bit. In the younger years, sometimes there's a disconnect if your DC is reading at a level which is above the recommended age ranges.

 

You can find used IGs pretty easily on the various homeschool boards. You can also check on various Yahoo groups where sometimes people offer their own plans where they've rearranged things to be more cohesive....so rather than reading a chapter each day...or a few pages out of a book every few days...they're more lumped together.

 

Sonlight will sell the Readers/LA bits separately:

Readers (not always in sync if you are far above/below the core): http://www.sonlight.com/readers.html

 

Read Alouds (will follow Core theme) : http://www.sonlight....ead-alouds.html

 

 

 

Also, you can buy just the history bit (but if you want the IG, you need to purchase it separately):

 

http://www.sonlight....-geography.html

[boscopup]

Find an old IG used. Then you can try it without spending a lot of money. We started with a 2005 core D. I use the IG mostly for the schedule, mapwork, and timeline stuff.

[Dmmetler]

In general, what worked best with us was to use the IG bits for the history core, mapwork, and timeline, but let DD do the readers/readalouds on HER schedule. She couldn't stand having them chopped into bits, and usually wanted to do the reading on her own. There were a few books that I held back to read together (or skipped entirely) because I wanted to discuss them with her or because I knew they were likely to upset her (anything involving animals being injured/killed/mistreated is something that she needed support on), but the rest of it, she was on her own for.

[I.Dup.]

Now I'm confused. What would you recommend for an 11 year old rising 6th grader who hasn't done much in-depth history study yet? What exactly would I need to get from the core to give her a good year?

[I.Dup.]

Yes, the chopping into bits was what drove me crazy the last time I tried Sonlight.

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

Now I'm confused. What would you recommend for an 11 year old rising 6th grader who hasn't done much in-depth history study yet? What exactly would I need to get from the core to give her a good year?

 

 

 

If you want a history study then get the history portion of the core. Usually that includes a non fiction book used as the spine and several other fiction and nonfiction books for reading along with it. The IG offers discussion questions, map work and timeline suggestions.

 

In the older levels, the LA reading selections often align with the history portions.

[I.Dup.]

 

 

If you want a history study then get the history portion of the core. Usually that includes a non fiction book used as the spine and several other fiction and nonfiction books for reading along with it. The IG offers discussion questions, map work and timeline suggestions.

 

In the older levels, the LA reading selections often align with the history portions.

 

Do they make it clear what part is just the history part? So the readers and read alouds would not be part of that?

[Job384]

Yes, here are the history parts divided out:

 

http://www.sonlight.com/history-geography.html

[I.Dup.]

Thank you so much!

[Job384]

No problem!

[PentecostalMom]

Now I'm confused. What would you recommend for an 11 year old rising 6th grader who hasn't done much in-depth history study yet? What exactly would I need to get from the core to give her a good year?

Yes, the chopping into bits was what drove me crazy the last time I tried Sonlight.

 

I would recommend just buying a used core if you don't want to spend hundreds of dollars. They are everywhere. I see them on ebay, Homeschool Classifieds, and here. If she has not done anything I would recommend Core F or G. F is like an overview and G is like the beginning of the history cycle. It all depends on if you want her to start with American or Ancient. If you want to start with American, I would go with Core D+E to give her a one-year overview. That is actually where I started with my older ds.

 

If it seems "choppy" to you, just read an entire book and do the discussion, timeline activities and mapping for that book, then go to the next one. That is actually what I am doing now with Core B. It makes it much simpler with me having so many littles. There is a list in the IG of the order the books are to be read in and the discussion questions are easy enough to put in any order you want in the binder. The mapping and timeline activities are clearly marked on the IG and are easy enough to add in. We usually do that 2 days a week.

 

You can do the history portion with her an d let read the readers on her own.

[boscopup]

 

Do they make it clear what part is just the history part? So the readers and read alouds would not be part of that?

 

 

This depends on the core. Cores D and up have readers and read-alouds that tie into the history. The Bible has nothing to do with the history, and the LA can easily be ignored (old cores didn't include LA, so another good reason to get an older IG).

 

In the lower cores where the reader packages are separated, the readers have nothing to do with the history.

[CatholicMom]

So is Sonlight's "history spine" actually a collection of several books? (The ones that are listed under "history/geograrphy" and NOT "read alouds" or "Readers"?? This has always confused me as well. What IS the spine?

 

I LOVE a lot of the Sonlight books, but I'm not so sure about trying the IG again because I looked at a sample and I know my brain can't handle reading 3-4 books simultaneously. Sooo I'm thinking of starting with Catholic Heritage Curriculum (CHC) and using their history spine (From Sea to Shining Sea: The Story of America) and reading a ton of the the Sonlight Core D+E readers. Plus, I will have my boys read the Core D+E Readers (or selections from Core D and Core E) both as their independent reading AND as supplemental historical reading since they all have to do with American History.

 

Phew! :p

 

Anyhoo, thought hearing my plan might help somehow. You could definitely find another spine you like, having to do with whatever Sonlight Core you're looking at, and then read all the Read Alouds and have your kids read the Reader Package to go with it. Then you get all the great books but don't have to worry about the IG if that's too much or undesirable for any reason. Then you also aren't paying for the SL LA if you don't want that.

 

I think both the Read Alouds and the Readers will definitely provide a lot of education and help the kids retain information they learned from their history spine. It helps make connections, plus fosters a love of reading. However, the Reader Packages won't enrich the history lessons prior to Core D/Reader Package D because A, B, & C are not linked to the readers (but ARE to the read-alouds). BUT I still love the leveled Reader Packages prior to D and have used Reader Packages 1, 2, 3, 4 for the purpose of improving reading skills and literature (and have had a lot of success with that)... whereas from D on the focus is not on improving reading skills, but on enriching the history lessons. So that is fun, too, and totally worthwhile, IMO.

 

Otherwise, I think if you use the IG you might as well use their History/Geography spine (whatever exactly that is considered to be! I'm a little unclear on that, like I said :tongue_smilie: ) and just buy the whole Core. That's the impression I get.

 

One thing to consider in case you are unaware: Sonlight has a really generous refund policy... I can't remember how long they will let you use all the books and IG and they will still let you return it. Maybe 18 weeks?! It's a really long time. But of course you probably can't mark up the IG. But still... FYI. :)

[I.Dup.]

So is Sonlight's "history spine" actually a collection of several books? (The ones that are listed under "history/geograrphy" and NOT "read alouds" or "Readers"?? This has always confused me as well. What IS the spine?

 

I LOVE a lot of the Sonlight books, but I'm not so sure about trying the IG again because I looked at a sample and I know my brain can't handle reading 3-4 books simultaneously. Sooo I'm thinking of starting with Catholic Heritage Curriculum (CHC) and using their history spine (From Sea to Shining Sea: The Story of America) and reading a ton of the the Sonlight Core D+E readers. Plus, I will have my boys read the Core D+E Readers (or selections from Core D and Core E) both as their independent reading AND as supplemental historical reading since they all have to do with American History.

 

Phew! :p

 

Anyhoo, thought hearing my plan might help somehow. You could definitely find another spine you like, having to do with whatever Sonlight Core you're looking at, and then read all the Read Alouds and have your kids read the Reader Package to go with it. Then you get all the great books but don't have to worry about the IG if that's too much or undesirable for any reason. Then you also aren't paying for the SL LA if you don't want that.

 

I think both the Read Alouds and the Readers will definitely provide a lot of education and help the kids retain information they learned from their history spine. It helps make connections, plus fosters a love of reading. However, the Reader Packages won't enrich the history lessons prior to Core D/Reader Package D because A, B, & C are not linked to the readers (but ARE to the read-alouds). BUT I still love the leveled Reader Packages prior to D and have used Reader Packages 1, 2, 3, 4 for the purpose of improving reading skills and literature (and have had a lot of success with that)... whereas from D on the focus is not on improving reading skills, but on enriching the history lessons. So that is fun, too, and totally worthwhile, IMO.

 

Otherwise, I think if you use the IG you might as well use their History/Geography spine (whatever exactly that is considered to be! I'm a little unclear on that, like I said :tongue_smilie: ) and just buy the whole Core. That's the impression I get.

 

One thing to consider in case you are unaware: Sonlight has a really generous refund policy... I can't remember how long they will let you use all the books and IG and they will still let you return it. Maybe 18 weeks?! It's a really long time. But of course you probably can't mark up the IG. But still... FYI. :)

 

 

Thank you, this was very helpful! For some reason, Sonlight's set up is really confusing to me when trying to separate anything out (maybe they do that on purpose :p )

 

I remember not liking reading 3 or 4 books at once and having it be so choppy (3 pages here, 2 pages there)....that's why I was thinking of just getting the books and reading through them myself. So your explanations of what readers tie into history and what don't was helpful. Obviously my little ones need to improve their reading skills (and hear great books) but it would be great to have a history "curriculum" for my daughter made up of good books that she can read on her own. I just wasn't sure if just the books would be enough. I'm not sure how the history "spine" is different from the books, still, since it's clear that the books DO tie in with the history at the upper levels?

[boscopup]

There are multiple spines in core D - Landmark History of the American Peoples, Story of the USA workbooks, and American Adventures (per older cores... I think newer one replaced the workbooks with a DK book).

 

Each day, you have history reading from those books, usually a chapter. Then you have a separate read aloud that is typically historical fiction. You usually read a chapter each day of that. Then you have the reader, which the kid reads, often a chapter or two per day.

 

So you read two books each day out loud(roughly one chapter each). It's not jumpy at all.

 

 

 

[I.Dup.]

If I wanted to start with world history, should I do core G, then H, then go back and do D + E for American history in 9th grade or so? Or would she be too advanced for D + E by then? Or I could start her on D, and do core 1 with the younger boys (also world history, but it sounds like much of it doesn't tie in to world history anyway at that level?)

 

For the younger boys, since the readers/read alouds don't really tie into the history, I could more easily save money without having to go with the entire core on those years, right? And just get the books to read?

[km123175]

 

For some reason, Sonlight's set up is really confusing to me when trying to separate anything out (maybe they do that on purpose :p )

 

 

 

The others are giving you good information and we just started SL, but I just wanted to say that it took me about 3 years to go with SL because I couldn't figure it all out. Getting the print catalog actually helped me get a real handle on what it was and how it worked and how it could be broken apart. I recommend that. :)

[CatholicMom]

What are the ages of your kids? It might help some guide you to a Core.

 

And I second the printed catalog. You can order one for free on the SL website. There is a big chart in it that shows each Core/level, suggested ages, and what it's all about. Super helpful, especially if you're trying to tentatively plan ahead for future years.

 

Or, here is a link to the online catalog: http://www.sonlight.com/online-catalog.html

 

The chart is on page 154-155 (way toward the end).