Sonlight Questions!

[wehave8]

If you use SL:
How long have you used it?

What ages have you used it for?

Which parts do you use?

Do you recommend it?

What DON'T you like about it?

Feel free to add anything I left out.   :)

 

Pam

[Slache]

Everyone I know in real life that's used it says it takes more than one year to finish. The creaters even say it was designed for one student.

 

If you buy a core you get 10% off plus free shipping for a year so hold off on additional purchases if that works for you.

 

I've only purchased 3/4 so while we love it I imagine I'm not much help. ;)

[kolamum]

If you use SL:

How long have you used it?

Several years..

 

What ages have you used it for?

Hmm I'm thinking 7 or 8 upward {my eldest is now 14}

 

Which parts do you use?

Science & History. The only parts of the "Language Arts" that I use are the readers. However, I consider those part of history as they are scheduled readers. Having said that I have purchased the LA 4/5 Advanced readers & Grade 3 readers separate, etc.

 

Do you recommend it?

It depends on what you are after. It's a beautiful literature rich curriculum, & we've enjoyed what we've used. We don't always use it as written, in fact I'm not sure we've ever fully used a core exactly as written. We are happy to drop books that don't suit, add books that better suit, etc. There is no hands on in the history section aside from the timeline pieces, so we've been known to add in lapbooking, notebooking, or other simple projects.

 

 

What DON'T you like about it?

I don't like that they added LA back into the IG. It's a costly expense for my family as we don't use the LA for a variety of reasons. None of which have to do with SL itself. :)

 

I don't like that it's not a strict 4 day schedule anymore. Bible & readers are now carried into the 5th day. If you choose not to do them then because you want 1 day free for catching up, errands, co-op, group meetings, etc it might drive you a wee bit bonkers.. Having said that SL has a clear 27 Reasons Not To Purchase on their website.

 

 

Feel free to add anything I left out.   :)

 

To be 100% honest, I've moved my eldest to Bookshark this year. I love that it's a simple 4 day schedule. The pace at which one is set to read isn't quite as intense which is pretty important for this particular child. While I do love & enjoy the "Extra" books that are classics or just fun & beautiful books, they don't always add to the historical value of the core & those are removed from BookShark. I do appreciate that because it means our schedule is less harried. We can save those books for summer readers or have plenty of time to read them aloud as a family. 

 

Over all, I love the book choices with SL & an avid reader would have no issues with it. 

 

 

Pam

 

[SebastianCat]

How long have you used it?

 

7 out of 8 years - started with their pre-K Core (now roughly the same as P4/5) for my DS's kindergarten year, and he is finishing 7th grade this year.   We took a year off of SL to study state history.   We've used all the Cores from pre-K through G.

 

What ages have you used it for?

 

Ages 5 through just turning 13.   We combined my kids together in Cores B through E, then split to separate Cores this year. 

 

Which parts do you use?

 

History, Read Alouds, and Readers.   We use something different for Bible and LA.

 

Do you recommend it?

 

I think SL is excellent for someone who is looking for a literature based, historical fiction based program.   I highly recommend that parents choose a Core where their children are in the middle to upper end of the recommended age range for that Core, or if combining, ALL of the children are in the recommended age range.  SL books tend to have more mature content than other literature based programs like HOD or MFW.    

 

What DON'T you like about it?

 

I don't like the LA automatically being included.   We tried their LA early on and it wasn't a good fit for us, so we've used something different ever since.

 

Feel free to add anything I left out. 

 

I pre-read everything, and make adjustments every year.   There have been a couple of years where we didn't follow the IG strictly - we just read the books in order, as we had time available, and it all turned out fine - what we didn't finish within out "school year" dates got read over the summer.   As my children have gotten older, starting around ages 10-11, I have moved to having them read the books more independently and less as read alouds.   For a mom who likes to read, or likes to pre-read, and is comfortable ditching a few books here or there, or swapping out a few books here or there, I think there can be a great deal of flexibility in SL.   I honestly look at the IG as a "starting point," then customize my children's education based on what's best for our family.   

 

I've known several moms IRL who tried SL and didn't like it.   Most of them placed their children in a Core at the youngest recommended age for that Core, or tried to combine one child in the recommended age with a younger sibling.   The others who tried it and didn't like it just didn't have time to do all of the reading.   If Mom isn't committed to a large amount of reading, SL probably won't be a good fit.   I also recommend reading the 27 Reasons Not to Use SL and if one or more of those reasons applies to a particular family, it might not be the best choice.

[wehave8]

I feel okay about the "27 reasons NOT to use SL".

 

I'm looking at core D.  I see they suggest AAS, which we use.  What are their writing (not handwriting) assignments like?  

 

Do you use their literature questions?  Do the questions pertain to the history, or are they about books that are not history related?

 

(As you can see, I don't know anything about SL!)

 

Pam

[MerryAtHope]

How long have you used it? Always. I got "PreK" back when there was no IG for PreK, when my son was 3.5, and have used full cores or elements all the way through. 

What ages have you used it for? PreK through senior in high school.

Which parts do you use? In general, we use almost all of the readers, all of the read-alouds, many of the history books (biographies & picture books), some of the history spines, some science years, tried the LA a few times but it didn't work here.

 

More specifically:

For Cores: We used all of PreK and K (now A). We used almost all of B and C, except I swapped out the CHOW spine for Mystery of History, and dropped the Usborne Encyclopedia. We used all of D and E (which has changed somewhat--Light & Glory wasn't in it when we used it). We used a lot of F, but didn't like the EHE/Worldbook combo and dropped that after 13 weeks. We didn't like this core because of the lack of a traditional "spine" and the old F had a ton of books--we dropped a few. F has changed a lot since we used it. We used most of G and H but used Mystery of History and Famous Men for spines instead, so dropped history books. We didn't get to all the H books because we were subbing in high school books by the time we finished out the 4 year cycle. We used Core 100 pretty much as is, and have done selections from 200-530. 

 

For Science: We did A, B, C, and F. It's okay, some interesting books. I skipped a lot of the worksheets--my kids were not much on writing in the early years.

 

For LA: We tried LA K--a bust after 2 months. Tried LA 1--same thing. We just needed something different for learning to read. Liked the "Fun Tales" readers though. We used most of LA D. It was okay, but I found my kids needed more direct incremental writing instruction. I didn't try SL LA again after that.

 

Do you recommend it? Yes, top notch literature--we've liked 95% of their selections. Good variety of books & genres. D and E were my favorite cores for "as is." (But again, the ones I used had some different books...) 

 

What DON'T you like about it? Don't like the LA or that it's automatically included now (I stopped buying IG's when they added it back in since it didn't work for us and I felt I no longer needed the other things in the IG.) Bible is okay--we've used some of their selections but prefer to do our own thing.

 

Sometimes like their history books, sometimes not.

 

Don't care for the IG or find them all that useful, except that they were helpful as a scheduling tool when I was a newer homeschool mom. The notes never seemed to answer the questions I had, or discuss the things I found most interesting about literature, and seemed to focus on minute details. It was more overwhelming to try to weed through them to pick things that might be useful for us than to just skip them & figure out on my own when to discuss vocab. words, or when to discuss themes in a book etc... 

 

What are their writing (not handwriting) assignments like?  

 

Do you use their literature questions?  Do the questions pertain to the history, or are they about books that are not history related?

 

I remember some were history related and some were not. When I did it, sometimes an assignment was given before they read a book--it didn't seem as well lined up as I thought it should be. But maybe they've corrected that by now, I don't know. Wasn't a huge issue, but annoying when it happened.

 

Overall, I've been very happy with our Sonlight years and the books we've read (and I still read out loud to my high schoolers--this year we've done a combo of books from Core 300 and British Lit 530, to finish out my son's last year).

 

[matrips]

If you use SL:

How long have you used it? Since p3/4. We are now in core d.

 

What ages have you used it for? From 3-10 ( the ages as we've gone through it). My kids are all the same age.

 

Which parts do you use? Mainly just the history/literature. We used science in K. Tried the LA on and off a few times, but have other LA that we stuck with. I'll still do a few exercise from time to time though, especially now that LA is in the same IG.

 

Do you recommend it? We've enjoyed it. To us, reading together is the heart of our homeschool. We do better with it than without it. I love the discussions we've had together that I'm not sure we would have otherwise.

 

What DON'T you like about it? Not really sure. We've liked all the books, no bad ones in our opinion. The books are longer now, so it's harder to make time for them. Preschool and k was easy. Short books then. Sometimes I'll do audiobooks just so we can fit them in.

 

Feel free to add anything I left out. :)

 

Pam

[matrips]

I feel okay about the "27 reasons NOT to use SL".

 

I'm looking at core D. I see they suggest AAS, which we use. What are their writing (not handwriting) assignments like? I have core d, but don't really use the LA, so haven't paid attention to the writing assignments.

 

Do you use their literature questions? Do the questions pertain to the history, or are they about books that are not history related? I do, yes. There are questions for each book, individually. The questions depend on what the book was about. Guess I'm. Ot sure I understand your question.

 

(As you can see, I don't know anything about SL!)

 

Pam

[wehave8]

I found someone who said she has an older edition of core D.  Maybe 4 years old.  I'll have to see when I get it.  She said I can have it.  Would you do an older edition if it was given to you, or would you still purchase the newest?

 

Pam

[wehave8]

 

I feel okay about the "27 reasons NOT to use SL".

 

I'm looking at core D. I see they suggest AAS, which we use. What are their writing (not handwriting) assignments like? I have core d, but don't really use the LA, so haven't paid attention to the writing assignments.

 

Do you use their literature questions? Do the questions pertain to the history, or are they about books that are not history related? I do, yes. There are questions for each book, individually. The questions depend on what the book was about. Guess I'm. Ot sure I understand your question.

 

(As you can see, I don't know anything about SL!)

 

Pam

I didn't know if there were assigned books that don't go along with the history theme.  And if the lit.  questions might be from those books?  Or are all the books related to the history theme?  Does that make sense?

 

Pam

[mumto2]

I found someone who said she has an older edition of core D. Maybe 4 years old. I'll have to see when I get it. She said I can have it. Would you do an older edition if it was given to you, or would you still purchase the newest?

 

Pam

I would definately take it. :) As I remember most of the core D books are library favourites. As I remember they switched many of the former read alouds to readers a few years ago. Same basic books just moved between groups.

 

We are former SL users. Loved it when they were little but moved to the UK right before Core D. Two years of US history did not appeal at that point and the core after that was too old for them. Designed my own for a couple of years then tried to go back. Didn't work for us anymore.

[SebastianCat]

I found someone who said she has an older edition of core D.  Maybe 4 years old.  I'll have to see when I get it.  She said I can have it.  Would you do an older edition if it was given to you, or would you still purchase the newest?

 

I would take it.  The IGs are a big investment to purchase brand new, and 4 years old isn't really "that" old.  It should give you a good idea for whether SL would work for you, and you'll be able to find many of the books at the library for that particular Core.   

[3rugrats]

I found someone who said she has an older edition of core D.  Maybe 4 years old.  I'll have to see when I get it.  She said I can have it.  Would you do an older edition if it was given to you, or would you still purchase the newest?

 

Pam

The answer will depend a lot on if you want to use SL for LA as well. The editions 2012 and newer include the LA guide w/ the history. Ones prior do not, so if you are not interested in the LA (or would like to buy it separately) than an older version would be preferable.

[wintermom]

I found someone who said she has an older edition of core D.  Maybe 4 years old.  I'll have to see when I get it.  She said I can have it.  Would you do an older edition if it was given to you, or would you still purchase the newest?

 

Pam

 

I would definitely take it. The LA may not be included, which is fine. As a pp stated, the LA isn't always a great fit. We found that SL literature and history to be great, and we've enjoyed a few of the SL science programs (depending on the topics that interested us). 

 

Core D has 2 levels of readers - regular and advanced. The advanced readers include all the regular readers, plus a few extras. All the readers are related to American history.

[wintermom]

If you use SL:

How long have you used it?

What ages have you used it for?

Which parts do you use?

Do you recommend it?

What DON'T you like about it?

Feel free to add anything I left out.   :)

 

Pam

 

We've used SL for 7 years, sometimes following the IG (Instructor Guide) very closely, and sometimes just using the books. The books are a big investment, if you buy them all, but they've been worth it for us over the years. 

 

We used it for ages 3 - 13.  

 

I've always combined 2 or more children when doing the cores. It has worked out really well for us doing this; the older child would be on the older end of the recommended age range, and the younger child still within the recommended age range. Sometimes there would be a younger child tagging along for the read-alouds and hands-on extra projects we included.

 

SL is pretty parent-intensive with all the read-alouds. This is what ultimately broke me down in following the IG. I just didn't have the time and energy to do all the read-alouds and history readings for 2 separate cores. There are lots of people who do manage this, though.

[LindaOz]

If you use SL:

How long have you used it?

What ages have you used it for?

Which parts do you use?

Do you recommend it?

What DON'T you like about it?

Feel free to add anything I left out. :)

 

Pam

We have used SL for many years.

 

I started with Core B (then Core 1) with my eldest two who were then in 2nd and 1st grades. Loved it. Learnt so much - both them and me. We have not used all of every core as we deviated some, used SOTW etc, but kept coming back to SL. We didn't do all Cores D&E for example as we are Australian and needed some more intensive Australian history in there too. Even so, we still use the literature from the cores we are not doing. One of my older girls also did Cores 100, 200, 300 and the British Lit 530, while the other ended at 300. My third and fourth girls are currently doing Cores 300 and 100 respectively, and dd12 and ds10 are in Core F. I am thinking of having my current 16yo do Core 500 next year - she LOVES SL.

 

I later bought Core A for my ds to start with and my two preschoolers are now doing PK 3/4 which they love.

 

We use the history, literature, Bible (some) and read-alouds. We have used some of the LA at times. I quite like it but we have gone through stages of using other things as well. I tend to not like to be tied to a LA program but to be a bit more free range and develop my own system in that area so have trouble sticking with just one thing. Having said that, my 2nd dd used the LA mostly through the upper cores and it served her well. My current 16yo struggles with so we are using bits of it and incorporating other things.

 

Yes, I recomend SL. My two oldest girls have moved on to study a Diploma of Liberal Arts which includes worldview studies, philosophy, religions, psychology, sociology etc. There have been a number of times when I have been impressed at how well SL has prepared them for these studies. Winner!!!

 

Other hints: in the older cores, the SL IG notes are very important - it's not just a book list. I tell my kids that the notes are the teaching part of the program. In the younger years there are not so many notes.

 

My older kids pretty much follow the IG themselves, but I free-range a lot more with my youngers. I don't follow the schedule religiously anymore but use the IG and books more as a resource. That's just me....others would probably follow it as is.

 

We keep journals relating to our SL history work. The kids write and draw about the readings, make notebook pages, include other pictures etc. This can double as LA work even if you are not using the LA part of the program.

 

Ummmm. I think that's all. Hope it helps :) .

[wehave8]

LindaOz--

Thanks for the great review!

Do you use the IGs you had from the older dc, or do you purchase current ones?

 

Pam 

[Christy-Jean]

This is my first WTM post ever. I've been successfully avoiding being sucked in for a few years now, but I finally had to get an account a few months ago to avoid the ads, and then I started following a few threads because the Sonlight forum was so slow, and then... here we are. It's a slippery slope. :tongue_smilie:  I figured I could make an exception to my "lurking only" rule to talk about Sonlight, since I am a Sonlight person more than a WTM person.

 

We have used SL through p3/4 through E. (pre-K through 4th). I plan to continue using SL through G, seventh grade, at which point we may go a different direction. My three kids are 21 months and 19 months apart. I combine the youngest two in one core and the oldest does a different one. 

 

I use the history, readers, and read alouds. I do Bible with all the kids together, so we use some of SL's Bible books, but we don't follow their Bible reading schedule or do their memory work, I make up my own. I also use PHP's Telling God's Story curriculum once a week. I used SL science through D (minus the YEC books, and there were only a couple). We moved away form SL Science because I wanted a more structured, linear program, and because it moves into Apologia resources, which I didn't want to use. It was good for elementary though. My kids still pull out the books and look at them. I used SL LA with my first child through half of LA3, but I didn't like it. We switched everyone over to Writing With Ease this past year and have been much happier. I also use Winston Grammar with my oldest. I do use the SL phonics (Explode the Code) and spelling (Sequential Spelling starting in D). 

 

I recommend Sonlight to people who want a living books curriculum where most of the planning work is done for you. I also recommend it to Christians who are less conservative or who aren't Protestant, because I think it is one of the few Christian curricula that leaves most of the worldview instruction to the parents. It is easy to tailor it to your own perspective. For example, in Core C we read a book about a girl who prays to her dead grandmother for help throughout the story. The IG says something neutral like "Philomena is Catholic and believes her grandmother can intercede for her in heaven. You may want to discuss this with your child." So you as a parent can choose how to handle the teachable moment based on your own family's beliefs. I trust SL not to use a bunch of books that are dogmatic about debatable things, and I have been happy that so far it has avoided (mostly) the things that make me crazy in the homeschooling world - the founding father worship, the view of history where the US is the new Israel, the Republican/Tea Party rhetoric when talking about government, the constant imposition of young earth creationist view on archaeology and anthropology, the proof-texting of Bible verses out of their historical/cultural context, the tendency to equate Calvinism with Christianity, and the deference to New Patriarchy gender views. But on the other hand, if you wanted those things, it would be easy to add resources that put them in.

 

Like others, I don't really like the LA. But it is super easy to sub it out and do something else. 

 

What I like most about SL is the schedule. It pulls together several spine resources with the other book selections and it is pretty easy to adapt and modify to fit your preferences. It is an incredible time-saver to have it as the starting point. For me the schedule itself is worth the price of the IG. I have been very happy with the book selections. My kids love to read and be read to and generally like school and look forward to the next new book and the next new school year. 

 

We have always finished a Core in a year, and we have added in a lot of other books too, so I can't relate to the complaint that it is impossible to finish in a year. Lots of people take longer, but it is their choice.

 

As for an older IG, I don't think you would be getting that much more by updating it. The new format is more user friendly for people who stick closely to the IG.  But it makes it a bit harder to adapt and modify or change the pacing of certain elements, so a lot of the veteran users who are used to lots of tweaking prefer the old style. I think they both have their pros and cons so I'm ambivalent. I use a lot of post-it flags to keep track of where we are in what book since we aren't usually all on the same day or week in everything. Lots of people use older IGs but update their libraries with some of the newer book selections and work those in. And lots of people add in books that have been dropped from the new guides because they are usually good books.

 

One thing you might want to be aware of is that the older Core D guides use a different version of the spine, Landmark History of the American People than Sonlight currently sells. A few years ago, SL totally re-wrote the books to gear them to children (the originals were written to adults) and put in a lot more visual aids and pictures. I have both and definitely prefer the new version. If you are using Core D with a younger student, the new version is so much more appropriate. Anyway, you can use the old IG with the new Landmark books, but you will have to adjust the page numbers/chapters. I'm sure someone has probably done this already if you ask on the Sonlight forums. 

 

The IG has comprehension/discussion questions for the history, read alouds, and readers. Some people use them, some people don't. Some people just do narrations. I tend to use the history questions but the readers and read alouds we just discuss more generally. The IG also pulls out vocabulary from the readings and passages for dictations if you want to use them. There are also sometimes background history or culture notes, though not as often as I would like. I sometimes use other literature guides so that we can get more background on the author or historical context of a particular novel.

 

Hope that helps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[wehave8]

Christy-Jean

WOW! What a GREAT 1st post!

Thank you for such a thorough review of SL and how you use it.  That was a tremendous help!

 

Pam

[Lori D.]

How long have you used it?

 

As written = 2 weeks; book ideas from the cores = up through about 10th grade

 

When we started homeschooling with our then 1st and 2nd grade DSs, we started with a SL core 1 (currently: core grade 1). Two weeks in, I realized I had tossed the IG and we were reading/using the books in the way that worked for us. I have quirky DSs, one with mild LDs, which required tweaking of *everything*; plus, I realized *I* just can't follow someone else's plans. ;)

 

SL has undergone several big revisions, 2 of which have involved changing the names of the cores; my familiarity is with:

- books and the LA dictation worksheets in cores A-F (we used during 2001-2006 -- and called cores 1-5 at that time)

- books in cores G, 100, 300 (we used during 2007-2009 -- and called cores 6, 100, 300 at that time)

 

 

What ages have you used it for?

 

Books: ages 6-16 (grades 1-10).

some of the LA dictation worksheets: ages 6-10 (grades 1-5).

 

 

Which parts do you use?

 

1. Books listed for the cores.

I used SL cores for a  large amount of my book ideas in grades 1-6 (along with ideas from WTM, 1000 Good Books list, and suggestions on these Boards). By grade 7 and beyond I used far fewer SL books in making our Literature, and far more relied on WTM and Literature and classical History curricula booklists, and some ideas from 1000 Good Books, Veritas Press Omnibus, and Ambleside.

 

2. LA dictation worksheets

When DSs were in grades 1-5, I used some of the SL dictation worksheets from cores A-G as a supplement/review to our other LA programs, and adapted to fit our needs and review/practice whatever Grammar concepts we were covering in our Grammar program. So, I would write out the paragraph in a spiral notebook, look to see what questions SL had and if any applied to where we were, I'd use them, and if not, then I made my own questions. I treated this as a LA worksheet, as we did not actually do it as dictation, but used the paragraph as a way to work with things like gum (grammar, usage, mechanics), spelling, homophones, synonyms/antonyms, etc.

 

 

Do you recommend it?

 

Yes. BUT... as with any curriculum -- only to those for whom it would be a good fit. :)

- need a "box" curriculum, with everything in it and everything scheduled

- love books and have time for all the read-alouds with your student

- fine with "as written", and are not a "chronic tweaker" ;)

- living overseas and it's hard to get lots of individual materials

- SL core unbundled: just want an elementary science that covers a variety of topics and everything comes ready to go

- have a strong reader (lots of books assigned to the student each year)

- have a strong older independent worker (some people hand over the IG in high school for the student to do SL mostly solo)

 

 

What DON'T you like about it?

 

For *me*:

- IG notes -- similar to previous poster, not in depth, don't focus on what's of interest to us, don't care for/agree with John Holtzman's slant

- as with any "box curriculum" -- I'm a chronic tweaker and I don't fit in anyone's box

- the expense

- not thrilled with the way SL's company and website have treated a number of their customers (but that comes from second-hand information FWIW)

 

As an "all in one" LA program, it is unfortunately largely a fail; from our experience with the LA of older cores (2001-2005):

- dictation: the only part we were able to adapt and use were the dictation worksheets

- spelling: mostly word lists and drill; not a fit for a student with special needs, and, DC were not at the locked-in level of the SL LA

- grammar: huge leaps from one topic to another, and covered concepts that were too advanced for early elementary ages

- writing: very hap-hazard writing instruction and assignments

 

The high school cores seem very weak to me (just from viewing samples)

- scattered in the History (no spine text)

- core 300, meant for grades 9-10, is just all over the place in reading level -- some books are upper elementary/early middle school level, while others, like All Quiet on the Western Front and Brave New World, really are best tackled by older high school grades

- way too broad and shallow in the Literature coverage (way too many books and no depth of literary analysis)

- lack of solid writing instruction

 

 

Feel free to add anything I left out.  :)

 

If interested in trying SL and you can find an inexpensive used core, go for it! I think that's the best way to see whether or not SL (or any curricula) will fit your family or not. :) In 2001, the cores were revised and the LA worksheets were included, as well as worksheets for the Science. I believe in 2007, and maybe 2011 (??) the IGs were revised again, with changes in the LA section. I think you'd be fine with a used core as far back as 2001. The LA will just be a bit different if you have an early 2000s IG vs. a later 2000s IG.

 

Sonlight was an early curriculum provider that was a breath of fresh air for early homeschoolers, offering a living books alternative to school textbooks. SL was also an awesome all-in-one option for families living overseas who had trouble getting materials for homeschooling. I think there is still a place for SL in the homeschooling community for families who love books and reading.

 

But there are also quite a few newer living book History/Literature programs out there to check out, too, which can leave you freer to select the LA programs that are a "best fit" for your students. There has been an absolute explosion of materials published specifically for homeschoolers in the past 10 years, with some incredible offerings out there, specifically in the LA and Math areas, the classical History approach, and programs for the high school years. Those are all well worth looking at! :)

 

BEST of luck in finding what's the best fit for your family! Warmest regards, Lori D.

[LindaOz]

LindaOz--

Thanks for the great review!

Do you use the IGs you had from the older dc, or do you purchase current ones?

 

SL revamped their cores a couple of years ago and included the LA in it rather than it being an optional extra. Also, all the schedule notes and book notes are now given in day to day order whereas the schedule notes used to be behind the 'weekly' tabs and the book notes were given in 'book' order. I ordered the new Core F this year but have found that I much prefer the old way of having all the book notes in one place rather than scattered between days - it would probably work well for someone who followed the schedule exactly...ie: not me. As my little girls come up through the cores I will probably use my older IGs as I like them better.

 

So, I'd be saying that a four year old schedule sounds great :) .

 

The new revamped IG system only goes to Core H. From 100 upwards it is like the older way.