I am an avid proponent of Sonlight I fell in love with it the day it was introduced to me and have never looked back. Except that some of the Sonlight material are a very bad match for my girl. I have always taught both Jesse and Laurel according to whatever Core (for nonSL users, that means, in best translation, "level") that Jesse was doing. I made big adjustments for Laurel and included many books to read at her own level; but because, until Core 100 (roughly 9th grade), much of the material is to be read aloud, it made sense to read to both Jesse and Laurel (and Duncan) at the same time.
But this year Jesse is doing American History (Core 100) entirely on his own, and so I can focus on how Laurel (5th) and Duncan (1st) learn and what they need. Jesse could have listened to history for hours and hours and then read more on his own, but Laurel decided last year that she just does not like history. I knew without a doubt that Laurel would cringe at the spine Sonlight offers for American History: The Landmark History of the American People. So we’ve dropped that and a few others and added in more hands-on activities. We’re also using Peter Marshall’s The Light and the Glory (which I picked up several years ago at the library sale for a quarter) in place of the Landmark History. The result has been wonderful. Here’s what we’ve done so far:
Unit 1: Native Americans
The Story of the USA: Chapters 1 & 2
North American Indians (Marie and Douglas Gorsline)
If You Lived With the Sioux Indians (Ann McGovern)
Evan-Moor History Pockets: Native American
American Indian Prayer Guide
Come Look With Me: American Indian Art
Various recipes from the internet, including Indian fry bread and Maple Popcorn balls.
(During American Heritage Girls summer camp, we did the Native American badge and primarily used More Than Moccasins as a craft and food book. I highly recommend this.)
Unit 2: Columbus
The Story of the USA: Chapters 3-5
The Light and the Glory: Chapters 1 & 2
Pedro's Journal
Unit 3: Jamestown
The Story of the USA: Chapter 9
The Light and the Glory: Chapters 3 & 4
Pocahontas and the Strangers
A Lion to Guard Us
My America: Elizabeth’s Jamestown Colony Diaries: Our Strange New Land; The Starving Time, and Season of Promise
Unit 4: Mayflower
Story of USA: Chapter 10
Light and the Glory: Chapter 5
If You Sailed on the Mayflower... (Ann McGovern)
American Adventures #1: The Mayflower Adventure (Colleen Reece)
Dear America: A Journey to the New World (The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple)
American Family Paper Dolls: Pilgrim Period (Tom Tierney)
Colonial Kids: An Activity Guide to Life in the New World (Laurie Carlson)—begin various crafts, recipes, etc.
I dropped the Sonlight books Aztecs, Mayans and Incas as well as Walk Around the World’s Rim. Jesse and I loved these books, but I could see that the interest level just wasn’t there for Duncan and Laurel after one chapter of each. We're still in the middle of the Mayflower, but I think we'll actually move on to the Thanksgiving unit right at Thanksgiving time!
Comments
Friday, November 2, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
The wonderful thing about homeschool is that you can truly tailor the education to fit the child!
I enjoyed reading through the resources you used for American History. I'll have to check out a few of those. I've been doing a bit of American History with my K'er this year, but I am looking forward to covering things more in depth in a couple years.
One resource that I am soooo happy to have is a 'radio theater' CD set from 'Your Story Hour' called 'Heritage of Our Country Series.' The set includes 12 1-hour recordings begining with Columbus, then the Pilgrims, all the way up to the Man Without a Country and baseball heroes. My son could listen to stories for hours on end!
It will be interesting to see what my 3 yo is like when he gets closer to school age. He will very likely be more similar to your daughter. He is a hands-on kind of guy and not much of a story guy. :)
I have fond memories of reading The Light and the Glory the one year I was homeschooled!
Heidi @ Mt. Hope Chronicles
http://mthopeacademy.blogspot.com/
