Posted in My Homeschool FAQs
I got the following email from Melissa yesterday and I thought I would post my answers here.
I noticed on your blog that you use Sonlight. Can you tell me more about it? I'm really thinking of getting the Pre-K for my daughter and a core for my son who is 12. No idea where to start! What does a typical day look like? Which cores have you done?
I started using
Sonlight when my oldest child was in 2nd Grade. We have used Core 2, 3, 4 and are currently doing 7, which is now called 100. We skipped 5 and 6 because we spread 4 over 2 years and also incorporated California State History into it. Then for 6th Grade we did the
Story of the World books. We will also be spreading 7 over 2 years since we are incorporating some lapbooking and other things into the study. Not to mention we having a lot of craziness in our lives getting ready to move to another State! LOL With all that said one thing I do like about Sonlight is the flexibility. You can pick and choose and add or subtract whatever does or does not work for your family. But, there is so much I like about Sonlight it is hard to even sum up!
When I first heard about Sonlight all I could think about was the price! Yes, it is a bit more expensive than most other programs. But here is the thing. I found that once I bought Sonlight I did not need to spend a lot of money supplementing with other things. I think we actually may save money!
One of the wonderful things about Sonlight is the Teacher's Guides, it is sooo great to not have to worry about what you are going to be doing tomorrow!
Couch time is also another wonderful thing about Sonlight! I love the time I spend with my kids cuddled up on the couch reading and learning together! The truth of the matter is that all of those great comments you see in the Sonlight Catalog are true! The kids love it as much as I do and yes when the box arrives it is like Christmas in July! LOL
What does a typical day look like? Well, I write out my sons assignment s for him of Friday for the next week. In the morning he gets up and does any work he can on his own. (Readers, Math, handwriting, Science, etc.) In the afternoon I read aloud to my son the History Read Alouds. I don't use a lot of the questions provided in the Teacher Materials because my son and I stop and discuss the reading as we go along. I spend a couple hours reading to him daily. He could be doing more of the reading himself, but we enjoy doing it together.
Here is a post I wrote previously about Sonlight. I hope it will answer more questions.
I will say I do not do Sonlight before 2nd grade. (I have an older 2nd grade which is not a Part 2 of World History.) I find that there are so many good resources for my little ones that I don't need the structure of Sonlight. I am sure it is great if you want to spend the money, but I have been very happy starting it a little later.
my best advice for Sonlight is go for it! It is a wonderful program that my family loves!
Mar. 8, 2007 - thanks
I bought a used sonlight guide which I thought was the instructors guide but it turned out to just be the Lauguage arts part of it. I though if I could see how it was laid out this would help but I was uneducated and I'm out my 25.00. This guide really didn't show me much.
Could you type out a days of assignements for me so that I can get an idea of what is done daily?
Also what do you sugest for PRE K? My daughter WANTS her own school work and looking at sonlight it seems great and very schedued which is what I am looking for.
We are doing the Letter of the week right now and are having fun with but I'm not very structured with tit at all.
Mar. 8, 2007 - me again
You said for 6th grade you did The Story of The world books. what do you mean by that? What else did you use?
Mar. 8, 2007 - My Answer
<<I bought a used sonlight guide which I thought was the instructors guide but it turned out to just be the Lauguage arts part of it. I though if I could see how it was laid out this would help but I was uneducated and I'm out my 25.00. This guide really didn't show me much. >>
That is really a bummer! I can't believe someone sold it seperately and didn't explain what it was. I hate that! Can you resell it? The Language Arts guide is the one I don;t use much. I think it would use it more if I wasn't reading everything with the kids, but I know what questions to ask because i just read the stories. I would recommened finding out if someone in your local area uses Sonlight and getting together with them and looking at there Teacher's Guide. Seeing the Teachers Guide for me really made the whole thing jell. I found a lady at church that used it and went to her home and looked at it. Are you in a homeschool group? If so ask at a meeting if anyone uses Sonlight. Sonlighters LOVE to talk about Sonlight! LOL
<<Could you type out a days of assignements for me so that I can get an idea of what is done daily? >>
Here is a link to the Sonlight site where you can look inside the Instrucitrs guide.
http://www.sonlight.com/uploads/a-look-inside-core-ig.pdf
Let me know if you still have questions.
<<Also what do you suggest for PRE K? My daughter WANTS her own school work and looking at sonlight it seems great and very schedued which is what I am looking for.
We are doing the Letter of the week right now and are having fun with but I'm not very structured with tit at all. >>
I have a 6 year old that has WANTED to do school ever since she could talk! LOL I totally understand what you are talking about! I don't think there is anything wrong with using Sonlight from the start, it is just expensive IMO. Here is a link to how I teach my preschoolers: (Which is the letter of the week approach and probably what you are already doing.)
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jaminacema/75886/
If you want something more stuctured than this I think you will like Sonlight. I am just cheap! LOL I also use a lot of the cheapy workbooks from Wal-Mart and Target. My daughter can pour through them lightening fast and I just get another one next time I am at the store. We use the Library a lot when they are preschoolers. I just get a pile of books and read, read, read. I try to set aside 30 - 45 minutes a day to work with my preschoolers. They really don't need more than that and I wouldn't even do that much unless they are like our kiddos and are asking for it!
<<You said for 6th grade you did The Story of The world books. what do you mean by that? What else did you use?>>
Story of the World has 4 books that pretty much cover World History. We read through them all throught the year in order. They also have books that that have all kinds of great activities to do along with the books. We were in a Co-op that year and went through the activities in one of the books. The kids did a bunch of great things like make Mosaic Tiles, Cook recipes from the Middle Ages, dress in costumes, etc. It was really fun and I would have loved to have done all the activites for all 4 books, but you would have to do the books over a 4year period to do that. (They are more designed to do one book a year, but since we were just doing them as read alouds we did all 4 books in one year.)
Hope this info helps. Feel free to ask me as many questions as you like.
Mar. 8, 2007 - Untitled Comment
I love your blog! I hope you don't mind, but I have linked your lapbooking entry on my blog to share it with others from my co-op. It's such a helpful article!!
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