Sonlight Core 100: Opinions please?

[mom@shiloh]

Is anyone using Sonlight Core 100 who could give me an opinion on it?  We used SL several years ago, but ended up dropping it when we needed to do several cores to accommodate  different ages.  Looking back, the years we used it were some of my favorite homeschooling years, and many of the books have been our favorites as well.  I'd still need to do two cores with our age ranges, but I could use something open and go at this point in my life, so I'm thinking of going back to SL.  Maybe do 100 with D?  

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

Ds is using core 100 this year. This is my second son using it. Both agree the Hakim books plus the Sl notes gives a nice grasp of US history. Ds is in 11th grade and is doing another English so we have done a few things different with the core. He is not using the writing prompts and I have substituted a few books with more grade appropriate books.

I will be using this core again with dd when she gets to High School.

 

What specific questions did you have?

[Candid]

I posted this on a thread that was trying to compare several course in US history:

In my survey Sonlight is probably the lowest level. They use historical fiction in their programs which in my view is not a rigorous approach and much of it is young adult level so again not rigorous. My personal experience with them is they do not provide much in the way of in depth discussion but instead ask questions about content. I often see people rave about John’s notes on Hakim’s US history program. My perusal of those notes led me to believe that John doesn’t know much about history. As one example, he makes a lot of hay over the North sending a fleet of ships to supply Fort Sumter during the Civil War and that Hakim says one ship and this is not correct. Unfortunately, Hakim is correct; the only ship to reach Charleston Harbor did so prior to Lincoln’s inauguration and was shelled by students at the Citadel and driven off (Star of the West). Whatever source John uses is hugely biased, the Star of the West incident is a riveting part of Civil War history almost always told no matter which side’s historians you read, so he used a source invested in denying or ignoring the incident.

 

 

Several years ago, I specifically reviewed John's notes for the topics I was familiar with and found they were pretty much useless. While they might sound good to folks who don't know much about history, they quickly reveal he doesn't know much either. He makes errors like the one given above where he gets facts wrong, but he also misses huge problems in Hakim.

[Mom22ns]

We really enjoyed Core 100. After the first chapter, I never read John's notes and didn't give them to my kids. Ds used it in 7th grade (4 yrs ago) and I know it has been updated since then. We did 3+4 at the same time as 100 using History of US together for a spine and discussed as we went. Both kids enjoyed hearing the 3+4 read alouds. I always look back on it as our favorite year of history ever. 

 

Unfortunately, I haven't heard many positive reviews from people trying to use SL independently in high school. I loved the SL Cores we did (3+4, 6, 7, 100) too, but as much as I want to, I haven't been able to go back. 

 

 

[Mom2boys]

I am currently using Core 100 with my 7th grader, and it is a good fit for him. In my opinion the Hakim books are too light for a high school level American History course.

[melmichigan]

DD did the old Core 100 last year in 7th grade too, along with TOG.  We skipped Hakim, DD couldn't stand the reading level and it saved me from having to correct anything in the book or in the notes.  The newer version of the core is even more appropriate for middle school than the older version.

[mommymilkies]

There is a large thread on inaccuracies and racism in this course. Search for it and read it before you decide.

[Harriet Vane]

I like Sonlight for the younger grades, but I feel the quality and rigor are really lacking for high school. The Hakim books are definitely more of a junior-high reading level. My seventh-grade son is currently working through them. Most of the high school cores are an odd mix of literary heavyweights with books that are more appropriate for much younger grades. The Sonlight 100 core is entirely composed of books that are for younger grades.

[merylvdm]

My 13 year old is currently doing it and enjoying history for the first time. All 3 of her older siblings did it and liked it too.

 

My oldest daughter did it as an 11th grader - after she worked through the course she took 2 weeks and did review with a Princeton Review book and then took the AP US History and scored a 5. So, I can't understand how people think it it 'light' on history. We moved to the US when my daughter was in 8th grade and this was the first proper history course she did. And she aced the AP US History course.

 

So - my vote is a 'yes'. We don't go through all the notes - we just use the books and do the questions. My kids have enjoyed it and come up knowing a lot of US History (both my boys were captains of our History Bowl team which at won a local contest between about 26 schools - questions were all US history - so it helped with that too)

[Kathryn]

There is a large thread on inaccuracies and racism in this course. Search for it and read it before you decide.

Is this the one you're thinking of? http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/468105-is-holzman-white-washing-slavery-in-sonlight-core-100/

[TechWife]

If you're looking for that type of format with open & go plans, take a look at MFW. In my limited experience with them, it is most definitely high school level and rigorous. 

 

FWIW, I found John Holtzman's notes on Biology back in 3rd grade to be truly terrible. He had written an entire book to be used in the program and it made no sense whatsoever. 

[Vida Winter]

We used SL 100 in high school and enjoyed it. Some of the books are very light, but we balanced it out by watching the Teaching Company American History series (the one with three different professors). I didn't agonize over John's notes. I would read them ahead of time and then we would discuss. I look forward to using the core again with my younger kids.

[mom@shiloh]

If you're looking for that type of format with open & go plans, take a look at MFW. In my limited experience with them, it is most definitely high school level and rigorous. 

 

FWIW, I found John Holtzman's notes on Biology back in 3rd grade to be truly terrible. He had written an entire book to be used in the program and it made no sense whatsoever. 

Yep, that's when I quit the SL Science.

[mom@shiloh]

Thank you for all your replies.  It gives me something to think about.

[Julie of KY]

I love SL for open and go for the younger years. For the older cores, I do more pick and choose. Some of the books in Core 100, I think are way to young for that core. I also think it has way too much emphasis on historical fiction and less meat as the cores go up. I use something else for literature, though i use a lot of the same books as SL chooses.

[Mom0012]

There is a large thread on inaccuracies and racism in this course. Search for it and read it before you decide.

I keep thinking about that thread as we are reading our current SL read aloud in core H, which brings up how terrible slavery is many times during the book. There have been a couple of others we've read since that thread that have had me thinking what a shame such a negative slant was put on the whole program because of one remark in notes most people who actually use SL don't read.