seemesew Posted April 23, 2023 Share Posted April 23, 2023 (edited) I have been researching for next year and I'm realizing every history curriculum I use I add a ton of PERSONAL readers on that topic for my kids and after really looking into Sonlight I'm wondering if that is actually what I'm trying to do on my own. Now I'm seriously considering using it for my kids. I have always preferred history with lots of books but hate having to search for them! I'm thinking about Sonlgiht because it seems to be what I want with a few modifications, hopefully. ETA: I'm Only looking at using the history/literature part not the whole package. So Please tell me if I can tweak from reading bits of several books everyday to the kids finishing one book before moving on to the others or if the bits are okay. Also, I wouldn't use all the read alouds I know that I wouldn't be able to from previous experience, but with the personal readers can they get the history mostly from them if I cut back on the read alouds to 4 or 5? Can I get by without both student and parent guides or are there teachings in them? The samples have not been helpful at all. Final, question are there any activities in the guides like crafts? my kids like them but I don't want a ton just a few. Edited April 23, 2023 by seemesew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nm. Posted April 23, 2023 Share Posted April 23, 2023 What about a condensed version (D+E, B+C etc). Then spread over 2 years 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insertcreativenamehere Posted April 23, 2023 Share Posted April 23, 2023 I love Sonlight. If I had been homeschooled as a child, it would have been perfect for me. I used bits and pieces of it for years with my kids, mainly the book lists and the preschool/kindergarten cores, and I also did one year of HBL E with two of my kids. I really liked it, but I modified things to meet their needs/interests. We didn't read all of the read-alouds and I sometimes gave them a choice of readers if they didn't like one. I also bought the hands-on history kit but they were not very interested in it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seemesew Posted April 23, 2023 Author Share Posted April 23, 2023 25 minutes ago, Lovinglife123 said: What about a condensed version (D+E, B+C etc). Then spread over 2 years I am considering it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seemesew Posted April 23, 2023 Author Share Posted April 23, 2023 24 minutes ago, Insertcreativenamehere said: I love Sonlight. If I had been homeschooled as a child, it would have been perfect for me. I used bits and pieces of it for years with my kids, mainly the book lists and the preschool/kindergarten cores, and I also did one year of HBL E with two of my kids. I really liked it, but I modified things to meet their needs/interests. We didn't read all of the read-alouds and I sometimes gave them a choice of readers if they didn't like one. I also bought the hands-on history kit but they were not very interested in it. I guess I should have said I'm really only looking at the History/literature part not the whole package. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insertcreativenamehere Posted April 24, 2023 Share Posted April 24, 2023 17 hours ago, seemesew said: I guess I should have said I'm really only looking at the History/literature part not the whole package. That's basically what we used, too. We're Christian but had our own thing already for Bible so we didn't really use what they offered. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted April 24, 2023 Share Posted April 24, 2023 I'm wondering how useful it will be for you to buy a Sonlight... It sounds like all you're really looking for is a box of books matched to your history time period so you don't have to research to find books. 😉 Perhaps just buy the SL package of readers (example: readers book package for SL D+E), decide on what 4-5 read-alouds you want to do and put those on your library list, or buy used online, and schedule the books in a way that works for you, since you wouldn't be using the pre-planned SL schedule in the teacher guide. Because from your initial post, it looks like you would not be using much from a SL package: - you only want the history/literature part -- not the whole core, and not the Bible part that comes with the history/lit package - you would tweak SL's laid-out schedule (parts of several books daily) to make your own schedule (finish a book before moving to the next) - you would not use all of the read-alouds - you want a few crafts/activities -- but it it looks like those come in the supplemental history kits (not available for each SL core) for $68 20 hours ago, seemesew said: ...Can I get by without both student and parent guides or are there teachings in them? The samples have not been helpful at all. Did you request the downloads of samples, or just see the single page sample on the website? The student pages (purchased as a separate add-on unless you buy a complete package) focus on grammar, writing, and dictation from the readers. If you already have LA programs that are working well for you, I would NOT recommend switching to the SL LA. Unless SL has radically revised their LA programs, from when I last looked at their guides a few years back -- It is not incremental, it is rather random in what is presented and when, and there is very little assistance in teaching the writing or in how to grade the writing assignments. The teacher guide gives you: - a schedule - some teaching history and geography info and a few questions to go with the nonfiction history books - info and a few questions for each of the literature readers/read-alouds - definitions of some vocabulary words - info on filling out the timeline Do you need/want additional background info/explanations about the history/geography? Or guided questions about the readers/read-alouds? That seems like the only part of the SL teacher guide that you would potentially find useful... Just musing out loud here, to help with thinking it through. 😉 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nm. Posted April 24, 2023 Share Posted April 24, 2023 (edited) Nm Edited April 24, 2023 by Lovinglife123 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seemesew Posted April 24, 2023 Author Share Posted April 24, 2023 1 hour ago, Lori D. said: I'm wondering how useful it will be for you to buy a Sonlight... It sounds like all you're really looking for is a box of books matched to your history time period so you don't have to research to find books. 😉 Perhaps just buy the SL package of readers (example: readers book package for SL D+E), decide on what 4-5 read-alouds you want to do and put those on your library list, or buy used online, and schedule the books in a way that works for you, since you wouldn't be using the pre-planned SL schedule in the teacher guide. Because from your initial post, it looks like you would not be using much from a SL package: - you only want the history/literature part -- not the whole core, and not the Bible part that comes with the history/lit package - you would tweak SL's laid-out schedule (parts of several books daily) to make your own schedule (finish a book before moving to the next) - you would not use all of the read-alouds - you want a few crafts/activities -- but it it looks like those come in the supplemental history kits (not available for each SL core) for $68 Did you request the downloads of samples, or just see the single page sample on the website? The student pages (purchased as a separate add-on unless you buy a complete package) focus on grammar, writing, and dictation from the readers. If you already have LA programs that are working well for you, I would NOT recommend switching to the SL LA. Unless SL has radically revised their LA programs, from when I last looked at their guides a few years back -- It is not incremental, it is rather random in what is presented and when, and there is very little assistance in teaching the writing or in how to grade the writing assignments. The teacher guide gives you: - a schedule - some teaching history and geography info and a few questions to go with the nonfiction history books - info and a few questions for each of the literature readers/read-alouds - definitions of some vocabulary words - info on filling out the timeline Do you need/want additional background info/explanations about the history/geography? Or guided questions about the readers/read-alouds? That seems like the only part of the SL teacher guide that you would potentially find useful... Just musing out loud here, to help with thinking it through. 😉 I think you pegged my intent about right, lol! I would like some direction on the history but I'm not sure if its worth the money after reading what you shared, (thank you for that, its exactly the type of advice I was hoping for) so maybe the readers IS really all I'd want. 🤔 I only did the samples of the guides on the site. I had to give my email to get them but they didn't really have much in them so I really couldn't tell what was in them. I mean they had 4 days worth of plans but it seemed like stuff was missing and didn't seem like much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2scouts Posted April 29, 2023 Share Posted April 29, 2023 I started homeschooling using Sonlight for history and literature. I credit Sonlight and all those historical fiction books for making my son fall in love with history. He's an adult now, but he's still passionate about history. As a new homeschooler, I liked the teacher notes and the reading schedule, but you might be OK buying their book package or just doing the condensed version. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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