For those who used to use Sonlight & now use WTM

[mommy24angels]

What made you switch to WTM? I'm trying to weigh out the 2 for future hsing years. Right now we are doing P3/4 core and I'll probably get the P4/5 core next year. After that I don't know which way to go. Any advice or suggestions are greatly appreciated. I'm all ears :bigear:!

 

TIA,

Emily

 

PS: We are trying to add to our family through fost-adopt right now and may be getting a 5yo soon. We've been told that we'll probably have to keep her in ps for K this year and if it looks like we'll be able to keep her, then we may be able hs next year for 1st grade.

[Rosy]

Bumping it up for you...I've never used Sonlight, but I considered it and decided against it because it was so expensive, and I couldn't see an easy way of doing it with 4 kids.

[JeannineW]

I'm the opposite of what you asked for but we just switched from SOTW V1 to Sonlight Core 1 plus readers. Why? Because I wanted all the books on hand. I didn't have the energy to search out our not very good library for the few books they actually had and then get to the library so I could have the books available at the right time. All that with four kids in tow.

 

I think we may miss SOTW and may include it with Core 1 but I am so excited to have all these great books in house. We are only on week 3 of Sonlight but I am hoping we will be using it long term.

 

Good luck with foster/adopt. We were/are on this path as well but just recently found out I'm pregnant so I'm not sure what will happen now. I jokingly told dh, "But, I thought we had made an adoption plan."

 

Good luck.

[mommy24angels]

Congrats on your pg, Jeannine! Also, thanks for your response. I'd probably still get a lot of the readers and read-alouds that Sonlight uses even if I don't use their entire curriculum because I LOVE having all the books around too :-) This past year we've gotten quite a few of the read-alouds from cores 1-5 to read to my older kids (who are in ps, btw). How do you like Sonlight's LA (other than the readers)? Thanks!

 

Emily

[Veritaserum]

Sonlight history jumped around more than I wanted to and had too strong an evangelical Christian flavor in the levels beyond Core K. It was nice to have all the books and schedule ready made, but I'm happy doing my own thing. :)

[Annie Laurie]

The biggest difference, in my mind, is that one is completely planned out for you, with a schedule and included books; the other is looser, if you wanted a grid schedule you'd have to write your own and you'd have to plan out what books you're using, when. I'd look at which method would work best for you.

 

I use SL because I don't get it done when it's looser, and I am no good at remembering to get to the library ahead of time. I'm too much of a creative, go with the flow type for school, get side tracked easy, and then find we got nothing done. I get more done with the schedule and having all the books I need already on hand. For others, they are planners and organized types and don't need the hand holding and enjoy having more flexibilty in each week, as far as reading selections.

 

One thing to keep in mind, is that you don't have to use everything SL offers, all together; or everything WTM offers, all together. You could use SL for history and then follow WTM's recommendations for LA, math and science. Or vice verse.

 

I personally can't stand SL's LA, beyond LA K and 1, because it's too much. It's not orderly, it's not sequential, and it includes a lot of stuff that I don't think kids even necessarily need to work on unless it's a particular interest of theirs, like creative writing. It doesn't teach the child how to order their thoughts and get them down on paper, it feels like it spends too much time on other things instead.

 

Anyway, I like SL for history, and at this point plan to stick with them, but I don't like their LA and use Writing With Ease and FLL for my 1st grader, WWE and PLL for my 2nd grader. So you can mix and match with whatever works for your family.

[chaik76]

I combine them!:D There's a listing of SL books that lines up chronologically (in a WTM fashion...SL is chronological within each period). The biggest difference is, of couse, that I never use the IG as stated. If you need the daily accountability of something like an IG, it's easier to go with SL as a whole program. One of the most awesome things about SL is their forums...they are wonderful!

[Closeacademy]

We used Sonlight when they were the preschool and K cores. I really liked the preschool selections but didn't like almost half of the K books and found that my oldest really doesn't learn that way so we switched to WTM and that works great for us.:001_smile:

[readwithem]

I liked Sonlight for K and 1st but started losing interest with 3 and 4. By 5th grade we had discovered WTM and didn't look back. I got 5 for some of the more interesting books, which we read gradually over the next few years.

 

I love that WTM ties science and history together. I like that if we go off on a rabbit trail - we want to read more by the same author, etc. - I won't lose my mind trying to get back "on track". I've never been a box-checker :) Now that we're doing high school, I wanted more depth than SL offers.

 

Sonlight's LA has never been excellent, some years have been better than others. Seeing the transition over the years has been interesting. I wish they would just admit they can't reinvent the wheel and use R&S or something that is tried and true.

[JeannineW]

I'm only using the SL Core (history and readalouds) and readers. I'm not using the LA, math or science. You can see in my sig. what we are using.

[Greta Lea]

I didn't do any *formal* history with my son until he was 10yo. We started SOTW vol. 1 at that time and he completed vol. 4 this past spring. At that point, I made the switch to SL Core 100 for him(history and literature). We both LOVE it. We love the books and I find the IG questions to be wonderful. We do the questions from the IG orally. I feel that these questions really make him think and are often just a jumping off point for more discussion or a deeper discussion.

 

I very loosely use the schedule. It's the least important part of SL for me. the IG questions and the books are what we are appreciating the most about SL.

[Tabrett]

SL doesn't have ANY hands on activities like the SOTW AG. I want my kids to have more hands on. All you do in SL is read. There isn't ANY written work for history. I used SL 1,2 and 7 with my oldest dd. My younger dc are +9 years younger and I will need to combine them when possible. SL really doesn't combine very well. I know people do combine grades, but SL's books are very grade specific and a little on the harder to understand side. Meaning if you are doing SL core 1 with a 7 year old your 5 year old will probably stay very lost. It would be better to do core 1 with a 7 and 9 year old, but then you would be off you 4 year history cycle. SL does follow a 4 year history plan for the first 4 years. I plan on using the core 1 and 2 books I have with my SOTW. I'm not a library person and will buy the books I need to go along with the SOTW AG. I don't care for SL's LA. I agree with the other post about SL trying to reinvent the LA "wheel". I don't know why they keep trying to write their own LA. I would be nice if they would just schedule a good prewritten program.

I have also been looking into MFW. I think I will do MFW 1st with SOTW 1 and AG. The reason for doing this is because I like how reading, phonics, LA and Bible are incorporated. It uses copywork and notebooking, which is very classical. It also includes science, music and drawing. I like having it all scheduled for me. I just wish someone would make an all inclusive(Science, reading, LA, music and art) curriculum using the SOTW and AG as the primary source following the chapters in order doing 2 a week:tongue_smilie:. My main reason for wanting an "all inclusive" curriculum is for science. I'm not crazy about science and don't look forward to finding a good curriculum.:glare:Especially since I hate doing science projects.:lol:

[Jennay]

SL doesn't have ANY hands on activities like the SOTW AG. I want my kids to have more hands on. All you do in SL is read. There isn't ANY written work for history.

 

 

This is mostly true. Though it isn't hard to add in hands-on activities, Notebooking, and narrations to add some variety to just reading. In fact, I have a schedule from another SL mom that coordinates the student activity pages and activities from the SOTW AG with SL Core 1. I also have a schedule that replaces CHOW with SOTW and uses the SOTW AG. And yet another that schedules Evan-Moor History Pockets. I think I'll be using the first one when we start SL Core 1 in January. PM me with your email if you want either any of them and I'll send them to you.

 

I do not use SL LA - we use FLL, AAS, and WWE. I'm also not completely thrilled with SL science. I'm trying to decide whether I want to stick with it or do something else. The Discover and Do DVD's are excellent, however.

[mommy24angels]

Thank you all so much for your helpful feedback! Both programs seem to have many great things to offer. I guess the only thing that makes me a little nervous about WTM is the lack of an IG. I'm a very organized person though so hopefully I'll be able to write out a good schedule if we decide to go w/WTM. Thanks again, ladies!

[Veritaserum]

Thank you all so much for your helpful feedback! Both programs seem to have many great things to offer. I guess the only thing that makes me a little nervous about WTM is the lack of an IG. I'm a very organized person though so hopefully I'll be able to write out a good schedule if we decide to go w/WTM. Thanks again, ladies!

 

I forgot to mention above that my experience with the IG and schedule helped me know how to make my own...which is exactly what I did. :) I planned out what read alouds we'd read and when, library books at our local library that were recommended by the SOTW AG, etc.