Sonlight for High school?

[...................]

I have an avid reader who loves to ponder and discuss difficult topics from books, poetry and primary sources. I think (I know) he would absolutely love Sonlight (we did pre k, K, Core 1 and Core 3 years ago)

 

But, I worry that he will not learn to meet proper deadlines and have his papers graded more objectively and deal with personalities of different teachers etc.

 

I have it pretty much narrowed down to SL or online classes (we prefer to see the teacher! So probably WTM?) but maybe Potters School becuZzr they offer so much and have a great reputation.

 

This is a kid who is advanced, academic and pretty well organized. He is not a super-study machine but rather a deep thinker ...We may send him full time to community college at 16.

[freesia]

I can't speak to Sonlight high school although I've used and loved Cores pre-K-F. But, one year I sent some of my ds's papers to Write at Home for grading. This gave him outside accountability and feedback.

[FriedClams]

I am a long time lover of Sonlight. This year I had DD (14, freshman) pick out her curriculum from a range - VP self paced omni, SL, MFW, Notgrass, etc. She picked SL Core 200. We've used SL for years, so it was an easy pick. For DS (8th grade) I picked SL Core 100. Well, Core 100 has been a big hit. I think it's a GREAT 8th grade curriculum for a good student. I can see it also being a reasonable Freshman package for the average reader kid. 

 

Core 200 has been hit and miss. The lit is, as always, great. You do need a STRONG reader to keep up with the workload. The bible has also been excellent. The apologetic work is great and age appropriate. The history was, at best, EH. We dropped it about 2-3 months in for Notgrass. The Notgrass World is light compared to SL, but with an otherwise meaty course load, I was OK with a class being light. She likes it, and we're currently at a pace of 2 lessons/most days to finish up by the end of the year.

 

I am a little irritated with myself for paying so much for a Core that isn't really being used. I will sell it at the end of the year. My next freshman is a boy, and despite my exposing him to a LOAD of great lit, and never caring much what gender the characters are, I fell like Core 200 would not be a great fit for a "dude". He's a fabulous reader, but I think at 14 the Austen and Bronte will wear down his resolve, LOL! 

 

Next year we will fully switch to Notgrass. It's not the meatiest out there, but we're really a math/science group here. I think the history parts are engaging and I actually really like the lit they have picked for each level. I think I will go with History/Bible/Lit with Notgrass. Or, we'll drop their bible for the Summit Ministries worldview course I have on the shelf. I guess I am now in this long enough (10 years? LOL!!) that I can see that not every single class needs to be a challenging, boundary-pushing course and there is real value in a little extra time for extras - like robotics, TKD, rest, volunteer time, etc... 

 

Hopefully that helps a little. If you're looking for Core 200 in the spring - PM me! LOL!! :-)

[Mom22ns]

I can't speak to Sonlight high school although I've used and loved Cores pre-K-F. But, one year I sent some of my ds's papers to Write at Home for grading. This gave him outside accountability and feedback.

 

This is just what I was going to suggest. 

[daveswife]

I've used Sonlight high school cores for both my kids, and I just made sure to be a real hard-nose when it came to due dates and grading (create a rubric you like and follow it, just as a classroom teacher would do). My daughter is a freshman in college this year and doing fantastic work. My son will be dual-enrolling at the community college this spring to finish out his senior year, and I expect he'll do just as well meeting instructors' expectations.

Edited December 11, 2015 by daveswife

[MerryAtHope]

I have an avid reader who loves to ponder and discuss difficult topics from books, poetry and primary sources. I think (I know) he would absolutely love Sonlight (we did pre k, K, Core 1 and Core 3 years ago)

 

But, I worry that he will not learn to meet proper deadlines and have his papers graded more objectively and deal with personalities of different teachers etc.

 

They learn those things when they need to, just prep him for them. Likely he's had to learn to deal with differing personalities in other situations--my "loves structure/hates change" son didn't really have trouble adjusting to various personalities of teachers. 

 

As for deadlines, I wanted to do this more but only did it the last semester of high school: I took one class and made up a syllabus with test dates and deadlines for papers/projects, the grading procedure, how much his grade would go down for late papers, etc.... I didn't schedule anything else for the class. I handed him the book and asked my son to come up with a plan for how to study and show it to me. He didn't. About a month in, I asked how things were going. He was two chapters in, and was thinking about skipping the review questions, reading all the chapters, and doing the review later. I asked him if he was going to do that because he thought it was the best way to study or because he hated writing. (obviously it was the latter, I just wanted him to see that!). Then I asked him when his test was, and which chapters his test covered. He wasn't sure. So, I had him bring the syllabus down, and showed him how to find that info on there and in his book. Then I gave him another calendar (he couldn't find the first one), and asked him to spend 10 minutes coming up with a plan for the rest of the first half until his midterm. He realized he had about 2 days per chapter, and then a couple of study days at the end (he would have had 4 days per chapter before). So, he got to feel the consequence of letting things go, without it totally derailing a grade. He did end up turning in one assignment a day late and got docked a full letter grade, but his other test/paper grades were enough to bring it up again. So, he got that experience too.

 

Between that and my drilling into his head about "this is how it will be when you go to college..." or "here's how to break down long assignments" or "here's why procrastination hurts only you" etc..., I found that he went into college with a much better work ethic than I did. He quickly fell into a study routine that worked for him, and was pretty good about not waiting until the last minute.

 

All that to say...you can teach deadlines etc... no matter what you use. But fwiw, we really enjoy Sonlight literature, and it's worth considering. (I often did something else for the history spine but used a lot of the biographies and historical fiction along with a lot of the lit from the high school cores). I'd go with what your son will enjoy!

[Free Indeed]

 

I guess I am now in this long enough (10 years? LOL!!) that I can see that not every single class needs to be a challenging, boundary-pushing course and there is real value in a little extra time for extras - like robotics, TKD, rest, volunteer

Can I just say "Yes!"!? Having just graduated my oldest, 3 more following, I have learned the value and wisdom in not everything having to be a super challenging, advanced course. Each person will have their bents. Give them a solid education and let them discover them.

[J-rap]

Sounds like some of my kids.  Though we never invested in a core Sonlight program, we used lots of their reading suggestions for subjects.  Maybe you can do something like that?