Sonlight questions, especially with core 7 & 200 as well as IGs.

[4kids4me]

I'll be teaching a bright motivated gr. 7 dd next year as well as a gr. 4 ds who hates school and has a learning disability (read that as reading is a challenge and we have an extremely hard time with writing) and a gr. 2 average dd.

 

This year we're doing SOTW 2 and will be finishing it up. It seems logical that if we switch to Sonlight that we continue with cores 7 (for the older) and 2 (for the younger). I'm not entirely sure if I'll be teaching my kids in high school, so I'm trying to figure out what exactly to do with the kids.

 

I did speak with another Sonlight user on the board and received some good advice...I'd like to get others' opinions/experiences as well.

 

Did you find core 7 to be rushed? They go through SOTW 3 & 4 and I wondered if it would be nicer to maybe do core 7 over two years so we could relish those eras a little more. What has your experience been?

 

If we did core 7 in one year I was thinking of doing core 200 with dd in grade 8 instead of core 100 (I like the idea of having a year focused on God's Kingdom before she gets to high school IF she goes). Could a studious gr. 8 student handle that work?

 

I'd like to know more about the instructor's guides. I don't find the samples too revealing. I understand that SL updates the IG every year because they use the latest publications of books. I was thinking of keeping costs down and just purchasing the IG and borrowing as many books as I can from the library; however, if I do that, will I have problems matching up page numbers (I noticed that the IG doesn't always use chapters, but sometimes uses page numbers instead)? Will this be a pain? Is it really worth it to plop down the money and just buy the whole package?

 

With core 7 and higher, how are the notes on the IGs? Do they talk about all subjects that are to be covered daily, or is it hit and miss? Can I really rely on them to "help" me through history and literature? I know that they won't be as good as TOG, but is it enough for someone (me) who isn't feeling confident with guiding my student alone?

 

Has anyone switched from doing history/lit the WTM suggested way to SL? Has it been a good switch or have you gone back (or used something else?)?

 

Any other experiences that you'd like to share with a potential new SL user?

 

Thanks!

[AngieW in Texas]

We loved SL Core 7. I used it with my 8th, 6th, and 3rd graders two years ago. My 8th grader did the whole Core with all the readers. My 6th grader did about half of the readers. My 3rd grader was reading at 2nd grade level, so she didn't use any of the readers, but she did fully participate in history and readalouds.

 

Because of the mix of ages that I was working with, I swapped some books from reader to readaloud or readaloud to reader. We also always have a few books that we completely leave out and replace with something else.

 

We didn't find Core 7 to be rushed, but the only times I haven't finished a Core in one year have been when I deliberately planned to stretch things out. I have also always added in a lot more readers than SL schedules, because my two older girls are voracious readers.

 

I didn't use the notes for history much, because they were primarily summaries of the main points covered. I did use the notes for the readalouds extensively. As soon as we started a new readaloud, I pulled the notes for it out of my binder and used those to mark my place in the book. After I finished the day's reading, I asked the questions and went over the vocabulary.

 

I don't use SL LA.

[Angel]

We are finishing up Core 7 in the next 9 weeks. I'll be glad to see it go. SL was not for us. We did the 4 day plan because we have a co-op class every other Monday. I felt that we spent adequate time on the Revolutionary War and no time at all on the Civil War (5 day does Abe Lincoln's World so that may be why I feel this way). I do feel rushed, but I expected that. I needed dd to get through this particular time period before starting over in the Ancients again. I felt our read alouds/readers were a little ahead or behind of our time period sometimes. We, too, switched out some readers for read alouds because my 8yo was listening in. We have also omitted some books...there are only so many books with "heavy" topics that I can cover.

 

I bought the IG new and then bought only a few books. Mostly ones I couldn't get at the library. We have used the library for all the others and that has worked out just fine. Plus, I think my SL bill was only around $150 instead of $450. I may have spent another $50 at Rainbow Resource. I have had no problem matching page numbers up with the IG. I have had a multitude of library books, no problem.

 

SL's notes are more summaries of the books. I think the readers/read alouds had some questions, but the history spines were are just summaries. You will get no help as far as discussion questions or background info. The information is usually broken up by chapter. We ended up not using any of them. Dd's and I usually just discuss what stood out to them or what we didn't know about.

 

My dd is 14. She is overwhelmed easily, though, and my aspie. Core 7 was 9th grade for her. I can't imagine using SL 100 or 200 with an 8th grader, but that may be just because of my specific instance. I know others do.

 

I'll be selling my IG by June:lol:

 

P.S. my younger dd had no problem sitting for the read alouds from Core 7. In fact, she enjoyed some of them more than my older dd. I did switch out some readers for read alouds, though, to be more appropriate. I also didn't continue SOTW 4 with her per the suggestion in the front of the book.

[Deb in NZ]

It was one of our best years. We added in the readers & RAs from SL 3+4. All 3 dc listened to the SL 7 history + both reader-alouds (SL 7 & SL 3+4). My dd used SL 7 as written. My ds#1 used the SL 3+4 readers. My ds#2 used the SL gr. 2 readers. I was really impressed at how well these 2 cores fit together. I didn't try to corelate the materials, but simply used both as scheduled. It did take 18 months to finish, but that was OK with us. I didn't find the history notes very helpful & instead used the SOTW AGs. The RA & reader notes were better.

 

I bought SL 200 for my dd to use the next year, but that didn't work out for us at all. She was almost 15yo when she began the core, but couldn't keep up with the amount of work asked & the material covered demanded a much higher spiritial maturity than that of a typical early teenager. I've sold the IG, but we kept the books & dd is working slowly through the literature. The book choices in SL 200 are great, but it was just too much for us. The jump in the amount of worked asked in SL 7 to SL 200 was extrememly large.

 

HTH,

[4kids4me]

It was one of our best years. We added in the readers & RAs from SL 3+4. All 3 dc listened to the SL 7 history + both reader-alouds (SL 7 & SL 3+4). My dd used SL 7 as written. My ds#1 used the SL 3+4 readers. My ds#2 used the SL gr. 2 readers. I was really impressed at how well these 2 cores fit together. I didn't try to corelate the materials, but simply used both as scheduled. It did take 18 months to finish, but that was OK with us. I didn't find the history notes very helpful & instead used the SOTW AGs. The RA & reader notes were better.

 

 

See, I was thinking that SL would be helpful because of the notes. If I use it like you did, I might as well just make up my own schedule and save the money, I'm thinking.

 

It's funny that you mention that you used core 7 and 3&4 together as another poster mentioned that that was how she used it and she, too, felt it meshed nicely together. :) Great minds think alike.

[4kids4me]

It's funny to see the range of experience. Angel, I'm sorry it wasn't a good year for you. I hope that you find something next year that meshes better with your family. Thanks for sharing the experience.

 

I'm glad I asked about core 200 -- I guess it'll have to wait if I do teach high school.

 

It's too bad the the IG aren't as helpful in the note area as I hoped. I'd love to have more help in that area, like TOG, but I'm just not interested in the format of TOG. That "buffet" would be too discouraging for me as I'm an all or nothing person.

 

I guess I'll continue to pray about this decision! :)