BYL or Sonlight

[juliebee]

I am torn between these two options. We would be using it mainly for history. I have always been drawn to Sonlight but after doing some research I discovered BYL and am kind of torn between the two mainly due to cost. I can afford either but I am a "thrifty" I want to see what others experience with either of these programs has been to help be make a more informed decision.

[Sammish]

Will you not be using the literature books then? And for which grades? If you're just using it for history, in the lower grades the big difference between the two is using Story of the World (BYL) vs Child's History of the World (Sonlight). I'd recommend reading excerpts of both, and seeing which one you prefer.

 

We've used both, and while I personally prefer the style of CHOW, I prefer the modernity and more secular worldview of SOTW (CHOW has things like "they weren't Christians like us" scattered throughout, which may or may not be an issue for you). 

 

(I feel like I should mention: there have also been some pretty heated discussions on here about Sonlight's history, and in particular the viewpoint of the people running the company. (If you search the board for Sarita's name, I'm sure you can come up with them.))

 

If you'll be using the literature books, too, I'd recommend getting a couple from each program out of the library and reading them, to see which ones you prefer. (Again, we've used both, and I've found I much prefer BYL's books. But many people love Sonlight's booklists, so it's a matter of personal preference.)

 

Our personal experience has been that we love BYL (currently doing 3rd grade, have already bought 4th grade for next year), and we were not fans of Sonlight (mainly due to not loving the literature books). We use the history, lit, poetry, and art appreciation from BYL, and have found them all to be excellent. 

[juliebee]

Sammish we will be using it for kindergarten. We will be using other aspects of the curriculum just not the language arts or science(I have designed my own unit studies for this year)

[Fardo]

If the religious nature of CHOW is a problem BookShark has an edited version they use, so you could always get that to use with the Sonlight IG. Although if you're going with Sonlight over BookShark anyway, I wouldn't imagine the religious content is too much an issue.

[sewingmama]

I haven't used Sonlight officially ..only as a booklist to try it out. My kids did not like a lot of the books.

 

We have been using BYL for the past year and we really enjoy it. So far my kids have liked all the chosen books.

 

I did not really like the Kindergarden level nor did my son but Level 1 we all liked.

 

I would not use BYL just for history though...might be a bit dry. The literature is our favourite part.

[LindaOz]

Loving SL here.

[Sammish]

Sammish we will be using it for kindergarten. We will be using other aspects of the curriculum just not the language arts or science(I have designed my own unit studies for this year)

 

We don't use all of the LA (really just the copywork) or the science, either. I'd really suggest trying a couple of the books from each curriculum, to see which work better for your family. The programs are very similar in layout and use, and it's really the book choice (along with secular vs not) that differentiate them, IMO. 

 

 

We have been using BYL for the past year and we really enjoy it. So far my kids have liked all the chosen books.

 

I did not really like the Kindergarden level nor did my son but Level 1 we all liked.

 

Yeah, I've heard mixed reviews of BYL's kindergarten level, but only good ones about the higher levels. I wonder why that is? (We started with 3rd, so never used K ourselves.)