Michelle My Bell Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 Would you choose GuestHollow's American History I or Sonlight Core D: Introduction to American History? Just to clarify, a few points: This would be for my 8 year old son & my 11 year old daughter combined. My son is still learning to read, so he wouldn't be reading a lot on his own. They both like hands-on activities I'll be in college full-time but I'll have afternoons to work with them. This isn't a money thing. I have a lot of the books in both programs and an excellent library system. I even have an old edition of Sonlight Core D from 2001. I am drawn to Sonlight because I know the program is systematic and tested. But in some ways, it looks like it could be boring. I keep trying to add movies, websites and activities to it, but I get overwhelmed trying to match it up and I worry that it could be overwhelming trying to do all the reading and additional activities. I am drawn to Guesthollow because it looks like it could be multi-age friendlier, more of a variety of levels of books to choose from and tons of activies to choose from all nicely organized by weeks. I am concerned however that since it is a free program, it may have issues with flow or content. It could be overwhelming tracking down the extra resources and adding them in. But it looks like it could be wonderful if I allow myself to just go with it. I also only want to do history 4 days a week. I would be grateful for your thoughts and comments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle My Bell Posted August 10, 2014 Author Share Posted August 10, 2014 Anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle My Bell Posted August 10, 2014 Author Share Posted August 10, 2014 Ok 73 views, 4 votes which make my poll 50/50 and zero comments. Pretty please... :) I need advise peeps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle My Bell Posted August 10, 2014 Author Share Posted August 10, 2014 :huh: :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkateLeft Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 I'd go with Guest Hollow, because I personally prefer the book choices and hands-on suggestions. The comments offered about each resource let me decide whether it will work for my family or not. Despite my best efforts to like Sonlight over the years (I own several cores from P4/5 through 100), it's always flopped in our house. I don't care for the discussion notes, and there aren't any hands on activities, so it's basically just a book schedule for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle My Bell Posted August 10, 2014 Author Share Posted August 10, 2014 I'd go with Guest Hollow, because I personally prefer the book choices and hands-on suggestions. The comments offered about each resource let me decide whether it will work for my family or not. Despite my best efforts to like Sonlight over the years (I own several cores from P4/5 through 100), it's always flopped in our house. I don't care for the discussion notes, and there aren't any hands on activities, so it's basically just a book schedule for me. Thank You!!! I need some thoughts from others and this is very helpful. I am realizing that Sonlight is mostly fiction as well. Have you actually used Guest Hollow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teeniebeenie6 Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 I love how deep Guesthollow is and how many book choices they are. It is so easy to make it work for you. I am doing it as a supplement to our American History this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jessicamcc Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 Why not use the Sonlight schedule you have, but add in the fun stuff from Guesthollow? (She does have a lot more fun stuff. And I think that makes the days better for the kids and they retain more.) Cross out anything in the schedule (Sonlight) you don't like. Then take a couple of hours perusing Guesthollow's suggestions and add them onto your Sonlight schedule where they would fit in best. This is coming from a girl who loves to tweak till I'm happy with the results. Just warning you. :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle My Bell Posted August 10, 2014 Author Share Posted August 10, 2014 Why not use the Sonlight schedule you have, but add in the fun stuff from Guesthollow? (She does have a lot more fun stuff. And I think that makes the days better for the kids and they retain more.) Cross out anything in the schedule (Sonlight) you don't like. Then take a couple of hours perusing Guesthollow's suggestions and add them onto your Sonlight schedule where they would fit in best. This is coming from a girl who loves to tweak till I'm happy with the results. Just warning you. :laugh: My problem is I worry about lining my resources up correctly. I don't want to put an activity or book somewhere it doesn't belong. I wish Sonlight had an actual table of contents so I could know the content of each week without having to read deep into the instructors notes. Guest Hollow has a great "topics" list so I know what is covered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jessicamcc Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 Very valid point, Michelle. It would take time to line it up. I just cheated and used the timeline pages in the DK's Children's Encyclopedia of American History. It was easier to figure out when in history some books and events took place. GuestHollow might be more of what you are looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dramorellis Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 We're doing Guest Hollow this coming year and I did pick a few selections from Sonlight along with a Timeline Book to supplement. I don't need the Sonlight notes or schedule so then it's just a book list. GH seemed to offer a lot of flexibility and resources to go deeper into certain topics. The book reccommendations are broad enough for different age groups. I'll be merging my K'er and my young 3rd grader together and I think it will keep them both interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle My Bell Posted August 10, 2014 Author Share Posted August 10, 2014 Hey, I just found this Educational American History Movie list! http://www.wpunj.edu/dotAsset/189153.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle My Bell Posted August 11, 2014 Author Share Posted August 11, 2014 Ok, I have decided after looking it over ALL DAY LONG... I am going to go with Guest Hollow's program. I really like that it has more non-fiction and I feel freer... lighter with it. With Sonlight I just know I'll feel like I have to do everything. To me, it looks like GH's program covers the topics more in depth and focused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkateLeft Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Thank You!!! I need some thoughts from others and this is very helpful. I am realizing that Sonlight is mostly fiction as well. Have you actually used Guest Hollow? Yes. I've used parts of the science, American history and the old geography schedule that isn't available anymore. I like that I can pick and choose which resources will work best depending on which kids I'm teaching. I went back to school myself last year, and I understand the time crunch. One the one hand, Sonlight is probably easier if you just want to check boxes, but I think Guest Hollow is broader and richer. I use OneNote to set up my courses, and it's easy enough to cut and paste the Guest Hollow schedule in to OneNote then edit it. I end up with a Sonlight looking schedule, even down to the check boxes. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewingmama Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 I would choose Guest Hollow for sure. I am going to use her Geography program with my kids. I just went through it and added in a bunch of books from Sonlight as read alouds where I thought they matched the topic. I also added a bunch of picture books for my 5 yo. It is so easy to use as a spine and tweak to fit your family...I love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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