ByGrace3 Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 The last 2 years we have used VP self paced (NTGR and MARR this year). I love that it gets done independently. dd11 complains some about the games, and I think it gets bogged down on details and dates and not as "big picture" as I would like...but all in all it has served a great purpose and we have been happy. However, the older 2 have asked to do history "like we do science"-- ie. all together as a family. I tried not to groan aloud. I mean, honestly, it's great they want to be with me, right? :lol: I have always wanted to do a missionary/geography year...I was considering creating our own curriculum to do that, but I keep coming back to SL Core F. It's not the whole world...but I think I would be ok with that. I would be using it for my then 10 and 12 year olds. (Grade 5 and 7). I would love to hear about peoples experiences with it. FWIW we are conservative evangelical Christians so if you didn't like it because of the worldview or missionary emphasis, I suppose that would not apply to us. ;) We would be using the history and lit. I really like the look of the Eastern Hemisphere notebook. I think I would be more inclined to venture out on my own if there was something like that but for the whole world... I would love to hear experiences with this core. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matrips Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 We are on week 22 or so of Core F. We like it, but this is also our 8th core :). It's the kids (they're 12yo) favorite part of schooling- reading books together. we are using a 2013 version with the World book DVD for the Eastern Hrmisphere notebook. Many people said their kids hated the worldbook, but mine like it just fine. I don't know how the new spine is. And they've had fun with the adventures too- especially the cooking ones. Each country comes with adventures/projects and time is built into the schedule to work on it. It might be cooking, writing, painting... Nothing overly time consuming though. And completely optional. I know it's considered a missionary core, but many of the books are just stories set in some part of history of the particular country. We are learning tons about other religions,beliefs and cultures. They are not preachy missionary type stories (imp); though some of them are about missionaries (Mission to Cathay and Mother Teresa) . If you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to try and answer them. I think we've covered China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, Russia, Mongolia, and India (plus surrounding areas) so far. We'd recommend it :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outdoormom4 Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 My 2 oldest kids (grades 5 & 7) are using it this year and really enjoying it. We are using the newest edition (so instead of "World Book" it uses "Journey to the Eastern Hemsiphere") and I love having a book as a spine instead of the computer, especially because they share it and work together to answer the questions on the notebooking pages. The missionary stories are fantastic. I proofread all the readers and I'm very glad I did. If you don't want to introduce other faiths and beliefs to your children, then do not do this core. A lot of the books have main characters who are decidedly not Christian in their beliefs or actions. We have had a lot of good discussions about this and been able to look at the differences in beliefs between various religions (the notebooking pages also ask questions to help kids see the differences). I view this as a positive but not everyone has the same viewpoint :) My youngest 2 (ages 8,6) have sat in as we read all the read alouds and also loved them (hopefully they won't remember everything when they repeat them in a few years!). Overall, it has been great and I have learned so much too! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKDmom Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 (edited) My 2 oldest kids (grades 5 & 7) are using it this year and really enjoying it. We are using the newest edition (so instead of "World Book" it uses "Journey to the Eastern Hemsiphere") and I love having a book as a spine instead of the computer, especially because they share it and work together to answer the questions on the notebooking pages. The World Book CD was my least favorite part of that Core. It was way above my 5th grader's head and hard to navigate. I'm glad they've replaced it! Edited March 10, 2017 by TKDmom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdobis Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 We are in a similar situation. My daughter just finished the history cycle of Veritas Press. I have had a basically identical experience with you. Games, dates, one less subject to teach. She'll be entering 8th grade. We're excited to do a missionary/geography study next year. I am planning on using the spine and notebooking pages from Sonlight. I'm not purchasing the instructor's manual. We would be tweaking it way too much. We will add in some of the books (too many books in Sonlight for my dyslexic child). We will be adding in more missions books to do a full study together plus World Religions in a Nutshell. I have some videos to add plus cooking and art projects for different countries. I think we'll both enjoy it. I am excited that it's purely an eastern hemisphere study because my daughter has shown interest in missions, especially China. Focusing on fewer areas that have such different cultures than our own is more my personal goal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamamoose Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 (edited) We are going to use it as a "social studies" over the course of two years. I am not exactly sure how I will implement that, yet, because I don't have the materials, but I intend to schedule it out as my voracious reader has time in her other studies. We are taking a year off some other stuff to accommodate. She has already read several books and really enjoyed them and as a result, developed a compassion for those areas. ETA: it seems like most people here are condescending about sonlight for various reasons. This will be our first core, and I'm interested to see what the negaivity is all about. I'm sure I could put something together in my own as well, but with running a business, homeschooling, taking care of our farm and helping my family with out cattle ranch, it's just wearing me thin. I'm looking forward to one thing just all laid out! Edited June 3, 2017 by mamamoose 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjand6more Posted June 4, 2017 Share Posted June 4, 2017 I've done the core as written twice. I have liked it for the most part both times. The last time around, I did CAW(WP) with the SL books from Core F added in(some of them). I liked that year SO much better. These particular kids need more hands on than just the EHE. It was my favorite year. I used the time to really study world geography. Core F is so localized geographically and I really really disliked that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matrips Posted June 4, 2017 Share Posted June 4, 2017 We are doing core f this year and really enjoying it. Good books. A different part of the world than we usually read about. However reading your post, it sounds like time could be an issue? We love sonlight (in our 8th year), but it is very time consuming imo! Reading all those books out loud together is tough to fit in, and it's a constant effort to fit it in. But reading books together is what we love about school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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